We all want to achieve long and lean muscles. The best way to achieve this is to pump a bit of iron and use some weight machines at the gym. Though, a lot of us are hesitant to do this due to the fear up bulking up and getting too jacked. However, bulking up from using these machines and weights won’t happen as fast as you think. It takes a lot of targeting exercises to make you bulk up, avoiding using too much of these exercises to prevent getting jacked. Though, it is important for us to build up muscles. It will keep our metabolism fast and help keep the bones strong. Building muscles for women over 40 is incredibly important since this is when our bone becomes weaker and metabolism slow down. We’ve compiled the best muscle leaning and bulk free exercises to help you become stronger and toner without building too much muscle.
Monkey Push Ups
Monkey push-up is a great body weight exercise that can help tone the abdominal, back, shoulder and arm muscles. This type of workout tones the muscles without creating too much resistance to cause bulking. Start this work in the up position of a push up. Make sure that your hands are Below your shoulder. Your head till your heels should be in a straight line. Avoid bending your neck or knees. Keep your core tight and your arms firm. Hop using both legs forward until your feet is aligned with your knees. Breath in and hop back to your original position. Now, bend your elbows to do a push up. This is one rep, do this for 12 repetitions for 2 sets. If this workout is too hard for you. You can move your feet one at a time towards your chest and return them using the same technique. If this workout is too easy, increase the repetition and sets or add light ankle weights.
One Leg Rear Raise
This exercise is great for toning the glutes, hamstring, biceps, shoulder muscles, back muscles, and triceps. You will be needing weights to do this exercise. Pick weights that is not too heavy or too light. A 5 to 8-pounds weight would be enough. Hold one in each hand and face your palm towards your body. Start this exercise by standing shoulder width apart and bending forward as if you are bowing. Let your arms hang towards the ground and lift one leg. Your leg should be in line with your torso. Tighten your core and hold the weight tightly. Flex your shoulders and raise your weight to the side until it is completely parallel to the floor. Lower your arms and count this as one rep. Continue this for 15 reps and switch leg. If this workout is too difficult, you can use a chair to help your balance or raise one arm at a time. You can make this work out more difficult by lowering and raising your leg every time you raise your arms.
Dancing Half Moon Kick
This dance type exercise is great for toning the butt, arm, hips and oblique. Start this exercise by standing shoulder width apart and point your toes to the side. Slightly bend your knees and bend your body to the right side. While bending your upper body, slightly raise your left leg upwards. Keep your leg straight and round your arms above your head as if carrying a huge ball. Keep your arm this way and bend your body straight. Bend your body to the left and raise your right leg. Come back to the first position. This is considered one rep. Do this for 12 repetitions.
Kneeling Glute
This is a great exercise for the hamstrings, inner things, abdominals, outer thighs and glutes. Start this workout in the kneeling position in a chair. Keep your legs hip width apart and hold on to the back of the chair. Slightly lift your left foot and knee. Move your foot back as far as you can and continue this movement for 10 reps and lower the left knee. Repeat this on the other leg for another 10 reps. Do this exercise for 3 sets or 30 reps per leg.
To get lean muscles, we first have to remove unwanted fat. We can easily remove this fat by burning up the excess calories through heart pumping cardio exercises such as running, dancing and cycling. Combining this with a healthy low calorie can help you lose fat a lot faster than just depending on cardio alone. Cardio exercises are not only great for losing fat, but it can also work on toning the muscles without building mass. Exercises that can bulk you up are heavy resistance training. Though, using these types of exercise a few times a month won’t bulk you up. Try out the no bulk exercises above to strengthen and tone your muscles!
