Check With Your Doctor
If you're older than 40 and inactive, talk with your doctor before starting a weight training program.

Set Goals
Make sure you and your personal trainer have a clear reason why you're doing each exercise and an overall goal for your program. Weight training for muscle toning and overall fitness is different from weight training for a particular sport or activity. Each requires a unique type of exercise tailored to your overall goal and fitness needs.

Breathe
Your blood pressure can increase to dangerous levels if you hold your breath during weight training. Exhaling during the lift and just plain breathing freely during your weight training exercise can prevent this.

Seek Balance
Work all of your major muscles — abdominals, legs, chest, back, shoulders and arms. Strengthen the opposing muscles in a balanced way — front of the shoulder as well as back of the shoulder, for example.

Lift an Appropriate Amount of Weight
The amount of weight you lift should make your muscles feel tired after 10 to 15 repetitions. A weight that causes fatigue at 12 repetitions is an effective stimulus for muscle strength and toning.

Don't Do Too Many Sets of Each Exercise
Completing one set of exercises to the point of fatigue is all you need to obtain benefits. Additional sets aren't necessary. They eat up your time and may contribute to overload injury.

Don't Rush
Don't jerk the weight up. Lift and lower the weight in a slow, controlled fashion. This helps you improve body stabilization, isolates the muscles you want to work more effectively, and doesn't let you cheat by relying on momentum to lift the weight.

Rest
Give your body a day to recover between workouts of the same muscle group. Also monitor your Target Heart Rate (THR) during the work outs.

Be Consistent
Three workouts a week will build muscles and just two will maintain the strength you've gained.

Wear Shoes
They not only help protect your feet from dropped weights but can also keep you from slipping during a lift and give you a firm foundation.

Store Your Weights Properly
Keep them away from children. Also watch the way you lift weights out of the rack. Keep your spine stable and lift with your whole body.