Body Toning Exercises for Men

Article by Fitho

A toned body along with well built muscles is a dream of every guy. Body toning simply means increasing your muscle mass simultaneously lowering the body fat percentage.To tone up your body you need to brush aside the layers of fat and allow the muscles to be seen.A good workout is no doubt a key to tone up the body. Men usually enjoy working out in the gym but a well planned home workout plan with a proper combination of cardio and strength training exercises can help in achieving the desired “beach body” look.

Let’s have a look at few of the body toning exercises for men with videos for your convenience:

Plank: Plank is one of the best exercises to build endurance in abs and backs. Lie face down on floor or on a mat with palms on the floor. Raise yourself off the floor resting your weight on the toes and the elbows. Keep your body flat from head to heel. Hold this position for 20-60 sec, lower the body and repeat this cycle 5-6 times.

Ghost Skipping: Simple and fun exercise that can be done anywhere and anytime. It’s a high impact cardio exercise to burn off the extra fat and also tone up the thighs, hips and calves. Keep your feet slightly apart and start jumping as if the rope is passing under the feet and over the head. Simultaneously move your arms as if actually jumping the rope to engage your biceps, triceps and shoulders. Complete a total of 100 reps

Pushups: One of the classic exercise for building chest, triceps and shoulders. Place your hands on the floor just beyond shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight and your knees straight and parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your body so as to touch your nose to the floor and then return to the start position by pressing yourself upward. To make it more vigorous also try diamond pushups, wide grip pushups, cobra pushups etc. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps each.

Squats: Squat is a form of compound exercise that particularly targets your quadriceps, calves, hamstrings and glutes. It also engages the core and back muscles to maintain the balance during the movement. Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart. Standing up tall, put your shoulders back, lift your chest, and pull in your abdominal muscles. Lower down, as if sitting but keep your upper body particularly back as straight as possible. You could also stretch your arms out in front for added balance. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps each.

Seated butterfly: Perfect stretch for your inner thighs and glutes. Sit on the floor, back straight, shoulders down, abs engaged, soles of the feet together in front of you, and knees bent to the sides. Pull your heels towards you while simultaneously relaxing your knees towards the floor. Hold the stretch for 5-6 seconds and repeat 8-10 times.