Weight Lifting tips for an utter Noob

bigfuzzybear

So I've been hitting the gym for a little over a month now. I do a full hour of Cardio (Stationary bike, slightly recumbent style, maintaining a heart-rate between 145-160) and then I hit the weight room for 30 minutes. I haven't been Super consistent with it, but I do it enough that I'm seeing results. I make use of the machines in my school's Rec Center. I do a lot of upper body, because my legs get a good workout from the bike. Seriously, my calf muscles are solid and gaining definition, with my thigh muscles following suit. But I kind of want to know if there's anything I could do to do it better.

To specify my normal weight routine as best I can, I usually start on the Fly machine, and do a burnout on those starting at 110 for 5 reps, then 10 reps at 90, and as many as I can manage at 70. Then I do some work on the ab crunch machine 10@90 then 20@70. Then I do presses and pulldowns, though I can't remember the weight off-hand. I do seated bicep curls, full extension, Tricep presses and finish off with a burnout of leg presses, starting at 190 lbs. The other day, My elbow was bothering me, so I tried a few other machines, but I haven't done them enough to have their names committed to memory. I was doing 170 pound calf extensions, though. I remember that much. I didn't want to miss out on the extra caloric burn of a weight lifting workout, so basically I did some lower body stuff, and things that wouldn't require I put any pressure on my elbow.

RaggedyPond

Dont forget about your presses. Bench press, incline press, arnold press.

astronomicals

pick a well known beginners program with decent programming and planned progression. thats my advice.

OsricTheKnight

pick a well known beginners program with decent programming and planned progression. thats my advice.

This ^

For example, Starting Strength. [Or maybe strong lifts, a lot of people here have recommended that one too.]

Osric