Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, “I don’t need to lose weight, but I totally want to tone up”?

Let’s say that you fixate on ‘toning up’ your arms and that you start doing bicep curls with three or five pound weights and a high number of repetitions per set. But after two weeks, you don’t see any results, so you give up.

Do you want to know why that didn’t work?

Because there is no such thing as toning up. All of those bicep curls that you do with three pounds weights? That starts you down the path that you want to go on, but what you’ve got to do is put down the puny weights and pick up those heavier bad boys.

If you were working with three pounds, move up to five; if you were at five, move up to eight and so on. Do 12 reps, rest for a minute, repeat the set and after another one minute rest, complete the final set of twelve. You don’t want to do two or three sets of 12 – 15 reps with such ease that you didn’t actually work the muscle.

Yes, the heavier weights can be intimidating but that’s no reason to stay away from them. Perhaps you’re afraid of ‘bulking up’. Well, fear not, because women simply lack the testosterone to bulk up and look anything remotely like those scary ginormous body builders. Read More »

You pride yourself on your denim collection. Skinnies, bootcuts, trousers – they’re hanging in your closet ready to hug your lower half. But lately, you’ve been longing to tone up that tush and tighten those thighs so that you can really show off your assets.

Well, we found six awesome moves in a back issue of SELF that will make you a blue-jean babe in just one month. Just perform three sets of 12 reps of each exercise three days a week and on non-consecutive days:

Pigeon Toes

Stand with toes together, heels out, hands on hips. Contract abs as you slowly lift heels, rising onto balls of feet. Hold for two seconds. Lower to start and repeat.

Seated Leg Raise

Sit with right leg extended, foot flexed, and left knee bent, foot flat. Grasp the shin of left leg. Raise right leg a few inches off floor and sweep away from body. Hold for one count. Return leg to center. Switch legs.

Glute Sweeper

Start facedown, supported on forearms and right knee. Extend left leg behind you as high as you can, toes pointed. Contract abs and butt and slowly cross left leg behind left foot, reaching toes toward floor without touching down. Return leg to start and switch. Read More »