Question about weightlifting and results

with a good diet starting from an average body fat %?

at least a few months with a decent diet ot either gain or lose.

The biggest gains will be strength and conditioning gains.

What do you mean by "show results"? Are you meaning how long will it take to get ripped and in competition shape or how long to see a difference in your body? I started a program 5 weeks ago and have already lost inches and can see a difference. Of course, I've also increased protein intake, am keeping my calories at a deficit and just started watching sugar intake.
Also, you say you will do weights for 1 hour. Is your plan to do full body each time you do weights? And, if this is the plan, do you have a rest day in between your weight lifting days?

If you do a routine focused around compund barbell lifts, around 3-4 months. A guy could definitely see results in 3 or so, but muscle growth for women is smaller so not as easily noticable as soon.

Id change your focus from seeing body improvements to improvements in poundages being moved. They will be more frequent/noticable and you will get hooked on that, body changes will come as a result of increasing your lifting.

To become stronger, get a better body which is nicely toned, ESPECIALLY my thighs, I want them to become smaller - those are my goals at the moment

Understandably it will take some time, I'm not worried about that. And whilst at the moment they are painful to do, I quite enjoy doing them so I doubt I will stop doing them any time soon

Assuming you are a new lifter, you should be getting progressively stronger. You will stall out at some point, especially on a deficit. By toned I assume you mean firmer and with definition. This, as well as becoming smaller is basically a function of body fat.

Absolutely keep strength training as it has so many benefits, but becoming smaller is not one of those - a calorie deficit is what does that.

ETA: just saw the add to your post. Rep range and sets looks fine if you are relatively new. However, I would suggest doing full body workouts. Whatever rep range you use, make sure the weights are heavy enough that you are just about at failure on your last rep.

For strength, after a while, the reps should be dropped down to the 3 - 5 range, but if new, you are getting benefit from higher reps and can also focus on form more.

How long will it take to show results from weightlifting exercises? I plan on doing 2-3 days a week of including weights into my gym routine (currently going 4 times a week) and doing an hour of weight exercises (I've been taught by someone how to do them properly already so I know my technique is good). I'll be doing a mix of free weights and SOME machines.
Will it take about six months? Maybe a year? Thanks in advance for any answers!

Everyone is different and it depends on body fat percentage and even then everyone is different. Changing you weight lifting routines is good, some high weight days, some low weight days, circuits, super sets, pyramids. I have been a runner and weight lifter for over 30 years, almost always over weight. I found tremendous changes in 6 months by changing up my routines and putting my running in second place, but I do both 5-6 days a week.

It sounds like you will do fine having your trainer.

Here is an example of two women at 15% body fat. I'm float around 10-12% and look nothing like either of them, so everyone really is different. It's a matter of experimenting with your workouts and body fat level (calories) to find what you like and what looks best on you. I've spent most of my well over 20% and I always looked sort of big and hefty. The leaner you get the more your muscles show, if you keep a bit more fat you have a softer more toned look, neither way is right or wrong, it's a matter of preference.

I also have another suggestion - I looked at your pics (you are stunning btw) and you really do not look like you have much (or any) weight to lose. I am not saying you will be underweight or anything if you lose the weight but you may be better off eating at maintenance (or a slight calorie deficit) and focusing on your strength training - you will see better strength gains the more you eat.

Thank you very much
I want to lose an additional 5-10lbs (just to try and shift some more weight off my thighs), but because I've started weights, I don't think I'm going to worry about the numbers on the scale as much as I will be focusing on the inches I'm losing. I'll be on a deficit for a little longer, see how things go! My deficit is only between 400-700 a day either way, I always try to eat at least 1500-1600

Got it. Good idea not to focus on the scale - you will gain a bit of water weight (when muscles repair they retain water - not usual bloat water weight) so the scale can be a little discouraging.

You could always drop the deficit a little - when you have less that 10lb to go, its generally recommended to aim for a 1/2 lb weight loss which is 250 calories - I would see how your energy is and play it by ear - if you are seeing strength gains leveling off or even going down, then you should definitely up your cals a bit.

As a beginner you CAN gain muscle on a caloric deficit (newbie gains)

I wouldn't train to failure research actually shows going to failure is counter productive, stopping 1-2 rep reps short of failure is ideal. Make sure you track your workouts on progressively overload ( add weight, add a rep or increase the number of sets)

if your eating 1600 cals i'd recommend

120p/180c/40f- Switch some carbs for fats and vice versa if you need to.


I recommend you read starting strength, it has vast information on training, and helps you get down form for the main lifts to a tee.

Newbie gains on a deficit and specially for a woman are negligible.

Would you clarify something for me OP-You state you are doing 1 hour of weight training, but when you listed your workout, you showed only 4 exercises. If you are only doing 3 sets of 10 reps, why is that taking you an hour? How long are you resting between sets? Are there a lot of warm-up sets that you didn't mention?

You could always drop the deficit a little - when you have less that 10lb to go, its generally recommended to aim for a 1/2 lb weight loss which is 250 calories - I would see how your energy is and play it by ear - if you are seeing strength gains leveling off or even going down, then you should definitely up your cals a bit.

I agree w/ this suggestion. Believe it or not you may see better results with a little less steep of a deficit. I ate at a very very modest deficit and did strength training over the past 2 months (about 200 per day) trying to get the last couple of pounds off -- I lost a pants size, 1" off waist, 1/2" off thighs, 1" off hips, despite the scale only going down by 1.5 pounds.

It took me 3 months, 2 hours a day 6 times a week....lifting to failure every day to get to where I am now.

I did crossfit and trx for 4 months prior to that. But that just slimmed me down.

And also understand that if you have some excess body fat, you wont see lean results until you shed that layer.