Those reasons are for a different post entirely, so we’ll focus on toning up!
One of the more common goals I hear from potential clients (men and women alike) is the desire to “Get toned!”
Start with my 4 Secrets to Toning Up
and you’ll be on your way in no time!
1. PRIORITIZE COMPOUND MOVEMENTS
Classified as a movement that uses more than one “joint action” these can include:
-Squat
-Hip Thrust
-Lunge to Lateral Raise
-Dumbbell Curl to Overhead Press
They can typically move the heaviest resistance/weight, helping build muscle to create tone. Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps of these exercises.
2. EAT A HIGH PROTEIN DIET
Protein is the building block of muscles. Resistance training breaks down the muscle tissue, so maintaining a high protein diet (~1-1.2g per kg of weight) will help re-fuel your muscles to get bigger and stronger!
3. FOCUS ON SLEEP/RECOVERY
Often overlooked by a “I’ll sleep more when I’m dead” mentality by a lot of people, one thing we can all do is take sleep/recovery a little more seriously. Clearing a foggy brain, providing more energy, and giving your body the time it needs to properly rest and re-build the muscle used during that days training session is vital to help get you toned in no time. Shoot for 7-9hrs per night! And reminder, you can’t make up for lost sleep, be consistent, get consistent results!
4. SLOW AND CONTROLLED TEMPO
It’s great that you’re hitting compound movements and starting to feel good, but if you want to speed up the process, it’s time to slow down the reps. Each rep should aim for a 2 second contraction and 2 second extension at minimum. During the movement, the muscle shortens and lengthens, breaking down with micro tears on each rep. Slowing down the movement forces harder work (more micro tears), so when the muscles rebuild thanks to protein and the rest/recovery, they’ll be stronger and more toned/defined!
That’s it!
To get toned, you have to have muscle to show off. Follow those 4 steps and you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of the game to building your ideal body.
We all start somewhere and stepping foot on a gym floor can be one of the most nerve-wracking things in the world if you don’t have a plan. One of the first things I learned that helped me and a few of my clients when we started was keeping our plan SIMPLE. Welcome to Resistance Training 101 – Beginners Guide to Fitness.
There are a ton of pieces of equipment (barbells, dumbbells, cables, machines, etc) on a commercial gym floor (Planet Fitness; Esporta Fitness; etc.) but when you take a bird’s eye view, you’ll notice every exercise is a variation
of just 7 movements that our body does:
Push (chest, shoulders, triceps)
Pull (back, biceps)
Squat (quadriceps)
Hinge (glutes, hamstrings)
Lunge (full leg)
Rotation (core/abs)
Gait (walking, total body)
When starting out, the first thing you need to learn is HOW YOUR BODY MOVES through each of these 7 movements and begin building from there. It doesn’t matter what your goal is, if you’ve never stepped foot in a gym, the first
Push
thing you should do is learn how your body moves. Not only will this help you push yourself and make strides quicker than those around you, but it will help your mind and muscles develop a connection to learn how to safely move, which will help avoid injury as you increase the resistance/load (weight).
PULL
When coming up with your plan, my suggestion would be to pick 1 exercise that falls under each category to be your workout that you repeat 2-3 times per week for 2–4 weeks to properly develop HOW to do it and how your body moves.
Making it even simpler, begin by using machines or your own bodyweight as they are the most stable and can help you learn the basic movement pattern of the exercise. One rule to keep in mind is you want to start with the most stable exercise possible and machines, being the most stable, literally only have 1 way they work, which helps you develop the proper form for the exercise.
Squat
Once you’ve completed the 2-4 week entry period, then take a step back and decide how you want to attack your goals. You will be able to decide if you want to train 2, 3, or 4+ days per week and then build your program or plan from there.
One of the most popular goals I’ve come across is combining Burning fat + Getting toned (building muscle). I say this not only from what I’ve discussed with my clients, but because this is similar to goals that I have gone after and achieved personally. To do this, I/we have seen best results by doing 3–4 sets of each chosen exercise at about 10–15 repetitions per set (resting 45–60 seconds between sets).
