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I am a bit stuck for muscle building exercise that I can do at home, all the dvd's are mainly cardio. I haven't any cash atm for equipment so any ideas appreciated. So far I am:
Bench pressing the smaller children (great fun for them lol) trying to increase the number of reps and picking bigger kids as I go along, who needs weights right:bigsmile:
Taking the stairs 2 at a time as quick as possible to try add towards the sprints.
Any others?????
I had a hunt around and found AS's recommendations for the above, so I'm copying them here so that we have them in 2 places. I find the more times I see someting the more likely it goes in lol.
EXERCISE FOR A BOY -
Moderate exercise with emphasis on muscle building. 45 minutes of cardio OR weight training OR both, 4-5 days a week. OR, you can split your exercise up into 30 minutes in the morning and 30 at night (that can be a way to fit in more exercise without running the risk of the acidity that you get by exercising longer than 45 minutes).
Great exercise videos for blue include Tae Bo and the Firm - they focus on building muscle and cardio fitness at the same time. Tae Bo is a 60minute workout but part of that is warmup and cooldown and so it doesn't really "count" as a full 60 minute workout. Walking steps/doing step exercise programs are good because they provide cardio and the stepping works the large muscles of your lower body.
Diet tips - High protein, high calorie, high nutrient, high intake of GOOD fats will help build that muscle mass. Aim for 2300 calories a day or more.
Weight gain/loss -
If you are on the thin side, you will need to gain weight. Even just 3-5 pounds of muscle in the months before swaying will make a difference.
If you are very heavy, try to maintain your weight (don't lose weight) while building muscle mass. It is TOTALLY possible to gain muscle without losing a pound.
The benefits of doing nothing - if you are a person who has a lot of girls and have always exercised to excess, it is time to give your body a break. Exercise much less and at much less intensity, or if that is difficult for you (you have exercise bulimia), stop all together. You should STILL try and gain 3-5 pounds and eat a high-protein, high nutrient, high calorie, high good fat diet, because this will help your muscles heal and recover. If it takes you several months to get pregnant, you SHOULD resume moderate exercise after a brief (no longer than 6 weeks) recovery period or you risk losing muscle mass.
ANY exercise in moderation will build muscle, even cardio.Quote:
Originally Posted by 8lilpigs
I have had some success with soup cans back when I was poor and didn't have weights!
Some other free muscle-building things you can do are pushups and tricep dips for arms, and for legs, squats, plies, and lunges. And of course the dreaded situp! All you really need is the weight of your own body to build muscle. It doesn't take a lot of muscle, just a little will raise your testosterone levels!
http://jugalbandi.info/2011/02/egg-s...-some-sprints/
They talk about sprinting short intervals every alternate days and how it helps building muscle. Just came across it recently. Thought of just posting it here if it helps anyone; may be it is easy to find 50 yards of space in the backyard or so.
I skip at home when I cant run out.
Thanks ladies, great help. I think my main problem is this chair I'm sat on, its so darn comfortable:oops: But enough's enough, time for a little more activity in the house!
Quick update - I've become a pro at the dish-washing leg lifts, the toddler bench presses and the soup can curls lol, but I am finding my hips to be very clicky when I try and do any type of sit ups? I am putting it down to ware and tear from having all these babies, anyone else get this, any tips on how to avoid it?
I can't do sit ups either because it hurts my neck. But you can do some exercises standing up that really help your abs, I will try to describe them...
If you have a mirror where you can see your stomach, this helps. Take off your shirt and pull in your abdominal muscles (you should actually be able to see the navel suck in a little). Put your hands on your shoulders like you have little chicken wings and bend at the waist to both sides, left and right (NOT back and forward.) This is jsut as effective for me as regular sit ups but you MUST pull in your navel the whole time or it doesn't work.
Also, knee lifts are very good for working your abdominal muscles. March in place but pull your knees up as high as you possibly can while sucking in your navel - after a few you should be able to feel it working! You can also do these with your legs wider, so you're working the outside of your abdomen (does that make sense?? I feel like that part makes no sense. :P)
And standing knee lifts are very effective as well - brace yourself on a chair or the wall and then lift your bent leg up at the hip as high as you possibly can, while sucking in your navel.
LOL bench pressing your kids, that is AWESOME!
I have been doing my knee lifts and no clicks, hooray!! I have also added a new exercise to my strange regime. I found 1 of those weights that you strap round your wrist and I have been doing some arm lifts whenever I'm on the computer, its a shame I only found 1 as my left side is going to end up looking like popeye at this rate:bigsmile:
Haha, well, whatever works! Testosterone is testosterone no matter which arm it's coming from! ;)