women should lift weights because it prevents osteoporosis in old age and makes you a more capable person in everyday life please shut up about butts and waists and hourglasses i’m going to fucking kill
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genuine question from someone who would rather chew their arm off than go to a public gym, and also doesnt have a lot of money: how do you safely get into strength training? are there youtube channels, apps (android), etc anyone recommends that makes it approachable and don’t lean into diet culture / body shaming?
also the biggest thing that keeps me from working out is that I already have joint and spinal issues and moving the wrong way can fuck up a knee or a shoulder or my spine for days. I really don’t want to injure myself, and have unwittingly done so before. resources that are extremely clear on exactly how to move and offer gentler / alternative ways to move for people with limited range are vital.
Okay, so this may not technically be strength training, but muscles are dumber than bricks and cannot tell the difference between your own bodyweight and actual weights.
He runs a YouTube channel where he goes over how to work your way up to more complex exercises (for instance, his pull-ups videos start with using a door jamb and moving your weight back and forth) so it’s good for easing yourself into things.
You also don’t have to fork out for expensive weights and such if you don’t want to/can’t. Substitute with stuff you either already have at home or can get from the supermarket and build up the weight you can exercise with. 500 gram cans of butter beans then 750 gram bottles of pasta sauce. 1 litre drink bottle then your 1.5 litre milk bottle. 3 litre bulk-buy bottle of laundry detergent. Etc. One of my dogs weighs 13 kilos and I pick her up on the regular (to her delight). One weighs 16 kg and I pick him up too (to his consternation and mild disapproval). You don’t have to fit out some fancy home gym before you can start strength training.
I second Hybrid Calisthenics, that’s the program I use. It’s run by one guy who’s taken it upon himself to make exercising more accessible and it’s completely free! Each exercise has different variations based on your ability and each variation is further divided into different levels of difficulty so you can work up to where you want to be. If you can’t do a single push up for example then this program will help you work up to the point where you can, and if you’re a master of push ups then there are more advanced body weight exercises you can tackle so you can keep moving forward in your training without stagnating. The routine offers a full body workout with absolutely no equipment required for the beginning levels. The only reason you would need to buy anything is if you want to work up to a full pull up, at which point you would need actual pull up rings
Here’s his actual website which I feel is easier to navigate than the YouTube channel on its own and organizes things in a way that’s easy to understand. He explains everything you need to know about the routine and each individual exercise has both a text description and a video tutorial
[ begin id: a screenshot of tumblr tags that read “#i started my mom lifting with me 1.5 years ago. it’s improved her balance and strength so much #she has avoided falling 4 times and i no longer worry about her #she lifts heavy boxes with a grin of pride #i’ve been teaching her about how much it helps women to strength train and she LOVES it #when we started she could barely lift 3lb #she now wields 7lb dumbbells in each hand as of our workout today!! #her foot pain and back pain have improved SIGNIFICANTLY since she’s strengthened her core #she was bordering on immobility bc of how much pain she was in w her arthritis and spinal conditions #today she can hold a plank for 30 seconds and do 10 pushups!!!!! #shes almost 60 and she tells me she wants to do this w me forever #i love her so much and i am so proud of her working so hard to strengthen her body #after 50 years of diet culture and her own mother telling her to be dainty and frail #she’s strong and she isn’t scared of falling or tripping #we do 5 min of balance work each day at the end of every workout :)” / end id ]
i may have reblogged this before with the exact same comment but i really recommend Couch to Barbell, which starts out with a really good section on form and gives tips for learning at home. it’s not free but it’s good value!
that said, i cannot overstate how great it is to walk into the free weights section of any gym with confidence and i highly, highly recommend more people of all genders make the effort to do it.
