How often should I be strength training?

classicalguitar1

Hi, over the last 7 months I have lost 4 stone and reduced my body fat from 33% to 20% and I have achieved this through purely dieting and excercising (only cardio).
However now I am turning my attention to strength training with the goal of reducing my body fat by a few more percent and also building/maintaining the muscle I already have.
Bearing in mind I have never really had a serious attempt at strength training before how often should I be working these muscles?
Currently I am lifting using dumbbells (8 kg on each dumbbell) and mainly focusing on biceps, shoulders, triceps chest and abs ( I am also doing pressups and crunches)
The problem is that after every session I can't really feel any burning in my muscles so I am doing it twice a day now just to convince myself that I really am working the muscles.
Is this a mistake? If so can someone

jjking54

Lift heavier weights.

I lift three days a week, and honestly I can't lift more than that because my muscles are tired and need time to recover.

Huffdogg

Focus on compound barbell lifts. Right now you are neglecting all of the largest muscles in your body. Look into Starting Strength; it's a great book that outlines probably the best beginner strength training program out there and gives you exhaustive descriptions of all the lifts.

norcalskater

I also lift 3 days a week and the other 3 days I do cardio. The day left over I either rest or do light cardio. Lift heavier weights. A good rule of thumb is a weight where you can do at least 6 reps but no more than 12 reps. Also include a leg day.

rileysowner

Personally I would suggest Stronglifts 5x5 for a beginner. It is three days a week, focuses on a small number of compound lifts (lifts that use more than one joint), works the whole body, and will give a good foundation for future lifting. The program has a clear easy to follow progression moving you from easy to more and more challenging. However, you will need access to a barbell (ideally an Olympic style one) bench and squat racks.