Advice on 'weights' anyone?

melville88

Hi there, I'm a beginner to the whole muscle toning and weights etc: I'm female, aged 21 and although i am not at my target weight yet, I have lost almost 7 stone and I have noticed that my skin is starting to get a bit saggy. I thought a way to improve this might be through doing just a few weights every now and then on top of my cardio exercise? The skin is saggiest on my thighs, tum and boobs :sad:, a bit on my arms as well (top of my arms). I'm not very strong and haven't done weights before really so any suggestions of what I should do and how long etc? thanks! x

spacie

If you do chest muscle exersices it will help your breasts in that the muscle beneath them will be stronger so as a result your breasts will look lifted. Plus, doing weights can increase your metabolism and help with your weight loss as well.

Edestiny7

I have been doing a workout I got from Prevention magazine. I lift a weight for 10 reps, then lift the next lower weight for 10 - 12 reps. If I am able to lift the lower weight for all 12 reps, it means the first weight was too light. Generally you will need to experiment when you are starting out, to find which weights are easy, and which are impossible. You want a weight that you can lift for the reps, and that hopefully gets you to fatigue at the end of your reps. A personal trainer would work with you, or you can find workouts on Prevention magazine's website. :flowerforyou:

questionablemethods

Well, personally, I wouldn't do just a few weights every now and then in addition to your cardio. You could do resistance training AS cardio and get more bang for your buck, so to speak. Resistance training can bring about dramatic changes in your body, for the better! Often, I see women who weigh very little, but they are unhappy with how their bodies look because they are "skinny fat" they have no muscle tone. I use resistance training equally as often, if not more often, than plain cardio. But I mostly do circuit training, so my resistance work also ends up as a cardio workout.

If you are starting out, I would recommend Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video. It is only about $9 at stores like Target or online. I think you can even buy the video on iTunes. You can also check out YouTube for some great circuit workouts (like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvU1B6nIq78 for example).

melville88

thanks everyone! x

unknownndoll

I do jillians and other workouts with 3-5 lb weights to start out

aareeyesee

http://www.liamrosen.com/fitness.html

This is helpful for many people.

hill242

Hi there, I'm a beginner to the whole muscle toning and weights etc: I'm female, aged 21 and although i am not at my target weight yet, I have lost almost 7 stone and I have noticed that my skin is starting to get a bit saggy. I thought a way to improve this might be through doing just a few weights every now and then on top of my cardio exercise? The skin is saggiest on my thighs, tum and boobs :sad:, a bit on my arms as well (top of my arms). I'm not very strong and haven't done weights before really so any suggestions of what I should do and how long etc? thanks! x

Weight lifting is one of the best exercises you can do for your overall health. When I first began to get serious about strength training, I found stumptuous.com to be an invaluable resource. My number one advice I would give to you right now: Do not fear the free weights! You will find them to give you a better range of motion (ROM) and they'll really hit your supporting muscles and improve your balance/agility. Machines only let you move in one direction - straight back/forth or up/down - and they tend to neglect your stabilizing muscles.

Don't be discouraged that you're not very strong right now. The only way to get stronger is to work at it. I wish you the best! Weight lifting is my favorite exercise!