The Best Exercises For Toning
If you want to tone up, you must first have a low body fat percentage so that the muscle definition you’re building is visible. It is not possible to use spot reduction for fat loss, for example doing sit ups won’t help you to lose fat on your stomach. You have to reduce your overall fat percentage first and then begin to work on toning.
Subcutaneous fat (the deepest layer of fat) is the most difficult to lose, it is less effective at burning free fatty acids and is less metabolically active than visceral fat. Explosive exercises are good for fat loss as this style of training can increase your level of hormone growth (HGH) which is responsible for increasing muscle tissue that will fight the storage and production of adipose tissue. These exercises will also improve your insulin sensitivity. The more sensitive to insulin you are, the less likely your body is to convert blood glucose into stored fat. Glucose is either stored in your muscles, the liver or as fat. Examples of explosive exercises include box jump, lateral bounds, burpee with knee tuck and squat thrusters.
For full body toning try these exercises:
Push Ups – they tone the upper body, shaping shoulders and arms, but also working the abs and core
Plank – when toning the stomach plank is preferable to crunches because you’re less likely to injure yourself, plus planking is more effective at building a tight core
Squats – they strengthen your lower body and core, they’re also an effective fat burning exercise as they work some of the largest muscles in your body
Lunges – they increase strength in your legs and glutes, plus they’ll help with your balance
If you want to see faster results, then try adding weights, here are some weighted exercises you can try:
- Kettlebell swings
- Push press with dumbbell
- Power row with dumbbell in each hand
- Squat with barbell
- Weighted glute bridge
- Deadlifts
For faster fat burning results you can try these exercises in a HIIT circuit, to learn more about HIIT training click here.