TONING EXERCISES

Eventhough you are slim, you have to tone up your muscles. Apart from storing excess fluid, the main reason slim women develop cellulite is that they have poor muscle tone. The less you have in your hips and thighs, the more the septa pull down against the skin and the more lumps are revealed. In addition to hiding the cellulite, muscle burns calories even while you are sitting still, so by toning up you will increase your metabolic rate and boost your weight-loss efforts as well as creating tighter, tauter skin.

WARM-UP
Spend 10 minutes walking, jogging, skipping,dancing or bouncing on a mini trampoline to warm up your body. You do not need to do this if you have completed your stretches work-out.

SQUATS & LUNGES

SQUATS

• Stand up straight with feet hip-width apart. With arms straight, hold a 4-7 kg (9-15 lb) dumb-bell down between your legs.
• Keeping your arms as they are (they move with you), squat down as if you were going to sit in a chair. Make sure that you do this with your bottom muscles, not by widening your legs; your knees must not go further forwards than your ankles.
• Now, use your thigh and buttock muscles to push yourself back up to a standing position. When you reach the top, clench your bottom and hold for one second; repeat 12 times. Then repeat the whole sequence four times.

WIDE SQUATS

• Stand in the same position as before.
• This time, take your legs wider apart and turn your feet out at 45 degrees. Perform exactly the same movement as before, watching your knees again.
• Again, do four sets of 12 repetitions.
  

• Hold a dunb-bell in each hand, resting your arms by your sides.
• Now take a step forwards with your left leg and dip down, so your right knee bends towards the floor and your body goes with it. Make sure your knee does not go further forwards than your ankle and that your feet do not turn.
• Push up from your right foot (you should feel it in your bottom and inner thigh) and come back to a standing postion. Do 12 movements, t hen repeat on the other leg.
• Now, repeat the whole thing four times.

• Stand up straight with your feet flat on the floor, but turned in so your toes are pointing slightly towards each other.
• Raise up on to your toes, tensing your calf muscle. Slowly lower back down. Repeat four sets of 12 repetitions.

• Lie on your side with hips straight, legs one on top of the other.
• Slowly raise the top leg up and, when you reach as far as you can go, slowly pulse the muscle 30 times by pushing out that little bit further.
• Relax. Switch legs and repeat. Work both legs three times each.
  

• Lie on your side with hips straight and legs outstretched. Bend the knee of the top leg and place your foot in front of the lower leg, so your foot is at 90 degrees to your lower leg.
• Now slowly lift the lower leg 5-5.7 cm (2-3 inches) off the floor. Repeat three sets of 20 repetitions.

• Sitting on a sturdy chair, place your hands either side of your hips and grasp the edges of it. Keeping your body straight, lower yourself off the chair. Use your arms to raise and lower your body up and down by about 15cm (6 inches), keeping your hips close to the chair.
• Work up to four sets of 12 repetitions.
  

• Stand up straight with a 2-5kg (41/2-11lb) dumb-bell in each hand.
• Raise your arms up to shoulder height, then bend at the elbows so your palms are in the air. Raising from the shoulders, straighten your arms to just before your elbows lock and bring the dumb-bells together.
• You should feel this across your back and shoulders. Repeat four sets of 12 repetitions.

• Stand up straight, arms by your sides, elbows bent and holding a dumb-bell in each hand. Lifting from your shoulders, raise your arms so your upper arms are parallel with your shoulders.
• Slowly lower and repeat four sets of 12 repetitions.

• Carry out the stretch routine which was mentioned in the last posting.