Looking for a good Women's Dumbbell book to use at home

susanswan
susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
edited November 10 in Fitness and Exercise
Someone else had mentioned the New Rules of Weight Lifting for women book. I briefly looked at it while on a quick trip to Barnes & Nobles.

I am looking for a book that will help me to build muscle. I read a brief Amazon peek of the book and it seemed to be what I was looking for in part. Not interested in/can't afford a gym/personal trainer. I've been using lighter dumbbells 3/5/8 pounds off and on over the last 5 years and after looking at the book looks like I'll go nowhere unless I take the "no pain/no gain" approach. Looking for WHAT TO DO and also WHAT NOT TO DO as I don't want to get hurt. Kind of mindlessly following my current dumbbell dvd's. I don't have a lot of time to devote to it like I'd like to, but figure that spending 30 minutes a day doing KEY exercises the RIGHT way with the RIGHT amount of weight will work best for me. Just looking for your take on this book or any other that you have found to be helpful to guide me.

I really don't want to buy a "plan" if I can avoid it. I am just interested in basic how to's for weight training and concepts & would like direction with the theory of it all. I am willing to buy more dumbbells as I need to. I don't use the 3's any more and the 5's are pretty light. The 8's are still hard for lying tricep work and for some exercises I could certainly go to 10 and possibly 12, but not all exercises. I need a guide book to help me. I'm 54, too but would like to get stronger.

Thank you!
Susan

Replies

  • BrandyontheRun
    BrandyontheRun Posts: 204 Member
    Weights for Weight Loss... by Sam something... (I can't remember the author- sorry!! lol). I read it awhile ago and found it very helpful!! Look it up =)
  • jarrettd
    jarrettd Posts: 872 Member
    The reason New Rules of Lifting for Women is so awesome, is that you do compound exercises that use big muscles in the way they were designed to work, rather than wasting time on isolation exercises. It does require a lot more than a few dumbbells, though!

    You'd be better off with body weight exercises than doing bicep curls with small weights. Squats, lunges, step-ups, push-ups, dips, etc. There have been sites mentioned on here that require no equipment, yet give you a pretty well-rounded strength workout. Maybe try the search function for body-weight routines?

    Good luck!
  • hozik
    hozik Posts: 369 Member
    My brother really liked the "Power of 10". It emphasizes raising and lowering heavy weights very slowly. If you want something different, he also likes "Miracle Seven", but it doesn't require weights, it's all isometric exercises. Another interesting book I like is "You Are Your Own Gym", again no weights, you use your body for resistance--amazingly challenging and pretty creative. Good Luck!
  • JennieAL
    JennieAL Posts: 1,726 Member
    You'll probably need to invest some time into reading and getting an understanding of the "basics" before you can just spend the 20-30 min per day on actually doing the work... I've already read NROL4W and it was good for many different reasons. I learned a lot. Then I read the StrongLifts ebook to figure out what that was all about... Now, I'm reading Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength book... and THIS is the one! He covers the basic compound movements. And being a lover of all that is efficient, this book is by far my favorite. He does get technical though. But, if you're gonna be in this for the long haul, it's the way to go , IMO. There's a 3rd edition book & Kindle version. Also, get the DVD. For newbies like me, it's invaluable.
  • kensky
    kensky Posts: 472 Member
    I love Rippetoe but if you were committed to strictly dumbbells I would follow Krista Scott-Dixon's routine: www.stumptuous.com/workout-6
  • jazzgnat
    jazzgnat Posts: 35 Member
    You might try the sixth Harry Potter book it's gotta at least 6 or 7 pounds!
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
    Thanks for pointing me in some good directions, I appreciate the input!
  • Spamee
    Spamee Posts: 148 Member
    bump for book references- thanks
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Now, I'm reading Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength book... and THIS is the one! He covers the basic compound movements. And being a lover of all that is efficient, this book is by far my favorite. He does get technical though. But, if you're gonna be in this for the long haul, it's the way to go , IMO. There's a 3rd edition book & Kindle version. Also, get the DVD. For newbies like me, it's invaluable.

    My FAR the best reference out there on the right way to be strong.
  • littledumplings
    littledumplings Posts: 223 Member
    Bump...I've read NWLW and currently reading stronglifts....I'll have a look at the others...
  • 40Marbles
    40Marbles Posts: 188 Member
    The Swing by Tracy Reifkind. It's kettlebells, not dumbbells, but she is fantastic.

    She has a lot of videos on youtube as well.
  • marymickaela
    marymickaela Posts: 190 Member
    I have the "Body Sculpting Bible for Women". It goes into explanations about fitness, nutrition, illustrations how to do weights, exercises, etc. Then it has routines set up for you to follow. I was using it then decided to start working with a personal trainer. He follows similiar routines, but more intense. Both say you do strength training 3x's a week and cardio in-between. So M, W, F you do the strength training and Tu, Thurs, Sat. you do cardio. Sunday you can rest, but you have to give your body a day to recover from strength training, thus the M W F. Cardio you can do everyday. I also read if you do cardio before your strength training you'll burn more calories. I can definately tell a difference and wish I had started taking body measurments before starting.

    Some exercise equipment we use at the gym that I bought for home are a balance ball, 12 lb kettlebell, resistance bands, of course my weights and my husband built me a stepper. It's actually one I bought, but he redesigned it to be 12 " high. I only have 6 weeks left working with my trainer so am going to have to invest in stronger weights to use at home. I also still plan to work at the gym, but it's nice to have some equipment for those days you don't want to go out.

    Mary
  • marymickaela
    marymickaela Posts: 190 Member
    Congrats on 1lb to go. I'm inspired. You must be doing something really right.

    Mary
  • judykay500
    judykay500 Posts: 26
    Bump
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