# What's the best way to tone up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256 "2011-07-16T16:30:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/21 "2011-07-17T14:36:56Z")
The biggest thing is to do something you are willing to do. Too many people try to find the platonic ideal exercise, the one that is “most efficient” and then stop because they hate it. Better, always, to find the way you enjoy the most, or hate the least, and do that. NOTHING about an exercise program matters more than whether or not you are still doing it in six months. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/22 "2011-07-17T14:44:39Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > I really cannot stress enough the benefit of doing pushups for women. A lot of women try to shy away from them because they’re “hard” and they’re afraid they will “bulk up”. It isn’t possible to bulk up unless you are taking hormonal injections or heavy duty supplements. > > Even if you just start at being able to do 2 at a time, do 2. Then the next day do 3. The next day do 4. And keep going until you can bust out 20-30 at a time. You will thank me! (And don’t do “girl” pushups either. Do the real ones, straight legged) It will take a lot more than a week to build up to 7 actually correct pushups. We work on correct pushup form in my pilates class, and almost everyone who thinks they can do lots of pushups is doing them in an ineffective way. Even the men can rarely do 5 _ **correct** _ pushups. My pilates instructor (who also has a 2nd degree black belt in karate) says that to do more than 10 correctly is rare in both men and women, and doing them incorrectly is pointless. At the beginning, most women can’t even come close to doing one (arms shake while holding “plank”). IMHO a more realistic progression is as follows: 1. Plank for a count of 10, 20, 30 2. Starting from plank, lower self one inch once, keeping perfect form 3. Keep increasing the depth in step 2 until you can do one correct pushup (will take from weeks to months) 4. Work on building up to 2 and more pushups [Common pushup errors](http://www.builtlean.com/2011/02/23/how-to-proper-push-up-form/) Also, a correctly formed “girly” pushup - with correct head, back and arm positioning – is more effective exercise than one crap “real” pushup. If that’s what you can do (to start) there’s no shame in it. I find shame is actually a really ineffective motivator, be mindful of self-shaming (I suck, I can’t do this, I’ll never get better) and stop those thoughts in their tracks (I’ll get better if I work on it consistently, many people find this difficult but it isn’t impossible, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/23 "2011-07-17T15:16:06Z")
It totally looks like a scam because it’s on informercials, and you would be right to be suspicious just based on that, but P90X was quite good for toning my muscles. I’m an avid runner and have been lifting for fifteen years. Did one round of P90X on a friend’s suggestion and reached a new level. It’s a lot of what people here have been talking about. A lot of pushups and a lot of pullups. The scam is that it’s really, really hard work. But, I went from being able to do four or five pullup sets to fifteen or sixteen in three months. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/24 "2011-07-17T17:48:58Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > You can use the [MIT Gym on a drop-in basis for $15/day](http://mitrecsports.com/membership-pass-types/temporary-pass/default.aspx) - that’s if no affiliation (student/family/friend/alumni/vendor) discounts apply. [$10/day at Boston College](http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/ath/plex/membership/index.html). > > You could supplement running and at-home pilates, with swimming and weight machines 1 day a week. the problem with that is that we’re about 45 minutes away from Boston, and I dont’ really see myself driving for an hour and a half just to work out, plus trying to find and pay for parking. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/25 "2011-07-17T18:06:57Z")
I’ve also made a recent vow to try to tone up. I also need to lose weight, but I’m trying to do that by eating healthy. If you have a Netflix account, there are quite a few exercise videos available for streaming and even more available if you can order them. I’ve been doing this one daily for a few weeks. It’s called “Crunch: Super SlimDown.” [http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Crunch-Super-SlimDown/70044451?trkid=438403](http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Crunch-Super-SlimDown/70044451?trkid=438403) It’s a combination of pilates and yoga. I’m a 20-something woman in decent shape, but it still makes me work up a bit of a sweat if I do it right. There’s lots of focus on all parts of the body, including legs, arms, and abs. I highly recommend it! Lots of other videos available too. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/26 "2011-07-17T18:27:58Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > the problem with that is that we’re about 45 minutes away from Boston, and I dont’ really see myself driving for an hour and a half just to work out, plus trying to find and pay for parking. Oh, whoops, I thought you were closer in to Boston, or possibly worked there. I think the point does hold, though. If you can find a place that offers a reasonable “drop-in” or day fee, you can use it sparingly as an adjunct to home-based exercise. Many yoga places have a per-class fee, or you can buy 5 at a time, to be used over a couple of months. Have you looked into an community-based rec activities? As another poster mentioned, I once took a weight training class that met at the local high school. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256/27 "2011-07-17T18:49:42Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Oh, whoops, I thought you were closer in to Boston, or possibly worked there. 45 minutes from Boston is about 1.5 miles outside of the city limits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-tone-up/589256.md?page=1)