First question: I've gotten into the habit of doing resistance exercises on my Weider and kickboxing on the same day, usually back to back. I tend to do specific body areas on different days (arms one day, chest/back/shoulders one day, legs/abs another day), I usually only get in three days per week. The Weider part typically takes 30-50 minutes depending on how many different things I try to do. I've been following it up with 30-35 mins of pretty solid kickboxing, some days that turns into a HIIT workout, some days it is is steady, but high intensity. I'm pretty even with leg and arm activity during the boxing session. Is it a bad idea to do these two things together?

Second question: I want to buy some free weights because I know that the Weider isn't the most effective thing to use all the time, or maybe I just don't know the best way to use it... The fact that I sometimes find myself doing ten different arm exercises for 50 minutes says maybe it might take some time to see improvement this way. (I do see some muscle development, so it is doing something, I just wonder if there are better things...) The question is what do I need to get to start out? Small dumbells? Kettleball? I have some hand-me down blue girly weights that are 5 & 8 pounds, but that is it. I still haven't gotten the NROLW book, I know I need to get that...

Well I love kettlebells and they can work your arms, shoulders, etc but they are kind of an all over body cardio workout. I love them though and I do use my kettlebells as weights for squats, deadlifts, lunges, bent over rows, shoulder presses, etc. I am pretty much done with dumbbells but that is something I've decided for myself. Between pushups, other body weight exercises, kettlebells and my weight machine, I don't feel I need dumbbells.

That isn't to say that my dumbbells haven't served me well though and it can't hurt to get dumbbells in various sizes. I have them up to 20 lbs. I'd invest in higher than that but really my kettlebells and machine have me covered.

As far as your weider, I'm not really familiar with it or its exercises but it would seem that you should be going for a more efficient workout and spending 50 minutes on just arms seems like a waste of time. So I would definitely look at getting NROLW to help build a more efficient workout.

As for doing your cardio and weight workout back to back. I think you can certainly do both.

It does feel a little inefficient at this point. At first I thought I just didn't know how to use it so I was spending time reading the directions, but now I wonder if I just need to readjust my outlook on using it and try to make myself more efficient.

Thanks!

Edit: What kind of other body weight exercises do you do?

In every kickboxing class I've attended, we've always started with the 40 minutes of aerobic activity (all of the usual punches, kicks, ducks, squats, upper cuts... you know) and then we'd cool down a bit and do matwork - legs, abs, etc. and arms too. So it seems to be what trained experts go for.

I also know that stretching and working your muscles after aerobic activity has shown to increase metabolism and basically help you get a whole lot out of your workout, and it's always best to do toning and weights when your muscles are warmest. So, I say, the same day is the best!