How to tone arms and legs in 2 weeks

Let's face it: We are all guilty of doing the skinny arm, chicken wing, teapot—a.k.a. the classic hand-on-hip go-to position that makes it look like we have sculpted arms. But what if we told you there was a way for you to love your arms so you could ditch that pose forever? What's more...in just seven short days. Follow this special plan created just for REDBOOK by CosmoBody certified trainer Adam Rosante, and you will be looking svelte in no time.

For the weighted part of this workout...
Grab a pair of dumbbells (we suggest starting with five pounders), and do all of these moves back-to-back for 12 reps with 10-20 seconds of rest in between each move. Start your seven-day schedule with this part of the workout and do it again on days three and five for the absolute best results.

For the cardio portion...
On days two, four, and six, you'll be jumping rope, and alternating between a moderate "jog" pace and a fast "sprint" pace. Set your timer for 10 minutes and start with a jog for three minutes. Pick up the pace to a sprint for 30 seconds. Slow back down to a jog for a minute. Alternate between 30 seconds of sprints and 60 seconds of jogs for the remainder of the 10 minutes.

The seventh day is a rest day—you've earned it. You'll
thank us later.

1. Start with your arms at your shoulders, elbows at a 90-degree angle and a slight bend in your knee.

2. Straighten your knees as you push the dumbbells directly above your head, keeping your elbows close to your ears, and then bring your arms back to the starting position. That's one rep.

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and bend at your hips so that your chest is parallel to the floor, your arms hanging directly below your shoulders.

2. Raise your arms to the sides, squeezing your shoulder blades together, and then slowly lower back down.

1. With your feet in a wide stance, toes pointing to the sides, drop to a squat, with your arms hanging in front of you.

2. Raise out of the squat up onto your toes, and pull your arms up towards your chest into a row so that your elbows raise to your shoulders.

3. Drop back down to your squat and repeat.

1. Starting with your arms at your sides, palms facing in, curl your arms up towards your shoulders, turning your palms to face you.

2. Press upwards overhead, keeping your core tight, and your elbows close to your ears, and turn your palms out to face away from you. Follow through the motion to bring the weights back down by your sides.

1. Your feet should be directly under your hips, with a slight bend in the knee, arms at your sides.

2. Raise your arms directly out to the side, making sure you have a bend in the elbow, creating a small 'C' shape. Slowly lower back to your starting stance.

1. Lay flat on your back with your legs out in front of you.

2. Start with your arms above you, in line with your shoulders, making sure the dumbbells are touching.

3. Slowly lower the weight towards your chest, keeping your elbows in so that they hug your ribcage, and then push straight back up.

1. While laying on your back, raise your arms above you so that the weights are aligned with your face.

2. Drop the weights down so that your elbow comes to a 90-degree angle.

3. As you push up, squeeze your triceps, and repeat.

Toned arms are something many women aspire to have - whether that's for extra strength or just for anyone who just wants svelte enough limbs to rival Jennifer Aniston. But how do you actually tone them?

In your crusade to sculpting your arms, you might be falling foul of some simple mistakes that may end up hindering your progress. Matt Harras, Head of Programming at Virgin Active, talks us through some of the most common arm toning errors he sees:

1. Focussing too much on bicep curls

"No tickets to the gun show needed here. Unless you’re a body builder and are looking to enhance the definition and size of the arms, there is no real reason to pump out the curls," says Matt, in news that may well surprise you.

"Muscles in the arms are fairly small in comparison to the major muscles in the back and chest. When you break down the movement, for the bicep you're closing at the elbow joint, and for the triceps you're opening the elbow joint. These movements are replicated in all push and pull exercises, which are much more beneficial," he continues.

Some of the push exercises Matt would recommend includes shoulder presses, chest presses and push ups, while his suggested pull exercises include rowing, upright pulls and seated rows.

