You need a lot more than 5 pound dumbbells to do this program. It's all about lifting heavy. You actually need quite a bit of equipment to do this program properly - a weight bench, olympic barbell, weight plates, steps, an array of dumbbells to name a few. I don't have a gym membership and if I didn't have all I needed already at home I wouldn't be doing this program. However, if you do have all that, it's a great workout. However, I really don't think it's for beginners. There are a lot of ways to hurt yourself when lifting heavy weights if you don't have good form or don't know what you're doing. Definitely read through the book and then decide for yourself if it's right for you.

See if your library has the Men's Health Home Workout Bible. It's written by the same author (Lou Schuler) and is geared toward men but it would be very helpful for you I think. The book is directed toward those of us who workout at home. He has several sections in it that give you workouts for just about every situation (including no equipment all the way through to a fully equipped home gym.) He does have workout plans for each type of equipment environment too. I checked it out from my library to see what some of his alternatives were for exercises I might not have the equipment for while I do NROL4W. If I didn't have weights I would start there. If you want to start accumulating items, decide on what your goals are and remember that Craigslist and garage sales are great places to get equipped for a fraction of the cost. I just got a weight bench, a barbell, four adjustable dumbbells and over 300 pounds of weight for $80 on craigslist!