Muscle Toning Exercises for Men & Women: How to Tone Your Body

It’s a common misconception that, in order to tone all of your muscles, you need to perform high repetitions combined with little resistance and moderate rest periods. But to truly get a firm body with flattering muscular definition and shape, you’ll need to do more than just high repetitions to reach this goal.
In fact, the body can only tone-up and remove the “jiggley” arms with an increase of muscle tissue, along with a low percentage of body fat. That said, read on to discover the best methods for toning your body.

Losing Fat/Strength Training

Strength training is a very important part of toning muscle, and it also contributes to fat burning since it builds muscle; plus growing muscles burn calories. Strength training is also important to drop the layer of fat lying on top of your muscles.
Of course, if you are only practicing resistance training alone, you won’t be seeing results. This is even truer if you’re training only using high repetitions and low resistance, which puts very little stress on your muscles.
Some of the most common strength training exercises like push-ups and chin-ups are every effective at building muscle because they force you to use your own body weight. Good strength training exercises that involve weights are bench press, shoulder press, squats and lunges – just to name a few.
It’s also worth mentioning that there is no special “toning” technique for your muscles. Instead, those who want the toned look, which is looking muscular without being too big, need to combine strength training with some cardio to get that all-important fit look. A good goal to shoot for with cardio is at least three, 20-minute sessions each week.

Compound Exercises

One common misconception about toning is that you should stick to isolation exercises which work one muscle group such as bicep curls, lateral raises (shoulders) and hamstring curls. But the reality is that the average person will benefit far more by doing compound exercises because these work multiple muscle groups. As mentioned before, bench press, squats, shoulder press and lunges are good exercises, and the reason why is because they work several different muscles at once.
By using compound exercises, you cut down on the amount of time you’re in the gym, and you’ll still be effectively building muscle in the process. In short: leave the isolation exercises to the professional bodybuilders who have all day to spend working out.

Resistance Training done Properly

Even if you are worried about becoming too bulky, you’ll still want to challenge your muscles by using weights that make exercising uncomfortable, but not impossible. In order to change your body’s muscles, they need to be stressed, which requires pushing your weight amount up when you notice that smaller weights are easy to lift. If you are merely moving your muscles with little effort, you will not see any results since your muscles don’t have to work harder to produce results.
Try: An example of resistance training is doing sit-ups since they use your body’s own weight as a resistance force. If you are able to do 13 sit-ups with no problem, you may need to increase your resistance. If this isn’t challenging enough, do the sit-ups with 5-8 pounds of weight in your hands to add extra resistance. If you are becoming fatigued after 10 repetitions, consider it a success because this is the amount that produces the most results.

Exercises to Tone Back, Shoulders/Chest, Biceps/Triceps & Legs

Toning Your Back Muscles

Getting into specific exercises, begin by standing with your feet a shoulder width’s apart while holding something in your hands such as a weighted ball, gallon of water, 10-pound dumbbell, or anything else that you have available. Proceed by bending your knees, tilting your pelvis a little forward while holding your abdominals tight. Keep your back straight and touch what you are holding to the floor; or as close to the floor as you can; stand back up, and repeat.
These movements will definitely tone and strengthen your back, as well as your legs. But be sure that you are always bending your knees so that you’re not causing a back injury. Also, 2 sets of 10-12 repetitions are good with this exercise.

Toning Your Shoulders/Chest

There are several different shoulder exercises you can do in the weight room such as shoulder press and bench press. With the shoulder press, begin by holding weights level to your shoulders, then raise the weights above your head; slowly lower the weights and repeat. Shoulder presses are nice because they not only tone your shoulders, but also the triceps too. Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions for best results.
The bench press is another exercise that will build up your shoulders, and work your chest at the same time. This simple exercise involves lying on a flat bench, slowly bringing the barbell down to your chest, then raising it back up. Please note that you should always do bench presses with the proper equipment (found at your local gym). Also, a good goal is to do 2-3 sets of bench pressing for 8-10 reps.
Another chest/shoulder exercise is the simple push-up, and you can do this without even using equipment! Aim for 10 push-ups, and set out to increase this amount by 2 push-ups every week.

Toning your Biceps/Triceps

Many people use isolation exercises to tone their biceps and triceps, which as we discussed before, involves a lot of wasted time. So focusing on the compound exercises, bench press will work both muscle groups (more so the triceps), which makes this exercise perfect for your biceps and triceps. And as mentioned in the previous section, the shoulder press also works your triceps.
A compound exercise that you can do for your biceps is the pull-up, which also works your lats and upper back. Most beginners find pull-ups to be extremely hard though, so you might aid yourself with a chair in the beginning; this involves standing on the chair while pulling yourself off of the chair so you don’t have to support your body weight the entire time. Assuming you have the time, you can also do some bicep curls since this muscle group isn’t targeted in many compound exercises.

