Stephen, using a rebounder (a mini-trampoline) is the best way to become stronger, overall. The health bounce, whereby one does not jump high enough for the feet to leave the mat, is used for those starting out, and for those who are recovering from illness.

The recommendations I've read are to start with jumping two or three minutes at a time, a few times a day, and build up.

Rebounding strengthens every cell. It is very low impact and greatly improves a person's strength and immune system. It improves circulation and oxygenation. The lists of benefits seem endless.

NASA uses rebounders for the astronauts to reacclimate to gravity.

Here is some info on rebounding. Most are sites that sell rebounders, but they each tell something a bit different about the benefits of rebounding:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1422823/the_fountain_of_youth_discovered.html?cat=5

http://www.healthbounce.com/33ways.htm http://www.healingdaily.com/exercise/health-benefits-of-rebounding.htm

http://www.urbanrebounding.com/benefits.html http://www.healingdaily.com/exercise/rebounding-for-detoxification-and-health.htm

http://www.reboundforfitness.com/ http://www.cancerchoices.com/Rebounding.htm

I can't say enough good things about rebounding. It's been of tremendous benefit for me.

Also, if she has a safe place to walk, taking short strolls can be a great boon.

After she is stronger, Callanetics is a form of strength and flexibility training that tones the muscles and increases poise. I have been doing them for many years.

IMO, Callanetics and rebounding are perfect exercises for us women who would like to be stronger and look our best. Not all of us women are inclined to the hefty sort of exercises that receive so much attention on these boards. And not all women need to or wish to do the sorts of exercises men do. Men's diets don't work for us, why would their exercise programs? It is a grand thing to have choices about how to approach fitness.

Hope this helps some.

Oh thank you. This is an issue that is almost never addressed in the paleo community.

I'm F, 32, 215lbs, and have never really been fit and am currently embarrassingly deconditioned. I cannot do knee push-ups yet, can't hold a plank for 10s, legs are a little better (can do about 70 air squats)... but yeah, it's pretty sad.

And I've been looking at "what paleos recommend" and trying to figure out how I can do Crossfit or P90X or Olympic weight training and not injure or kill myself. Um. Or maybe it's okay for me to "start where I'm at" and work my way up via resistance and mobility training. (A thousand thanks to Jae for his reply!)

Another option for deconditioned women who don't have a personal trainer who can figure out how to scale things waaaaay down to our range is Curves. For people who are fit, it's boring and not very challenging. For people like me, it's a very good way to improve condition with less risk of injury and humiliation than most other methods. A year of Curves can help a woman get enough conditioning to be able to graduate to a more mainstream workout method... and not feel like she's being talked down to the entire time.

That's the other important caveat... be kind to her. When you're on the far left of the bell curve, it's easy to believe it's hopeless, and that everyone is just going to give up on you. Knowing I can't even do "girl push-ups" is humiliating, frustrating, depressing... it makes the thought of going to a mainstream gym intimidating, terrifying, and hopeless. I sometimes wonder if someone like me should seek a physical therapist instead of a personal trainer. Because they're used to people who can't do things yet. And they know how to accept that, be encouraging, and help people work up to a basic level of ability.

Weak guy or weak girl - doesn't matter, you start them the same. Teach them how to move their body - bodyweight squats, lunges, deadlifts, modified push ups, inverted body rows, planks. Their body is the only weight they need until they master the basic movements.

This is what I've done to go from a fat, weak couch-potato to a stronger, more capable physique: I started with walking, swimming, sparring, and bodyweight. Of course, I started at over 300 pounds, so my bodyweight was hefty. I love walking/running (barefoot or otherwise) if you have FUN at it and if your area is scenic. Swimming is resistance as well as toning - I could do underwater handstands w/ pushups as my strength and lung capacity increased, pushups/situps on the steps or side of the pool, laps to fatigue, throwing my children as far and high as I could, etc. Hubby and I bare-hand spar several times a week. Boxing/wrestling can be great fun and the competition is incentive. I have added sports equipment and things like bands, a pullup bar, and kettlebells to my collection. I also stopped cutting corners and asking for help on things like housework, errands/shopping, rearranging furniture, etc. The more I do myself, the more capable I see I am, and the stronger I get physically.

