New poster looking for help

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and I was really encouraged by some of the threads. I found the advice and help given by other members really useful and was wondering whether someone could help me, so here's my situation...

I'm a Stay-At-Home-Mum, raising a toddler and live in a rural area and have extremely limited opportunities to go to the gym (time, finance and distance). However, I have lost all the pregnancy weight through eating healthily and exercising. Here's my problem:

I still have a lot of body fat, mostly around the stomach and arms, although I need to lose it all over (legs and bum). Here are my questions:

- Can I lose fat and tone up from these areas without going to the gym?
- Do I need to lose more weight before exercising on my arms (because they seem to look bigger when I exercise that area)
- Can anybody recommend a good book / website on exercise terminology (lateral pulldowns, military press, incline bench-press, etc.)

I really need to know how to do these exercises properly because of back problems. I have a protruding cervical disk (C5-C6) and recently underwent an umbilical hernia (early July).

I'm 5ft 4, and weigh 58 Kg (aprox. 122 lbs). I'm not sure how much more weight I need to lose, only I'm not quite there yet, going off my appearance and my "wobbly" bits.

Thanks in advance. Believe me, any help would be so appreciated.

Nicole36.
 
Hi Nicole,

The bad news is you can't spot reduce fat - just have keep losing weight until the areas you're targeting are getting hit. The good news is that just about any resistance will help build/tone the muscles - resistance bands, tubes, dumbbells, body weight exercises, or jugs of sand or water can be used to train them up.

Many people here use as an exercise resource. It has clips of quite a few exercises so you can see how they're done.

Considering your health issues though, I'd check with your doctor first before doing any sort of exercise, to see if there's anything you need to watch out for. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Stingo,

I've taken a look at the ExRx on the net and I'm keen to start training. I'll will have my list of questions ready at my next doctor's appointment.....Then it's sorting out my diet!!!

Thanks again this really does help,

Nicole.
 
Do you have gym equipment at home? If not I think a great way to shape up at home is, believe it or not, exercise videos. I've had good results with them. I think they're really good especially if you're not a seasoned exerciser because they teach you what pace to go at and they can help motivate to keep going when you're feeling tired, moreso than just doing it on your own, I think.

But yeah I second checking with a doctor first giving your particular issues.

Good luck.
 
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