A personal trainer is a really nice beginning to any weight program. Just make sure you get one who knows what s/he is doing. I go to Bally's & I'm amazed at how many personal trainers are staring out the window while their client is muffing an exercise.

One way I keep my chest from getting tight is I use a full range of motion for all exercises. You have to be careful because when you bring your arms back (think pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades) your shoulder joint can be compromised depending on your anatomy. A personal trainer can show you how to do a bench press where you can bring the bar all the way to your chest and then push up using primarily chest muscles and not shoulder (anterior delt) muscles. (Hint: you don't lock your elbows at full extension and you concentrate on squeezing your pectoral muscles as you push the bar up while keeping your shoulders folded underneath you).

Back exercises also help keep the chest expanded. In rowing or lat pulldown exercises, imagine that you're squeezing a pencil between your shoulder blades. You will automatically expand your chest.

Squats should be done without weights to begin with. Be sure that you focus on keeping your weight on your heels, pushing up with your heels so that you don't overstress your knees. Also, keep your back as straight as possible. You will lean slightly forward (but not too much if your weight is on your heels) and your back should NOT be rounded at all. It's important to get the form right (hence, no weights) before you progress to actual lifting.

Sorry if this is too long. I really believe in weight training for women.

Kim