How to Tone Your Body: 5 Strategies to Reveal a Lean and Sculpted Physique

If you admire a fit, lean, and athletic physique, you likely want to know how to tone your body. Increasing your muscle definition—without bulking or putting on body fat—is a product of tailored workout routines and a meal plan for weight loss. 

One caveat: Looking toned and sculpted relies on a solid foundation of muscle. "If you already have size, decrease your body fat. On the skinny side? Start with a bulk-training style program," says Toronto-based strength coach Scott Rankin, C.S.C.S.

Diet is the foundation of an incredible physique, but you'll also need a focused exercise program to get the muscle definition you want. Below, you can learn how to get toned using nutrition and training strategies, along with smart lifestyle habits.

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1. Start With Your Diet

"The first step? Pass on the mac and cheese," says Rankin. While you don't have to give up your favorite fat—and carb-heavy foods entirely, revealing lean muscle does come easier if you cut back on junk food and up the protein. 

If you're lean but wondering how to get toned because you don't have muscular definition, then your diet should be centered on gaining lean mass. Research shows you don't need a huge surplus of calories to gain muscle—just 5 to 20% over what you'd eat to maintain your current weight. Plus, if you stick to a smaller calorie increase, you'll be far less likely to pack on body fat.

Now, if you've got a solid foundation of muscle but need to shed some body fat to show it off, you'll want to create a moderate calorie deficit of around 500 calories per day. Rankin warns against the common mistake of extreme calorie restriction—you’ll risk losing muscle and being too tired to perform in the gym.

2. Train for Muscle 

Building a workout routine for a toned physique means focusing on either building or maintaining muscle. If you're already lean with low body fat levels but lack some solid muscle mass, building that mass is your primary goal. If you're already decently muscular but don't have the definition you're after for a toned appearance, you'll want to maintain your gains while losing body fat.

Rankin suggests beginners trying to gain size and strength start their programming with a power-based push or pull exercise like a heavy bench press, squat, or pullup. Then, add isolation exercises for your biceps, triceps, and calves, plus some ab work, hitting each muscle or muscle group 2 to 3 times per week. 

If you're an experienced lifter aiming to lose some body fat, focus on low-fatigue exercises and isolation work. Hit each muscle group 2 to 3 times per week—or more for body parts that need a lot of volume, like the biceps, calves, and abs, depending on your current conditioning. 

When it comes to programming your workouts, Rankin prefers an upper-lower split: upper body, lower body, rest, upper body, lower body, two days of rest, repeat.

3. Get Enough Protein

Protein is key to maintaining muscle mass when cutting fat and is also essential for building new muscle mass. Current research suggests an ideal range for muscle gain for men of 0.9-1.07 grams of protein per pound of body weight. The higher end of that range will get you the best results. 

Splitting your protein intake up into meals containing 20 to 40 grams of protein each is the best way to keep your amino acids topped up and working for you all day. And don't cut carbs—you'll need them to fuel your muscle growth and your workouts.

Related: Personal Trainer Reveals Top 10 Tips to Build Strength Without the Bulk

4. Lift Weights that Challenge You

Your lifting sessions must be stressful enough for your muscles to adapt by stimulating new tissue growth, but don't be afraid you'll get bulky this way.

One huge misconception about how to get toned instead of bulky is that you should avoid lifting heavy weights and instead focus on lifting light weights for dozens of reps. While sets of anywhere from 5 to 30 reps can support muscle growth, the set needs to be taken close to momentary failure. If you finish a set and can keep going, you're lifting too light (or need to add more reps). 

Your muscles have two actions regarding their size—to grow or to shrink. In that sense, "toning" isn't actually an action your muscles take but more of an ideal physical look of being lean and firm with definition. To get that, you need to build muscle.

5. Sleep and Recover

Go on, hit snooze. During sleep is when your body releases growth hormone to fast charge muscle growth. Plus, sleep deprivation is catabolic, meaning it causes muscle loss, and all of your hard work in the gym will go to waste. Make sure to rest for a minimum of seven hours a night. If you sacrifice quality Zs, you'll also be more likely to gain weight or struggle to lose it.

Lose the idea of two-a-days. While your goal is to get lean, you don’t want to hit the gym twice and burn so many calories that you can’t build muscle or are too fatigued to put in quality work or recover properly.

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