toning up!

I really want to tone my back and stomach up, what's the best exercise for doing this?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: New Rules of Lifting for Women.

To start , we cant spot reduce...if we could i would have those 10 pack abs im dreaming of.

All the crunches in the world wont get you a flat stomach without  a proper diet and workout schedule.

Eat right  and frequently and get into a good workout routine.

If you already have a flat stomach and are down to a low body fat percentage and really do just need to tone then start with a basic ab workout (crunches , bicycles, hip raises, leg raises, leg climbs)  For back , i know your going to yell "yeah right!" but pull ups are one of the best back exercises...do them assisted (with a chair) or use bands or a pull down machine to simulate.

I agree with both of the above posts....although my fav book is "The Body Sculpting Bible for Women".

Also, I find planks (side and centre) are great for strengthening the abs, and anything with a ball.  The most important thing is to vary your routine frequently, you'll be more likely to hit every muscle and it keeps your body from getting into a rut.

Yoga yoga yoga.  Well, okay, it won't fix everything, but it surely will tone (not build).  If you want things all firmed up, I totally recommend yoga.  Of course, you need to so the weight stuff in addition, but yoga makes the muslces longer, firmer, provides better posture, and is hella fun! 

Original Post by jesylyn072:

yoga makes the muslces longer

 How does yoga make your muscles longer? I mean, they are attached at fixed points - seems the only way to make a muscle longer would be by surgery.

Yoga is NOT a substitute for strength training. People need to get that out of their pretty little heads. I'm sure yoga is great for whatever yoga does, but it's terrible, unacceptable substitute for strength training.

To answer the original question, I'm a big fan of deadlifts for both areas.

Original Post by spirochete:

Yoga is NOT a substitute for strength training. People need to get that out of their pretty little heads. I'm sure yoga is great for whatever yoga does, but it's terrible, unacceptable substitute for strength training.

Instead of saying it like this i would just say...both strength training and yoga are great for toning.

Yoga gets a lot of the little twitch muscles that lifting does not.

I can tell you one thing, out of all of my workouts, yoga is the hardest. hour and a half of struggle. I end up being soaked in sweat and exhausted but my flexibility and strength and tone have improved noticeably since i started doing yoga

Body resistance training in general is great.

Original Post by ubiquitousfit:

Instead of saying it like this i would just say...both strength training and yoga are great for toning.

 

I wouldn't say that because they are not even in the same league. I know people love their yoga, and that's awesome. Gotta do what you like or else you'll find yourself not doing anything.

Melkor and floggysully always post the study comparing the two. I'm too lazy

Diet is number one. Google clean eating. Clean/well balanced eating.

Lifting, dead-lifts, squats, lunges, crunches, push-ups, pull-ups. Sprints have done more for overall toning for me then anything else. Straight out leg lifts with and without weights are great.

Planks/Side planks are working for me, I've noticed results (back/hips/butt/arms)

Eeek .....

someone mentioned the word yoga didn't they ... tut tut.

Ok so im going to throw in my pet hate in too.

Tone??!!!!! what the hell is "toning"????.

Ok when people mention the "dreaded words" i want to "tone up" EEEEK besides cringe and struggle to remain calm... i remind myself that everyone start's somewhere and generally that people who want to "tone up" don't understand what they really need to do they just want a body that looks firmer and less wobbly but arn't quite sure what that means or how to get it.

Ok so here it is....

so you want to "tone up" your belly... don't we all haha.

what you need is to lose fat and gain muscle... i can't stress enough that you can't "tone up" untill you bring your fat down, and you can't do that in 1 place.. you lose fat on your body as a whole ... sadly no spot reduction.

Now before you say "but im already pretty thin"... shhhhh .... You can be thin and you can "HAVE" fat ...... 

if you want to look firmer and more "toned" you need to bring your fat down to show off your muscle... end of story!!!!!!!

Now if your like me of oooh 12 months ago with no muscle to speak of (perfect example of skinny fat) bringing my fat down to a level where i would have looked "toned" on my belly would have left my arms shoulders etc looking well... sick, anorexic and well NOT GOOD!!!!

So in order to get the "toned" look i wanted (still want) i've had to significantly raise my muscle mass, i've done this in stages ... build muscle, loose fat till i start looking sick, stop ... build more muscle rinse and repeat.

And Yup best way to do this is in the Gym lifting them HEAVY Weights !!!!

If you don't think you can afford to loose more weight without looking sick then you need more muscle to pad you out .. however if you have good muscle tone already maybe you just need to strip away the fat.

Looking toned is all about fat ..... and lack thereof ... END OF STORY.