Hinge
**Not sure what weight to use (if more than Bodyweight)?
When you choose a number of reps you’re shooting for, the weight should be heavy enough to hit that number of reps with difficulty, but not so heavy that you can’t safely get there; or light enough that you finish and think, “hmm… could have done 10 more…”**
If I were starting out, a sample workout I might try (and similar to those I have applied to clients on their first few days) would look like this:
A. Chest press machine (3 sets; 12 reps)
B. Seated close grip row (cable maybe?) (3 sets; 15 reps)
C. Leg Press machine (3 sets; 15 reps)
D. Dumbbell deadlift (3 sets; 12 reps)
E. Bodyweight stationary forward lunge (3 sets; 8–10 reps each leg
F. Russian twist (3 sets; 20 reps each side)
G. Dumbbell farmer carry (3 sets; 30–50yds)
Lunge
Do your best to maintain focus on controlling the weight and as you get better, increase the weight and plug in new exercises that still work toward your goals and vary it up.
Consistency and patience will lead to the best results.
Once you’ve got the basics down, if you’re looking for that edge, there are TONS of free programs or helpful hints and tips you can find and all the exercises in my sample workout can be found with a quick Google/YouTube search.
Fitness is for everyone; and everyone started somewhere – you got this and remember that wanting to walk this journey means you are working toward a happier, healthier you – physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.
Still not sure what to do or need that extra bit of accountability?
Rotation
It’s never a bad idea to hire a coach or trainer. One of my specialties is helping new people learn their way around the jungle gym of their fitness facility and learning how amazing the human body can be. If you’re tired of waiting around and ready to make the change, head to the Online Client Application and fill it out and let’s talk today! Get all the structure and accountability you need from an in-person trainer, with the flex to train any time, any where in the world at a fraction of the cost, with the best in the world! (me! 😊)
Building the body of your dreams is not rocket science, but there are no true short cuts to the top. It takes hard work and discipline to reach your goals, but everyone is equipped with the ability to do it if they choose. The nice thing is that it all boils down to 3 main things: Training, Nutrition, and (probably most important) Mindset. Let’s take a look at the elements that you should focus on in order to reach the body of your dreams!
TRAINING
Dumbbell Biceps Curls
Sure, you can simply walk into a gym or buy a couple pieces of equipment and swing them around and if you’ve not done that before, you’ll see some sort of result for a bit. But they won’t be toward anything and it doesn’t make sense and you’ll lose interest and stop pretty quickly. Set yourself up for success by
first and foremost developing a specific plan. Within that plan, you should jot down your targeted goal that you’re working toward. Having a plan and goal in sight will help keep you moving forward, taking away the guesswork of “what am I gonna do today?” The plan doesn’t need to be too crazy, but having a specific start and end date will help keep you on track and keep some sanity knowing there is a scheduled time frame to focus on. Though everyone’s goals are different and yours will change along your journey, the best programs and plans tend to follow an ideology of exercising at least 3-4 times per week and is centered around weight/resistance training. Regardless of toning up, building muscle, losing weight, training for competition, or just looking to prolong your health and activity levels, those 2 staples should be involved in all of your training programs for optimal results. Once you’ve come up with the plan, it’s easy to find the dedication to show up. Taking out the guesswork of what you’re going to do is a huge hack to solving the issue of being dedicated. When you know what you’re going to do, the time frame you’re going to work toward your goal, and the structure is in your hand, all you have to do now is show up and get it done. The final thing to remember – and to me, probably the most important aspect to your training – is to make it fun! Training is difficult and makes you tired, but it also boosts your energy, makes you stronger, healthier, better, more confident, etc. and there are so many different ways to work out, try a few and find what works for you. Lifting heavy things and putting them down is fun to me; for you it might be a boot camp class. Making it fun is going to make it 10x easier to show up than if you go in every day with a negative attitude.
