How much weight should i increase?

Hi,

 I started working out with weights about 3 1/2 weeks ago. I use 3 pounds for light and 5 for heavy, both are super easy, so im not sure if i started out too low? I think i can handle 5 as my light and 8 as my heavy, is this moving up too fast?

Thanks- Cindy

-Also, if i add weight faster (in safe increments) will i get faster results, because of coure thats what im after :) i gotta say, working out with weights is waaaay more fun than cardio any day! wish i knew this when i lost all my weight.

no it's not too fast, you started to low to begin with, so increase the weight and see what you can handle, the more you increase each week the better results you will see, but there will be a point to where you can't increase anymore, because that's all you body can handle. 

It's good to start resistance training with light weight, to give your muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, and heart time to start adjusting easily to the new stresses of lifting.  You did good!  Although, yes, "super easy" is too easy ;-)

Click this for a good guide to effective rep+resistance ranges.  As that says, how heavy you "should" lift in most sessions depends on your goals.

Because you started very light, relatively large increases are fine at the start.  In general, whenever you can complete about 12 reps in the last set of a given exercise (assuming your goal is growing muscle during a calorie surplus, or preserving muscle during a calorie deficit), you should increase the weight in your next session.  Then aim to increase the number of reps across sessions with the heavier weight, until you can complete about 12 again.  Then increase the weight again.  Etc.

Effective strength-training is always challenging, no matter how far you progress.  It's the struggle to complete those last reps that triggers all the major benefits.

Thank you bodyscience and tgpish ! :)

I do the same weight workout as my muscle bound hubby.  I use machines and free weights.  I am lifting heavier weights as soon as the previous weight becomes easier.  I do 3 sets of 8-12 reps depending on the exercise.  I have become more toned and less squishy in the year we have been working out.  I have no "bulging" muscles though.(Which I don't want!) The heavier the weight is, the more cals you burn. (During and after exercise)  Go for it!!!  I now use 12/15 pound free weights.    

:)  Less squishy and more toned, sounds good to me.

Thats awsome thanks!

Ya, don't worry about hlraphael being unique, either:  very few women can grow "bulky guy" muscles without taking (illegal in the US) male hormone supplements.  Much higher levels of testosterone in almost all males makes a huge difference here.

That said, "toned" and "sculpted" are purely euphemisms -- they were invented by marketing geniuses who realized that if they told the plain truth (yes, women can grow some new muscle), it would scare women away.  You get "less squishy" because you lose fat and gain some new muscle.  But this is a long process, and if your genetics are such that you're exceptionally prone to "bulking up", you can switch to a rep+load range that has little effect on muscle size long before anyone besides you notices.