3 Best Toning Exercises for Women

Are you wanting to achieve a toned, strong and lean figure?  Here are my 3 best toning exercises just for moms and you don't have to belong to a gym to do them!  You can do these 3 toning exercises from the comfort of home with limited equipment (sometimes your own bodyweight!).

By: Ed Scow, NSCA-CPT: Certified Fitness & Nutrition Expert to the True Superheroes - Busy Moms & Dads and author of Fat Loss To Go

There are a lot of confusing articles and videos out there for moms wanting to tone up.

Do you go to a class, or maybe stick to an intense home workout program?

If you’re a lady, and want to get more toned, should you do loads and loads of repetitions on isolation exercises or stick to bigger exercises that work a lot of your body at once?

To better answer those questions, I compiled a quick list of what I believe to be the best toning exercises for women.

1) 1-Leg Hip Extensions. This bodyweight exercise is great at toning and strengthening your entire posterior side including your hamstrings (back of your legs), butt and low back.

To do it, lie on your back with one leg bent from the knee at about 90 degrees. Your other leg should be straight out with your foot off the ground.

Brace your abs and raise your hips off the floor by squeezing your butt muscles and hamstring.

Raise up as high as you can, pause and then slowly return to the starting position, but don’t rest your butt on the floor, and then press right back up.

Repeat for 10-15 reps, then switch legs.

A couple quick pointers on this toning exercise – don’t swing your non-working leg. It should remain straight the entire time. Also, if the exercise is too tough, cross the non-working leg over your other knee. This makes it a bit easier.

If it’s too easy, you can place the foot of your working leg on something that’s a few inches off the ground like a step or stability ball - or combine it with a stability ball leg curl.

2) Push-ups. I love me some push-ups and you should too. They are a great toning exercise for your arms, shoulders and chest and increase your strength tremendously.

If you can’t do push-ups "from the toes," that’s fine. Do them from your knees. Just make sure your body is in a straight line from your ears to your knees (or toes if you’re doing them from the toes). Don’t stick your butt in the air! (Click here to watch a video demonstrating different push-up variations).

Also make sure your arms are straight down from your shoulders.

Once you can do 8-10 from your knees, hop up and do a few from your toes. It doesn’t matter if you can only do 2 from your toes – just do ‘em, and focus on getting stronger every workout.

The push-up is a great toning exercise because it hits virtually every muscle in your upper body – including your abs/core.

Your triceps (back of your arms) are worked, your shoulders and chest get worked as do your abs and core.

That’s a great toning exercise in my book!

3) Lunge. The lunge is a great overall lower body toning exercise, that also hits your abs just a bit.

When done correctly, it’s a killer on the butt and hamstrings.

Every lady client I work with who wants a better looking butt and wants to get rid of her thigh fat has to do lunges…and a lot of ‘em!

Make sure when you do the lunges that the foot of your frong leg stays planted into the ground – don’t go up on to your toes as that will take the pressure OFF your muscles and put it ON your knee joint…which ain’t cool.

You can do Stationary Lunges, Reverse Lunges, Forward Lunges, Reaching Lunges, Lateral Lunges, and you can add upper body exercises to the mix by doing a Shoulder Press or Biceps Curl as you raise yourself up.

The lunge is a great toning exercise and very versatile…

…and it will get your butt in great shape!

Throw those 3 toning exercises into one of your workouts (or find a better workout program!) and watch your figure become more toned and A LOT stronger!

If you'd like to see some of those exercises in action, click the following toning workout video links below:

10-Minute Workout For Moms

Legs Workout For Moms

Enjoy and have a great day!

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