Help with home strength training

bamagirl26

New member
Joined
Aug 19, 2026
Messages
171
Reaction score
0
Location
Imported archive
I used to love going to the gym and doing classes (Step, Body pump, Zumba, Core and more) you get the gist, but that was many moons ago and now I dont have a gym membership.

My "working out" has mostly been cardio with a bike and treadmill, but it's not cutting it. To add to the complexity, I fractured my tibial plateau earlier this year (schatzker type 2 fracture) in a sports injury and didnt have surgery.

Im still having some trouble fully loading that leg, but I want to start doing videos or something at home to help me get strong and preserve/BUILD muscle while on a Tirz.

So, any recommendations of some videos that you have done at home that are motivational and dont require tons of equipment? I do have therapy bands, some dumbbells and willing to make an investment, but dont want to spend a lot of money.

THANKS!
 
I do a daily body weight only routine , or almost daily routine that a use a few apps to help with.

Sit ups , started with 10-20 and then worked up to 100 . Which is working well for core.

Push ups , similar , however I do about two sets of 25 , work up to 100 when I have extra time.

Under table pull ups , similar to push ups above .

I use simple free phone apps , to track , there are a few, I found some that work for me.

I cycle to work a few days a week, and have a high protein diet with WPI and water a few times a day . All the above has helped over the last six months . I have a job that is all consuming so I have little time for the gym , however home workouts I can fit in , and I figure are a similar time impost to commute time to a gym.

I'm also keen to know what others are doing for home fitness, great query.
 
Can't remember who the doctor was that I was listening to on a podcast, but she said she tells her GLP patients to do just 10 minutes of intense strength training 3 days a week. I do more, but I keep that in mind for when I'm like nah, can't do it today so I'll do nothing. Cmon, I can squeeze in 10 minutes!

Kettlebells were a recent switch for me and I LOVE them, so versatile and somehow more fun than standard weights at home. Tons of video routines for kettlebells, but they're pretty simple, watch a few vids and you'll figure it out, be able to build a routine for yourself.
 
Step, Body Pump, Zumba, Core - you're speaking my language! 😍

With cardio under your belt, sounds like adding in resistance training and calisthenics is gonna be the best next addition for overall health and muscle preservation/growth.

Since you're still recovering, I highly recommend Move With Nicole's pilates/yoga YouTube channel. Her workouts mostly range from beginner to intermediate and she often incorporates bands and light weights - seems like it might be right up your alley.

Just make sure to use a thick yoga mat while your knee recovers.
 
I will recommend you a simple passive exercise for core which is much effectiever than sit-ups. I am doing it daily and will stay doing.

When you wake up, go first to the rest room and empty your intestines as much as possible. Go back to your bed and lye on your back with your both hands under your neck. No cushions. Push all your core muscles by breathing your whole breath out. Hold in and don't breath in or out, as long as you can. Keep pressure on your core muscles. At the beginning it can be 20, 25 seconds. No big deal. It improves fast. My limit at the moment is between 70-80 seconds. Rarely reach 90 seconds too. Repeat minimum 3 times and take rest between as long as spanning time. I have added some more leg exercises last time. But at the moment my core is as hard as a wooden block. Just try it a few days and you will feel it working. When your core becomes stronger, amount of food you eat decreases too, because the stomach can not expand too much.
 
I can’t help with the planning but wanted to say to check facebook marketplace like once a week (or day) for used gym equipment. There is always the beginner style bench press with leg curl attachments and the basic squat racks up for sale and once in a while the older style weights for cheap if you aren’t dead set on the newer ‘Olympic’ style plates.
 
N Sharp said:


Step, Body Pump, Zumba, Core - you're speaking my language! 😍

With cardio under your belt, sounds like adding in resistance training and calisthenics is gonna be the best next addition for overall health and muscle preservation/growth.

Since you're still recovering, I highly recommend Move With Nicole's pilates/yoga YouTube channel. Her workouts mostly range from beginner to intermediate and she often incorporates bands and light weights - seems like it might be right up your alley.

Just make sure to use a thick yoga mat while your knee recovers.

Click to expand...
Thank you so much! I got a thick foam squishy pad just to be ready!
 
Undersun Fitness / James Grage on Youtube has a huge list of resistance bands exercises that are very easy to do at home. He has a sort of whole body workout while standing with no anchoring video from years ago that was hugely popular (

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSoC-IZMOI

) but plenty of other videos since. He is one the pioneers of the resistance band use.

Bands with a door anchor are really good at home because they don't take up much space, weight, cost and have a low chance of injury and you don't have to place your body inline with gravity to make it work so it avoids the needs for benches. You can train everything standing or kneeling with a door and most of it completely free form. Some gloves are a good idea too.
 
BigJDog said:


I can’t help with the planning but wanted to say to check facebook marketplace like once a week (or day) for used gym equipment. There is always the beginner style bench press with leg curl attachments and the basic squat racks up for sale and once in a while the older style weights for cheap if you aren’t dead set on the newer ‘Olympic’ style plates.

Click to expand...
my son got a bench and some weights on FB marketplace and they are in my basement.. I should probs try to use them! hahaha
 
BrightCandle said:


Undersun Fitness / James Grage on Youtube has a huge list of resistance bands exercises that are very easy to do at home. He has a sort of whole body workout while standing with no anchoring video from years ago that was hugely popular (

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSoC-IZMOI

) but plenty of other videos since. He is one the pioneers of the resistance band use.

