Awm, thank you for the tips and link! It was fun to see what your first impressions were. And no, no worries-- as I posted in my initial post, I was never planning on using them day after day. I had yoga and ballet scheduled in on alternate days. While I have never been good about working out, I understand the need for muscles to rest. :) I have put off buying a kettlebell, however. I am concerned about the whole lead thing . . .so many get bad reviews (leaving blisters), too. Seems like the only good ones are expensive (I am not sure about the lead in them) and I don't want to commit that much money to them w/o knowing if they are for me. Outside, wow! Three generations! That is fantastic. Should be fun just to be together! Patty, that is fantastic! Your bones must love you for putting the time into them! Beth, yay for Normal the trainer! I am so glad you clicked, and he sounds worth the investment. RE: losing an ounce, is it possible that, as your building more muscle mass, any weight you lose in fat won't show up on the scale because you are adding muscle? But, I think a visit to the doctor is a good idea . . .how do you feel? I'm sorry about your allergies! I bought ankle weight that are adjustable, but they are just too big for me. BUT, I tried them for one workout, and I see the benefit. I do the modified versions of some exercises due to my knees, but with the weights, then I am getting more out of the exercise. It's a good way for me to get a harder workout but safely. So, now I need to find some new ones. My yoga video is coming today . . .and I am going to get a few heavier weights, and maybe a video by the trainer Annie recommended. (She seems like fun!) Cheering everyone on who is doing this, including those of you reading without commenting! Some inspiration:

Anele, use both a 5 pound & 10 pound weight to start out with, and just be mindful of any strain or difficulty. If you can only do a few reps with the 10, that's okay. The strength & endurance will come. Better to focus on technique at first anyway. 5 pounds will quickly become way too light very soon, whereas you can use a 10 pounder for quite a long time while you are mastering different moves. I vary between 18 to 25, just moved to a 35 for the first time, went on vacation & am back down to the lower weights (darn!). But I still use a 12 pound bell for some exercises I don't have the flexibility for, like windmills. Turkish get ups are excellent! It uses all your muscle groups and will get your heart rate up, up, up. I hate the TGU, but it is a great exercise! My instructor can do it with a 54 pound bell or two 25 pound bells. Amazing to see. I struggle mightily with an 18 pound bell. My kbell group is on our own now that our instructor is on vacation. We tried some kbell workouts from Lauren Brooks' book, "Kettlebells for Women,", and were really impressed. Short but thorough workouts. We were cooked after 20 minutes. Kettlebells for Women by Lauren Brooks Her beginner videos look very good too, except I see she does an overhead swing. Madame Kettlebells says absolutely do not do that -- too prone to shoulder injury. Here is a link that might be useful: technique demonstrations by Lauren Brooks This post was edited by awm03 on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 18:36

2 minutes, Annie? That is incredible! Awm is right-- you are like iron! Awm, that is awesome about your KB group. Are there ever any injuries with people letting go by mistake? My hands get so sweaty sometimes . . . I worry about that! (Right through DH's TV it would go!) Thank goodness I am short, because if I were taller my KB would break through our very low ceiling with some moves. I am finally getting some little callouses from them. Hope that is a good thing! For the next set of 6 weeks, I will just keep one thread going the whole time instead of individual weeks. Can you believe we've been talking about this (and following through) for 3 months? I know some of you have done it all along (started long before). Wow!

Awm, yes, I do believe that the bigger reason my knee is feeling better is due to the better support all around. In fact, that is a big reason as to why I started to exercise. I am not overweight, so I figured that there was nothing I could really do about my knee (usually extra weight is the culprit; lose the weight, lose the pain), but when I read about lack of strength, a light bulb went off, as I had so little muscle. That is really amazing about your shoulder. Wow! Like you said, I know my knee problem is still there (one is far worse than the other), but it helps. However, the last few days I have started doing deep stretching that feels good at the time . . .but yesterday I started hearing my knee make a really loud noise. I have always had clicky knees (since I was a child), but this was something new. It's only supposed to be an issue if there is pain, and the pain isn't worse per se, so I guess it's OK but may be a signal of problems to come? I am really shocked that INCREASING the KB to 3 times a week actually helped. That is very motivating. I know there are specific KB exercises for knee issues, so I will work on those. I feel like my muscle development is decreasing! I was doing everything with 5 lb weights and it was getting too easy, so I went to 10. 10 lbs is hard for some exercises . . .and now when I go back down to 5 lbs, some exercises are harder than they were before. (Even when I have only used 5 lb the whole time.) I am wondering if I am not allowing enough recovery time, though these are very light weights in the big scheme of things . . .