How Females Should lift weights?

Question

I'm 5'6, 19year old female, about 150pds. I am looking to get slender and firm up my arms, thighs, and stomach. I have been doing cardio about 4 days a week and I'm now looking into weight training because I was told that the more muscle you build, the more calories you burn. So i bought two 5 pound dumbells to lift while im watching tv at night. However, i'm not sure what types of lifting i should be doing to achieve my goal. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

First of all, anyone that tells you to lift light weights in order to preventing bulking up like a bodybuilder is stupid and doesn't know what they are talking about.

Lift a weight that is challenging and you can lift using correct form. Correct form is extremely important because you can hurt yourself if you don't. That's why it is ideal to join a gym and get a qualified trainer to teach you how to lift properly. Beware, there are trainers at gyms that are not qualified.

It is extremely difficult to get the bodybuilder look, many people with that look take drugs, supplements and steriods. It's not uncommon. That's why it's unrealistic to make the assumption that you can build muscle at the drop of a hat and you will look like a bodybuilder by lifting heavy weights. That is not true, it is much more difficult than just lifting a heavy weight.

You can exercise at home, buy some exercise DVD's, books and magazines that will show you exercises that you can do, but you will get better results if you join a gym and get a qualified trainer. If you can afford it, I strongly recommend a gym membership. They will have more variety in weights. 5lbs dumbells are heavy enough for some exercises, but too light for others. You need a variety of dumbells.

Answer 2

I have been doing The Firm for 3 years. It's wonderful! You can do your cardio and strength training all in one workout with The Body Sculpting System series or you can purchase individual workouts designed specifically for strength training. You can find the DVD's in Walmart or at Amazon.com or you can go directly to www.firmdirect.com. They are about 30-40 minutes but so effective and definitely worth the $10- $15 investment!

Answer 3

First, pound for pound, female muscle is just as strong as male muscle and you must occasionally lift as heavy as you can to gain more muscle. And you are right, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn. But you won't gain any muscle unless you include "heavy days" in your program. Especially with your leg lifting.

Answer 4

I suggest you take a look at this website, made by a woman who lifts weights. It discusses starting out, training, techniques, diet, and more. It's very informative and inspiring.

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displaysection.php?sid=3#17

Answer 5

well what u could do is just keep ur arms up like start out and hold them then move them in after 60 seconds or something and if u cant do that try to lessen the time and as u get use to it incres the time so ya i hope i helped u

Answer 6

Unless you are wanting to have bulky/body builder arms, I would suggest using a weight that is closer to 3 lbs. When I was taking dance classes (ballet/jazz,etc) we had an instructor that told us just to do exercises with no weights and to make your own resistance. I would reccommend a pilates or yoga dvd to tone up. The windsor pilates is one that you can get from target or walmart and I have found it to be very effective.

Answer 7

Sure go to womenshealthmag.com they have lods of different exercises you should try! Good for you for lifing weights its very good for you and you WILL LOSE WEIGHT