Toning Exercises With Weights

Many people choose to do toning exercises with weights. There are a few popular and effective exercises that can be used to tone muscles. Some weights used are dumb bells and other types of fitness equipment. This article discusses a few of these exercise programs, for men and for women.

For toning the biceps, this one is basic and can be done at home or at a gym. This one is done with dumb bells. If someone does not have any dumb bells, they can use bean bag bears, both equaling the same amount of weight or some people have used balloons filled with water for weights. Make sure that the weights used are easy to hold in each hand while moving the arms up, down, side to side, and so forth. Some people have been known to take empty water bottles and fill them half full and use these for weights, too. These are options when using weights to work out and tone the arms.

Stand on an exercise mat and spread the feet apart about 10 inches or so. Hold the weights in each hand and let the arms hang down in front of the body, facing the palms of the hands away from the body. While alternating arms, curl one dumb bell or weight set up to the bosom, allowing the other arm to stay down in front of the body. Let the first arm go back down and then curl the other arm up to the bosom. Repeat this about 10 times for each arm.

Remember the old saying, “No pain; no gain”? This is not a true statement. If someone works out to the point where they hurt and ache all over, are they going to want to get right back into exercising again? Usually, if someone works out to the point to the suffering point, they end up either hurting their bodies so badly that they need to see a doctor for it, or they decide that they need to take a few days off and rest. So, what good does it do to over work the body and the muscles? It does not tone the body faster nor does it help someone to lose weight faster.

The best way to tone muscles is to take things slow, gradually increasing a workout and the amount of weights used for each routine. Also, someone does not need to increase the weights to 5-8 pounds in order to tone up the body. If someone does the same routines each day for a few weeks, they should see a difference within the first week or two. Certainly, people can change the toning exercises and the routines and use other type of weights so that they do not become bored with their program. The old wise tails about needing to use a lot of weight and doing extreme workouts, though, is not true.

This next toning exercise with weights is for the upper arms, shoulders, and the trapezius. Stand straight on the exercise mat, hold a dumb bell in each hand and when lifting the dumb bells up to the bosom, try to raise the elbows out and align the elbows with the shoulders. Do about 10 reps of this one exercise, for now. If it has been a while since exercise routines have been performed, it is a good idea to start out slowly and work up to more sets in a week or so.

A lot of weight is not necessary for this exercise, especially for women who have tiny wrists. If the wrists tend to ache while doing this exercise, there are some specially made bands for the wrists that help support the wrists while using weights. It is a good idea to keep the wrists supported so that one does not get muscle strain or other ailments like tendonitis and/or carpel tunnel.

Here is a quick toning exercise with weights that will help tone the forearms. Hold the dumb bells out in front of the body, arms straight out, hands facing up, and simply bend the wrists up and down, not moving the arms. Try this exercise by facing the hands down toward the floor on some of the reps. DO about 10 reps each, facing the hands down and facing the hands up.

As with any toning exercise program, with or without weights, remember to do some warm up exercise and simple stretches before beginning an exercise program. Nutrition is also very important, especially when someone is going to be exercising each day. The main categories for proper nutrition are carbohydrates, protein, and low fat foods.

Eat carbohydrates in moderation, as a lot of carbohydrates can cause too much muscle build up and the toning will then turn into bulky looking muscle instead. Protein is very important, as it gives energy and helps to form healthy and strong muscles. Low fat foods is a given, as high cholesterol foods can cause many health problems like heart problems.