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2. Cheating by swinging

"Arm exercises are easy enough to build into a novice workout using free weights, but they're just as easy to cheat a full rep," warns Matt. "As you fatigue, you may find you begin to lose some momentum from the shoulder, meaning you swing the final few reps on the curls to complete your set."

If you're guilty of this, Matt has a solution: "If you’re struggling to complete a full set with the correct form - drop the weight, otherwise you're only cheating yourself. Another option is to use a bench or machine to hold the arm in place, forcing correct form," the expert suggests. "By keeping your form strict, you'll isolate the muscle and overload the desired area, resulting in quicker and more efficient toning or muscle increase over time."

Free weights to tone arms

Tone your arms with: PROIRON Neoprene Dumbbell 12kg Set with Stand

Tone your arms with: 8kg Kettle Bell

Tone your arms with: Bala Resistance Bands, Set of 5

john johnlewis.com

£21.95

Tone your arms with: Anchor's Adjustable 20kg Dumbbells Weights set

Anchor's amazon.co.uk

3. Speeding your reps

Sure, workouts can be painful, so it makes sense that you'd want them to be over as quickly as possible. But as Matt points out: "Completing quick reps isn’t going to give you the strength gains you desire.

"You should be aiming for a 1-2 second contraction and eccentric phase," he advises. "If you are going any quicker than this, you won’t be applying enough resistance on the muscle. Slow it down and drop the weight if needed."

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4. Trying to target a specific area for fat loss

Perhaps the most common insecurity women have about their arms is the back - often delightfully referred to as the 'bingo wing'. But with a desire to reduce 'bingo wings' can often come the mistaken assumption that arm workouts are going to help strip any fat build up in this area.

"Fat loss targeting is virtually impossible," says Matt. "Body fat is effectively your body's fuel reserves, and is distributed throughout the body, which means the most effective way to target fat loss is through a calorie deficit diet and a balanced workout of cardio and weights," he adds, pointing out that larger muscles = a higher calorie expenditure.

"Arm exercises will strengthen the muscles, but will have little-to-no effect on the fat stores in the arms," says the expert.

5. Focussing on just one muscle

⚠️ Science lesson klaxon ⚠️ "The arm is made up of two muscles (biceps) and three muscles (triceps), but a common mistake when training arms is to focus on the same exercises which challenge only one of them, resulting in an imbalance over time," says Matt. Note to self: don't forget there's more than one muscle in the arm.

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6. Only sticking to one type of cardio machine

Cardio machine? You might think. What's that got to do with arms? May we refer you back to point number 4 about the futility of trying to target fat loss.

"Your arms aren't quite built for the same level of endurance as your legs," says Matt, "but if you’re looking to build some upper body work into your cardio routine, switch the bike for the assault bike or the treadmill for the rower.

"By incorporating both upper and lower muscle groups, you’ll increase you calorie burn during workout. If combined with a balanced diet, this can aid with fat loss as long as there is a calorie deficit over the day."

7. Training arms too frequently

"The muscles in the arms are much smaller than the rest of the body, so you need to ensure you have enough rest between workouts to continue progressing with your training," advises Matt. "If you overload the arm too often in a week, not only will you negatively impact your strength gains because your muscles don't have time to recover, but you'll also impact upper body workouts more generally, meaning you'll struggle with chest, back and shoulder workouts if the arms are feeling tired.

"Aim to train the arms a maximum of 2 days a week, and schedule your workouts so a lower body session follows are a tough upper body day," suggests the expert. "This will help the upper body recover whilst still remaining active," he says.

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8. Failing to rest your entire body

And... rest. "Rest days are some of your most important days, because without adequate rest you will quickly enter an overtraining phase and you’ll begin to see your fitness gains reduce," says Matt.

"The key is to listen to your body. If you begin to feel a little lethargic and under the weather, rest up or switch to a restorative yoga class, take a walk, or generally chill out and take it easy."

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Catriona Harvey-Jenner Features Editor Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs.

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