[mrmoustache]

I started lifting about a month ago. Lately, I've been doing an hour to an hour and a half of lifting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'll focus on every area of my body, so I'm doing the same exact workouts/reps/etc. on each of these days (though I do feel that too much of the focus is on my arms/back). The only thing I really do to switch it up is increase weight when I feel ready, but I've been getting tired lately. By the end of the week, I can't finish my sets. My friends that lift say that I should stick to going three days, but focus on a different area of the body each of those days. What has worked for you ladies?

[yoyomadness]

I'd rather do full body workouts 2 or 3 times a week. I want to be in and out of the gym in 45 minutes. So I focus on big lifts. Squat, dead lift, push, pull. I also just learned about something called SuperSquat, which is two exercises that work the whole body (squat & something I don't know the name of - maybe overhead pull, but its nickname is the upper body squat). I'm going to try it this week. I like to keep things simple.

I try to mix things up. Light day, medium day, heavy day. On light days, I do more sets.

When I get my barbell squats better, I'll start a program.

I'm new to this myself, so my approach is based on conversations with a competive strongman/PT who I trust. Im not an expert by any measure.

Here's a link to Super Squats -
http://www.ironworkout.com/20_rep_squat.htm

[fitness4life]

I'm glad that you're in tune to your body enough to know when to mix it up. About every 6-8 weeks, you totally should.

There are several different ways to work your muscles and this is the reason.

Research different exercises. Mix up your routine by lifting heavy 3-5 sets and sometimes do light 3 sets of 20 reps. I tend to always include the same whole body lifts of squats, chest press, lunges and pull ups and then mix up different small muscle exercises or superset subsequent exercises after the main four. Challenge yourself to learn a new way to do shoulders, or do them at a different angle. Maybe even figure out a routine that uses only gravity and your body weight to do the exercises instead of weights.

Any way to mix it up is fine so long as you pay attention to your body and look for signs of overuse or other pain that may indicate your form is wrong.

Don't progress too quickly.

I think you're off to a good start considering your intuition and motivation.

Best wishes to you.

If you're wondering my expertise...I'm a degreed physical educator and former teacher, group exercise instructor, hopefully certified personal trainer (I'll know Wednesday), biggest loser competion director and I manage a gym. There are many different methods for a reason. Find your niche.