In this article I’m going to tell you exactly how to lift weights to get toned.
Let’s face it, you want that toned look.
You want to look more cut and defined.
You want to look better in your bathing suit when you go to the beach.
I totally get it.
The tough part is, there’s so much information out there about what workouts to do to get toned, and more specifically, how to lift weights to get toned.
And, let’s be honest. It can get a bit confusing.
Should you lift heavy to get toned? Should you do light weight, high rep workouts to get toned? Should you not lift weights at all and instead do tons of cardio?
It can be daunting.
Lucky for you, I’m going to go into detail on exactly how you should be lifting weights to get toned.
You ready?
Without further ado, let’s dive into it!
How To Get Toned
Before We Get Started
Before we get into the details on how to actually lift weights to get toned, we first need to briefly discuss what getting toned actually is and how to do it.
Simply put, getting toned just means losing fat and building muscle.
That’s it.
It really is that simple.
Those are the two parts of the equation for getting toned.
When you lose body fat, your muscles start becoming more visible.
This gives you that lean, toned and defined look.
But here’s the thing.
In order to get that toned and defined look, you need to have some muscle on your frame.
Because, if you just lose fat without having any significant muscle underneath, you’d end up with more of that “skinny fat” look.
But obviously that’s not the look you’re going for.
You want to get toned.
So, in order to do that, you’ll need to lose some body fat and build some lean muscle.
How To Lose Fat
Now you know what getting toned actually is.
Before we start talking about what workouts to do, let’s briefly discuss how to lose fat.
Because, like I mentioned, fat loss is half of the equation for getting toned.
The only way to lose fat is to be in what’s called a calorie deficit.
This means eating fewer calories that you burn on a daily basis.
So, since fat loss is half the battle when it comes to getting toned, you’ll need your overall nutrition to be on point.
To simplify this, the two most important things to focus on are your overall calories (being in that calorie deficit to lose fat) and your protein intake.
You’ll want to prioritize protein in your diet for many reasons.
But, specifically for getting toned, protein will be crucial for your ability to recover from the workouts that I’m going to cover in this article.
This is because building lean muscle is such a crucial yet commonly overlooked aspect of getting toned.
Let’s dive into how to go about doing that.
Cardio Is Overrated For Getting Toned
Let me make myself clear.
Cardio is not only great for your overall health, it’s necessary for living a long, healthy life.
I would never discourage anyone from including cardio as part of their workout routine.
In fact, cardio should always be at least a small part of your workout routine.
With that being said, cardio is overrated for getting toned.
Here’s why.
Remember how I said that building lean muscle is half of the equation for getting toned?
Cardio does very little for building muscle.
People who focus so much on cardio tend to neglect lifting weights for getting toned.
Sure, cardio can help you with the fat loss side of things.
I talk a lot about that HERE in my article on whether you need to do cardio for weight loss.
But, for building muscle, you’ll need to prioritize weight lifting in your workout routine.
Doesn’t Lifting Weights Make You Bulky?
I know what you’re thinking.
Right about now you’re probably saying, “If my goal is to get toned and lose weight, I’m essentially trying to get smaller, right? So why would I be lifting weights? Won’t that make me bigger and bulky?”
Well, I’m so glad you asked.
Lifting weights will not make you bulky. Here’s why.
Anybody you see that has that bulky look has been lifting weights religiously for YEARS, and has most likely taken performance enhancing drugs to achieve that look.
But that’s a whole other topic for another article.
Trust me when I say this. Nobody and I mean absolutely nobody has accidentally gotten bulky from lifting weights.
Here’s an analogy that will make this abundantly clear for you.
Saying you don’t want to lift weights because it’ll make you bulky is like saying you don’t want to cook dinner because you don’t want to become a professional chef.
See how silly that sounds?
It takes years and years of working on your culinary skills to become a professional chef.
Just like it takes years of years of devoting your life to bodybuilding to ever achieve any semblance of a bulky look.
I don’t want to ramble too much on this topic, but there is one final point that I want to bring up.
A lot of times that bulky look that people envision isn’t really muscle that a person has put on. Most of the time it’s actually body fat.
So, if you focus on fat loss while lifting weights consistently, you won’t end up with a bulky look. You’ll end up with more of a toned look.
Why You Need To Be Lifting Weights
You now know that you should be lifting weights on a regular basis.
Now let’s discuss why lifting weights is so important.
Yes, lifting weights is crucial for looking better in a bathing suit.
Yes, you need to lift weights to get toned.
But there’s so much more to weight lifting than just what it does for your physical appearance.
As you get older, there’s no question that you can easily become weaker and more brittle.
Osteoporosis (a condition where bones become weaker as you get older) is very common, especially among women.
Want to know one of the best ways to help prevent this?
Lifting weights regularly.
Weight lifting puts your muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, etc under stress (the good kind of stress).
This makes them more resilient over time, which is super important for staying mobile and functional in your day-to-day life as you age.
You know how people love to talk about “functional training” or “functional fitness”?
Nothing is more functional than a well put together comprehensive strength training program.
Think about it like this.
When you’re at the airport and you have to pick up a 50lb suitcase off the floor, you’re doing a deadlift.
