Hi again!
What is your favorite workout? I am a small framed woman who would like to get more toned all over.
I am small framed as well, and yoga, running and light weight lifting with lots of reps works well for me.
I am a Jillian Michaels groupie! I love her 30 Day Shred and I just ordered Ripped in 30. I did try her Shred It With Weights and wasn't all that impressed. I read a lot of negative reviews, so I stopped doing it. I've heard that kettlebells are amazing though.
I also really like yoga and pilates, but you have to have to time to devote to it. It's hard to be peaceful and centered with a 4 year old and a 20 month old running around! LOL!
One of the things I really like about the Shred is that it's only about 25 minutes with warm up and cool down. I can get it done and over with. Make no mistake, it's HARD though! It will definitely get you toned!
chasing my 2 yr old :)
Kettle bells! I am ADDICTED! It's important to go to classes taught by a certified instructor, because it would be very easy to mess up your back or cause other problems, but when you do them correctly it's a cardio workout that works your core, glutes, back, shoulders and arms all at once and provides amazing results. I love to jog, but I don't think I've ever been as addicted to an exercise before. I literally crave these classes!
I don't do it everyday, probably would if I had my own pool, but swimming. If you're already small, it's great for toning. I did it in college in the wee hours of the morning and used to look so toned! For me, it's the workout that relieves the most stress, water is very soothing to me!
Do cardio if you want to get toned all over. I am small too. I do 30 minutes of cardio a day (elliptical, treadmill and bike). I then do about 15 minutes of weight lifting. I supplement with one kickboxing class a week and my Wii Fit. I love to exercise!
Running I did the couch to 5k and was sucessful! I toned all parts of my body and still going!
yoga and pilates :-) Awesome I dont do it like I Used to ~like I WANT and NEED to... but it's amazing how much your body 'transforms' !!!!
BONUS= its Relaxing... something every mom needs to do! relax lol
good luck !!
Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred is AWESOME! Best part, your entire workout is done in 30 mins! Its a tough workout and you'll want to die after you do it the first couple times, but its totally worth it and is great at toning up the body fast. Its under $10 at target and walmart.
A great book is the Womens' Health Big Book of Exercises. It is a great handbook for lifting and cardio. My favorite workout in the book is the Spartacus workout. It includes strength training but is a circuit workout that will get your heart rate up and will torch fat. The best part? It only takes about 30 minutes. Don't be fooled though - it is tough!
Also, a quick read about why you should include strength training in your workout to tone your body:
I am a SET junky. I am a member of 24 hour fitness and I have been known to rearrange my schedule to get to a SET class. they do cardo and weight intervals - LOVE IT!
SET stands for Strength Endurance Training.
I also love to run to clear my head and spin classes because I just feel strong after I leave.:)
The best way to get tone is adding some weights to you routine. I was always a cardio junkie, but that really just burns calories. I have a great workout DVD that you can do in the comfort of your own home that will really tone up your body. Here is a video you can watch that will tell you more about the program. http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/fithome?bctid=25219...
Let me know if you have any questions.
M.
Body Electric is 1/2 hour of light weight toning on PBS.
I've been doing this for years and now have our DVR record it so I can workout whenever fits my schedule. It's usually on in the morning on weekdays. It's a great workout!
Try Zumba dance classes, they're a blast!
Burst training sometime called interval training. Google it or search on youtube for examples. I know JJ VIrgin has videos of her burst training. Very quick and effiecient!
I've just discovered jump roping. It's more effective than any other cardio workout e.g. burns more calories in less time and it's an all body workout especially core and legs. You don't have to leave your home and it's cheap - all you need is a speed jump rope and good tennis shoes =)
I've been doing 4-5, 5 minute reps a day while at work. It's awesome because it reminds me to get up from my chair, keeps me from getting tired and I get my workout done so I can spend all evening hanging out with my girls. Just to give you an idea... I do minimum of 2500 reps (jumps) which takes me roughly 20 minutes and I burn approximately 250 calories. On my heavy day I do 4000 reps in about 35 minutes, burning almost 400 calories.
As with any exercise, you need to warm up and then stretch afterwards.
I just joined a Crossfit gym this year and I absolutely LOVE the workouts , called WOD's (Workout of the day). They are tough, but I have never been in better shape. The WOD's are posted each day, so you don't necessarily have to do them at their facility. I love the intensity and variation of these workouts.
If you want something at home though without too much equipment...P90X is really good. Or a good interval training, weights mixed with short burst, high intensity cardio.
I am also in the small frame group and being toned/stronger really helps with daily activities and just the way my clothes fit.
