Toning

Me on the way to the gym!

I first started to tone in my early teenage years when I was required to take a weight training class in high school.  It was during that time that I learned exactly how to use many different weight machines in the gym as well as some free weight moves.  I continued toning during my 9th grade year of highschool, however like many I did not stick with it as I got older and ventured out into the real world.

From time to time in the past I would return to the gym; but the return was always short lived.  And, eventually I became more and more out of shape.  Then after a extremely difficult separation and custody battle I gained upwards of 100 pounds and kept that extreme weight on for several years. 

Luckily, as I explain on the  My “Weight Loss” Journey! page with the help and support of my husband I returned to the gym and rekindled my love for  toning (weight training).

Currently, I following a detailed Toning Training Plan that I found on the The Fitnessista blog and modified for my schedule.  You can follow what I do weekly on my Training Schedule page.

This plan is broken down into synergistic muscle groups:

• Back & Biceps
• Legs
• Shoulders, Chest & Triceps

Synergistic Muscles act together to perform the same movement. 

For example:  when you perform a “row”, you’re mainly using your back but the biceps are assisting in the movement, making them synergist muscles. 

Basically, by splitting up the muscle groups this way, it ensures that each group isn’t overworked and has adequate time to repair into lean muscle.

Do to my busy schedule as a full time working mom, wife, etc. I am only able to get to the “gym” 2 days a week, typically on Tuesday & Thursday nights after work.  So I modified the plan to fit my schedule as you can see on the Toning Training Plan page. 

In light of the fact that my 16-Week 15K Training Plan has Easy Runs every Tuesday I decided to do my leg workouts on those days and do my Back & Biceps and Shoulders, Chest & Tricep workouts on Thursday when I have either a Tempo & Speed Runs to do that night so that my legs are not tired out prior to those runs.

And, let’s not forget about the Ab Exercises that I will be doing prior to my workouts and runs every night at the gym as well!