I'm new, I'm over 40 and I am committed

[koolaidmom]

I'm committed to lose the weight, but moreso, to become stronger and healthier. I just need motivation....cheering....reccomendation on music ( I like harder rock) to lift weights by ( I bought a Rebecca Small DVD, but music has been axed in it)

I have a treadmill, I'm using that 30 minutes everyother day, again, using a video for various speeds, inclines. I really like that!

I also have a coreball......I need to just start doing that. And I'm thinking 2 times a day? 2 sets of crunches 15 reps?

and I have the weights, how do I tell if I'm getting the most out of it? For beginners should I be doing more of one thing or another?
chiropractor says NO lunges (knee joint issues) , NO lats (decompressed disk) . Leg presses are good though,

So veterans, how does an overweight mom know if she's doing it right?
time framing for weights? how long?

I'm not looking for a quick , I'm looking for strenth and not having a heart attack and dropping dead.

thanks, any advice I'm open to and I am listening intensely

monica
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ohI'll be posting on more than one board here, so posts may overlap.

[swanso5]

Knee - you most likely need to build uop the VMO which is the teardrop muscle on the top of the inside of the thigh which stabilises the knee joint...maybe some lateral structure work as well...ask your doctor waht the problem actually is so it can be fixed or you won't get anywhere

Back - there's still planty of back work you can do but we just want to avoid loading the spine (squats etc) but you can stil pulldowns etc...again what can / can't you do?

Music - whatever fores you...slower songs can have that affect on me the same as faster songs so it's all individual

Abs - try doing a circuit of a leg raise variation, twisting variation and crunch variation for 2 x 10 - 15 each with no rest...search the exericse guide here for demo's

Wts - you want to use multi joint exercises that work as many muscles in one exercise as possible...search deadlifts (?), bench presses, shoulder presses, pulldowns, rows, cleans in the exercise guide also...i wouls start with bodyweight stuff in your case though to strengthen core and joints before adding external load foucuing on supine bridges, squats, push ups, inverted rows, hyperextensions, reverse hyperextensions, various "animal" poses / walks, front and side planks, lunges (?) etc

Progress - you can chesck progress by taking weekly % if you can which is best...if not than mirror changes are second best looking for signs of definition and muscle where it hasn't been before and the old clothes fitting test...scale wt would be 3rd in book but it doesn't tell you if you've lost muscle or fat

let me know what you think

[koolaidmom]

knee the knee cap is worn down, it needs to be replaced, but if you're familar with American medical insurance it's very expensive and I have no coverage. So he doesn't want me doing the lunges

i can do anything for back except hold the bar behind neck

I will do the exercises in the exercise guide....

with the weights the DVD is one hour long.....is that appropriate for beginners?

I am not even stepping on a scale for a while! No worries of that.
This is all so helpful to me, thank you so much! I'm going to work on a schedule and post it, and you can tell me what you think! thanks again so much!!

[swanso5]

i wouls definately still build up the VMO muscle with partial type lunges etc...you should contact your physio and ask about doing that and c wat he says

[koolaidmom]

I'll see about that.....if they aren't hurtful, I'll give them a go!