NUTRITION
An Apple A Day
This is probably the hardest aspect of working toward your ideal body but following these guides can make it a lot easier and more manageable. It doesn’t matter what your goals here either, these elements will help you reach whatever goal you’re aiming for. Regarding nutrition in accordance with training, there’s no debate that protein centric nutrition is key. High quality protein helps fuel the body and the muscles to keep working and re-build after a workout session. They also help mitigate holding onto fat cells which throw off our goals. Beyond protein, nutrition should be focused on whole food sources – not just labelled organic, but whole/organic sources as much as possible. There’s an unwritten rule that if you want to be healthy, only shop the perimeter of the grocery store. That’s where all the fresh produce, meat, and other foods can be found. The middle aisles are all the processed foods full of added sugars, fats, and garbage you don’t need. To that, avoiding added sugars and alcohol can help catapult you toward your goals in whatever direction it may be. Sugar causes inflammation and affects your immune system and hormone responses throwing off your hunger and ability to heal/grow. Plus, booze is basically poison with no benefit whatsoever except adding extra calories. If you have difficulty feeling full, try increasing your vegetable intake as they’re nutrient dense, take up more space, and can help you feel fuller for longer periods of time than sugary snacks and carbs.
It can be hard to keep all of this in mind, so the easier the food is to prep and manage, the easier it will be to adhere to. Like your training, keeping a simple plan can help you stay focused on your goals and make a typically difficult aspect of our health much more manageable. And if you fall off the wagon, remember that without its driver, it’s going to stop right next to you. Forgive yourself for indulging a sweet tooth or craving and make sure to hop back on at the next meal instead of throwing in the towel. One setback won’t end all your progress until that one becomes more. And if you’re worried that you’re not actually hungry, remember that staying hydrated with roughly 100oz of water a day can help stave off cravings and make you feel full longer. Plus, with a body made mostly of water, staying hydrated has a TON of other benefits.
MINDSET
Daily Journaling
Yes, having a training plan and approach to nutrition are incredibly important and going to be the building blocks of your journey to the top of the mountain, but the things you do to keep your mind on task are probably the most important aspects of this climb. Having climbed my own mountain, these things have helped me more than having a plan or easy to prep meals ever could and they should not be taken lightly! As I mentioned earlier, if you’re going to stick to a plan, one of the best things to do is to make it fun. You must remind yourself that exercise and nutrition are different than what you’re used to, and it is hard, but you’re rewarding your body for being so magical, not punishing it. The time before this journey was the punishment – now we’re nurturing and rewarding. Things that can help you feel rewarded are to keep a daily journal of the tasks you have set ahead of you. I like to list the top 6-10 items for the day that will move me forward including blocking time for my workouts or stretching. Journaling can help you let off steam as much as keep your eye on the prize of what you’re working toward. On top of that, it can help with envisioning the success you’re working toward. Seeing yourself in that future state can help keep focus and dedication going when the motivation is fleeting. Beyond those longer term plans, don’t ever forget to appreciate the small victories. Setting aside time every day or every week to look back and appreciate the small victories and steps forward remind us of how far we’ve come and help us avoid the pit of thinking we have so much further to keep going. Not only will these things help keep you focused and dedicated to your training and nutritio
n, but they are really beneficial ways to help mitigate stresses in life that try to pop up and derail you from your goals. Having a routine; keeping your eye on the prize; focusing on small victories and prioritizing your schedule can help keep stresses at bay or allow you identify if it’s a real stress or just an inconvenience that can be dealt with later. The final piece of the mindset puzzle is to make sure you prioritize sleep. We think we function well on 6hrs or less, but study after study proves otherwise. Do what you can to get 7-9 hours regularly per night to optimize your mental health that will set you up for great physical health. The body needs rest to recover and calm down from life. This is the time when your body repairs itself and when you cut down on the amount of rest, we tend to also let other habits slide that can throw us off from our fitness and nutrition goals we’ve been working toward.
Like I said, it’s not easy to work toward your best self, but making a plan, making it easy, and keeping a positive mindset and focus on your goals can help set you up to succeed better than you ever could have imagined.
What area do you feel like you would like to focus on and what’s one thing you could do RIGHT NOW to work on it? Drop a comment below and let’s start working toward our best dang selves!
