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First of all, don't worry about "becoming a hulk." The average guy who works out 3-4 times a week and eats a reasonable diet will never get past the fit/toned stage you're looking for. Second, the key to a good beginner program is KISS: keep it simple, stupid. The only thing you need to worry about is 1) consistently stress your muscles by working out ...

A big part of choosing a weight loss regiment is choosing something you are going to continue doing. Zumba appeals to a lot of people because it has a dance aspect, which makes it fun for them. (There is a stigma associated with working out in a "boring old gym.") If you are going to continue to do Zumba over other workout routines, then definitely stick ...

Toning exercises are done to teach the body to more efficiently conserve it's resources (such as oxygen) and to build endurance. Doing that many reps with that light of weights is likely not achieving much of an effect at all. Your muscles are developed by use, and that easy of an exercise relates closer to cardio than to a true workout. Simply put, ...

Barbell squats and barbell deadlifts are both excellent movements for your glutes/lower body. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJZdo9p5x_E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ciycL-Pt1M&feature=relmfu EDIT - It has been requested that I elaborate on how to perform these movements, which is a bit daunting considering there have been entire books devoted to ...

'Tone' is often misused when it comes to defining muscles. Here's what I have gathered from reading endlessly on the subject: you can only increase the size of your muscle cells, you cannot not increase the density (number of cells): this is set in stone and based on genetics. So changing your muscle size and body fat are only things you can do to alter the ...

I don't have a source, but there is no such thing as "improving the shapeliness of existing muscle" - you are either adding, maintaining, or decreasing the amount of your muscle mass. You can't improve the appearance of your muscles without either adding muscle mass or decreasing fat percentage. A lot of the discussion of "toning" seems to come out of a ...

First off, lets clear how these things work. They use EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) to contract your muscles. I quote from an article that talked to a physiologist. "These devices tend to only activate the surface of the muscle," Swoap says. The electricity causes tingly-feeling contractions around your middle, but it doesn't reach deep. To ...

There are a few things that I want to hit on here... First, as Stefano says, you're not going to turn into the Hulk overnight. Make sure that in addition to any resistance exercises that you're also doing plenty of stretching between exercises and at the end of your workout. Experiment and see what works best for your body. Traditional advice is 12-15 reps ...

Toning up doesn't exist. Also starvation mode doesn't exist. They are both mainstream concepts that vary in definition and include a wide range of different ideas. Your metabolism is crawling right now though because you are severely under-eating and things will only get worse if you don't make sensible changes. What you are trying to do is improve your ...

Some facts: 8 stone (50 kg) at age 17 is extremely skinny. You should make sure to put on weight immediately. Also, 1200 calories per day is not healthy for a 17 year old male. At that age I ate 3000 calories per day, and I didn't do any exercise. I was still skinny (60 kg). If you want to get "out of starvation mode" and gain muscles, you obviously have ...

I do a lot of salsa and other latin dances which Zumba is based on. Mind you I'll do about 3-4 hours of it a week. And it does burn off a lot of calories. If you get really good at Zumba with proper weight transfers and balance and can follow the music, then you'll really enjoy it and the weight will almost fall off on its own. Zumba like any other ...

'Toning' is a look you might achieve after weight loss (dieting + cardio). It causes your muscles to look more defined. It has nothing to do with weight lifting. Training for endurance instead of strength is less likely to increase muscle size if that is your desired appearance. Both are a good workout for your muscles and endurance weightlifting is a ...

I actually lost 5% body fat right after surgery by doing the 5x5 SL. I had cut a serious amount calories and maintained my diet with loads of protein and low fat. I would do my 5x5 in 30-40 minutes and do 20 in cardio, and on rest days I did 20 minutes of cardio. I ate around 2000 calories a day, which is about a 1000 less than I need to maintain my weight ...

You're not going to turn into the hulk overnight, it takes years of training and discipline to get that kind of mass. Train for strength size will come, when you get to a size you want don't add weight. But there is no workout routine that will make you look like the hulk or not make you look like the hulk.

There are loads of routines that you could do, and "optimal" is entirely up to how your body responds to the workout. Currently, I do a sort of hybrid upper/lower workout. I work my legs and run every other day, and on in between days I work my upper body. When I wasn't running, I used to do a "push/pull" workout: work push (chest, triceps, quads, calves, ...

Quick answer is if you're body isn't fit to show your "tone" then you can tone until you're dead but you wont achieve anything visually unless you change your diet. This is where I'm at right now. I have cuts but I also have a layer of goo that prevents them from being well defined. Case-in-point: body builders use diuretics to drain every last drop of ...

It's good that you know about how many calories are necessary to maintain your weight. StrongLifts and Starting Strength have the same basic principles behind the program: Get strong as fast as possible Train whole body with major compound lifts Minimal assistance exercise Rest days are required between training sessions. These are hard on your body. ...

Just something different, I think you will like these 2 exercises, frog jumps and platypus *walk* from celebrity trainer David Kirsch. See this video of Victoria Secret models tryout/contest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbXh7Hj19E&feature=related platypus walk at 1:30 until 1:35 of the video A. Grasp a medicine ball with both hands and extend ...

It is fine to reach a certain weight and stick at that weight. However, different muscles react differently to increased weight. Just because you don't want large bulging muscles doesn't mean that you shouldn't increase your weight for every exercise. You can stick to one weight when doing something like bicep curls and a different weight when doing squats ...

When you perform an exercise in high reps, you're preparing your body for enduring long-time load. The body will adjust towards its most efficient way of sustainably performing under these circumstances, which is by having small muscles - they burn less energy. That's how best marathon runners tend to look like - quite lean. When "toning", you very likely ...

Think of all those things you did in P.E. back in school, and revisit those: Jump rope Jumping jacks Push ups Pull ups Sit ups Also, feel free to throw in some cycling and a little sports. Make it fun! That walking might be doing the trick, but most people don't keep that up year after year. You should start looking for a hobby that lets you stay ...

There's a real chance you're over-training, and you're not doing mass-specific exercises. Consider starting a low-key lifting program, 3-4 days a week and reducing the amount of biking you're doing (especially if you're seriously doing it every day). If you're cycling with any effort, (12-14mph/7-9kph) you're already burning a big chunk of that 1200 ...

There is no muscular response to "tone"; muscles can either grow or or they can shrink(or change in number of fibers). Basically my point with that is, is that there is no special exercise or rep scheme out there to elicit a "toning" response, just approach the weights with intent to gain muscle. I have yet to meet a natural lifter in person who ...

Zumba, like any physical activity will have benefit in weight-loss and toning. It just depends on how long and how hard you go at it. The idea is to keep up your heart rate and keep moving. As long as you do this you will be burning calories. As wikipedia says: The best way to tone is to utilize aerobic exercise to reduce body fat and perform ...