Valarie and Earl ?????

I hope I spelled your names correctly. I know that you are both active in weight and strength training. I think I remember you talking about a community site on the boards that talks about weight training. Could you let me know what that is. I am ready to start building my muscles. I also have a teenage son who is very interested in building muscle. We thought we could help each other. Any info you could share would be appreciated. Thanks for the information and inspiration. Deb

Almost, but I forgive ya! I am glad we have gotten you excited in weight training! It is addictive let me tell you and it is sooooo good for your body. We love to help people get started. The message board we post on is the Bodybuilding and weight lifting messageboard here on OH. C'mon over. We have some great people posting there, lots of ideas and different strategies to work out with and GREAT support there. See if this link will take you there: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/member-interests/bodybuilding_weightlifting/posts/ Check it out, and if there's anything we can do to help you out, just holler! Hugs, Valerie

Thank you for the help Valerie. We bought a weight bench and some weights to start. That is the hard part the starting. I am going to read some posts on the bodybuilding board. Does lifting weights help to get rid of the "bat wings"? I know nothing helps, right?

Awesome!! Just start easy and work your way up. Use light weights until you get the technique down. That's the important part. It doesn't matter how much weight you push, if you are doing it incorrectly you won't help yourself at all, and can hurt yourself too. Here's another good link to check out...it shows the animation of correct technique on many exercises. http://www.bodyforlife.com/exercise/animations.asp? You can tone up your arms a fairly decent amount with weight training. The goal is to build up your muscle mass (no you won't look like a freak!) and that in turn helps burn calories and tighten up connective tissue in the process. Unfortunately if you have a very large amount of redundant skin, you may always have the "wings" but if you optimize toning up, and then choose to have surgery, you won't have that much to fix! You want to work primarily the tricep muscles. They are where the "bat wings" are located. So, look for the tricep type exercises. Like I said doesn't have to be heavy to start, just get the motion down first. Nice, easy, steady, feel the contraction of the muscle, don't try to speed right through them you won't help youself at all. Start with about 6 reps, for 3 sets. Then work your way up. That's a good rule of thumb for the rest of your body as well. Reistance training is also great for your bones too!! Slow, steady and consistent wins the race! Val