Bands with a door anchor are really good at home because they don't take up much space, weight, cost and have a low chance of injury and you don't have to place your body inline with gravity to make it work so it avoids the needs for benches. You can train everything standing or kneeling with a door and most of it completely free form. Some gloves are a good idea too.

Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks!! I will def check this video out
 
Check out Boostcamp. They have a bunch of bodyweight programs available. I use it for program selection and tracking my workouts.
 
I have a treadmill, a few hand weights, and some resistance bands at home and asked Claude to help me put together a routine. Since I’m pretty sedentary for the most part and want to work on gaining some muscle, it spit this out. I’ve been following it for the past 4-5 weeks and it has been really making a difference. I’ve had to up my weights and resistances to keep it challenging. I also find myself looking forward to doing them (GASP!).

…who would have thought? 🤷





ea36bcb0b3956f163b09cc24cb30277fb9085bb907e6aea04cbf202fc2b06e6e.gif
 
ToeMittens said:


I have a treadmill, a few hand weights, and some resistance bands at home and asked Claude to help me put together a routine. Since I’m pretty sedentary for the most part and want to work on gaining some muscle, it spit this out. I’ve been following it for the past 4-5 weeks and it has been really making a difference. I’ve had to up my weights and resistances to keep it challenging. I also find myself looking forward to doing them (GASP!).

…who would have thought? 🤷

ea36bcb0b3956f163b09cc24cb30277fb9085bb907e6aea04cbf202fc2b06e6e.gif


Click to expand...
the cat.. hahah, love it. I ran down to my sons bench and was able to get a quick unstructured lift and Im mad I havent used it before! Was kinda fun!!!!
 
TacoLifter420 said:


You can do a ton with a set of adjust dumbbells and a bench that will incline.

Click to expand...
I have 10 lb dumbbells, but other free weights, a straight bar with clips and a bar that has bends in it. Im finally excited about working out!
 
bamagirl26 said:


I have 10 lb dumbbells, but other free weights, a straight bar with clips and a bar that has bends in it. Im finally excited about working out!

Click to expand...

Plug the equipment you have, the number of days a week you want to train, if you want to do whole body or splits and how long you have for each work, along with what you want to accomplish into chat gpt and it will give you workout plans.
 
bamagirl26 said:


I used to love going to the gym and doing classes (Step, Body pump, Zumba, Core and more) you get the gist, but that was many moons ago and now I dont have a gym membership.

My "working out" has mostly been cardio with a bike and treadmill, but it's not cutting it. To add to the complexity, I fractured my tibial plateau earlier this year (schatzker type 2 fracture) in a sports injury and didnt have surgery.

Im still having some trouble fully loading that leg, but I want to start doing videos or something at home to help me get strong and preserve/BUILD muscle while on a Tirz.

So, any recommendations of some videos that you have done at home that are motivational and dont require tons of equipment? I do have therapy bands, some dumbbells and willing to make an investment, but dont want to spend a lot of money.

THANKS!

Click to expand...
I loved exercise classes. Now I workout with YouTube. My favorite right now is Caroline Girvan-strength training but fast paced and she doesn't talk, which I LOVE. She does timed intervals-45 sec on, 15 sec rest, and I have seen good results. I have a set of 10 and 20 lb dumbells and 25 and 35 lb kettlebells and that has been enough for me to get a really good workout with her Iron series.

I prefer this style of workout to traditional weight lifting, but if you want just standard weights then I'd suggest starting with either 3 full body workout or 2 lower/2 upper body workouts a week. Good for beginners and it is really easy to find a structured plan to follow online.
 
TacoLifter420 said:


Plug the equipment you have, the number of days a week you want to train, if you want to do whole body or splits and how long you have for each work, along with what you want to accomplish into chat gpt and it will give you workout plans.

Click to expand...
Def will. Prompt will read something like this: soft, weak lady with x, x, and x. design a plan to make me a beast.
 
bamagirl26 said:


I used to love going to the gym and doing classes (Step, Body pump, Zumba, Core and more) you get the gist, but that was many moons ago and now I dont have a gym membership.

My "working out" has mostly been cardio with a bike and treadmill, but it's not cutting it. To add to the complexity, I fractured my tibial plateau earlier this year (schatzker type 2 fracture) in a sports injury and didnt have surgery.

Im still having some trouble fully loading that leg, but I want to start doing videos or something at home to help me get strong and preserve/BUILD muscle while on a Tirz.

So, any recommendations of some videos that you have done at home that are motivational and dont require tons of equipment? I do have therapy bands, some dumbbells and willing to make an investment, but dont want to spend a lot of money.

THANKS!

Click to expand...
You can do a lot with dumbbells. If you have a fitness app I’d recommend doing full body dumbbell training. The best free app that I use is the Liftosaur app! They have so many free exercise splits and a server on discord for extra help. Add some zone two cardio at least one day a week on your non lifting day…and liftosaur even has a female training split that specializes in firming up those booty muscles if you want to go that route. Good luck, stay focused, and get fit!
 
Back
Top