In this article, I’m going to show you how to get toned without getting bulky.
You’re going to learn how to get that lean, toned muscle that you’ve always wanted.
By the end of this article, you’ll be armed with the knowledge you need and a 3-day per week month long program to get you started.
But please, please do not skip to the end of the article and start the workouts!!!
It’s super important that you understand the how and why behind getting toned.
Let’s get started.
What does getting toned mean?
First, Let’s define what “toned” means.
A quick Google search tells us that being toned means having “firm and well defined muscles”.
I think we can probably add a little bit to that definition. The best bodybuilders in the world have “firm and defined muscles”, but I don’t think anyone would describe them as “toned”. Usually when I hear someone say they want to get toned, it’s followed up with “but I don’t want to get too bulky!” or “I want to get defined and lean muscles, not big bodybuilder muscles!” And they almost always say that they want defined abs.
So, let’s define being toned as being lean enough to see muscle definition, without having gigantic bodybuilder type muscles.
Okay, now what?
In order to get toned, you need to actually have muscle on your body, and a low enough body fat percentage to see that muscle.
If you have a high body fat percentage, you will need to lose body fat to get toned. The only way to do that is to burn more calories than you consume by being in a calorie deficit.
If you are already pretty lean, you might need to eat more than you think to build muscle (most women I’ve worked with fall into this category). If you don’t give your body the building blocks it needs, you can’t grow any muscle!
You can use my calorie calculator below to find out how many calories you need.
Cal’s Calorie Calculator
Regardless of whether you are in a calorie deficit or not, you also need to eat enough protein every day. If you need to lose body fat, eating enough protein will help you keep muscle as you lose fat. It will also keep you fuller for longer, making it easier to be in a calorie deficit. If you need to eat more calories, you have to make sure that enough of those calories come from protein so that you can build muscle.
So.. cardio? Or weights?
If you want to get toned, strength training should be your primary focus. Even if your goal is to lose body fat, strength training should be prioritized!
But.. won’t doing cardio burn more calories?
Yes, doing cardio will probably burn more calories than strength training.
But.. working out is not just about how many calories you burn. In fact, I don’t track how many calories my workouts burn and I don’t recommend any of my clients try to track it either. The reason is that most methods of tracking calorie burn are completely inaccurate. As long as you are in a caloric deficit through diet, you will lose weight.
I’m not saying that cardio is bad. If you enjoy doing cardio and you have time in your week to do one to three sessions of low intensity cardio (like walking or biking) then go for it. But doing hours and hours of cardio instead of weight training every week will not help you get toned.
Remember, being toned means being lean enough to see muscle definition. You get leaner by being in a calorie deficit and you get muscle definition from strength training.
Okay.. but I don’t want to get big and bulky in the gym!!
Building muscle is a lot harder than most people think. Nobody, and I mean nobody, lifted weights a few times and accidentally woke up looking like a bodybuilder. Trust me, if that were the case, I would be way more jacked! Most bodybuilders have elite level genetics that allow them to put on more muscle than the average person, and they take drugs to get as big as they do.
The only way to build muscle is using a combination of strength training and something called progressive overload.
Strength training means using resistance (in the form of weights, bands, cables, or bodyweight) to increase the size and strength of your muscles.
Progressive overload is a cool sounding training word, but all it means is that over time you are gradually making exercises harder.
This means that each time you do a workout, you should be trying to do more weight, more reps, change the tempo of the exercise (slowwww the exercise down or pause in the middle of it), use better technique, use more range of motion, or a combination of any of those.
Let’s say you want to tone up your glutes. You decide to start doing hip thrusts in your workouts 3 times a week. You heard from your best friend that doing really high reps with your bodyweight is the best way to tone your glutes.
You do the same three sets of 20 reps with just your bodyweight for weeks and months and nothing changes. Your butt still looks the same.
Why didn’t your glutes grow? Even though you felt the burn, there was no progressive overload. Your body got used to doing those 20 reps and it didn’t have a good enough reason to grow muscle.
Think about it this way. If doing really high reps of an exercise were the best way to grow muscle, wouldn’t your calves be ginormous? Think about how many thousands of steps you take a day. Every week and every month your calves would grow bigger and bigger, just from all the steps you take. We all know that isn’t the case. Your body is used to the resistance of your body weight and just walking isn’t a good enough reason for your body to grow muscle in your calves.
