[Women] Lifting Weights

I lift weights 4 days a week. I do not use machines. I use barbells, dumbbells, and the cables (and some body weight exercises).

Mondays I do Chest and Back exercises...bench press, cable flys, push-ups, pull-ups, and rows.
Tuesdays I do Legs and Calves exercises...barbell squats, walking lunges, split squats, deadlifts, calf raises
Thursdays I do Shoulders and Biceps/Triceps exercises...military press, lateral raises, rear delt raises, bicep curls, tricep extensions
Saturday I start the series over again with Chest and Back so on Monday I do Legs and so on...

Right now I do 3 sets of each exercise with 60 seconds of rest in between sets. I aim for 8-12 reps unless I am working on abs and calves where I go for about 15-20 reps each. I lift as heavy as I possibly can so that I can't do any more than 12 reps total. If I can do 13 reps, I add more weight. If I can't even do 8 reps, I take away weight.

I do cardio on the days in between the weight lifting, but never on the same day (personal preference).

You will NOT "bulk up" doing this unless you eat at a surplus, take steroids, and workout for hours a day everyday. Do NOT ever be afraid of "bulking up" because you won't do it unless you try.

I've been lifting for YEARS and my profile picture was taken 2 weeks ago.

Muscle does NOT turn into fat. They are 2 separate tissues. What happens is you gain fat and your muscle atrophies.

i've always worked out with weights since i've been an adult so although i started off 80 pounds overweight, i had quite a bit of lean body mass from all those years of (unintentional) bulking :laugh:

my goal now is to preserve as much of that muscle mass while i lose the blubber, so i mainly do compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, cleans, etc and a few isolation exercises for my shoulders as rehab. i do 5 sets of 5 reps on days when i'm working out close to my 1 rep max and 3 sets of 8-12 on days when i'm working in the mid range of my 1 RM

i also dont use machines because they aren't efficient for my current goals.

i mainly do cardio on my non lifting days

I suggest you read this article:

http://www.leangains.com/2012/10/train-like-man-look-like-goddess.html

It pretty much summarises everything I would have said anyway!

I've been lifting weights for a while now with my husband who bodybuilds, with his help as a spotter I try to lift my maximum one-reps and it feels great! I agree with Lyadeia in that unless women are TRYING to "bulk up" with the help of testosterone etc they never will... you will get lean but never muscly like a man

Strength training also helps burn fat as the amount of calories/energy it takes for your body to just maintain the muscle you've built works towards burning off calories... so the more muscle/lean body mass you have, the easier will your weight loss be....

Thanks for the replies! I'm excited to start incorporating some light weights in next week. I thnk I'm going to do ti on my cardio off days, starting with a light circuit of someo of what each of you have mentioned.

umm'kay