Losing weight while at the same time toning muscles will help you achieve the lean, toned body you're looking for. Many people concentrate on losing weight, while others concentrate on building muscle, but if you do both at the same time, you can get amazing results. Women should know that toning muscles doesn't mean that you'll bulk up like a guy. Lean muscle mass burns fat faster and increases the metabolism, while losing weight offers optimal health and wellness. A simple exercise regimen can help do both at the same time.

Cardio

Perform some kind of cardio exercise at least three days a week. Go for a fast walk, ride your bike, get on the treadmill at the gym or play a game of tennis or racquetball or even for swimming for at least an hour. Cardio exercises are one of the best ways to burn calories, increase the metabolism and work all muscles in the body, toning and firming arms, legs, abs and back. Aerobic exercises include dancing, step aerobics, kickboxing and jogging, whichever your prefer.

Weights

Lift weights at least two to three days a week for optimal muscle toning benefits and to help increase metabolism. Building lean muscle mass means your body will burn through calories faster, as lean muscle mass burns through calories faster than fat.

Regimens

Take a calendar or draw a week or a month onto a piece of paper. Assign yourself one to two days of rest during the week. When working out to lose weight and tone muscles, you've got to work all parts of your body, but at the same time allow your muscles time to rest and develop. For this reason, it's best not to work the same body part every day, though you can work the abdominals every day, as they are one of the largest muscle groups in the body. Choose the activities you like to do, such as jogging, bicycling, swimming, walking or step aerobics, and write them down in a list. The key to a successful exercise regimen is to keep things fresh and to work different areas of different muscle groups on a consistent basis.

Schedule

Starting with Monday, choose an aerobic or cardio activity and then a weightlifting activity for fast and effective results. Perform the aerobic or cardio activity for at least 30 to 45 minutes. You can then do about 15 to 20 minutes of weight-bearing exercises, such as lunges, squats, bicep and tricep curls or other exercises of your choice. The key is to work a different area of the body every day. If you perform arm exercises on Monday, choose legs for Tuesday, or switch off between the abs and the back, or exercises that work the quadriceps one day and the hamstrings the next. Or, you may work on cardio or aerobic exercise on Monday, and on Tuesday devote your exercise time to weights. One day a week, do something different, perhaps something you can enjoy outdoors. Keep it fresh, keep it fun and keep it simple, and you'll notice results quickly.

 

Denise Wang is an experienced freelance writer and editor. She has written professionally for seven years, and is a published fiction author. She regularly provides content for health-related websites. She is currently completing coursework for a degree in health information management from Penn Foster College.

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