Help toning up - Page 2

Bunnylingus · 15th January 2008, 1:31pm

Ah, awesome. Ill have a shot at it then, Im sure I can spare the 6 quid!

SqueeTDM · 15th January 2008, 1:35pm

Rach, see when my sprained ankle is better can I come with you to gym?

Bunnylingus · 15th January 2008, 1:37pm

You're more than welcome, but Im doing 2 mornings and 2 nights a week, so 2 days a week you'd have to be there for 8

Im quite happy swapping about a wee bit though if its easier, just not permanently.

SqueeTDM · 15th January 2008, 1:38pm

Nah thats fine I need a better sleeping pattern anyway

Rhöna of the Rhein · 15th January 2008, 1:40pm

charlie brook's fitness dvd has a really good pilates section at the end... it's great for toning.

try lying on your back and raising your legs, then lowering one leg at a time in a kind of scissors motion. mix between slow and fast reps. it fucking kills after a few mins, and trust me... it'll hurt even to laugh for a few days but it's well worth it.

i lost a shitloada weight last year doing that dvd... put most of it back on again right enough but i'm back on it for a few days now and have lost a bit already - great for fat burning.

Fremlin · 15th January 2008, 1:41pm

It can be quite hard at first, but in my experience this is about the nest ab toning exercise ever. http://www.netfit.co.uk/fitness/exer...e-exercise.htm

fallen_nemesis · 15th January 2008, 1:55pm

best thing any trainer in the gym ever showed me was the plank. I have a lot of back problems and i got shown because they reckon a lot of my back problems will improve if I have a lot of tummy muscle tone to stop my back bending back too far. Anyway, I'll try dig out something online that shows you how to do it. I find it really really painful, but it's the only excercise really that tones the muscles in the lower part of your tummy as opposed to your abs which is all sit ups do, so especially if you're female, sit-ups alone won't shift the lower tummy flabby bits.

Fremlin · 15th January 2008, 1:59pm

Also anything like running and swimming that stretches your stomach muscles will help a lot too. The problem with just doing stomach crunches, especially in the beginning, is that your newly formed muscle actually pushes the fat further out and you will think you are putting on weight. So it's vital that you also stretch the muscles properly to tone them too.

Rowsbette · 15th January 2008, 2:01pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhöna of the Rhein

try lying on your back and raising your legs, then lowering one leg at a time in a kind of scissors motion. mix between slow and fast reps. it fucking kills after a few mins, and trust me... it'll hurt even to laugh for a few days but it's well worth it.

Oh aye, I got shown that (except using oth legs at the same time).... it's a total killer.

Another similar one is to lie on your back with your thighs at a 90degree angle to your body, and your knees bent, so that your calves are parallel to your body/the floor. Then just straighten your legs, pushing them out, then return to the starting position. It's pretty brutal, but you can really feel it working your core.

I agree that the plank's a good one as well. You can keep one leg raised off the floor to make it even more intense.

the.definitive · 15th January 2008, 2:03pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallen_nemesis

best thing any trainer in the gym ever showed me was the plank. I have a lot of back problems and i got shown because they reckon a lot of my back problems will improve if I have a lot of tummy muscle tone to stop my back bending back too far. Anyway, I'll try dig out something online that shows you how to do it. I find it really really painful, but it's the only excercise really that tones the muscles in the lower part of your tummy as opposed to your abs which is all sit ups do, so especially if you're female, sit-ups alone won't shift the lower tummy flabby bits.

Is that the one where you face the floor, balancing on your elbows with your palms flat and try to keep your body straight (if that made any sense)? If it is you're right, that's brilliant. It's a good one to do in the house too.

fallen_nemesis · 15th January 2008, 2:06pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by the.definitive

Is that the one where you face the floor, balancing on your elbows with your palms flat and try to keep your body straight (if that made any sense)? If it is you're right, that's brilliant. It's a good one to do in the house too.

yup, with my complete lack of muscle tone though it caused my stomach muscles to cramp up causing stupid amounts of pain. Only thing I've found though that works out those muscles exclusively.

mini_dez · 15th January 2008, 2:21pm

That exercise Fremlin posted is a good one for the abs. But don't just stick to one exercise, you need to chop and change, otherwise your body will get used to the exercises, and you'll get bored. There's a few for each part.
tummy- crunch, V sit up (pretty hard), Bicycle (posted above by fremlin), leg raise.
Arms- press ups, tricep dips.
Legs/Arse- Squats, lunges.

There's also loads of kinds of squats/press ups etc, you can find them on google if you want. Instead of just doing 25 of each exercise each night you could alternate it with some supersets. This means doing say 15xcrunch, 15xpress up and 15xsquat with no breaks in between, then having a 1 minute break and doing it all again. Repeat this 3 times or more, it's up to you how much you can manage/be bothered with.

You can see how to do planks, including side and back planks, here:
http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/k...nd-2/#more-392

As suggested on that site, I leave them til the end and do one of each for my given time.

Devastator · 15th January 2008, 2:27pm

Rach everyone on here can tell you what to do, but unless you're doing them properly you won't be getting the full benefit from them. I feel the same way about folk who work in gyms, I think most folk do tbh, but it's their job and they're not going to laugh at you or anything. Getting someone to set up a program with you takes like an hour max, and you'll tone up so much faster if you do it.

Fremlin · 15th January 2008, 2:28pm

Funny thing about the plank is that it looks so easy, until you try it and it's well hard!

fallen_nemesis · 15th January 2008, 2:29pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devastator

Rach everyone on here can tell you what to do, but unless you're doing them properly you won't be getting the full benefit from them. I feel the same way about folk who work in gyms, I think most folk do tbh, but it's their job and they're not going to laugh at you or anything. Getting someone to set up a program with you takes like an hour max, and you'll tone up so much faster if you do it.

see I did that, I concur, it's really good as they make sure to not include things you hate doing like running.

My problem now is finding the motivation to go