Quoting "Larisa" <[email hidden]>:
Quoted message said:I'm temporarily in Texas, taking care of my ill mother. The gym I go
to is in California. I don't want to sign up for a gym in Texas, since
I have no idea how long I'll be here, so I'd like to work out at home
for the time being. As far as I can tell, most exercises can be done
with just a set of dumbbells (which I can acquire fairly easily), but
how does one exercise the lats with no fancy machines? I can't do an
unassisted pullup, alas. Most I can pull down on a lat pull-down
machine is about 75 lbs.
Also, is there a good dumbbell substitute for hamstring curls?
I'll be grateful for any advice.
For the hams/glutes/lower back, stiff legged deads (either bar or
dumbbell) would do the trick.
Personally, I would recommend that you perform these with a slight
bend in your knee (keeping the leg stiff and the back straight) and
bending from the hip (think of bending like the hip is a hinge, not at
the waist, for safety). Might want to google the group to see how to
best do these -- think there was a fairly recent comment by Lyle on
how to do these properly.
For the lats, I'd recommend that you do negative reps of pullups (if
convenient in your current situation to get a doorway bar). Neg reps
are the best way to progress to the real thing. Boost yourself up to
the top position with a chair.
Other exercises that would target lats include:
o one armed rows -- be sure and check out Krista's website for the
proper form -- http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html
Go to the "all dumbbells all the time" workout to read her notes on
this.
o dumbbell pullovers (one of my favs) -- you're basically going to lay
sideways on a bench or whatever object you currently have available;
supporting the upper back only. Just like rows, form is super
important.
If you want to view the exercise, go here:
http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/home.htm
and
select "exercises"
then "upper back"
then "pullovers-dumbbell"
