what is a good beginning program for a newbie

[dfurmanski]

I am 40, never 'really' worked out before. Have always been in ideal weight range - never weight issues. Matter of fact, as a young adult, I was too skinny, finally filling out around 30, and then earlier this year dropped 15-20 pounds and am not sure how or why (ok, wife out of town and we were eating cooking all the time... maybe that's it). Anyway, am now committing to getting fit and building some muscle.

I travel 4 days a week, so I have the hotel gym (and a pretty nice one). I have just started trying to find dumbell workouts to begin building and I'm on week 2. I've also experimented with some of the machines (there are 4-5 machines).

Can someone recommend a workout that I should be doing to define and build some muscle - using what I have at disposal - and having 4 days a week to devote to this? Should I focus on dumbells only? machines only? In very little bit of experience, I am seeing more results from the dumbells than I am from the machines. I started with lighter weights to try to make sure I have good form, etc - and am concerned that maybe I am using too little weight. I am not looking for results in 2 weeks, but I am looking to see results pretty quickly.

Thanks in advance for any help/insight.

[vamp]

what sort of days do you have to workout? Are all 4 days in a row, will you be doing some at home, what is available as far as equipment and what sort of time frames are we looking at?