Does anyone else enjoy doing weights/kettle bells/trx training?

Hmm, maybe I do need to have a go at the free weights sooner rather than later. Thanks genecowan for the book recommendation, I'll have a look :)

sleepwhenidie - how fab!

Totally agree with genecowan - just walk over to the free weights section and do it. Have a look on youtube for demo videos for the moves she mentions and then have a go. Even better if you can get some of the gym staff to do a free weight induction for you. You´ll get way more bang for your buck by doing free weights. Many are compound moves that are working many muscles at once and allow you to strengthen your core better than any situps.

Crossfit is great. There´s loads of info out there on it - start with www.crossfit.com. If many of you are getting health and safety gip doing weights then I can´t imagine Crossfit will go down well in your gym... Here´s a link to some bodyweight workouts that you can do anywhere, park, gym, back garden :)

www.board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=38312

Rest day for me today, my legs are struggling :)

longdays I have read a bit about crossfit but there is nothing like that anywhere near me. What are multisport WODS? Really impressed by anyone who has done tris, when I think how my legs feel after a run, or how knackered I am after a swim session I cannot imagine doing one after the other and adding in a bike ride on top!

Fantastic to have so many people on here!
lovesineffable yes they actually came over and told me I couldn't do them quoting the normal Health and Safety rubbish.

Ladyofthelift NROLW is great isn't it? How have you been doing your press ups? I followed the progressions in the book so started by doing them against the arm of the sofa, then a low coffee table and finally on the floor. If your gym has a smith machine then this is a great use for it as you can adjust the bar to the height you need and then slowly lower it down so you are gradually changing the distribution of weight to your arms and chest. If you are doing them at home then using your stairs will also create the same effect.

Do you still do push ups in stage 4? I have found I can no longer knock out many reps having done none in my last program, just focusing on bench press for chest and tris. There really is no substitute exercise for them. Once I have improved on them again I am going to add them in as part of my dynamic warm up so I always do them regularly.

Greeklove Great idea about using a bag of compost, similar to sandbag training! You could try looking into getting a set of adjustable weights or if lack of space is an issue look into a TRX that people have mentioned above, you can sling it in a drawer when you're not using it.

Ephiny resistance training is fantastic for increasing bone density. Don't be put off from trying free weights because you don't think you are strong enough. I read an article recently that looked at the effect of machine based weight training and it showed that after a year people had increased the amount of weight they could lift on a machine, but their overall actual functional strength had not improved at all and in some cases was worse. A lot of the movements machines have you do are not actually movements you do in day to day life, (think seated leg curl). Moves like lunges, squats, deadlifts, press ups and shoulder press are all basic movements that you do on a daily basis so it makes sense to train using them. Don't be put off by just using your own bodyweight at first, especially on squats and lunges, good form and developing a good range of motion are vital before you start adding weight. There is no such thing as 'pathetically small weights' just use the weight that is suitable for you for each exercise. I really recommend reading New Rules of Lifting for Women if you are new to free weights.

Lurking too, as I've recently started going to the gym for strength training - using the resistance machines, not the free weights for now, but I hope to work up to using those. Can only do the pathetically small weights at the moment, but you have to start somewhere...

I'm doing it mostly because I have family history of osteoporosis and apparently this sort of exercise is good for keeping your bones strong? If that's true, I'm surprised more women don't do it!

Hello! I am into strength training although it doesnt look like it!
I currently do 2 strength workouts a week with free weights plus some short body weight exercises when I'm not knackered. I do 'pick and mix' workouts where I find some exercises and do them for a minute each or until failure for the heavy reps. I dont have time for the gym as I have two under 4 so my gym is currently under the sofa. I have a set of light weights 1.5 to 5 and a 8kg and 10kg dumbell. What I am also doing is using bags of compost as weights.
Still can't do chin ups yet - could do 6 consequtive chin ups before ds2 was born.
Glad I found this thread!

Hello! I am into strength training although it doesnt look like it!
I currently do 2 strength workouts a week with free weights plus some short body weight exercises when I'm not knackered. I do 'pick and mix' workouts where I find some exercises and do them for a minute each or until failure for the heavy reps. I dont have time for the gym as I have two under 4 so my gym is currently under the sofa. I have a set of light weights 1.5 to 5 and a 8kg and 10kg dumbell. What I am also doing is using bags of compost as weights.
Still can't do chin ups yet - could do 6 consequtive chin ups before ds2 was born.
Glad I found this thread!

