Muscle toning


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Without regular exercise you will develop a poor posture, over-use your joints and suffer from general weakness.

Your muscles need to regularly work at above 50% of their maximum potential or they become inefficient, but with proper muscle toning exercises they will stay fit and healthy. A muscle-toning exercise session can be carried out in a short period of time in the form of free-standing body exercises, free weights or using a well equipped exercise facility.

leg pressLeg Press

The benefits of muscle toning

1 Increased strength

As you become stronger you will be able to respond to physical challenges with confidence and increased satisfaction.

2 Ease of movement

If your body is fitter and stronger, your skeleton will be supported by well-conditioned muscles and you are less likely to be injured when your body is stressed.

3 Looking good

By regularly working your muscles you will develop and maintain good muscle tone and a lasting athletic figure.

NB Muscle toning is taken to a more extreme level in Resistance Training where the idea is to increase muscle mass. The same exercises can be used but for toning and not specifically growth - Do more reps of lighter weight.

leg curlLeg curl

Steps for a 10-week muscle toning programme

  1. Select exercises.
  2. Determine the maximum weight that you can successfully repeat (One Repetition Maximum:1RM) for each exercise.
  3. Determine 60% of the 1RM for each exercise. This will be your training weight.
  4. Perform each exercise for 6-8 repetitions.
  5. Do  a set of exercises at least 3 times a week.
  6. For weeks 1 and 2 do two sets; from week 3 onwards do three sets.
  7. Re-test to measure your progress after 10 weeks.

pull downPull down

Eight main exercises

Most people are within reach of a gym or weight room with instructors who can show you how to get the maximum benefit from the equipment. The following exercises are provided as a guide for a balanced programme, using equipment which is normally available in a fitness facility. The exercises follow a logical and physiologically sound order, working on the large muscle groups before the smaller ones.

  1. Bench press (chest exercise)
  2. Leg press (leg exercise)
  3. Pull Down (back exercise)
  4. Leg curl (hamstring exercise)
  5. Shoulder press (shoulder exercise)
  6. Arm curl (arm exercise)
  7. Abdominal (stomach exercise)
  8. Triceps press (back arm exercise)

triceps pressTriceps press

Basic principles

There are four basic principles to weight training:

1 Overload

Regularly "overloading" your muscles elicits a positive response; they thrive on physical work. "Overloading" means exercising a muscular system against a resistance which is greater than normally encountered. You must work them at greater than 50% capacity for the training to be effective.

2 Progression

For weight training to be of benefit you need to start slowly, gradually increasing the resistance over a given period of time. A muscle subjected to overload in a progressive manner will steadily increase its strength.

3 Specificity

Training is specific to the muscle group involved. There is no "carry-over" effect, but you can tailor your exercises to suit your individual needs, for instance for a particular sport.

4 Reversibility

All your hard work can be undone by prolonged periods of inactivity, so your programme must be continuous. This is why you have to do two or three sessions every week.

 

Email: yourpersonaltrainer@ic24.net


Last modified: September 05, 2000

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