Hi Everyone,
I am new to weight lifting but have been doing WL for about two months.
I am doing it all at home so don't have access to a trainer.
I started slowly doing one set twice a week and have been doing two sets three times a week --12 exercises: upper and lower body and abs.
I have gone up a couple of times with weight but what's a good criteria for establishing when it is better to go to three sets rather than going to more weight?
Also what is a reasonable amount of cardio to do on the days that you are weight lifting?
I think I may be overdoing the cardio.

Thanks,
Katie

Hmm, I've been doing 3 sets since I started. Have never done anything less. I do decreasing reps of increasing weights in my 3 sets. I also do cardio for 30 min 6/wk, even on the days I lift. You might try doing your weights before cardio (if you're not) and see if that helps you feel better - less tendency then to overdo cardio and impact w/l I think.

I think you can jump right to 3 sets. There's no "rule" about when to increase. It's only good for you. The only rule I know of is when to increase weights, and that is usually when you can do all your sets in good form and no longer struggle on the last reps. Then it has become "easy" and you can increase the weight.

I jump around between 3 sets and 5 sets, depending on my current mood. Lately, I've been doing 5 sets. The more important part really is increasing the weights over time.

I would also recommend doing weights and then cardio on the day you do both.

This depends upon your work capacity, the total volume of each workout, and the total time of each workout.

Are we talking 2 sets of 12 reps for 12 exercises? That would be 24 sets and 288 total reps each workout. That's quite a bit of work already. Depending upon rest time between sets, supersets, etc, it is probably a 45 minute to an hour workout as it is. If it is 2 sets of 12, then I wouldn't think about adding a third set of 12 reps to what you are doing now. I might have you do 3 sets of 8 which will allow you to lift a heavier load and increase the overall total weight lifted, but would keep the reps the same. Or I might do 3x12 but cut the number of exercise to 8.

Now if you are doing 2x8 now, you may perhaps be able to handle a bit more. In that case, pick a primary upper and lower body compound exercise from the ones you are doing now and start by adding an extra set to those and see how your body responds to the extra work.

As for the cardio, it all depends upon your goals and the type of cardio that you are doing.

I can only tell you what I do on my program that a trainer set up for me. I aim for 35-60 min. of cardio 6 days a week (with an "active" rest day) and lifting the same amount (splits) of days. I've always done 3 sets of 12 reps, with 12 being the maximum and 8 reps being the minimum. If I can't do 8 reps, then the weight is too heavy. However, I alternate between two or three different lifts so my rest between sets is going to another lift. So, for example, if I do a chest press for 12 reps, then I go do squats for 12 reps, then go back to chest press for 12 and then to squats for 12 until I've done 3 sets of each exercise. One program consists of 6 different lifts, and I alternate between three different programs. I try to do abs daily, but it often doesn't work out that way.

Thanks everyone
I appreciate your replies.
I do get the sense from what you say that it is up to me --when I feel ready to go to 3 sets.
I am doing 12 exercises (including abs) and I do 2 sets each going for 12/15.
Currently I do 76 minutes cardio ( 40 min power walking which is intense for me) the rest is warm up and cool down-- on the days I do my abs and upper back work.
On the days I do the rest of the WL I do 54 min of cardio ( with 30 minutes of power walking).
I work out 6 days a week with 1 rest day.
I used the long cardio and counting calories to go from a weight of 153 to 121 in 7 months. I am 5 ft.4 inches.
My cardio used to be even longer but I cut it back when I started WL two months ago, but I wonder if it is still too much??
Is it okay to stay at the same weight for 3 reps? Or do I need to start out light and go up in intensity for each of the last two sets?
Also I had thought that it is important to do cardio first so your body is warmed up for weight lifting???
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions as I am such a beginner at all this and don't know who else to ask.
Katie

For a beginner you are doing mighty fine with your weight loss accomplishments!

Cardio is important to warm up before weights, but they mean FIVE MINUTES of cardio - not your whole cardio workout!! Just walking on the treadmill at a slow pace or a gentle elliptical pace for 5 min is all you need to get warmed up. Or heck, I even skip that, because I climb 2 flights of stairs and walk alot to get to my weights, so I figure that gets me warmed up well enough!

The "experts" in books are saying do cardio after weights because weight training is tiring and you don't want to be exhausted before lifting. According to one of the books I read today Sculpt Her Body Perfect, the author claims that not increasing weights and reps is one of the big mistakes beginners make. In the beginning if you've never weight trained you are just working on the basics anyways, preparing your body then it's up to you how far you go, if you want to really push and "sculpt" your body. I'm a speed reader so I just skimmed this book, Weight Training for Dummies, and today at the bookstore. I already have the Body Sculpting Bible and I'm just on the mid range routine now so in a few months I'll have to advance as well. There's another book that looked good on training with the time you have, it outlines various routines for how many minutes and days you have in a given week. Routines for a few days up to six days per week. I'm working at home, I'm a do it yourselfer anyways but there's a lot of information out there I'm finding to learn with.