An exercise plan with the objective to tone your muscles will be different from one trying to build your muscles. Toning your muscles will require weight-lifting exercises, body-resistance exercises and cardio. In general, there will be a high amount of volume worked. Volume, for weight-lifting purposes is reps multiplied by weight. For example, benching 120 lbs. 10 times results in a 1,200 lb. volume for a set.
Weightlifting
The weight-lifting part of a toning plan requires a higher number of repetitions. Doing 12 to 20 reps per set is a common guideline. For example, do three sets of an exercise with 12 reps for the first set, 15 reps for the second and 20 for the third. Select the appropriate weight so that you can complete each set but make sure it is still challenging. This means you will use more weight for the set of 12 reps than the set of 15 and so on.
Body Resistance
These exercises do not require any weight but still work your muscles. Push-ups, pull-ups, walking lunges, dips, heel raises and abdominal exercises will all work areas of your body without requiring you to lift a weight. For these exercises, start by doing as many reps as you can per set, even if the number is low, such as five or six reps. Each time you exercise, increase the numbers until they are in the toning range of 12 to 15.
Cardio
The last part of a toning exercise plan is the cardio regime. For this, your goal is to burn fat. The type of cardio does not matter, whether it is running, biking or on a stair stepper or elliptical. In doing so, you will spend about a total of 20 minutes on the machine of your choice. Start with five minutes at a medium pace, then alternate 2-1/2 minute intervals of high intensity followed by low intensity for the remaining 15 minutes.
References
- "Personal Fitness Training Theory & Practice"; Mary A. York, MA; 2007
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