Any advice on weight training?

'First of all, men and women can do the same workouts perfectly fine (if you are worried about getting bulky, read the next question). If you want results from lifting, you should be lifting heavy (=challenging).

Using the machines at the gym can be good enough, especially for beginners, but in the long run you should strive towards learning free-weight, mainly compound movements (deadlifts, squats etc). Remember to learn the correct form before you start adding too much weight. If you need inspiration or instructions for exercises, see above.


For a beginner, it’s best to do a full body workout every time (one exercise for each body part), or a split between lower and upper body.

Rep ranges:

1-5 reps for strength (1-10sets)
8-12 reps for hypertrophy (building muscle) (3-4 sets)
15+ reps for endurance and low-mid intensity cardio (8-12 reps builds endurance just as well)
Use weights you find challenging, while still being able to perform the exercise with proper form.

Remember rest days are as important as workout days, especially when you are starting out, because you will get very sore at first.

Being sore after a workout doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good workout - No pain no gain is a lie.

If you want to gain muscle, you also need to be eating right; adequate protein intake + good fats, carbs for energy, and a calorie surplus.

Bonus tip: Don’t go for workouts in the typical magazines for women only. They are not effective (in 9 out of 10 cases) - you have to challenge yourself.'

information courtesy of a blog post from http://fitanne.tumblr.com/post/90257024486/for-my-faq-how-do-i-start-lifting-first-of-all

This helped me a lot.

Would love some advice too

I'd recommend following a program, at least in the beginning. Choose something that's full body and has you going to the gym about 3 times per week. I like Starting Strength, and Stronglifts is similar but is free (you download it). I just find Stronglifts to have less useful info and a lot more used car salesman vibe. But the programs themselves are very similar.

Whatever program you choose should have a basis in compound lifts-- squats, deadlift, bench, military press, and rows are the big ones.

Form. Don't bother doing a single rep without proper form.

Low reps for strength/ muscle, higher reps for toning.

Focus on the big exercises that work multiple muscle groups, ie squats/ bench press/ deadlifts/ etc. The smaller single muscle exercises are really only for bodybuilders tweaking their bodies, and the vast majority of people would be better off ignoring them altogether, as the bigger exercises will also work the smaller ones around it, offer the most bang for your buck, and will also ensure you do not develop muscle imbalances like you could by focussing all your efforts on bicep curls without the adequate frame for them (ie shoulders & chest).

Oh and don't worry about how much you should lift, thats easy - as much as you can *with* proper form. Start easy, get your form right, and build up the weight then as you can handle it.

Low reps for strength/ muscle, higher reps for toning.

yes and no.

low reps pushing your max weight for hypertrophy and strength

higher reps at about 50% of your max for muscular endurance.

Ah, good to know, I knew I was probably being a little too simplistic with the above