I am answering Anne because I still have no comment privileges… moving on.
I find that using your own weight is really the best. Pushups are FANTASTIC to tone all the areas you mentioned. Pushups will do it all and you don’t have to think about bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, strength bands or weights or any of that stuff. Just start and do what you can and you will notice your muscles building quickly and your number of repetitions will grow as you get stronger.
Nobody likes them but squats are great for legs, too. Use your body weight and a deck of cards to do an exercise I learned from Kathy Kaehler - here is what you can do…
Get a deck of cards and take 10 to 20 cards out of the deck. Stand with legs at least shoulder width apart and ready for squats. Take the top card from the deck and squat and place it on the floor in front of you (kinda in between your feet). Then come back up to standing but don’t lock your knees. Do this until all the cards are on the floor. Once you have them all on the floor then you can do this again but pick the cards up one at a time this time. This is a fantastic workout for your lower body that requires nothing more than cards (or anything you want to use to keep you moving in good form).
Another place to find great advice on such things is Dr. Mehmet Oz at Discovery Health…
Leann! I am kinda glad the lack of commenting ability forced you to make this a post
It was very informational for me…please feel free to post more about strength training. I like new exercises to try and the motivation to do the ones I already know. These are also good for me as a homeschooling mom because I can do them quickly in between other things on days that I can’t devote a whole chunk of time to exercise.
Thanks!
Comment by Brandi — May 16, 2007 @ 12:12 pm