by Richard Anthony Palmer
Hello! So I get a quite a few questions about how to grow or tone legs.
TONING
Firstly I want to cover the toning part, because I get asked “I want to tone up but don’t want to get stronger or lift heavy weights.”
Unfortunately if you think you can get toned up without lifting anything or getting stronger, it’s not going to happen. Toning is a result of some form resistance training and healthy nutrition. Resistance training improves muscle strength and muscles getting stronger can promote muscle growth with a healthy lifestyle. Now I’m about to touch on something a little deep, note how I said healthy life style the second time round, because if you’re leading a life full of stress your body isn’t going respond in a positive way if you’re living in a negative way. But back to the point of being ‘Toned’ = Being Strong = you need to lift weights or add resistance.
GROWING
There are tons of ways you can grow your lower body and the information for that can be found across most social media platforms which can show you different exercises and techniques. Squats, leg machines, resistance bands, high number of reps, low number of reps, working for time, doing circuit routines and much more.
My go-to for lower body exercises are squats or lunges and all the different variations of those movements that can be done, and with different bits of equipment .
A list of equipment you can use are:-
- Dumbells
- Kettlebells
- Barbell
And using resistance bands are another go to tool I would recommend purchasing. If you’re interested in knowing any exercises, sets/reps times etc. feel free to drop me a message via Dunes magazine Instagram page.
Another great and well recognised online page for information would have to be the ‘Glute Lab’. They have a wide range of information on there also so definitely check out that page.
PREPARING FOR YOUR FIRST COMPETITION
So another thing I get asked a lot of questions about is how to prepare for a competition. I know a lot of people tend to pull out of a competition because they feel they haven’t prepared enough or don’t have enough time to prepare.
When you sign up to an event the main thing I want you to think about is, are you competing to win? If you are then I suggest you throw any excuse away, work, kids, food, sleep, injuries, sickness, weather was bad, throw all of them away because that’s not going to win you nothing.
If you’re not going there to win then DON’T STRESS!
- Maximum of 5 or 6 training sessions a week minimum of 2.
- Try and include strength work in those sessions.
- A heart rate monitor is good tool to have if you’re doing an endurance type of event.
- Make sure you’re doing something that is specific to that event that you’re going to take part in.
Again if you have any questions about preparing for competition get intouch via Dunes magazine Instagram page.
HOW TO GET ABS IN 2 WEEKS
The reality is that getting abs in 2 weeks is unrealistic and unachievable unless a doctor can squeeze you in within that time frame. But in all seriousness it depends on the person, some people are able to get abs without even trying and some have to put themselves on very strict diets and training programs for months which for most part isn’t sustainable and can have negative impacts on their overall health and wellbeing. You can do all the ab exercises in the world but ultimately it depends on your genetics OR being very strict with your diet, nutrition and training and keeping your body at very low body fat percentage.