When you get on the plane and have to put a smaller piece of carry-on luggage in the overhead bin, you’re doing an overhead press.
Here’s one that may really shock you.
You ready?
When you sit down on the toilet, you’re performing a squat.
Shocking, I know.
See how applicable weight lifting is to real life?
When you lift weights, you’re training your muscles to make these real life tasks much easier.
So the next time you think twice about incorporating weight lifting into your workout routine, remember how much it’ll improve you quality of life.
Especially as you get older.
How To Lift Weights To Get Toned
The Light Weight, High Reps Myth
Time and time again I see people thinking that light weight, high rep exercises are the key to getting that toned look.
Candidly, these are usually the same people that think lifting heavy makes you bulky.
Since we’ve already established that lifting weights does not make you bulky, you now know that lifting heavy won’t harm you or make you look a certain way that you don’t want to look.
In fact, lifting heavy is actually the key for how to lift weights to get toned.
What I want you to understand is that there is no right or wrong rep range for getting toned.
Meaning whether you do 6 reps on a given set or 20 reps, one of those isn’t going to make you more toned than the other.
They both work.
I should re-phrase that.
They both work as long as you’re lifting heavy relative to the rep range you’re in.
Here’s what I mean by that.
Let’s say you’re doing dumbbell bench press.
Obviously you’ll be able to lift heavier on a set of 6-8 reps on that exercise than you will on a set of 15-20 reps.
I think we all can agree on that.
However, whether you’re doing sets of 6-8 or 15-20 reps, you should be picking a heavy enough weight where by the end of the set you only could’ve gotten 1-3 more reps at most.
This is called training close to failure, and it matters way more for getting toned than the specific number of reps you’re getting.
This is because whether you choose to do 6 reps or 20 reps, the set needs to be very challenging in either case in order for you to get toned.
This is why “light weight, high reps for getting toned” is a myth.
If you have that mentality, you’ll never be lifting heavy enough to build enough lean muscle to look toned.
So the next time you pick up super light dumbbells just because you think it’s better for getting toned, remember that you need to be challenging your muscles on each working set that you do in the gym (all sets except for warm up sets).
Challenging yourself like this applies to all exercises in all rep ranges.
In reality, any good strength training program will have some exercises in lower rep ranges (like 6-8 reps) and other exercises in high rep ranges (like 12-15 reps).
You’ll see an example of this in the next section where I lay out a sample leg workout for getting toned.
How To Structure Your Workouts
Alright, now that we’ve covered a lot of background information on how to approach your workouts for getting toned, let’s discuss how to actually structure your workouts.
For most people who want to get toned, lifting weights 3-4 days a week is ideal.
Why?
I’m so glad you asked.
Lifting less than 3 days a week will make it difficult for you to build any substantial amount of muscle and strength.
Lifting 5 or more days a week just isn’t as feasible for most people’s lifestyle.
You’re probably busy with your job, kids, responsibilities, etc.
I’d rather you lift weights 3-4 days a week consistently than try to lift 5-6 days a week but quit after a month because it wasn’t sustainable for you.
Does that make sense?
Also, you need rest days.
Rest days are not optional.
They’re needed not only for getting great results and getting toned, but also for staying safe over the long run.
This is why I love 3-4x/week workout programs.
They allow you to lift often enough to get great results, but not too often to where you’re not recovering well enough.
Before we talk more about structuring your workouts, I want to mention one more thing.
To maximize your workouts for getting toned, you’ll want to train each muscle group two times a week.
This is because when you train a certain muscle, it should be fully recovered within about 48-72 hours of training it.
So, if you train your glutes on Monday, you should be able to train them again by Thursday.
Of course, this is assuming you’re getting at least seven hours of sleep each night and eating enough protein.
3x/Week Workouts
Here is what I believe to be the best workout split for getting toned if you want to lift weights three times a week:
Monday: Lower Body
Tuesday: Rest Day
Wednesday: Upper Body
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: Full Body
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: Rest Day
4x/Week Workouts
Here is a great way to structure your workouts if you want to lift weights four times a week:
Monday: Lower Body
Tuesday: Upper Body
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: Lower Body
Friday: Upper Body
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: Rest Day
Sample Lower Body Workout
Here’s a free sample leg workout for you to try since I’m a such a nice guy.
Lift heavy, get progressively stronger, and use good form, and a workout like this is perfect to include in your program for getting toned.
| Exercise | Sets x Reps | Rest | Notes |
| 1. DB Split Squat | 3×8-10/side | 2 min | Slow on the way down; keep front foot flat on the ground |
| 2. DB Romanian Deadlift | 3×8-10 | 2 min | Push hips back like there’s a door right behind you and you need to use your butt to push it open |
| 3. Smith Machine Hip Thrust | 3×10-12 | 90 sec | Hold the squeeze at the top for 1 second on each rep |
| 4. Single-Leg Leg Press | 3×10-12/side | 90 sec | Keep foot lower on platform for quad emphasis, keep foot higher on platform for glute emphasis |
| 5. Seated Leg Curl | 3×12-15 | 90 sec | Make sure the thigh pad is securing you tight in the machine for stability |
| 6. Standing Calf Raise | 3×15-20 | 60 sec | Hold the top of each rep for 1 second; slow on the way down |
