Would you like a toned, sculpted, athletic-looking body? Incorporating the right exercises into your fitness program can help you on your way.

Getting “toned” is one of those health and fitness buzz-words you often hear when people talk about improving their physique. You may have heard someone say they want to “tone up” or somebody described as looking “lean and toned”. But what exactly does it mean?

Toning involves two things – weight loss and an increase in lean muscle tissue. Nathan Martin of Energise Health Management says that this process will simply see your muscles grow a little bit while your body-fat level drops.

“If you think of a layer of fat covering your muscle, then if that fat passed and the muscle increased slightly, the muscle is then going to pop out and you’re going see it in a different shape,” he explains.

“It’s different to muscle building – someone can put on 10 kilos of muscle but they don’t really look toned. The biggest part of toning is weight loss.”

Toning your body can be achieved by including both cardiovascular-focused exercises and strength training in your fitness program. Cardiovascular activities will assist in weight loss while strength training exercises will work on increasing your lean muscle mass.

Martin, who has worked as a trainer to tennis superstars Lleyton Hewitt, Martina Navratilova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, suggests supplementing a couple of Cardio Tennis sessions each week with some strength training – such as body weight exercises or dumbbell lifts – for the best toning results.

“If you’re doing Cardio Tennis two or three times a week, you could add in one or two body weight exercises if you’re not a member of a gym. There are many resources now online where you can find exercises using just your body weight, such as bodyweight squats, push-ups and core exercises,” he says.

“If you are a gym member, I would advise you to see a trainer and just buy half-a-dozen sessions with a trainer, to first of all make sure you’re doing everything correctly and then to get some form of program with the trainer.”

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