For those who want toned, sleek bodies but without a great deal of muscle growth, a different workout is necessary. Some people can naturally turn flabby arms into smoothly toned arms with ease, while others will have to work harder or longer to gain this effect. The method, however, is similar.

To tone arms, legs, thighs or abs, some muscle gain is necessary. You just want to be sure to gain the right amount, so that any flab is replaced with smoothness, but not huge bulges of muscle. Keeping this muscle is the key to keeping toned – muscle will burn calories faster than fat, and will look tighter and better under your skin.

While weight training, keep the weights at a level that is not too light for you (you should still be working out), but do not push yourself to increase the weight you are lifting. Instead, you might increase either the number of repetitions or the number of sets as you feel that your workout is getting easier.

When weight training, bodybuilders often focus on a different group of muscles each day, and really work these hard. To tone, instead of doing just one body part per day, have several weight lifting routines which each work several body parts, and do one of these per day.

You might simply do an entire circuit each day that you workout. If training at home, you might just do a few repetitions of each exercise on your universal gym.

Do each exercise carefully – no clanging of the weights or grunting. You are not trying to gain muscle or push your body, instead try to keep all of your movements very controlled and slow.

Athletes who are toning rather than building their muscles may also want to do more cardio. Instead of the quick warm up a weight trainer does, using their cardio routine to get their body temperature up, try going for a longer run or jog to burn fat.

A diet lower in protein than a bodybuilder’s diet is also necessary. Someone who is toning may wish to focus more on supplements which lower calorie intake, or which increase calcium, iron, and potassium – still replenishing minerals needed, without adding protein or fat to keep the body smooth and sleek.

Like bodybuilders, small meals throughout the day will keep your body using energy efficiently; however, your diet may have less protein.