We’ve heard it all before. And we’ve probably said it ourselves especially when beach season is just around the corner.

“I want to get more toned.”

When you ask them what they mean by wanting to get “toned”, chances are you’ll hear adjectives such as “tight”, “firm” and “trim”.

So what is toning?

“Tone” refers to the condition of your muscles. It should be tight and firm but you must also reduce your level of body fat so it will not obscure visibility or definition.

At rest, your muscles are in a state of partial contraction. When required, muscles fibres contract priming your body to action. Muscle contraction is more evident in a lean but built physique. This is why over the years the word “tone” has been associated with a trim, tight and firm body.

There are 3 components to getting a toned body…

The first component is resistance training. When you apply resistance to muscle it responds by recruiting fibres to handle the amount of forces directed to it. Staying frequently active helps with toning your muscles and helps burn off excess body fat by increasing your metabolism.

There are many ways to apply resistance to muscle but the best way is by lifting weights. With a weight training program, you can adjust the amount of resistance by tweaking the amount of weight or increasing the number of reps.

The second component is cardio. The most effective form of cardio is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Not only does your body use stored carbohydrates as the primary fuel in HIIT but your metabolism stays elevated 48 hours after exercise. Your body becomes a fat-burning machine!

Finally, the third component is diet and proper nutrition. You need the right sources of calories to fuel your workouts and to jump-start recovery after a productive training session in the gym. A well-planned diet made up of healthy and nutritious meals will help unveil your toned physique!

Getting all these components to work and complement each other will be the key to a successful body toning program.

Before you embark on a muscle toning program, visit several exercise websites for specific exercises for toning up as well as specific diet tips.

You can exercise all day long but having the correct diet will be the key to making that muscle tone visible to the world and ensure all your hard work pays off!