Top 10 Leg Toning Tips

Women’s legs still seems to be the hot topic around the women’s fitness blogs so I thought I would write a list of the top 10 women’s legs toning tips.

1 - Take it slow

Getting the perfect set of toned legs takes time and hard work. Learn to relax your mind and keep your goals long term. If you take it slow the results will be lasting instead of fleeting and unstable. It will also seem like less work.

2 - Mix it up

Mix up your legs training so that your legs never get used to one type of exercise. If you spend a lot of time doing long distance cardio, change to some short high intensity workouts. This has worked wonders for me and my clients in the past.

3 - Use heavy weights

A lot of women are afraid of using heavier weights because they think they will get bulky or injured. Take your time, learn the techniques properly and start adding weight each session. You will see progress much faster.

4 - Hill Sprints

I love running hills! It is one of the hardest forms of exercise you can do. It works your whole lower body so well that sometimes I am fooled into thinking I don’t need to weight train! Use hill sprints on a regular basis and you will see amazing weight loss and leg toning results.

5 - Learn to eat well

Toning a muscle is more about diet than it is about working out. For a long time there was this theory that if you use high reps and low weight you will tone your muscles. This is crap. If you are fat you will not have any muscle tone. So, learn to eat well everyday - protein, fruit, vegetables, etc. If you want toned legs you have to lose the fat.

 6- Drink water

As always I have managed to fit in a tip relating to water. Water will help you lose weight, keep you full as well as making your muscles look full and tight. Drink water all throughout the day - everyday.

7 - Slow reps

When doing your squats, lunges and other leg exercises start slowing down your reps to at least five seconds. If you cannot do both motions that slow then at least perform the negative as slowly as you can. So, if you are doing a squat, make the squatting down part five seconds long. This will boost your progress very quickly.

8 - Stretch

Part of weight training is recovering and your muscles can recover faster if you keep them flexibile. Stretch before, during and after a legs workout so that they are ready for the next one. And never train when sore unless you need to do the cardio and aren’t worried about muscle gain.

9 - Eat good protein

Get lots of protein after your workout and all day from good quality sources like meat, fish, milk, eggs and whey protein. Muscles need protein to grow so if you want to tone your legs make sure you help them as much as possible by getting enough protein.

10 - Keep them busy

The best women’s legs in the world are on women who stay active and use them a lot. Do weight training, cardio, martial arts classes, tae bo… anything to keep moving! Your legs do a lot of work during the day so you really need to challenge them.

Top 8 most entertaining exercises

As we all know exercise can be pretty darn boring at times. I am always looking for ways to try and spice up ordinary exercise but I thought I would write a post that shows my top 8 most entertaining exercises that will keep you entertained for months without any additional spicing up.

8 - Bike riding

This may not seem like a very entertaining exercise at first but I have been riding bikes for years around the streets and I have seen some pretty crazy and amazing things. When you are out exercising on a bike you sometimes forget that you are exercising and just enjoy the scenery.

7 - Group pool classes

I had to mention it.  The good old gym pool classes where you splash around for an hour and get fit. I don’t buy it. I suppose it could be good for people with bad joints or injuries. However, I included it in the list as an exercise that is entertaining to watch, not do.

6 - Circuits

My friends and I used to do these all the time and they are fun because you have to change exercises in such rapid succession that you often end up doing really silly things. They get you really fit though!

5 - Martial arts classes

I am a big fan of martial arts. There is a big group practicing their technique together - punching, kicking, shouting - it is great! Martial arts also has a great sense of history and tradition which can really get you going.

4 - Personal training

I know it’s not really an exercise but personal training is a great way to stay entertained. If you have your own trainer to run with you or force you to push out one more repetition then exercise automatically becomes a little more fun.

I also do some online personal training so if you need a new workout program or weight loss program then drop me an email.

3 - Team sports

I think playing a team sports is one of the best forms of exercise for staying entertained. The reason for this is that there is an ongoing season and a ladder and you always want to better your position or beat that team that beat you last week and so on. You also have a whole host of team mates around you to spur you on. It is wonderful!

2 - Hiking

I go to visit the Himalayan moutains   at the end of every year and one of my favorite exercises while I am over there is hiking up the beautiful Himalayan mountains. Obviously I don’t climb up the top but the hills and valleys that surround the mountains make for some awesome day trips which is a really good way to blast your fitness.

1 - Pole Dancing

My friend  has been doing pole dancing with a friend for about a year now and the stories they come home and tell me are simply hilarious! Learning to hang upside down on a poll and spinning around is a great way to cause an accident. However, they have both toned their upper body so well by doing weekly classes. It is really impressive.