What's a good toning exercise?

[saraj91]

Hi All, 

My main exercises lately are running 5km at least twice a week, an hour of badminton once a week & then walks on the weekend (UK weather permitting lol).

This exercise has helped with my weight loss goals but I was wondering if people could suggest a type of exercise that would be good for toning? I've thought of maybe trying kickboxing but I've not done anything like that before. So any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks,

Sara

[WendyB]

Looks like you have Cardio Down.

You really need some weight training added to your routine. You can check youtube to get some ideas.

You need both. Kickboxing is fun but its just more Cardio.  And you need both Cardio and weight training

[Crank]

You would absolutely need weight training to be toned. A form of that you could try which works for me and not many know about are static holds. That involves holding the position of the weight resistance for as long as you can. Me personally i don't JUST do those but i do reps then i finish off with that and alternate those with just standard rep workouts every few weeks.

[tcatcarson]

Toning really means being able to see the curves of muscles.  So you need less fat, and maybe more muscles...

[moop88]

Yep, like everyone else suggested, weight training is your friend 🙂

don't worry, you wont suddenly turn into a shek-hulk, this takes loads of dedication and time for a woman.

You can get quite far with a few 'basic' moves like squats, deadlifts, overheadpress, push ups, curling...

I say basic, but definitely ask someone who knows what they are doing to help you out at first!! Especially with deadlifting, good posture is key and you could really mess up your back if you do it wrong.

Start off easy and everytime you do the move again, add a little weight (+1kg or if it's going well 2,5kg)

Go for sets/reps of 5x5

Good luck!

[DominicJ]

"Tone" is just visible muscle.

You may need to add more muscle, or you may need to strip more fat off your current muscle.

Or Both

Switch it up for a couple of weeks, drop your cardio and hit the weights section.

All I do is the shoulder press, the chest press, the Lat Pulldown and the, some sort of rower, I forget the name.

Each single lift should take 5 seconds, you should do 8 to 12 lifts, take a one minute break between sets of 8-12, and do 3 sets.

At the "right" weight, the 24th/36th lift should be just about completeable, but it should be completeable, training to the point where you fail a lift is foolishness of the highest order.

 "don't worry, you wont suddenly turn into a shek-hulk, this takes loads of dedication and time for a woman."

Its quite impossible to over state this point.

Building muscle is hard, it takes years.

If it wasnt, every man in the western world would look like Hulk, or at least Captain America.

[Dustyskippy1]

Hi

Swimming is a good for toning and cycling too.

[Chabby]

Burpees.

More Burpees.

A few more Burpees.

We have some dudes at work who are still young and haven't let themselves slip yet. They set up some HIIT routines for us and one thing they get us to do is a 7 minute Burpee Challenge, usually once a week. Do as many Burpees as you can in 7 minutes. Next week try and beat it.

[SunsetRunner]

I think it's important that people understand "tone" is just a really short way of saying "lose body fat, build muscle, and see the results." 

I kickbox 3 times a week, and also weight train and run. I came to kickboxing having gotten into weight training and cardio and feeling fit enough to take on a new challenge. I highly recommend it but would advise you to do your research and choose a reputable martial arts school as opposed to a random 'gym class'. 

There's some truth in what has been said about kickboxing being cardio intensive (after all you can't fight/compete if you have no endurance) but there's a lot of focus on strength (again, reputable schools will have a mix of technique and fitness) which means you'll do a lot of compound exercises which will build your muscle/strength and lead to improvement in your 'tone'. 

Typical compound exercises will bring all over body strength even without the addition of free weights;
Push ups/squats/lunges etc are your friend. If you incoporate compound moves into your regular routine you'll see a marked difference, then you can introduce additional resistance (weights/explosive movements e.g. squat jumps) to up the ante again. 

Hope this helps!

[Veronicaby]

Your right I've been doing weights/body toning for over 20 years.. I feel and look good.

[saraj91]

Thanks for all the responses so far everyone! Some really helpful advice.

I don't have a gym membership (I run round the local park) but have invested in some at home weights & a kettlebell (8kg) to help with my fat loss/toning. 

Current bofdy fat percentage is at 31%, down from 37%, so am getting there slowly but a little way to go yet 🙂 Hopefully adding in some weight training with the cardio will help lower that further.

[LucyAP]

Hello Fitbitters, Great to see you here! @saraj91 Just wanted you to know that I've gone ahead and moved your recent topic "What's a good toning exercise?" to the Get Fit board. Hope this helps you to receive more responses related to your topic. For your reference, you had originally posted your question in the 'Getting Started in the Fitbit Community' board, which is dedicated to discussion around how to use the community and its features.

Thanks for your understanding! 

[saraj91]

Thanks @LucyAP for moving this to the right board. 

[FBScottyT]

Everything said above seems like good advice.  Not to load your plate too much, so to speak, but one other thing I suggest that hadnt been mentioned.  

Don't overlook the importance of eating properly.  I know, it's a drag, but about 70% of body/appearance improvements you can make is going to come in the kitchen. I've seen a good many posts recently about how rigorous their cardio workouts are, maintaining a 500+ calories deficit, yet they don't lose any weight/body fat.  That always makes me think "diet."  Smart carbs and proteins in smaller portions and at certain times of the the day can't be understated. Building muscle won't appear as toned if you can't see it.  

You might even want to hire a trainer on a one-time basis to design a program for you, diet included, that you do yourself.  I didn't know squat (seriously, I didn't know how to squat) when I committed to becoming more fit last year.  Couldn't have done it without help.   

Best of Luck!

[Veronicaby]

Why not try to use a 8" plate at meal time so you can enjoy what you eat.🍏

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

It's always a good idea to do some weight lifting. At 31% BF it's going to be hard to notice the toning of your muscles, so if you feel like you are putting in a lot of effort but not noticing the difference don't worry it's not you. Just be mentally prepared to be happy with the increase strength and energy you will have, even if you don't see it in the mirror. Stay focused on loosing the weight, droping from 37% to 31% is a great achievement. When you get down to 18% or so thats when you will really notice the work you are putting in and getting an early start on weightlifting will mean it will be that much easier to get your body in the shape you want it in.

[saraj91]

Hi @SunsetRunner, thank you for your positive reply. 

I still have a way to go with my weightloss (about another 20ish pounds) but as you mentioned, hopefully starting some weight training now will help with seeing results further down the line. Something to look forward to. 

I've done some kettlebell exercises this last week & they were tough, but fun. Felt good to be exercising different muscles, but oh man do I ache! lol.

[SunsetRunner]

Any type of resistance. Weight, Body weight, will benefit you. Also remember to eat properly, keep your workouts going, add resistance training, and you should begin to see transformation. Wishing you the best!

[Veronicaby]

I agree I tend to work out at the gym 3 times and swim 2 days this works me and it is low impact..

[Run2winn]

Yoga - 2-3x / week...couldn't recommend it any more highly!!!  I've been a competitive distance runner (for most of my life--including into my adult years) and advanced CrossFitter for the past 4 1/2 years (which would also merit taking a look into--a solid gym/box with quality coaching).  But I'm now doing hot yoga 4-5x/week and am absolutely hooked...!

Good luck!

Mark