You can start a strength-training program at home without expensive equipment, following these suggestions from three-time Olympian and coach Pat Connolly. You can improve your strength and flexibility in less than 20 minutes a day. Dont push yourself if any of these moves are difficult for you; start small and build up gradually.

You will need a sturdy, straight back chair, a small fanny pack full of pennies or quarters, and 2 half-gallon plastic milk containers (with handles). Begin with the containers half full of water. You can add weight as the exercises get easy for you.

Arms/Upper Body

First, gently stretch and warm up your arm muscles. Hold one of the containers in your right hand, hanging down at your side. Curl it up in front and then down, then lift it as far back as you can. Repeat 10 times. Do the same with your left hand. As you get stronger you can increase the weight by adding water or sand, increase the number of repetitions to 20, and then increase to 2-3 sets of 20.

Legs/Lower Body

First, gently stretch and warm up your leg muscles.

1. Hold one of the containers in each hand with your arms down at your sides. Stand in front of the chair and squat down to just touch the chair with your butt and then stand back up. Repeat 10 times. As this gets easy, increase the weight of the containers, add the weighted fanny pack around your waist, and build up to 20 times.

2. Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front and your back against a wall. Wrap the fanny pack around one ankle and raise that leg, keeping your knee straight, 10 times. Repeat with the other leg.

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in Sports Medicine and three other specialties.

Dr. Mirkin's daily features on fitness have been heard on CBS Radio News stations since the 1970's. He has written 16 books including The Sportsmedicine Book, the best-selling book on the subject that has been translated into many languages. His latest book is The Healthy Heart Miracle, published by HarperCollins.

Dr. Mirkin is a graduate of Harvard University and Baylor University College of Medicine. A Boston native, Dr. Mirkin did his residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has served as a Teaching Fellow at Johns Hopkins Medical School, Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, and Associate Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He has run more than forty marathons and is now a serious tandem bicycle rider with his wife, nutritionist Diana Mirkin.