Categories: Movement

Our Top Ways To Tone At Home

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So, you’ve decided to step up your workout regime and incorporate more specific exercises to the mix.

But maybe you’re traveling, or don’t have an option of going to a gym, and you find yourself wondering if you can really step up the challenge on your own, indoors.

Well, you can and in today’s post, we’ll show you how.

Toning is not just for advanced exercisers.

Anyone who has been consistently exercising, eating healthy, and following other healthy lifestyle practices will start seeing changes in how their body looks and feels. Reduced body fat and increased muscle tone are some of the first ways to know the workout regime is working. But there are so many other markers of good health that traditional weight loss programs tend to lose sight of.

What are some of the other impacts of a healthy lifestyle?

Before we jump into our favorite tips for toning, lets look at some other, non-weight loss related markers that’ll tell you if you’re on the right path.

  • You feel more energized in your day-to-day activities
  • You look forward to your workouts for a change
  • As an extension of the above point, other lifestyle & wellness practices don’t fill you with dread
  • You FEEL stronger, leaner, and fitter than before
  • You feel mentally recharged and refreshed
  • You sleep better and find yourself able to better manage everyday stressors of life.

Our top ways to tone at home

Now that we have those out of the way, let’s dive deep into our top exercises to get toned at home.

1. Yoga: Yoga is excellent for creating changes in body composition and giving you a more toned, lean look. Yoga sessions are extremely scalable too. Right from more restful variations such as restorative and yin yoga, all the way to power yoga moves, there are multiple ways you can scale the session as per your ability and time at hand.

You don’t need any props to get started in yoga or to even get a proper session in. If you wish, you can add props such as yoga blocks, cushions, bands for a deeper stretch, etc. you can also use a pillow and blanket for more restorative styles. You can substitute these props with easy to find objects lying sound like books, a towel instead of a band, or a regular pillow instead of a cushion.

The best part? Yoga is extremely beneficial in creating a mind-body connection that many traditional forms of exercises can miss. Deep breathing and meditations added to a yoga session will improve its quality even further.

2. Pilates: another discipline that works great to improve mind-body connection and alignment is Pilates. It’s one of those deceptively simple looking routines that can surprise you with some serious burn! Pilates is wonderful for strengthening those deep core muscles and providing pelvic stability that a lot of abs focused routines miss. It’s known to tone and tighten the muscles worked while focusing on mindful breathing. Win-win, right? Resistance bands and ankle weights are good additions to Pilates as well. But make sure to only add them when you have perfected your form.

3. Strength training: many women can feel intimidated at the thought of lifting heavy, but strength training necessarily does not mean training with weights. In this section, we’ll look at the benefits of weight training as well as those that are purely bodyweight.

Strength training is one of our favorite ways to train. It helps restore range of motion while strengthening skeletal muscles to perform essential movements with ease. It’s effective for injury prevention as well.

Bodyweight strength training can pack a serious punch while improving mobility. Performing them properly requires mindful focus as they are easy to skimp through. Bodyweight strength training can be great practice to master form before adding resistance. Again, add weights only when you’re confident of your form, and don’t stress your muscles by overloading them.

If you’re worried about bulking up, know that the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim unless you’re actually working towards that goal, actively. It needs a very different kind of exercise programming, nutrition, and supplementation to achieve that. You won’t bulk up simply by lifting weights. On the contrary, its one of the best ways to tone your muscles at home.

All you need is a pair of moderately heavy dumbbells (don’t go overboard on the weight if your body is not used to it yet) or better still use resistance bands. They are very easy to carry around and come in various resistances and styles. They’re very good at restoring range-of-motion and all-around toning.

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4. Interval training: this includes both high intensity and steady-state interval training. Getting your heart rate up not only burns calories and tones the entire body, but it’s also vital for heart health. According to the American Heart Association, all you need is 150 mins of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 mins of vigorous aerobic training per week to meet the minimum requirements of good heart health.

Invest in a good pair of shoes with good padding for shock absorption, especially if your goal is to workout for a longer duration or at a higher pace. An exercise mat might help create more friction if the surface you’re working out on is slippery in any way. You don’t want to injure yourself in the process of working out!

If you want to make it more difficult, consider adding ankle weights, or a weighted vest. But as always, only do so if you can safely manage to do it by yourself.

5.  A low-impact way of losing weight and getting toned muscles is walking. It can be a great stressbuster as well, especially if you have scenic routes you can use. Make it more interesting by getting short bursts of activity through the day. For example, take your dog out for a walk, or walk to the grocery store instead of driving. It’s a good way of getting some extra steps in as well, if you’re into tracking them. Once you’re more comfortable with walking, you can start adding some jogs as well.

See how we get our steps done at home!

If you have experience in running and are safely able to do so, it can be a good way of amping up the intensity and making you feel accomplished at the end of it.

It’s important to remember that a healthy, toned body doesn’t just come from counting calories. In a lot of ways, that can actually be a deterrent. Lasting health and fitness changes come from consistent effort over a period of time. You need to focus on getting enough rest and the right kind of nutrients, staying hydrating, and practicing effective stress reducing activities. It’s a process you should be able to follow for the rest of your life. In essence, it should become a part of your lifestyle.

If you’d like a more personalized plan that’s tailormade for you, along with lifestyle coaching that touches on all aspects of health & wellness and real time coach support, sign up to our waiting list for our upcoming coaching program here.

What are some of your favorite ways to get some serious toning in without going to a gym? Tell us in the comments below!