Ladies: Weight Training (fellas, your feedback is welcome)

[Caramella]

Ladies, how do you weight train? Do you do a video/dvd or do you lift at the gym? How much weight do you lift and by how many increments(in weight) do you increase? How often do you weight train and for how long? How many sets do you do?

I just want to see what other people are doing to see how I can improve and have more effective weight training sessions. Currently, I just started getting serious with the weight training aspect of my workout routine. I've only been doing weights once a week. I do Victoria Johnson's Powershaping II and it is the best. It's a mix of cardio and weight training where the weight training aspect is mainly upper body. However, there are exercises that focus on the legs such as lunges and squats. I definitely recommend this video or dvd. Anyhow, the past two weeks I've been doing weights twice a week. The first week (out of the two past weeks) I was lifting 3lbs but this week and from now on(until this weight is no longer effective) I'll be lifting 5lbs.

I do my lower body weight training at the gym by doing 15 reps, 5x....is that too much or too little? I do the machines that focus on the abductors, adductor, quads and hamstrings

For abs, I just do it on my own at the gym or at home using exercises from Fitness magazine.

So what do you ladies do? Any feedback on what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated from anyone as well.:)

[Ambition]

I've been weight/cardio training 4-5 times a week for the past month or so, and I go to a gym so I use mostly machines but some freeweights.

I typically rotate each day at the gym...one day Lower body + abs..day off...next day upper body + abs...day off...back to lower body + abs...day off..then the last day I lift for the whole body.

if it's 5 days I just go two days in a row or something. But I always work my abs every other day.

I use ALOT of machines and I don't really pay attention to their names, but I like them better than free-weights. I do know I love the leg press, this weighted ab crunch machine, and anything that works my arms.


As for reps..the higher the reps, supposedly the better it tones, but 15 is good. I usually go 15-20...but I don't go 5 times. Usually it's about 3 for me. Do you go light on the weights?


p.s. Try and make sure you mix in cardio, it gets results much faster. Try an elliptical machine

[Caramella]

I've been weight/cardio training 4-5 times a week for the past month or so, and I go to a gym so I use mostly machines but some freeweights.
I typically rotate each day at the gym...one day Lower body + abs..day off...next day upper body + abs...day off...back to lower body + abs...day off..then the last day I lift for the whole body.
if it's 5 days I just go two days in a row or something. But I always work my abs every other day.
I use ALOT of machines and I don't really pay attention to their names, but I like them better than free-weights. I do know I love the leg press, this weighted ab crunch machine, and anything that works my arms.
As for reps..the higher the reps, supposedly the better it tones, but 15 is good. I usually go 15-20...but I don't go 5 times. Usually it's about 3 for me. Do you go light on the weights?
p.s. Try and make sure you mix in cardio, it gets results much faster. Try an elliptical machine

Thank you for the response and feedback. I usually go light on the weights but I'm trying to challenge myself so I plan to go heavier but not too heavy. The video that I do recommends that you use 3lb to 5lb weights. However, I know I will get used to 5lbs eventually and I'm not sure if I should increase to 6, 7 or 8lbs. My goal is to build muscle and then eventually maintain the muscle growth. I'm not trying to be bulky or anything, just fit and toned.

As far as cardio, I've been doing cardio 3-5 times a week for the past six months. I just want to get more toned and get more serious with the weights as I've been real light on the weight training aspect of my exercise routine/program.

[Ambition]

Thank you for the response and feedback. I usually go light on the weights but I'm trying to challenge myself so I plan to go heavier but not too heavy. The video that I do recommends that you use 3lb to 5lb weights. However, I know I will get used to 5lbs eventually and I'm not sure if I should increase to 6, 7 or 8lbs. My goal is to build muscle and then eventually maintain the muscle growth. I'm not trying to be bulky or anything, just fit and toned.
As far as cardio, I've been doing cardio 3-5 times a week for the past six months. I just want to get more toned and get more serious with the weights as I've been real light on the weight training aspect of my exercise routine/program.



Makes sense..once you intensify the weight training you'll see better results :)