A well-toned physique is something that every guy wants. Body toning involves increasing muscle mass while reducing body fat.
Body toning exercises for men include resistance training to build bigger muscles and aerobic exercise to help lose fat. Some of the aerobic activities that are popular with men include running or jogging, biking, and hiking.
For some people body toning can be a big challenge simply because they do not know how to go about it. You will often see new fitness products or fad diets coming out on the market, claiming to be the solution to your body toning problems.
You don’t really need any fancy equipment to tone your body. If you want a lean and toned physique, the following body toning exercises for men will help you attain your goals.
Stomach Toning Exercises
Nothing looks better on a man than well-defined six-pack abs. It may take a lot of hard work to get those rock-hard abs but it’s absolutely worth the effort.
Crunches help tone and strengthen the muscles in the abdomen. To perform crunches, lay on your back with knees bent. Place your hands across your chest or behind your head.
Using your abdominal muscles, raise your shoulders about 6 inches off the floor. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat. Keep your abdominal muscles tight all the time.
Arm Toning Exercises
Body toning exercises for men that focus on the arms often involve weights such as dumbbells and barbells. You can perform triceps and bicep toning exercises to develop the muscles in the arms.
To perform bicep curls, you need either a barbell or dumbbells. While standing, grip a barbell with both hands or hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing forward.
Flex your arms to raise your hands and the weights toward your shoulders. Next, slowly lower the weights in a controlled fashion and extend your arms back down.
Shoulder and Chest Toning Exercises
Body toning exercises for the shoulders and chest often involve body weight exercises such as push-ups and dips. Push-ups develop the muscles in the chest, shoulders and triceps. To add resistance, you can wear a weighted vest.
For toning the chest, you can perform the chest press. To begin, lie on your back on the floor. Hold a barbell or dumbbells and lower your arms down to your chest.
Raise your arms straight up; do not lock your elbows. Return to the starting position. This body toning exercise develops your chest muscles.
You can perform the shoulder press to tone the shoulder muscles. The exercise can be performed standing or sitting. Hold your weights at shoulder height and slightly wider apart than your shoulders.
Press the weights up until your elbows lock. Keep your back flat and your abdominal muscles contracted. Return to the starting position.
Toning Exercises for the Legs
Body toning exercises for men include exercises for the leg muscles. To tone your legs, you can do squats, lunges, heel raises, sprinting, lunges and other leg exercises.
Squats develop the muscles in the upper legs, lower back and buttocks. You can perform squats with body weight only, or while holding a barbell across your shoulders and upper back.
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Flex your hips and knees to lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Stand back up and repeat.
Heel raises are effective for toning your calf muscles. Hold dumbbells at your sides and stand with your toes elevated on a stable surface. Lift your heels as high as possible and lower them back to the starting position. Repeat.
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