Where to start?

My Ice Tea, hmmmmm I think I'll have some.  

So you decided that you want to get strong, fit, healthy and in shape.  Where do you start?  It can be intimidating; but you really want to start...small.  Small is the way that you should start when you start lifting.  Diving in and lifting heavy weights will just end up causing injury.  So how can you start before you feel like you are ready to step into the gym; if you ever want to step into the gym that is.

How about lifting cans?  A jug of juice, bag of rice etc?  If you open up your pantry you will find many different things that you can lift.  I'd suggest something approximately 2 pounds to start with.  I know you are probably thinking, two pounds?  But do three sets of 12 repetitions and see how you feel the next day or day after that.  If you are totally fine with that then move up to 5 lbs.

Have a good look around your house and find something that you can lift.  I actually found an ice tea jug that would be amazing for a start up.  Once it's empty you can use water to add weight when you are ready.  How cool is that?  Your own free kettle weights for beginners.  A plastic jug with a comfortable handle to hold will work great.  Give it a wash out and then your off to the start of lifting.

How to do a proper bicep curl.  

So lets start with biceps and triceps.  Biceps are on the inside of your arm, triceps on the out.  Triceps are a very common weak spot in woman as we age.  You know that flapping wing thing that happens when you wave?  Yep, that.  We want to get rid of that by working out your triceps.  With just a little work you can quickly reduce those flappers and turn them into usable muscle.

Bent tricep extension - although this is proper extension form, I prefer to do mine one arm at a time.  You can also support yourself with one arm while doing the other.

If you happen to have a set of small weights at home, even better.  Or, you can also use exercise bands; they are great for lots of different things for a workout.  Getting stronger is made up of lots of building blocks.  You need to do everything nice and slow, precise and exact.  Don't be throwing the weights around willy nilly.  By slowing down an exercise you get the maximum benefit from the full range of motion.  Doing speedy fraction movements get you nothing, so why bother?

Measure your pain.  I am not a fan of working out to exhaustion and not being able to move the next day.  I like to feel like I've had a workout but not be in actual pain.  The old saying "no pain no gain," wrongo.  The slower you take to move up your weights, the less severe pain there will be.