Getting toned muscles...?!
Question: What excersises should I do to tone up?I'm 16 years old.Female.5'7.156 pounds.Most of my weight comes from muscle(that's a fact) but my muscles aren't as toned I'd like them to be.What are some specific things I can do to tone up and get a better looking body?What steps should I take?What changes should I make?
Answers: What excersises should I do to tone up?I'm 16 years old.Female.5'7.156 pounds.Most of my weight comes from muscle(that's a fact) but my muscles aren't as toned I'd like them to be.What are some specific things I can do to tone up and get a better looking body?What steps should I take?What changes should I make?
I am glad you asked this question BG because I am always trying to tone up my muscles and make them look more defined as well. The advice I would give you is as follows:
- For a 16 year old girl who is still developing at a tremendous rate, it is important to keep your workout light. When I say light, I mean don't overdo it on how much your pushing up in weights. I would stick to a calistinics workout meaning using your own weight for excercising rather than using heavy machinery and free weights. If you do use free weights be sure to use 5 or 10 pound dumbells. Anything more for a girl who is trying to tone up would just add more muscle and make them look bigger. Make sure to do lots of reps and low weight. Push-ups, sit-ups, and lounges are great calistinic workouts that have great results for those trying to get more tone.
-Eat healthy. It is a good idea to have a planned and routine eating program. I would suggest having three solid healthy low fat high protien meals a day and having 3 small in-between meals a day giving you a total of 6 meals altogether. So it would look like this for example.
Morning- Solid meal such as cereal and two eggs.
In-between- a cup of yogurt or some beef jerky with carrots and celery.
Lunch- Solid meal such as a tuna sandwich or chicken salad with a piece of whole wheat bread
in-between- another cup of yogurt or some trail mix.
Dinner- Solid meal such as a peice of chicken or salmon with a good portion of vegatables.
after dinner snack about hour in a half later- This could be a protien shake or something with a lot of protien.
This eating program will start to develop your bodies metabolism and will increase as it starts to get use to it. Your body needs fuel every 2 to 3 hours. This is because the bodies natural need of protein for your food only last about 2 hours after eating. Anything more than two hours will result in the body taking protien directly from your muscles.
-Rest. The third thing the body needs a lot of is rest. Make sure to get plenty of sleep at night. Their is nothing worse that trying to gain good definition and having that all go down the drain because you are not giving your body plenty of time to rebuild its muscle and replenish its strength. So make sure you get plenty of sleep. Hopefully 8-9 hours a night.
-Water. Liquids are key to any muscle toning. Water is the main source of liquid intake for those serious of dropping the weight and getting into better shape. Water is proven to increase matabolisms and helping in muscle rebuilding. Just like your lungs need air to live your muscles need water to grow and stay strong. Water Water Water
Hope this helps. Tell me how it goes.