No matter what time of year, be it post-Christmas or pre-summer, many of us get the desire to tone up fast. These points in the year give you that initial push, but whenever we look to find the best way to do it, we hit upon various ways we could begin toning. This is not a discouraging thing. The person wanting to tone up now has a number of great ways.
There is one tried and true toning method, and that is running. Running is an exercise that lets the person runnning on a track or jogging on a treadmill know immediately that calories are being burned. The initial heavy breathing and sweat let the runner see that this exercise is getting the body working. This is what to expect from a good toning exercise. If this is the toning method you want to try, then you should first consider what it will take to start today, and why those things will get you closer to a toned body.
Getting Started Today
- Running shoes: Your feet need to feel good if you want it to work, so a well-fitting, feel-good pair of shoes are necessary. You may have a pair, but if they're a bit old, the wear may have turned them into more of a walking around shoe. There are good cheap and expensive shoe options. The priority is to find the shoe that will help you get into that tone up fast state of mind.
- Location: Where do you want to start? The great thing about running is you can do it mostly anywhere. However, you probably have a specific place in mind. The treadmill is a good place to start. It's a controlled environment where you can monitor a number of variables from speed to estimated calories burned. The track is the next option, and it may be outside, so some other things could impact your running. The weather is the big one. There are still indoor track options, but the only worry there may be a slight crowd of other walkers and runners. The most challenging location may be the road. This option requires attention to the surroundings and disicipline, but also a deep desire to get outside and just run.
- Desire, Dedication and Discipline: The three Ds are what will get your body quickly toned. The initial desire may be a feeling of, "Why did I eat all of that?" However, you can succeed by turning that desire into a feeling of, "I'm going to get into a running routine so that guilty feeling becomes infrequent." Dedication comes into play when the runner wants to see results. It takes some dedication to get over that first hill, both literally and figuratively. So dedicate yourself to a disciplined routine. The results will come.
Running gives you options, so take a look at all of them. Go down the running path that fits your wants and needs. Go sign up for a gym membership and get that iPod out. The treadmill can help you tone up fast. If the sun is out, put on some shorts or sweat pants and chart a course through your neighborhood, gradually going further to challenge yourself. In the end you will realize that running is a great place to start feeling and looking toned up.
