For many women, the top goals that they have with their workout program is to work on toning the bum, toning the thighs, and toning the tummy. Essentially, they want to firm up but not develop a lot of muscle bulk, thus retaining their feminine appearance.
Fortunately, if they go about their program correctly, it’s perfectly possible to see good toning in all three of these areas. The problem is that many women quickly run to the cardio machines thinking that’s the single best way to tone these areas of the body. Only it’s not and their progress is significantly going to suffer if this is what they do.
Let’s have a look at some of the best exercises for toning the bum, toning the thighs, and toning the tummy.
3 Exercises For Toning Your Bum
First let’s talk about the exercises you can use for toning the bum.
1) Lunges
The first great exercise for toning the bum is the lunge. The lunge is great since it’s not only going to target the glutes to a high extent, but it’s also going to hit the core as well as it maintains your balance.
Remember to incorporate all variations of lunge into your program including walking lunges, reverse lunges, and stationary lunges.
2) Split Squats
Another great exercise for toning the bum are split squats. For this one you’re simply going to lift one leg up off the ground and place it up on a bench behind you. Then, holding a dumbbell in each hand, you’re going to lower yourself down towards the floor by bending the supporting leg.
Pause once you’re as low to the ground as you can go and then press back up again to complete the movement. Complete on the other side once you’ve performed 10-12 reps.
3) Glute Bridges
Finally, the third exercise to help with toning the bum is the glute bridge. For this exercise you simply lie flat on the floor with the knees bent and the feet placed firmly on the ground. From there, press up through the feet, elevating the hips off the floor until they form a straight line with the body.
Hold that position for about 30 seconds and then lower to complete the rep.
3 Exercises For Toning Your Thighs
Moving along, the following exercises will be great for toning the thighs.
1) The Leg Extension
The leg extension is one isolation exercise that will really help to zero in and target the quads specifically, so it’s great for toning the thighs. Use a slightly lighter weight range with this exercise and take it into the 15-20 rep range for best toning benefits.
2) Squats
Squats are the next exercise to use for toning the thighs. For this exercise you want to be sure that you’re squatting down the full way – or as low as you can possible go because this will not only tone the thighs then, but also be helpful for toning the bum as well.
These are also a great calorie burner as well so you should definitely be performing them every workout you do.
3) Step-Ups
Finally, step-ups are the last exercise for toning the thighs. These are very simple to do and can be done with or without weights in your home or at the gym.
Keep in mind with these that the higher the step is, the more you’ll target the glutes as well as the thighs.
3 Exercises For Toning Your Tummy
Finally, last but not least, let’s look at some of the top exercises for toning your tummy.
1) The Plank
The plank exercise is great for a complete core toner and is unlike any other abdominal exercise since it uses an isometric contraction.
To perform the plank, get down so that you’re balancing on your legs stretched out underneath you and your forearms directly beneath you.
You should resemble that of a table top in this position and be sure to hold it for at least thirty seconds before resting and repeating a second time through.
2) The Lying Leg Raise
Moving on, the lying leg raise is the next movement that you’ll want to consider. This exercise is ideal for targeting the lower abs and will help to increase muscular endurance as well.
When doing this one, make sure that you perform it with a slow and controlled movement pattern to prevent momentum from carrying you through the exercise.
To up the intensity, you can have someone try and push the legs downwards at the top of the movement while you think of resisting the pressure.
3) The Reverse Crunch
Finally, the reverse crunch is the last exercise that’s great for toning the tummy. When doing this one you want to really focus on your breathing as you move through the movement, exhaling during the contraction portion.
This will ensure that you get the most intense abdominal contraction possible, thus improving the results from the exercise.
Tips For Effective Body Toning
To end off with, remember that when working towards total body toning, you’ll want to keep your workouts fast paced and intense. This is the best way to boost your metabolic rate so that you not only tighten and define the muscles, but you also increase the metabolism so that you burn more calories 24/7.
In order to see great benefits for toning the thighs, toning the bum, and toning the tummy, you need to lower your total body fat level as well, so this will help you do so.
After that, also remember to perform full body workouts, doing one or two of all of the above listed exercises for each muscle group every workout as this will help you burn more calories each session and move closer to your goal.
With the right program plan and enough motivation and commitment, you can see full body toning success.
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