Podcast Ep. 322: How Long Does It Take To Get Toned?

Podcast Notes:

1. Workout Of The Week

This week's workout is a race against yourself.

Grab a stopwatch to see how quickly you can complete the following circuit:

10 Alt Snatches
10 Burpee Box Overs
10 Weighted Squat Jacks*
300m Run

Click to see the moves demoed on Instagram.

How long it took is how much rest you take.

Repeat, but try to beat your previous time. If you do, great. If not, enjoy 25 pushups during the rest.

Each round, aim to beat the previous. Not the first.

Complete 4 rounds.

Let me know if you give this a try.

Better yet, tag me on Instagram.

*As for the squat jacks, if you need to go light or no weight, that's fine. These are tough, so listen to your body.

Weight used: 40 lb dumbbell.

2. How Long Does It Take To LOOK More Toned?

To get toned means to build muscle. That takes time.

Building muscles is a catabolic activity that requires a few important things:

Strength training. You have to put muscles under stress to force them to build.
Progressive overload. More specifically with your strength training, it needs to progressively get harder . Whether through more weight, increased volume (doing more sets and/or reps), or time under tension... you have to make the work harder.
Nutrition. It takes energy to build, and that energy comes from food. Increasing calories by 100-300/day and making sure to eat enough protein (.8-1g/lb you weigh) will help make building muscles, getting toned, possible.

3. It Seems To Take Forever For My Legs To Look Defined... How Can I See Results?

The same rules apply to seeing toned results as to getting defined legs.

Keep in mind a majority of women carry access body fat in their legs (thighs).

For some, it might mean going into a small caloric deficit to get rid of excess fat in the area.

But most importantly, stay patient and focus on heavy strength training that works the big muscles: hamstrings, glutes and quads to help add definition.

4. If Tracking Macros, After Protein What's The Next Macro Nutrient To Prioritize?

When I calculate macros for clients, here's the order I go:

Determine protein and calculate how many calories of protein is recommended. And then figure out what percentage of their overall calories this comes to.
Next, is fat. In general, 25-35% of daily calories should come from fat. If someone is very active, I'll recommend they start on the lower end of 25/30%.
And finally, carbs. Whatever percentage is left goes to carbohydrate intake.
If 30% of calories is protein, 25% if fat, then 45% would be carbs. This is not a suggestion for your macros, this is just an example.

But in terms of tracking...

Since there are 3 macro nutrients, if you are already tracking protein...

If you track fat, then you'll automatically successfully track carbs too. And vice versa.

5. Best Leg Exercises

Quick note, I'm a big believer in moving the body in all planes...

The following moves help with that for balanced and safe training.

Lateral (side) Lunges
1-Leg Jump From Seated Position
Elevated Forward & Reverse Lunges
Swings
Split Squats

These moves not only build strength, but also balance.

Create strong muscles while also building a stronger brain-muscle (neuromuscular) connection to increase performance and reduce risk of injury.

Do You Want To Workout With Me?

You can!

I have a program called Fit Women's Weekly LIVE. It's my personal training studio in your living room .

We host 16 LIVE classes every week... but we also record every workout.

You get to build the workout schedule that fits your life.

If you want to KNOW you're doing the right style of workout...

And have a coach to help you when you have questions...

Sign up for a 14 day FREE class pass and some see what FWW LIVE is all about... then make your mind up on whether you want to join.