Toning your Legs

Squats are the ultimate exercise for legs since they work your hamstrings, quads and glutes. Anybody looking for a bigger, toned butt will definitely benefit from these! To begin with squats, you need to rest a barbell on your shoulders behind the neck. Next, you should lower your body using only your legs while keeping the back straight. Try to get your legs as close to parallel as possible before coming back up.
Another exercise worth discussing is the lunge. To do this, have weights or water jugs in your hand, and step forward with one leg; the goal is to touch your knee on the ground before coming back up. After this, step forward with the other leg and keep alternating. One more good exercise for the legs are calve raises because these work both the calves and stabilizing ankle muscles. These are simple since you just need to have weights in your hands, raise up on your toes, then come back down before repeating.
If you combine all of the aforementioned exercises (great for both: men and women) with cardio, you will be moving towards a much more toned look. Also, be sure to switch up your muscle-building exercises every few months so that the body doesn’t adapt to these workouts. Otherwise, you’ll be getting minimal-to-no gains after a while.

Looking Good While Working Out

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Contrary to popular belief, it’s not impossible to maintain an attractive appearance while sweating and working out. When you look your best, you are guaranteed to do your best in the gym because you have more confidence and increased energy. This being said, you have every reason to look pretty while getting in shape and maintaining your figure. And since looking good while working out can help you stay motivated and confident, it’s totally worth looking into ways to maintain your beauty in the gym.

Hair at the Gym

When it comes to looking fabulous during workouts, it all starts with your hair. Focusing on your hair helps you look well-kept during workouts, and also after the workout is done too. The first thing worth mentioning here is that, when you leave your hair down, you increase the heat around your neck, thus causing more perspiration. This makes your hair wet, and can cause it to become oily and hard to manage after the workout. So keep your hair off of your neck and face by putting it in a ponytail, bun or braid.
Depending on the length of your hair, you may also want to slip a hair band on to keep your fly-aways in place. Once you’ve completed an exercise routine, rinse off in the shower with your hair still out of your face; also, use a dry shampoo on your roots to bring them back to life.

Makeup during Workouts

The best thing you can do for your skin is to workout without any form of makeup at all. If you’re exercising outdoors under the sun, it’s important to wear sunscreen to stay protected from the sun’s harmful rays. If you’re desperate to cover up redness or small blemishes during workouts, use powder foundations instead of liquid, mousse or cream foundations. By using the powder, you risk clogging pores, so only use cover-up if truly necessary.
Another option is to use a tinted moisturizer instead of foundation; however, these are liquid and can oftentimes slide off your face. Tinted moisturizer also clogs pores and has a tendency to slide off your face, which makes the skin look oily. After your workout, take time to cool down by stretching so that your face can reduce in redness. Once you’ve finished cooling down, rinse your face with cool water to help reduce redness and close pores.

Looking Good after your Workout

Once you’ve finished freshening up, use a foundation primer or tinted moisturizer to conceal any of the redness that is still visible on your face. If your face feels oily, use a translucent powder to help absorb excess oil.
Since you’ve just worked out, you’ll have no need for blush because your face will probably be flushed with color naturally. Keep a natural skin-toned eye shadow shade in your gym bag to apply to your lids for a natural sheen. Only apply mascara on the top lashes, and apply a soft lip balm to your lips.

Dressing for the Workout

What you wear in terms of clothing may be just as important as how your hair is styled or what makeup you choose to wear (or choose not to wear). No matter if you are working out indoors or outdoors, you should dress so that you are comfortable for the type of activity you’re going to be partaking in. So when it comes to the clothes you wear while exercising, it all comes down to your individual body shape and size.
A basic everyday outfit that is flattering on most body types is a pair of black shorts, in combination with a sturdy sports bra and colored top like pink, blue or green.
For those of you who are self-conscious of your body, and aren’t comfortable wearing shorts and tank tops, think about choosing clothing items like T-shirts that are not overly baggy, as well as mid-thigh-length shorts.
One point worth making about shorts is that irritation can occur between thighs due to them rubbing together. So a quick solution for this is to wear a pair of compression or bicycle-style shorts under a pair of relaxed fitting shorts.
One thing you’ll notice about gyms is that there are lots of mirrors around so you can check out your form. Unfortunately, this also means that you can catch glimpses or yourself in unflattering clothes, which may cause you to lose the motivation to work out. This being said, always check your outfits before leaving for the gym so you don’t run into this problem.
Moving along, workout clothes should not be the same clothes you lounge around in at home. It’s important to keep a set of clothes specifically for working out, as well as items that you can lounge around in. Most loungewear is made of fabrics that don’t allow your skin to breathe, stretch, or bend with your body.
When you’re choosing workout gear, you should pick clothing suitable for different forms of exercise. For instance, yoga requires you to stretch, so wearing constricting shorts or shirts that fit too loosely can keep you from performing your best. Also, running requires more room to move, which is why people tend to wear shorts. For sports or high-impact workouts, you may find it more comfortable to wear more fitted tops to give your body extra support.
When it comes to fabrics for a comfortable workout, stay away from 100% cotton T- shirts because they stay wet with your perspiration for a long time after you’ve completed your exercises. You’ll also want to avoid dressing in layers while working out to keep from becoming over-heated, and to prevent unsightly sweat stains.
It may seem like a silly pre-workout ritual to apply makeup, tidy up your hair and take time to think about your outfit, but these tasks will encourage your best performance – even on days when you’re just not in the mood to go to the gym.