How Long Do You Need To Exercise For?

There is a lot of debate over how much time you need to exercise for each day to get fit and toned. If you are quite active then 15 minutes of toning exercises may be all you need. If you walk a fair amount (around 30 minutes total each day) and are not just sitting at a desk working, then you can get away with a short but intensive 15 minute workout. If you are more sedentary, such as an office worker, then you should do some additional cardio exercise also.

The 15 Home Toning Workout

This workout is designed to be short and intensive. Go easy if you have not exercised for a long time. As you get fitter and stronger you will naturally want to push yourself harder and try to perform more of each of the exercises.

This is a bodyweight circuit training workout, which means that you will only be using your own bodyweight to provide the resistance which will exercise your muscles.

Bodyweight Squats

Start with squats. From a natural standing position squat down, focusing on moving your backside downwards and backwards rather than bending with your knees moving too far forward (you should feel a subtle difference, with less strain on the knees and more strain on the glutes if you do this). Then stand up again. Repeat.

Aim to perform 50 at a time. If you start to struggle then you can hold the back of a chair to support yourself, which will help you to perform more “reps”.

The glutes are a large and powerful muscle, so working them requires a lot of energy.

Reverse Lunges

These also work the legs well. From a standing up straight position, step backwards with one leg and then drop your body downwards so you enter a lunge position. Then step back up again. Repeat with the opposite leg. These will be hard to perform after the squats, so aim to do 20 in total.

Push Ups

Push ups are not just for male boxers! They are an excellent exercise which helps to tone the arms, shoulder and chest, and also improves posture and core strength.

If you cannot do a full push up, start with “quarter push ups”. These are done by placing your knees on the floor so that you do not have to lift so much of your body at once. Aim to perform 20 at a time.

If you cannot do quarter push ups another alternative is to use the stairs or a wall. Stand facing the wall at arms length, then start performing the push ups on the wall. These will be much easier and you should be able to perform your 20 with relative ease. Once you get fitter and stronger move onto the stairs, then quarters, then full.

Always attempt at least one full push up each session though as this will help to improve muscular strength.

Jumping Jacks / Star Jumps

This is a the classic old exercise that almost everyone has done at school at some point in their lives. Aim to do 50 of these as quickly as possible. Simple start from a standing position and then simultaneously jump and fling your arms out and upwards while your hop your legs to each side to make a “star”. Land and return immediately (or as quick as you can) to the start position.

Leg Raises

Lie on the floor and place your hands behind your head under a sofa, or grasp a solid table leg. Then lift your legs up to a vertical position without bending your knees too much. Aim to perform at least 20.

Back Extensions

Roll on to your tummy and then, with your arms by your side or gentle touching your temples, raise your torso off the floor, hold for a second, then lower. Aim to perform 20.

That’s it. You can gently stretch afterwards, touch your toes, or do a seated stretch. There are 6 exercises here so depending on how quickly your completed them you could repeat the circuit for a 2nd time, or even 3rd time.

By performing fewer exercising at a time but then repeating you allow one part of your body to rest while exercising another.

You may want to add some crunches to the end of the workout too, we decided not to today as often people focus too much on crunches, thinking that these will burn off more stomach fat – they do not.

As the thighs are one of the largest muscles of the body they do respond well to focused training, mostly because to work your thighs you have to work the whole body hard. However, before we jump into the thigh workouts we need to talk about diet and nutrition.

How To Lose Thigh Fat Through Dieting

We we consume more calories than we need to maintain our weight, our body converts excess energy (generally sugars) into fat. Where the fat is stored is mostly determined by genetics, which is why we are all different shapes even though many people eat the same diet.

Even if you have a relatively slim waist, excess fat on the thighs is a sign that you are eating too much each day. Thigh fat is not really unhealthy (unlike stomach fat which is) but it still signifies that your overall body-fat is too high.

