[cupcaketits]

Anyone interested in strength training? We can post to encourage and share. You don't have to go to the gym or even have weights. You can accomplish a lot with bodyweight exercises.

I've got some dumbells, a barbell, and lots of weights. I'm very new to this but it's addictive. I can't lift much yet but I'm seeing and feeling a positive difference. I've already done squats a lot, so I can feel my glute muscles and I have a decent bum.

Right now I'm mostly using just the bar, which is 20 lbs. Weak, I know, lol. I have shoulder and back issues I have to be careful of, so I'm starting low and slow. I'm only using 5 lb dumbells right now for chest press, chest flys, curls. I'll up this when it feels right.

I'm still doing a lot of bodyweight stuff too, wall push ups, sumo squats, v ups, mountain climbers, calf raises, jump squats, etc. Curtsy lunges and walking lunges with light dumbells for now.

As far as weights-

Front Squat - 20 lbs
Romanian deadlift - 40 lbs
Glute Bridge Hip Thrust - 90 lbs

I have 10 lb ankle weights I do standing leg lifts and donkey kicks with. The leg lifts really get the side booty muscles. I go straight back, back at a diagonal, and to the side. I also do sumo walk with them on, basically sumo squats while walking sideways.

[Dianna1395]

Hi, CupCake,
Yes, very much interested in strength training.
t-Nation.com is a "bible" to me. ;-)
Not that I have a lot to show. Being an IT geek, I don't get enough activity in my day, so - a 4-hour session in the gym isn't the same as being active a lot during the day.

OTOH, I've got a 120# Overhead Press, 140# bench (pathetic for a guy), squat 240#, and deadlift 300# on a good day. But I've found my strength is failing a LOT any more. I'm not on hormones or herbals, so - worried. Working on the smaller muscles (Neanderthal no more, though I skipped this week.) I also need to work on my core a LOT. And using the Agile 8 as a warmup.

I recommend the Agile 8. It's made my legs look a LOT better already, eliminating the huge bulge of the quadriceps down by he knee, the "tear drop" shape. I like being built, but... Muscle bulges, not so much. :-) Muscles are hard and brittle, so I'm back to fixing issues (neanderthal is a posture-correction program, targeting the muscles we tend to over-use or mis-use), and I'm finding my way back to bodyweight calisthenics and yoga. (Yoga's been off the routine for a while because life is a mess. As in, the woman is sleeping on the couch because she can't breath in the bed - which means no way to run the disc. Plus I'm not a morning person. 5 AM wake up is too early. But no where to follow he routine, anyway.)

For bodyweight, besides what you've listed, I'd suggest Matt Furey's Royal Court. I let them slide a long time ago, and I'm finding it's a great add-on to any routine. Hindu Squats, Hindu Pushups, and Bridging. Start with the Glute bridge from Neanderthal if you have a bad back, and do the foam rolling. It helps. then you can move on to a basic bridge, then to a gymnastic bridge, and start working on a neck bridge (no hands).

You're already doing squats, you said, so... Hindu Squats might help, give you more snap - but for me they were quad-dominant. I have large enough thighs already (larger than most guys in the gym, forget the girls I envy. ;-) )

Keep posting, keep lifting. :-) Show your gains!

-Dianna