Hello! I have quite a few questions as I've never weight trained before. I have researched, but the problem is that I've found conflicting opinions, and I'm never sure which sites to trust.

My first question revolves around whether it's better to do high weight/low rep or low weight/high rep. Stumptous.com says that doing low weight/high rep is a waste of time because if you're not pushing yourself, you won't be getting stronger, but I've heard so many times that if you're looking to add some but not a whole lot of muscle, low weight/high rep is the way to go. Any thoughts?

Is it better to do cardio before or after weights? I don't plan on doing a whole lot of cardio (less than half an hour), but I'd like to do both on the same day.

Is it necessary to eat something high in protein after (or before) a workout? My best male friend always drinks a shake after a workout, but he is fairly muscular and looking to add a lot more, so I don't necessarily know if I should be adopting his tactics.

Free weights versus machines? I've heard free weights are better because they involve more muscles to keep stability, but is there a big difference or just a small one?

Is it better to isolate muscle groups and do them on alternating days, or to do a full-body workout a few times a week? My problem areas are arms, stomach, and thighs. Should I have an arms, stomach, and thigh day twice a week or just do all three groups a few times a week? How important is it to do a full body workout if I'm happy with other parts? Should I just concentrate on problem areas?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Chinagirl,

That's alot of questions. My personal experience is that as women we rarely bulk up the way guys do and in order to benefit from weight training comfortably heavy weights work best. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism. When you begin a weight training program the scale may not move for a week or two but you'll lose inches so measure up to see early results. If you can't do the exercise with proper form you are going to heavy. There's a program called body for life that has worked wonders for me. You can get it almost anywhere and alot of the info is available on line. If your a begnner start slow and work up gradually as you can easily injurer supporting tissue and they take long time to heal.
I usually do 30min. of cardio after each weight workout and a quick 5min. warm up before.
I often include a protein shake as a snack or meal but it's not necessary as long as your eating well and including high quality proteins with several meals each day.
I split my workouts in to two types, upper body one day, and abs and legs the next and just rotate them. I usually workout 3-4 times aweek.

Hope this helps.

Nina

The most important thing is consistency. Make workouts a habit and everything will take care of itself. You don't need the perfect routine to get great results and even a perfect routine will not help those that do not find the dedication or desire to train on a consistent basis.