Building Muscle

Ok, all of your gym guru's. Tell me what excercises I should be doing to build muscle in my arms and legs???? I do cario 30-45 4xweek. I am starting to lidt weight do the tricep curls, abdmonial crunches and the thigh buster...lol...

How many reps should I be doing?
What is the amount of weights I should use?
Should I do cardio then weight or vice versa(no pun intead Ms Vice Versa)?

Help a sistah out she is trying to do Florida looking toned and hopefully tan( a sistah is pale) Also, doing the tanning both at the gym trying to get some color in my swagger

I was blessed I dont have a lot of loose skin just a little on my arms and my thigs are a little jiggly but as for the stomach once i put my girdle on the swagger is on!

janiece

Janiece,
I have a trainer... The BEST advice that I can give is when you start going into the gym... speak with a Physical Trainer and let them know just want you want to work on... What might work for me may not work for you... What I lift.. You may not be able to handle... I was told by my trainer that it's better to lift light until I am where I want to be... I'm good right now... However... when I'm were I want to be... I'm going all the WAY with BUILDING... I'm not that FLABBY either so that's a good thang... I wish you well dollbaby and much success to you...

How many reps should I be doing?AT LEAST 8 TO 10 REPS ON EACH ARM 3 TIMES
What is the amount of weights I should use?DUMBELLS START OFF WITH 5 TO 10LBS. WEIGHTS
Should I do cardio then weight or vice versa(no pun intead Ms Vice Versa)?VERY GOOD QUESTION!!! DO WEIGHTS FIRST THEN CARDIO!! IF YOU DO IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND YOU WON'T HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY TO BE ABLE TO DO THE WEIGHTS.

DAVID... I disagree with the WEIGHTS then CARDIO... I like to get my hour of Cardio out the way first... That's why I say it's different for everybody...  When I do CARDIO my energy SHOOTS through the ROOF!!! When I'm done with them weights... I go to the sauna then it's a wrap for me...

I always do cardio first but it should be ok to mix them up right?
Perhaps tonight I will do weight then cardio and see how I feel. If I am burnt out then I will do cardio first. I used to have a personal trainer and he would have me do weight then cardio.

But hey with today's economy and a 6'5" 290 lbs 14 year old and a 6'1"16 190 active sports teenager they are eating me out of house and home. I'm at the grocery store 3-4 times a week and 2 a week at Cotsco.

My goal is to buikd muscle, i'm trying to get my husband to go wit me but he doesnt have motivation at all. He is starting to gain weight and I am worried becuase it is all in his tummy. They say belly fat is a sign you are at risk for an heart attack.

But I thank everyone for the advice I will try and do it both ways and see what works. If not, then I will have to stop buying shoes every week and hire a personal trainer to see if they can help me.

All trainers I have work with suggest that you warm up at least 10 minutes of cardio before doing weights. You need to do this to warm up your muscles to prevent energy. 

From what Muscle and Fitness hers magazine articles(which I am reading now as you asked this question), "Moderate reps are best for developing muscle mass. Reps in the 8-12 range are best for growth. The weight overload creates enough stress on the muscle fibers and metabolic stress inside the muscle cells to perfectly initiate the processes that hypertrophy.
If you're trying to develop extreme levels of muscle strength, siz or endurance, you should train in the low-rep range the majority of the time. But even then you shouldn't stick to that range for more than 4-6 weeks or your muscles will stagnate. In other words, you'll stop getting stronger, bigger or more conditioned, and your progress may even start to reverse.
Week 1 do 3-6 reps on all exercises; Week 2 use a rep range of 8-12 on all exercises; and in Week 3 do 15-25 plus reps on all exercises. From there you can repeat the cycle, work backward or mix it up at random.

www.bodyforlife.com

Thanks so much everyone! All i know is that I am sore hell!