Strength training at home, any ideas where to start?

[Anothershittydayinparadise]

I am 52 and in perimenopause.

I look after myself and walk my dog every day, use my exercise bike and do some very light weights and a stretching routine every night.

Several of my friends are doing weights/strength training at a local gym and are having great results. One has rheumatoid arthritis and a year on has been able to come off her medication.

I really want to get strong in older age especially as my mum is bent over with Osteoporosis but I simply can not afford to go to a gym as I am currently not working so I am thinking of getting some weights (second hand etc) and doing it all at home.

But where do I start? What kind of weights shall I purchase and is there anywhere online (and free) where I can learn a routine?

Try Joe Wicks on You Tube. He has plenty of free beginner type strength training programmes of varying length. Depending on your existing strength you can start with lifting tins of beans or filled bottles of water. For a small investment you can try resistance band work outs and just use your own body weight. Good luck!

Go on You Tube and search Kayleigh Cohen, she does brilliant tutorials. Go to Argos and buy some dumbbells, start low weight and you'll soon be moving up through the kgs.

How often should you be doing a routine like the KC one recommended?

Thank you. I have a pack of resistance bands which I purchased a year or so ago and done nothing with. I'll dig those out.

That's great, thanks.

Just a warning about buying dumbbells from Argos - if you click and collect you have got to carry them home and they are (obviously but I didn't think of this) heavy. OK if you have a car, not so much if walking. I did have a car but it was on the far side of an enormous car park and that was bad enough.

I'll probably get them delivered.

Such a good point @ExtraDisorganised! Our Argos is inside a Sainsbury's so I used a trolley.

If i was starting again these are the things i would buy

1. Full set of resistance bands
2. Exercise mats
3. TRX (Knock off from Ebay) Straps

I reckon that lot would cost no more than £50-60 all in.

With body weight exercises (Push ups, sit ups, planks, IYT's, Mountain climbers, etc etc ) you would be able to tone and improve strength in your core, legs arms and shoulders considerably. Then add in exercises using bands such as squats, arm curls (Sit down, foot on band and leave enough length to curl with it) etc you can have a full body workout without having to store loads of weights and there are thousands of helpful videos to target areas of improvement all over youtube.

I have access to my own fully equipped gym and i still find my bands one of the most useful item in there.

Thank you.

I do already have the resistance bands so will look out for the other two.

I started off using fitness blender. They have free workouts on YouTube and they're great as there's no music so they're talking you through the exercise. That talking through is really helpful to make sure that your form is correct and you're feeling it where you're meant to be.

I found the OM app really good. Have a look at katerh_fitness on instagram if you want to workout at home.

@Tessasanderson which bands did you buy, as I’ve found found the prices vary wildly- not sure where to get them from! Thanks

Lift With Cee on YT is brilliant.

3x week 30min full body dumbbell workouts, no nonsense, no gimmicks, no sales pitch.

She has Q&As for what weights to get as a beginner, but Amazon is great and just getting a couple pairs is a great start!

You mentioned you already have resistance bands—those are wonderful, esp for upper body.

An adjustable dumbbell/barbell set is what I couldn’t do without. Then tutorials on YouTube on how to do strength exercises, following a routine that increases progressively

I'm a PT and to add to the comments here, if osteoporosis is a primary concern, be aware that bone loss can vary between body parts. The spine, for example, is a primary area you need for target with weight training (use dumbbells and do bent forward row with dumbbells, upright row with dumbbells and seated row with your resistance bands). It sounds like your mum really suffered with spinal bone loss so this is an area you need to target. Shoulder press, bicep curls (both with dumbbells), the tricep dips, crunches for the stomach and modified press ups would hit the bone strengthening well as a basic routine (3 sets of 12 to start). There are so many online videos that will show you how to do these exercises with good form.

Walking lunges and squats would be great for your legs.

If you find yourself in a gym choose the rower for your cardio as it is excellent for improving bone density in the spine. And definitely take calcium but I'm sure you already do.

Just a few basic pointers but they should definitely help!

I started with a few second-hand dumbbells and a kettlebell at home and just followed short routines I found online. Even 15–20 minutes a day made a difference in strength and posture. I also checked out Zionova - their guidance and approach feel honest, which made picking what to buy and how to start less confusing.