reps - all at once or routinely??

when working out  say i have 5 exercises i do- 15 squats- 15 lunges - 15 dips- 15 etc- they say to do 2 reps of each so would i do

all the exercises once then go back and continue finishing reps one after the other- or-

do i do 15 squats rest then 15 squats then rest and then lunges then rest then lunges again do i do all them at once or do i switch and complete one set at a time

i dont know if it matters but i would like to know opinion?

I was always taught work one body part then move on to the next body part - and do the sets right after each other - so do your 15 squats then again then move to lunges then your arms then your chest

With that said some people prefer "circuit training" so they would probably do one exercise move to the next piece do that then the second set will be on their second time around the circuit

i just dont feel like im getting results  and i wonder if its because i go to the next workout rather then all at once-- does it matter for weightloss- rather then building muscle to tone bc i have to lose weight before that- lol

I do 12 reps of each body part with 2 sets on all of the leg machines. Personally, if I were to do 24 reps in one setting, I would have to lower the weight, which would not give me as good of results.

I do half of the reps, then do cardio, then come back and do the remaining half. I have had good results.

If you can do 15 reps then I would maybe add some weight -- each set of reps should be 8- 12 and the last 2 should be to the point of fatigue.

Personally I pyramid my weights in that I will do say 12 lbs for 12 reps then up to 15 lbs for 12 reps then back to 12 lbs for 12 reps so my workouts are 3 sets of 12.  If you are only going to do 2 sets make sure the weights are heavy enough. 

As far as weight loss vs building muscle I'd do weights only because it helps to lose inches.  I think its better to "look" 20 lbs lighter than to have the scale say so - I know I wear 2 sizes smaller but weigh 10 lbs more than I did 2 years ago when I started doing weights.

so maybe i need 8 lb hand weights- but first im going to try the 5 lbs and do sets together rather then split them- i think that would make a diff in completing sets

how long are people often at  each diff set of weights? if u start w/ 5 lbs r u there for like a month then typically move up? just curious

It depends on how fast those weights become "light" for you.  There are some exercises that I can increase the weight more often than other workouts.  I believe the rule is when you can do 12 reps with ease its time to up the weight the last 2 reps need to be almost impossible to want to complete

 What's best is very individual and also goal-dependent. The circuit-training format is a combination of cardio and strength training that works if you've got very limited training time and can't split up your workouts into separate strength and cardio sessions; and it's probably somewhat better for fat loss than the straight set method simply because you keep your heart rate up for longer.

 However.

Circuit training is not as good cardio as doing actual cardio would be, and it's not as good strength training as doing straight sets would be - the lack of rest and recovery compromises the intensity(load) you can use.

 So it depends on what your goal is - for fat loss and general athletic conditioning the circuit training format works reasonably well; but for strength developement results will be limited.

Caveat:  15 reps is far too many for strength developement - unless you balance it out with sets of 5 reps up near 90% of your 1RM load. 8-12 is the usual compromise range that works well for the beginner, whether you pyramid the weight like Dbacker or use straight sets. Pyramid sets are a slightly advanced workout that puts a higher emphasis on developing maximal strength than straight sets will. You will get stronger, faster, but you will not neccesarily see a similar increase in muscle size as the straight sets method would give you - though that depends very much on whether your body responds best to load or volume.

 For most of the really beneficial exercises where you involve mutiple muscle groups at once - squats, deadlifts, rows, horisontal and vertical presses, and lunges/steups if you want to - you wouldn't even notice a 5lbs weight after about 1-2 workouts. For isolation exercises like curls, raises and extensions you probably would stay at that weight for a lot longer, since the smaller muscles you use in e.g. a rear lateral raise takes much, much longer to get stronger than the leg muscles involved in a deadlift.

 So again, it depends on you - like in all other sports, the only thing that really matters is doing a litte bit better than you did last time.

Doing them all at once, then going back doing and doing reps is more of a bootcamp style. It stresses your body out a bit more. I do that at home, and it also gives me an aerobic workout.