Toning Body Exercises
Toning the body is a fitness routine many people wish to take part in. However, they might not have a clear understanding of how to properly take part in such a workout program. As for myself, I was a believer in the great myth of toning body exercises. Namely, I assumed that muscles can be toned. In actuality, muscles grow larger and smaller.
When you tone body shape, you do so by making the muscles slightly larger while reducing body fat. The way to do this will vary depending upon your own likes and dislikes. Over the years, I have learned to tone body shape solely through cardio work. However, I also realize that progressive resistance weight training can aid in delivering many of the same results. In some cases, you can attain your goals quicker when you lift weights.
Toning Body Exercises for Men
Men can generally experience an improvement in toning the body through performing isolation exercises in the gym. Rather they workout on compound exercises that tie in several different muscle groups into the same exercise, you would isolate specific muscle groups.
Here is an exercise plan for toning the arm:
- Bicep Barbell Curls
- Triceps Overhead Extensions
- Reverse Forearm Curls
- Forward Wrist Curls
- Reverse Wrist Curls
- Bicep Incline Dumbbell Curls
This workout would be performed twice a week and with weight and reps based on your own current fitness and strength level. As a rule, you will need to keep the reps high and the weight low.
Toning Body Exercises for Women
For women (and men for that matter), have great variety in the toning body exercise routines that they can employ. However, women would probably want a more cardio based workout to achieve such a goal.
One way to do this would be to take the exercises found in the aforementioned men's arm toning exercise and perform them with an extremely light dumbbell while also performing step aerobics. 20 minutes to a half hour of this exercise approach could lead to a significant improvement in one's physique quicker than any other approach one could take.
Frequency
The frequency of the body toning exercises you perform will depend on how significantly you wish to tone the body. Do you want a nicely toned appearance or do you want to be completely 'ripped'?
If you want the former, a half hour session three days a week would suffice. Those wishing to become quite defined would probably want to workout 6 days out of the week and employ various split training sessions that cross train different exercise routines. No, it is not easy to tone body muscles to a high degree.
Just be sure that when you employ any weightlifting exercises you employ light weights for high reps. The reps should be in the 15 - 25 range. The reason for this is that you want to work the muscles for an extended period of time while not fatiguing them to develop a high level of mass. Again, you want a toned appearance.