As with any weight loss plan you need to follow these rules to trim the fat on your thighs:

• Total calories consumed each day must be less than your daily requirements.
• Most of your calories must come from healthy, low GI, low sugar sources, such as salad vegetables, eggs, dairy and lean meats.
• Only by keeping a near constant calorie deficit will you lose weight.

Diet is the cause of weight gain so it must also be the solution. To get thinner thighs you really need to change your diet. Follow these dieting tips:

• Calculate your daily energy requirement (see the table below)
• Consume around 500 calories less per day than your daily needs
• Stop eating all refined or baked goods – no flour, no sugar
• Eat mostly low GI vegetables
• Stop drinking all fruit juices and sodas. Drink only water, green teas and coffees
• Stop eating sugary breakfast cereals (these are also refined goods)
• Instead eat eggs, fresh fruit and wholemeal toast (1 slice) for breakfast
• Eat a fresh salad each day
• Eat more protein and less carbohydrates
• Protein sources: eggs, fish, poultry, lean meats.

Best Thigh Exercises to Burn Fat and Tone Muscles

It is tempting to provide just one exercise only, as there is one exercise that really beats all others hands down at toning the thighs: SQUATS.

Bodyweight squats are extremely effective at toning thighs and they are also very simple to do. Keeping good form is important. To perform squats just stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart and feet facing slightly outwards. Then squat down, looking ahead and keeping your back straight. Try not to move your torso forwards above your feet, instead sink your bum downwards. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor, stand up again.

An exceptionally simple exercise, but very effective. Aim to perform 100 squats per day. Other exercises that will help are star jumps, burpees, leg raises and lunges. Perform a simple circuit like this every day or every other day:

• 50 star jumps
• 50 squats
• 10 push ups
• 10 burpees
• 10 lunges on each leg
• 20 leg raises
• 20 crunches

That is a total of 170 exercises in one circuit. Aim to perform this circuit 2 to 3 times. It will be hard to start with but gradually become easier.

As it does get easier you can increase push ups and burpees to start working the cardiovascular system and upper body harder to aid fat burning.

Circuit training has three major advantages over every other type of exercise:

1. It works the whole body, upper and lower body, it stretches and conditions the body too.
2. You can create a circuit to last any length of time, and then repeat as often as required, or within a set time. So create a circuit that takes you 5 minutes, and you automatically have a 5 minute workout, a 10 minute workout, a 15 minute workout and so on. Time is never an excuse not to exercise again.
3. It can be done in a very small space at home, so no gym required and bad weather cannot stop you.

Simple Circuit for Maximum Toning and Fitness

Skipping Station

Start the circuit with skipping. Skipping is an excellent way to warm up plus it burns a lot of calories. Use a speed rope to make skipping easier. Those old heavy ropes slow you down. Skipping also helps tone the arms and shoulders so you can wave goodbye to those chicken wings!

Push Up Station

Although we call them stations, they can all be done in the same place! Push ups work the shoulders, arms and chest, and also help tighten the core. Keep your back straight, good posture is important to get the most out of a push up. If a full push up is too hard then try a quarter push up, which means having your knees on the floor instead. As soon as you can perform 20 of these you should be working on the full push up. If you get tired stop and hold in the plank position to help tighten the abs.

Bicycles

Bicycles are a form of crunch really. They are thought to be the single most important abdominal exercise. Lie on your back with your hands behind your head (but do not pull on your neck). Simultaneously lift your right elbow towards your left knee, so that you perform a twisting crunch sit up. Return then repeat on the opposite side. Repeat for the duration / number of reps you are aiming for.

Tricep Dips

Athletes perform full body tricep dips on parallel bars, but you should start with dips on a chair. Start by sitting on a chair with your hands next to your hips, the fingers over the edge of the seat. Then move your buttocks forward off the sit and lower yourself, then lift straight upwards. Focus on tensing the triceps. Watch as those chicken wings fly away!

This short circuit works the whole body and you should be able to comfortably work for 1 minute on each exercise with a 15 second rest after each one, making 1 circuit in 5 minutes.