Free Weights

Save the money and get a commercial gym membership. This should run you around 30 bucks a month. Weights are expensive as hell yeh, and they take up too much space if you ask me.

I suggest getting a few sessions with a knowledgeable personal trainer to take you through the basic exercises also. Notice I said "knowledgeable." If you're not keen on that idea, most if not all of the exercises you can do with resistance bands can be replicated or slightly modified with free weights. Go slow, keep it safe, don't be afraid to ask questions either.

If you do decide on purchasing your own, places like Walmart or Sports Authority are your best bet. For a full set that takes up the least amount of space, look into purchasing a selectorized set online. Hope this helps yeh. PM me if you have more questions yeh. Cheers

I don't bother with weights at home. I use the gym membership. I never ventured into "Testosterone Zone" until I went with my trainer. Now I hold my own in there and I realize that the guys will help or spot if I ask. It's actually funny, because you typically find a few newbies in there who have no idea what they are doing. Watch out or they might drop a weight on your toe .

My husband had the whole bench, bar, plates, squatting thingy, dumbells, the works - before he met me! He sold it so we could move to England (which never happened, I decided to stay here) and now we don't have space for all that anyway, and we figured the investment cost would be FAR more than our gym membership for even a year ($15/month each), and at the gym we have access to weights and the cardio machines too.

One day when we have a full basement again, I'd love a personal gym at home, but for now we're going for the cheaper option.

And if you're doing squats my husband suggests a 'manta ray' but I don't know what one is! I think it sits on your shoulders and disperses the pressure of the bar across more evenly, so you get the same workout with less unnecessary pain

I lift three days a week at the gym and I love it because there are people around to help spot if you need it. I was really intimidated when I first started going to the boy section of the gym, but man have I had mighty fine spotters before, just as an added bonus:-). But I guess what is more important is where you will actually workout. If you do better at home, then go for it, however If you are not currently lifting, you may want to try the gym to see if you like lifting before investing in weights. If you decide to go with the home thing, try Craigslist I see people selling equipment all the time sometimes at great deals. If you want a new set, I think Walmart has good deals (even though I avoid the place, I know some people that have gotten good deals on weights there). Good luck sweetheart, you will do great with lifting, probably the best exercise I have done to change my body composition thus far. Make sure you have a good program and lift heavy, but get your form down first, then increase weight.

I would always say buy a set of dumbbell grips and a barbell with the same thickness, so you can just buy plates as you need them to increase the weight.

I would go to a used sporting goods store like Play It Again Sports & get some opinions from them b/c they don't get paid on commision so they might be able to direct you to what you need that is a good fit & a good price too...Don't just order something online blind without knowing first what you need....Even just a regular sporting goods shop, just ask questions & you will figure it out...HTH!! Good luck!

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