'My gym wouldn't let me use the box to do weighted step ups on as I might fall off it and have an accident '

fgs you could fall off anything and have an accident..did they actually tell you off for doing them?

I've had similar issues in my local gym, tried to have a rational discussion about the actual risks of any kind of weight training but they just keep repeating the phrase 'health & safety'

Hi ladies,
Just thought I would see if I could join you here. I have recently started venturing into the scary weights and kettlebell section of the gym. My background is long distance running and tris. The reason I am doing the heavier stuff is that I just cannot face doing the long steady stuff with little return for speed etc. Anyway someone mentioned Crossfit and I am doing the multisport WODS from that, I am still learning the weights but I am getting better.

I am amazed with the 18 chinups that is awesome, I tried one and could only lift my knees up and just sort of hung there for a while. Look forward to catching up with you all.

My gym wouldn't let me use the box to do weighted step ups on as I might fall off it and have an accident. I asked what it was there for then if we couldn't use it for what it was designed for and they said they turned it upside down and kept things in it ... Pretty sure a squat rack will be out of the question.

Great compliment sleepwhenidie, lets hope his client is inspired to follow his advice.

Ouch, eloquently put gene!

There's a girl who comes to kickboxing with me who is, I believe, entering the Olympics this year, powerlifting, she lifts 130kg over her head...amazing.

I have tried asking about the gym getting a squat rack and supports for the barbells but they seem to have the strange notion that these would turn the (friendly, council) gym into some kind of steroid driven, meat head hangout .

Following on from the "bulking up" theme, a pt I am friendly with approached me at the gym this morning, asking about what weights I lift...he said he has a female client who resists using the heavier weights he is asking her to because she doesnt want to get bulky. I repeated what we have all said and he agreed, said next time she is in at the same time as me he's going to point me out as evidence that heavy weights don't mean huge muscles for girls...feeling quite chuffed with that

needabitofsunshine so jealous of your granny gym . My dream is to find somewhere to learn olympic lifting, but I don't think there's a chance of that around here unfortunately. I am doing overhead squats at the moment, but just with a broomstick! Partly because of crap- no equipment- gym, mainly because anything else would be too much. They are really making me concentrate on my form and technique.

loveineffable I blogged about just that the other day funnily enough. My foam roller had been gathering dust unused as it had hurt so much the first time I tried it. I resolved to stick with it this time round and it has definitely helped this last week and I no longer feel like I am peeling the muscle away from my bones

I only work part time, so have plenty of time to fit it all in. We also just got some bumpers, bar, squat rack etc for home and converted our little granny flat into a gym - no excuses!

Generally I do 2 full body weight sessions a week, 1 sprint session + bodyweight circuit, then a couple of Crossfit sessions and maybe a longer run (5 miles). Usually some combination of these to get 5 sessions in a week. Depending on the week that can be overkill, so am careful to listen to my body ánd have a couple of days off if I start to feel I need some more rest.

I´m doing my course with Fitness Industry Education distance learning as I´m overseas. Just passed my level 2 Gym Instructor (yay me!), so now I get to start the level 3 Personal Trainer more fun bit. Level 2 is compulsory and pretty hard to take when you´ve gone down the HIIT + weights road...

Those without a squat rack - have you asked your gym to get one? They´re not that expensive and will allow you to do so much more.

Know what you mean about the calloused hands. Maybe I´m a bit weird, but I get a certain amount of satisfaction from having them :)

Deadlifts, shoulder press & overhead squats for me later, along with a few other bits & pieces.

Happy lifting ladies :)

GeneI bought a foam roller a little while ago, barely used it though cuz it kinda hurts
I take it you find it worthwhile?

I never use gloves for lifting, mostly because I feel I can grip more securely without, but this thread has got me inspecting my palms..
..some callousing at the base of my fingers but not much, thats after 20 years of training 3-4 x per week with barbells & dumbells

Oh, meant to say, if I had to leave the house to exercise, I'd never bother Gym membership would be a really bad idea for me.

Quodlibet: re kettlebells, I just bought the Kettlebells for Dummies book and watched the Phil Scarito basics series on YouTube for form: Basics - The Kettlebell Press. Although I did double check with my Krav Instructor who is also a kettlebell instructor on a couple of them that my form was safe. I've never been to a class. Not ideal, I know.