Intensity
To build muscle, you need to train with intensity.
In terms of strength training, intensity refers to how close to failure you get when performing an exercise.
If you finish a set of dumbbell Romanian deadlifts and you could have done 10 more reps with that weight.. you didn’t train with enough intensity on that set!!
You need to give your muscles a good reason to grow. Remember the calf example? Walking doesn’t push your calf muscles hard enough to make them bigger or stronger.
Most of the time, you should be working out within one to three reps shy of failure on any given exercise. If you finish a set and you could have done four or more repetitions with that weight, you need to go up in weight or add more repetitions.
I like to use a one to ten scale with clients. A ten on the scale would mean that with the weight you used for that set, you couldn’t possibly do another repetition. A nine on the scale would mean you could squeeze out one more repetition. An eight would mean you could do two more reps, a seven would mean three more reps, etc. etc.
After you finish a set of an exercise you should be asking yourself “how many more reps could I have done with that weight?” If the answer is four or more, go up in weight!
Rest more, see better results
In order to train with enough intensity, you need to be resting between sets at the gym.
You should be taking two to three minutes of full rest between sets of exercises.
By rest, I do not mean running on the treadmill, or doing abs for three minutes between sets.
Yes, doing those things will burn more calories during the workout. But remember, strength training is not about how many calories you burn during the workout!
If you aren’t resting long enough between sets of exercises, your body won’t recover to perform the next set with enough intensity.
It’s way more important that you train with intensity and focus on progressive overload. Those things are what is going to allow you to make real progress towards building muscle definition and eventually get toned.
The program
Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to get toned!
The first thing you need to do is figure out whether you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose body fat, or a slight calorie surplus to gain muscle (use my calorie calculator to figure that out!)
Next, you need to follow a solid strength training plan that incorporates progressive overload and allows you to train with enough intensity to build muscle. The program below will work for you whether you need to lose body fat or you need to be a slight calorie surplus to build muscle.
You’re going to workout three times per week on the plan below. The first day is a full body workout, the second day is an upper body day and the third workout is a lower body day.
The workouts are meant to be done over four weeks. Each week you should be able to add weight or reps to each exercise. Start light week one and progressively add weight as the weeks go on. Each set should be challenging! You should only be able to do 1-3 more reps with the weights you choose.
Workout A (Full Body)
3 sets of 5 reps
*Rest 3-5 minutes between sets
3 sets of 8-10 reps
3 sets of 8-10 reps each arm
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
3) Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts
3 sets of 8-10 reps
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
3 sets of 30s
4B) Side planks
3 sets of 15s each side
*Rest 1 minute between sets
Workout B (Upper Body)
3 sets of 6 reps
*Rest 3-5 minutes between sets
2) Chin-ups (perform them banded if needed!)
3 sets of 8-10 reps
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
3A) Push-ups (perform them on a barbell if needed!)
3 sets of 10 reps
3B) TRX rows
3 sets of 10 reps
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
3 sets of 10-12 reps
3 sets of 10-12 reps
4C) Dumbbell incline bench tricep extensions
3 sets of 10-12 reps
*Rest 1-2 minutes between sets
Workout C (Lower Body)
3 sets of 5 reps
*Rest 3-5 minutes between sets
2) Dumbbell bulgarian split squats
3 sets of 6-8 reps each leg
*Rest 3-5 minutes between sets
3 sets of 10, 10, 10+ (on the last set perform as many reps as possible!
*Rest 1-2 minutes between sets
4A) Hollow holds
3 sets of 30s
4B) Suitcase carries
3 sets of 20yds
*Rest 1 minute between sets
Want 50 more FREE workouts?
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Wrapping Up
Getting toned is going to take time, and it’s not going to happen overnight.
Be patient, stay consistent with your strength training workouts, and try to get stronger each week. Building muscle takes time, and you’re likely going to have to work at it for at least a few weeks before you see results.
If you want me to take care of everything for you, and create the perfect workout and nutrition program to get you toned, you can apply for coaching to see if we’d be a good fit for each other.
If you have any questions, leave them below!