Toning Up!

**umar123** · 2nd February 2008

Hi,

I have recently got back in to gym and was wanting to knw what is the best way to tone up. I currently weigh 16 and a 1/2 stones and am about 5 11 maybe 5 12 tall. I currently train on a bit of everything (chest, arms, triceps, back, legs and shoulders) everyday from monday to thursday. is this the right way to go? if not your help would be much appreciated.

thanks and I await your reply.

**Unconected** · 2nd February 2008

Hey man,

I would suggest adding more cardio to your workout. To lose fat i would suggest some low intensity cardio for a long amount of time. Maybe 3 times a week if you can. I started doing this and in a few weeks i really noticed the difference as did the mrs.

Unco

**super mike** · 2nd February 2008

Define toning up? It's a pretty meaningless phrase.

Post up your routine and your diet for us to critique.

Read the stickies

**RUDE BOI** · 2nd February 2008

You need to give your body time to rest, don't train the same part of your body everyday, split different areas of your body to different days of the week
eg: Monday: Legs and Back; Wednesday: Arms and Abs; Friday: Chest and Shoulders. While resting all the days in between. Although as super mike said it all depends on what your goals are and what your current diet/body type is like.

**ffrr** · 2nd February 2008

...and also, most impotantly, I'd say start with your diet... if that's not in check then the rest is pointless!

there's plenty of good info in the stickies to point you in the right direction.

one other thing... in general, and this applies to everyone really... what works for one will not necessarily be ok for another... do as much research as you can to determine your genetics / metabolism / body type and find a diet routine to match... that's possibly the hardest part when it comes to working out to get in shape or body building... the initial time spent doing so will reward you ten-fold over just being told what to do by a bunch of people who don't even know you.

**Mashburn** · 7th February 2008

Looking 'toned' = losing bodyfat and gaining muscle.
Get your diet in order, do loads of cardio and follow a good lifting routine.

**super mike** · 7th February 2008

Originally Posted by Mashburn

Looking 'toned' = losing bodyfat and gaining muscle.

Choose one or other and start from there, unless you're a lucky sod.

**Mashburn** · 8th February 2008

Yeh, sorry, i didnt mean at the same time!

I have a hard enough time doing one OR the other, never mind both together!!

**umar123** · 8th February 2008

Cheers guys thanks for your help.

My diet is not so good. so i will first try and put that in order.

thanks once again

**jackdaniels** · 4th April 2008

Just to jump on this thread, i re-discovered the gym and im now going every day. I'm aiming to lose weight and so am doing 45mins on the X-trainer, 45 mins on the Cycle on the hill climbing mode. Then alternate with a few circuits of weights machines with less time on the cardio. Is this a good plan or am i doing it completely wrong??

**Zippeyrude** · 4th April 2008

As has been mentioned above both exercise AND diet are important.

Opinions will vary but the first thing would be to take a look at what you do and post it (perhaps in a separate thread). Also look at the diet as you can work out all you want but if you are not fuelling the body correctly you may actually be getting fatter and less muscular as a result.

Personally i would mix some weights and cardio. Doing weights doesnt mean bulking muscle necessarily but building core strength, which will help improve you general health and things like posture. Invariably once you decide to 'become a gym bunny' you will automatically improve your diet, probably without knowing it. This is because you will not want to 'ruin' all your hard effort be eating like a chav fat cunt.

I would have thought that 3 times a week with some general weights (all body parts), high workout intensity. Followed by half hour cardio.

On the non weights days you could just do some cardio if you wished but be mindful that the body does need to recover and replenish its stores. The body can, if it feels under threat, hold on to fat stores which is why you may be better off approaching this in a slow and steady manner as opposed to a crash. I say this because 2x45 mins is a hell of a lot.

So essentially i would do, on alternative days

5-10 mins warmup. e.g. light cardio
30 mins weights
30 mins cardio for fat burn

eat well and enjoy

**jackdaniels** · 6th April 2008

Thanks for the reply, my diet is not the best at the minute but im trying to sort that out but its difficult to eat consistantly at the same times as i'm so used to my bad habits of constant snacking. Hopefully when i get some of that Whey protein it will help to balance out the eating habits.

**pheonixsingh** · 6th April 2008

diet and exercise are very imporant, i would say more so diet if you want to lose weight, try and eat a small meal every 2-3hours, when dieting and easy way i like to do it is i only eat whatever i could say fit in my one hand.

with training get a routine so monday chest and back then tuesday legs wednesday shoulders and thursday arms or something like that, after every weights session do some cardio

also if you can do some morning cardio when you wakeup before youve had something to eat, nothing to hard just a very light jog for 20mins that would aid fat loss.

also remember as your also weight training your weight actually may not decrease on the scales, youl have to go by how you look in the mirror so maybe take progress pics of yourself on a month by month basis?