Time to Tone Your Body with Five Simple Exercises

Whatever you wish to tone your body for, be it the summer bikini, a particularly figure hugging dress or simply for some added self confidence, the following five simple exercises could help.

Exercise 1 – Sit Ups

There aren’t many exercises more effective at toning your abdominal muscles than sit ups. Lying on the ground with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent; use your abdominal muscles to lift your head and shoulders from the ground, toward your bent knees. Pause for a moment, lower and repeat this movement as many times as you can manage.

Exercise 2 – Squats

Squats incorporate many different lower body muscles at once, making them an excellent exercise for toning. As you stand, ensure that your feet are shoulder width apart and lower your body slowly, until your knees form 90 degree angles. Stay there for a couple of seconds and then slowly stand again.

Exercise 3 – Dumbbell Exercises

For this arm toning experience you will require some additional equipment in the form of dumbbells. They can be purchased cheaply from many stores, and will often come with information detailing a variety of exercises that will successfully tone your arms. One simple exercise is the bicep curl in which, taking one dumbbell in either hand, you should slowly lift your arms from their position at your sides toward your chest. Try not to grip the dumbbell too tightly as you lift and lower your arms.

Exercise 4 – Press Ups

To tone your shoulder, chest and back muscles you could incorporate press ups into your routine. Kneel on the floor and place your arms in front of you, shoulder width apart. Step onto your toes, so that your body is flat, with your shoulders above your hands in their position on the floor. Slowly lower yourself to the floor by bending your arms, and then lift yourself up again by straightening them. Press ups aren’t easy for novices, so to make things easier initially leave your knees upon the floor.

Exercise 5 – Leg Lifts

Leg lifts aren’t an easy exercise, but they are great for your abdominal and thigh muscles. Lie on the floor with your legs flat in front of you, and your hands by your sides. Slowly lift your legs straight up as far as they will comfortably reach, pause for a moment and then slowly lower your legs to their starting position. Repeat this exercise, ideally without allowing your legs to touch the floor between repetitions.

The five toning exercises that we have considered are but a few that could be used to improve your muscle shape. Should you wish to concentrate more on toning your muscles, there are many exercise evening classes that will focus on certain muscle groups, enabling you to tone the areas that you wish to.

Always remember that, if exercising at home, it is vitally important to stretch your muscles before working them hard. This will reduce the likelihood of any potential injury.

Rebecca L. Smith is a full time freelance writer based in the UK. She specialises in creating an assortment of articles on a range of different topics of interest.