What Is The Best Way For A Girl To Swing Into Weight Resistance Exercise When You Have Never Done Them Before?
Hi! What would be the best way for a girl to start weight resistance exercises when I have never done it before. I am truthful when I say I am a bit intimated by them. However, they say weight-lifting will increase muscle mass which you could lose with age. Also, they say you can burn calories even when you are sedentary if you lift. Any help from experience would be deeply appreciated!!! Thank you! 
Check your area for reputable gyms and join up! Take full advantage of their training staff until you feel comfortable on your own. As I said in a previous answer, most of the people you meet at gyms are courteous and helpful; we all began at “the beginning”! You don’t state your age, but I’m guessing you’re a long way from having to worry about losing muscle mass due to age; even older people can maintain healthy, toned bodies into their 70s and beyond. It just requires discipline. As for the amount of muscle mass you develop, that’s strictly determined by your body type (ectomorph, mosmorph, or endomorph) and your training regimen. It is harder for women to add serious muscle mass w/o chemical help(don’t do it!), but you can definitely become a hard-body! Regarding your comment about burning calories when sedentary, we all do, even those who don’t exercise. What I think you’re talking about is that the body continues to burn calories at a fairly good rate for a period after a training session ends. Finally, exercise (and the increase in muscle mass) increases the metabolism which is helpful if you’re trying to lose weight.
Start with the basics. You want to build a proper foundation, which will never leave you. You want to focus on compound lifts to begin training your Central Nervous System. Once that’s dialled in, you can begin increasing the weight, because your CNS will know which muscles to recruit.
Always, always, always use proper form. For the first few weeks to a month, use light weight with the big lifts, and really focus on making each lift count. Be concious and aware of how you’re lifting, and how you’re supposed to be lifting. So when you start adding weight, you don’t injure yourself because you already know the movement.
exrx.net is the best website you’ll use. Read everything you can on there – especially here: http://exrx.net/Exercise.html
to educate yourself on proper biomechanical functions and the response of your body.
The core of your workout should centre around:
Squats, deadlifts, bench press, rows, and overhead presses.
These are all compound movements, and as I said, will give you a solid foundation that you can then build off.
Eat properly to fuel yourself and your muscles, and to provide the building blocks they need to recover, and sleep properly every night – this is when recovery actually happens.
After you’ve taught yourself proper form (don’t be afraid to ask some big dudes in the gym for critiquing), lift as heavy as you can. Since you don’t produce much testosterone, lifting as hard as you can is the only way that you’ll even develop any muscle. Don’t worry, you’re not going to wake up one day all big and bulky like I hear so many girls saying when they make excuses to not lift weights.
pilates