Q: I attempted the 'Dumbbell-Only Program' in your sample programs with a 15lb and a 10lb weight (you might remember my previous question asking if I could use two different weights until I could pick another 15lb up). Anyways, I only made it to push-up's, and could only do 20 (only about 3 at a time...), and I couldn't go on with the program. I had to stop there. After a shower and everything, I could barely move, my legs hurt like hell. It was like that for another two days, I've done exercises before in an attempt to lose weight, and was sore, but never that bad that it hurt to walk.

Is this just because I'm not used to it, or is it that I injured myself doing it wrong? There are absolutely no gyms around here (nearest gym is over an hour away), and nobody I know does weight-training. When I go to the city, it's not for something like that, I go when I have to do something.

Should I continue? Will it get easier as I go on? Am I injuring myself or is just because I'm badly out of shape?

Thanks.

A: First off, great job on starting the program!! Yes, the first few sessions will be the most painful ones, but I promise to you it will get a lot easier and after a few weeks you'll hardly get sore at all. Your strength will also build up quickly and you'll be able to do more reps in a set.

But you definitely need to survive through these first sessions so only do what you can in each set. If you can only do 3 pushups before needing a rest, then only do 2 sets of 3 pushups each. If you can't do a single pullup, do a couple of partial ones (just get to a slight bend in the elbows before lowering yourself back down). You can also scale down to just doing 1 set per exercise until your strength builds up. Good news though is that the first exercises you did -- squats, lunges, deadlifts -- are the most important (and toughest!) ones so your workout was actually quite productive.

So take your time, rest until soreness goes away and then get back to exercising, only this time go just a bit easier as I suggested above. Pushing yourself is what will make for best progress over time, so great job doing that. Just ease up slightly until your body is more used to heavy exercise stress.