
I am 37, female, a mother to two large babies (when they were born, that is) and as a result ruined my abs. I can't squat or deadlift because that separates them, two fingers width on occasion. I also have injuries to my right wrist and left shoulder. As a result all the compound lifts seem out of reach, but my workouts seem to have stalled. I can't make progress on the dumbell and cable exercises I can manage.
My goal is to have slightly less body fat, and slightly more definition. I'm running out of ideas, and was wondering whether anyone could help.
My current programme looks like this:
MONDAY
Cable Chest Press
Lying Dumbell Row
Fly (machine, can't do dumbell)
Cable Lat Pulldown
Lateral Raise
Tricep Kickback
WEDNESDAY
Walking Lunges
Leg Press
Calf Raise
Leg Curl
BOSU Lunges
FRIDAY
Single Cable Lat Pulldown
Incline Chest Press
Horizontal (Inverted) Row
Cuban Press
Single Tricep Pulldown
Exterior Rotation
Bicep Curl
I do 3 sets of 10 reps. I try to put the weights up regularly (weights not listed as they're pathetic), and sometimes I'll do 5 x 5.
I guess my main question is: do I need the big lifts, or can I can away with piddling around with dumbells?