Help re dumbbells

Caychadh

Hi, I'm a 23 year old female and weigh about 8st 10lbs. I'm a bit pudgy, especially around the middle due to NO (and i mean that) exercise and a very bad diet. My aim is to get fit but I can't join a gym due to lack of funds. I'm trying to sort out my diet (no white bread, more small meals, no snacking etc) and have started going for walks (with some running interspersed) doing press ups (well, trying to) and sit ups and using dumbbells. I want to get some upper arm definition and generally more arm strength.
I've got 4kg dumbbells and have checked on the internet how to use them and saw I'm meant to have my upper arms by my sides and only really move below the elbows. I also looked around these threads and have seen the importance of posture, warmups etc.
I just have a couple of questions if you don't mind.. :rolleyes:

Is just moving the lower arms working my upper arms? And are there any other exercises I could do with the dumbbells?
How often should I use them? I've checked the stickies and see phrases such as reps and 5x5 etc but have no idea what this is at all.
Should I warm up? What would a warm up be for arms?
After use, my arms (from wrist to below the elbow) are a bit stiff and sore.. is this right? Should it not be my (and I use the word loosly) biceps?

Thanks for any responses- I'm just starting to use these things and don't want to discover later down the line that I've been doing it wrong!

EileenG

Hi, glad to hear you are starting to work with weights.

Don't confine yourself to upper body only. Working your lower body can also benefit your arms and shoulders through increases in growth hormone and testosterone.

Warming up is a good idea, ten minutes of dancing or sparring is good. Try doing exercises like squat (bodyweight, then holding your dumbbells. As you get advanced, try holding the dbs above your head, that's a real challenge), lunges, stiffleg deadlift, bendover dumbbell row or one arm db row. Also db bench press, shoulder press, bicep curls, overhead db extensions, side and front raise, pull back (bend forward at the hips, with a db hanging straight down, then keep your arm straight as you pull the db back to your hip, this works your upper back). Check out www.exrx.net for more explanations of all the exercises, plus a little show of how to do them. Dips off a chair are also great for upper arms, plus press-ups. Do them from your knees if you can't do full ones.

Reps means repetitions. Each time you do one squat or press-up or whatever is one rep. Set is a number of repetitions done without pause. So three sets of ten reps is 10 squats, then a rest or different exercise, then ten more squats, another rest, then a final ten squats. 5x5 means five sets of five reps. Ideally, the number of reps you do in each set should be the the number you can do without making a hash of the next one. If you do ten squats, and you can do another couple before your legs feel like they are going to give out, then do another two.

Because your weights are fairly light, you should make a point of concentrating on what you are doing. Try to squeeze your muscles all the way up and all the way down. Don't just swing the weight around. Do each exercise fairly slowly and keep it controlled all the way.

ronbyrne2005

Don't be focusing on just your arms. It's hard to "tone" your arms alone without achieving a good overall body fat/lean muscle levels.
Keep up the fast walking/running. Cut out the crap food, increase protein intake, do whole body exercises and not just isolation exercises like bicep curls. Look at the site mentioned above, it shows you how to do them all. If you can't do proper push ups do assisted ones where you leave your knees on ground. Do core work as well as this will help tighten around your middle.
You would be suprised how much of a good workout you could get with a few dumbells, a few chairs, a swiss ball, a chin up bar and body weight exercises. Good luck.