Weight Training Advice?
 

As I am a firm believer in weight training for women, I need some tips to support my belief.

Losing weight, is my main concern, but with that comes other necessities. I don't want to be flabby and have weak arms, weak stomach, and weak legs! I do plan on doing some videos from the makers of insanity and p90x but I don't want to do that until I'm at about 160lbs. But I definitely want to add it into my cardio work outs to make my arms and legs and stomach look better and slimmer.

I have 5 and 10lb weights right now.

Does anyone have any suggestions for successful, reliable, weight exercises with noticeable results?

You will need heavier weights, a bench, etc. 5/10 lb weights won't do the job. Or hit the gym.

Check out ExRx

Briefly, the most effective weight lifting exercises are multi-joint with heavy(for you) weight.
Bench Press
Bent Row
Squat
Barbell Shoulder Press
And so on.
Check out the link. They have extensive advice, a muscle/exercise directory and a small video illustrating correct form for each exercise.

If you want to find the appropriate SAFE weight for you to use if what you have is too easy, you need to be able to do at least 8 repitions of, say, a bicep curl with a dumbell with the last few reps being very difficult (struggling), but not impossible. That will be your max weight to curl. You do the same thing for any other exercise involving weight. You don't want to go too light and don't want to go too heavy either. You want to be able to complete the exercise with good form and without hurting yourself.

A good start, if your not a avid exerciser at the moment, is to try some light work outs first. Women's Health has a book of a bunch of different 15 minute work outs that utilize weights, stability balls, bands, ect. As well as a work out for every occasion. Also, if you don't have enough money to by heavier weights, water bottles work great. You can get them in different sizes and fill them with water, or sand. Incorporate it into your cardio work outs and it'll be good work on your muscles since they have to stabilize for all the excess fluid movement in the water. I could offer you some more advice, but I don't want to preach.

Good luck!

please do! private message me

Weights can become your #1 best friend!
It will help tone you and along with a balanced diet and cardio it will add lean muscle mass to your physique. Hit the gym if you are a newcomer

Handcycle is dead on.

Ignore ramron12.

Hi, I'm a woman in the army and firmly believe that weight training for women is the best way to support weight loss. In my personal time, I lift heavy weights twice a week in a gym for no more than 30 minutes. I base my workouts around 10 "multi-joint" exercises. Squat, deadlift, straight-leg deadlift, bent-over row, military press, power clean, clean and press, pull-up, bench press, and upright row. I do five of these in one workout session, and lift the heaviest I can for up to 10 reps and do 3 sets of each. Besides this I do my normal 4 military PT sessions a week, 2 boxing sessions, a 8 km pack march or a 2.4 k run, a 1 hour yoga session, and 2 10 minute stretch sessions. I look and/am fitter than ever before and I can garantee you won't end up looking big or bulky, as women commonly think you end up looking like when you lift heavy weights. Yes, I have more muscle than most, but that is mostly due to my job/highly active lifestyle, not just due to my weightlifting. My personal and professional opinion is that you need to be lifting a lot heavier than 5 and 10 lbs to get any fat burning/toning benefit out of it.

Also note, that women simply don't have the capicity to get "big and bulky" like men do since they don't have the same amount of testorone. The only way that female bodybuilders look the way they do, is by using steroids, or by a carefully controlled diet with high protein intake, and extreme focus on their workouts.

Google Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, you can search his name on youtube for instuctional videos. I would not suggest taking advice from magazines. You can weight train like a guy and no, it will not make you look masculine overnight, over 2 years, probably never. You learn basic lifts, and the 5 rep range is good for beginners b/c they are unlikely to lose form near the end of the set.