If youre already exercising and eating right with the aim of slimming down, heres something you might not have thought of that can help you achieve your goal: weight training.

Weight training refers to working out with weights, whether dumbbells and barbells (free weights) or the weights you find on exercise contraptions, that you lift by means of pulleys and cables.

If youre currently walking or running or doing other cardiovascular exercise to take off fat, you might think weights would not add anything to your efforts. After all, youre burning off calories either way, right?

Done correctly, though, weight training willbring a dimension to your workout that goes beyond calorie burn-off. It will sharpen and define your muscles, which will make you look and feel leaner even before youve reached your ideal weight target.

Not only will working out with weights make you look better in the eyes of others, it will help motivate you to keep working toward your goal.

Here are some tips for anyone considering weight training for weight loss:

1. Dont spend a lot of money on equipment, at least to begin with.

A basic set of dumbbells in a few different weights will get you started, and may be all you ever need. For the average person who hasnt had much strength training, I recommend purchasing two each of the following size dumbbells: 8 (or 10) pounds, 15 pounds, and 20 (or 25) poundsthat's six dumbbells in all.

Later on you can add a barbell with a set of adjustable weights if you like. However, I recommend getting an adjustable incline/decline bench to use with your dumbbells before spending for a barbell. A bench and dumbbells will equip you to perform nearly all the weight training exercises that you need if your main goal is weight loss (as opposed to trying to look like Mr. Universe).

Fancy workout machines are greatand expensive! If you have access to a gym then by all means take advantage ofsuch equipment. But don't think that you need it in order to get a good workout.

2. Buy or borrow a good illustrated instructional book on weight lifting. Look for one targeted toward average people--people who just want to get fit or get into shape--rather than toward competitive bodybuilders.

In line with tip #1, also make sure that the book you use contains exercises you can do with dumbbells alone, and that work all parts of your body.

If you wish to make maximum progress, I strongly recommend that you also read a book on the general subject of weight loss. Avoid the fad diet of the moment. Look for a book grounded in good science, that contains practical advice for nutritional and lifestyle changes that lead to permanent fat loss. (Some excellent books in this line are actually available as downloads from the Internet.)

3. Work out with your weights regularly. If all you have is 20 minutes every Monday, then make and keep that weekly appointment with yourself.

If you have more time, here's what I consider to be an ideal "weight training for weight loss" schedule. It will give excellent results with a time commitment that is still reasonable:

Monday: 10 minutes of cardio exercise + 20 to 30 minutes' weight training

Tuesday: 10 to 20 minutes of cardio

Wednesday: 10 minutes of cardio exercise + 20 to 30 minutes' weight training

Thursday: 10 to 20 minutes of cardio

Friday: 10 minutes of cardio exercise + 20 to 30 minutes' weight training

Saturday & Sunday: Nothing! Or, better, work in a couple of brisk walks around the neighborhood.

Important: Always put at least one day between your weight training days. Never work out with weights on consecutive days, even if you're tempted to do so. When you exercise with weights you are actually tearing down muscle so that it can rebuild itself stronger and bigger. Those in-between days are your muscles' crucial rebuilding days.

4. Use the right number of exercise sets for weight loss--not for bodybuilding.

Not one in a hundred exercisers understands this point. But now you will!

When you work out with weights, you convert a certain amount of fat to muscle. Muscle weighs something, too, though. If your goal is to lose weight, you don't want to end up with a pound of muscle for every pound of fat you started with. You would be more muscular for sure, but you would still be overweight!

The key is to do fewer sets of a given exercise than is called for in "regular" or non-weight-loss-oriented weight training.

The best instructional books give separate instructions for their workouts according to their reader's particular goal, whether that's to lose pounds, to build the biggest muscles possible, or something in between. If the book you're using does not offer this, you can make the adjustment yourself.

Keep in mind that a set contains a certain number of repititions or "reps" of an exercise. A typical weight training book may instruct you to do 4 sets of a particular exercise, each set consisting of 10 reps, for a total of 40 reps. In this case you (as a weight loss exerciser) would do no more than 2 sets of 10 reps each, for a total of 20 reps maximum.

By throttling back to about half of the prescribed number of sets, you can be assured that you will be both building muscle and losing weight. (Alternately, you may want to keep the number of sets unchanged but do just half the number of reps per set.)

To be safe you can limit yourself to one set per exercise per workout session, regardless of what your book instructs. Trust me: As long as you're getting in your cardio sessions, too (and eating right, of course), you will lose weight--and you'll gain some nice, "ripped" muscles in the process.