I can honestly say I've never been 99 lbs. But I am close, and fit, and I do do resistance training. Yet the only semi-useful thought I have is this: why is starting as a weak woman different than starting as a weak male? We don't have as much testosterone as men, and therefore build muscle more slowly and must lift lighter weights, but other than that I don't see how our training should differ. Especially at the beginning, when we're not striving for any particular sort of perfection.

I would first assure that she's meeting her protein and caloric needs. 1 g protein/lb of lean body weight is a popular number these days. Lots of calories. And the occasional carb to restore glycogen stores. According to practically every trainer on the planet, if one wants to put on muscle, she needs to EAT. In any case, nothing is going to give her more energy to dominate said 'weakness' than fuel for her body.

Something else I might do is try to include some impact training. By "weak" do you mean simply that she has little muscle mass, or that she suffers from malnutrition? It is important to build bone density, especially in someone malnourished or who was possibly on a crash diet before. And impact exercises can help with that, along with a proper diet devoid of grains/carbs/etc.

And then, since this woman was the one to initiate resistance training, I would trust that she wants to dig deep and build muscle. If she has to start with lower level weights with high reps, accept that. Set a rep number--say--8 or 12 or even as high as 20--and have her use low level weights until she can lift them without too much struggle up to that rep level. Then have her step it up to higher level weights. I remember that I started weight training with 5 and 8 pound curls. And now I do 20 pound curls without any problems. If dumbbells are what she and you want to be doing, don't worry about the fact that 10 pounds is heavy for her. If the exercise she's doing is appropriately strenuous, she WILL see results. And she WILL progress up to and beyond ten pounds, so long as she is diligent and eating well.

And if you/she wants to start with body weight exercises, do so, but just simply. Do knee pushups and lunges of all sorts. I would check out Mark Sisson's new e-book, Primal Fitness, here, for recommendations on easy body weight exercises: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-fitness/

I also want to note that even when starting with 8 lb weights I began to see a difference in muscle size and tone almost immediately. Note, too, that I'm 105 lbs, 5'2, and certainly muscle-y. The effects are definitely within her reach. Good luck to you both.

Great thoughts from Stefani. If I may add my 2 cents worth: seems to me that your trainee is eager but de conditioned so I'd say to start out with only the broadest, multijoint and bodyweight movements to begin conditioning her joints and muscles for whatever might come along down the road. In other words, work from the gross to the fine. A push, a pull, and a squat -- plus a tiny bit of road work -- would probably do it. I've been working with some people who cannot do even knee pushups, or at least, not more than one or two. So, I have them doing higher volume against a wall or a bar on a squat rack if in the gym or, if at home, a countertop. The pull movement is harder to train at home unless the person has a TRX, for example, (which is worth the investment). But, even here, working from near vertical pulls to slowly working her way down to more horizontal bodyweight rows (under a table, for instance) might be a thought for her. Squats would be just air squats for the first long while. Depending on her flexibility one might vary the width of the stance. However, here too, my focus would be on quality of movement and conditioning the joints and the entire core region. All offered with respect and IMHO Juan

I was a bit like that lady. I am much heavier, but I was very weak and out of shape. I started with 3 and 5Ibs dumbbells, and it was tough! I could do only a few push ups... Slowly, doing simple body weight and dumbbells exercises I got stronger, now I workout with 12Ibs, and I am quite proud of it :) I love how my arms look, and don't need much heavy weights. I do push ups now with legs higher, and still do a lot of body weight stuff, which challenge me really well.

I like the 4-H Body recommendation for getting started: kettlebell swings, once or twice a week. That's it. Add reps and weight as strength increases. For a weak person, its very doable and a very, very small time and money commitment.

I like the Primal Blueprint Fitness free e-book from Mark's Daily Apple; good guidelines for getting started with foundational movements & progression.

Being female and having started back to exercise about three years ago, I'm going to suggest beginner Stott pilates. That's where I started. Pilates was developed by a German physician, Joseph Pilates, in WWI with the end goal of getting injured soldiers on the battlefield. The system now has multiple brand names with Stott being the one most in tune with physiology and anatomy as well as conditioning. There is quite a bit of resistance training when using reformers and cadillacs. Mat work is mostly about abs - and believe me it's not easy.

Most people here seem to be into resistance training, but this is a good alternative. It's another thing I'm not giving up.