I do somewhere between half an hour to an hour using the XBox UFC Trainer that I mentioned before 5 times a week, and an hour's Krav class, plus I do a lot of walking where I can. Was fairly easy to fit it in until I went back to work a couple of months ago - technically part time, but the hours are such that I'm starting very early in the morning and am knackered by the time I get home, so I'm finding it much harder to fit exercise and particularly Krav into my day. :(

Managed to keep the exercise going, though, until this week when I came down with a nasty sinusy/chesty virus thing and I haven't been able to do much all week, so I've lost my momentum.

I have a protein shake with banana post workout simply because it is the easiest and quickest way to get a big hit dose of protein in that 15 minute period where your body is going to get the most out of it. The last thing I want to do straight after I've eaten is eat a chicken breast or can of tuna, and whilst nuts etc are a great snack at other times the high percentage of fat means they are not a good post workout snack as the fat slows down how quickly the protein is digested. Whilst shakes are processed the fact that they are liquid means they are digested far more quickly.

I weight train three times a week, total body routine, and on the other days I foam roll, do some yoga, and go for a walk or a run. The running is going to need to increase soon as I've committed to an event in a couple of months time.

jellie I have the same problem with grip strength that it fails especially on exercises towards the end of my workout. It will improve as you carry on so just keep at it. There are exercises you can do which will specifically address the grip strength such as simply hanging from a pull up bar, picking up and holding weight plates (roughly 2.5kg size) with each hand. The more plates you hold at once, the wider your grip is and this really improves the strength in your hands. Farmers walks are also another good way to do this, you can offset just carrying one weight at a time alternating sides to make this a good core strengthener too. I have callouses as well, once your hands toughen up a bit they won't be a problem.

sleepwhenidie I have the same problem about not being able to get the weight into a safe position and my gym doesn't have a squat rack either. I occasionally get over to one which has to do back squats but otherwise I have had to adapt exercises. With squats I started doing goblet squats instead, I found I had to go much lighter to start off with and really developed my range of motion, concentrating on making sure I was dropping below parallel. I also found having the weightload in front of me rather than on my back much more challenging at first. Another thing you could try is overhead squats, I am doing these at the moment and am having to use a broomstick rather than a bar! For bench press I have to stick to dumbbell bench press, mainly because there aren't any barbells at my rubbish gym but also because they if you do get stuck you can just drop them either side rather than getting trapped underneath!

I'm just one of those night owl types
I guess they are marketed as something which will take some of the hard work out of achieving fitness or physique goals..a quick fix kind of thing, and that accounts for the popularity.
It's hard not to be attracted to short cuts and easy solutions!

Thanks lovesineffable - what's your excuse for being up so late? I didn't expect a response tonight - that is what I thought too though, but I wondered if better to have a shake straight after training than the quick snack of nuts or a banana that I usually do. Instinctively 'real' food seems the better choice to me but they do seem popular.

I think normal healthy food is fine..protein shakes make it easy to consume extra calories, so unless you struggle to eat enough not really necessary

Impressive schedules you lot - notyummy I am in awe, I am pretty motivated but if I couldn't get to the gym I can't imagine being committed enough to work as hard as you at home, particularly with DH away. Rhonda I hear you re the diet - bet you're not in that bad shape though! Any sensible diet went out of the window for me tonight, shared a pizza and burger and fries with a friend with a cocktail and couple of glasses of wine-its what it's all for! Feel better about it than I might as I got out for a run earlier for the first time in about 6 weeks, it was so beautiful out today, like Spring. Running was tough after a break (albeit doing other training) though.

I wear gloves for the gym too, was also getting callouses...v sexy . I don't really vary my weight routine much, just try and increase the weights. I am now at a point though, where I can't get the weight I want into position safely (eg chest press/squat...no rack or smith machine at my gym) to do the exercise itself - very frustrating. Any helpful suggestions not requiring a spotter v welcome!

Was chatting to a friend tonight about protein shakes/bars. She does the marketing for a certain brand but doesn't train herself. Do any of you use/recommend them?

same person Rhonda, I just shifted my username:)

as for shouting I dont bother, if someone asks advice I'll give it but most people I find regard physical exertion as something to be avoided at all costs!