Measurements

If I'm going to work on my toning, I suppose I should know where I'm starting from... So here are my current measurements. *gulp*

Waist (measured at the smallest part) - 26.5
Waist (measured at my belly button) - 29.5
Hips (measured at the biggest part) - 35
Neck - 11.5
Arm (measured around the bicep, not flexed) - 11
Thigh (measured at the biggest part) - 20

Yes, I am a pear shape. My natural waist is much higher than my belly button, so I'm not sure which I'm supposed to measure. So I measure both. Now, we'll see how these numbers change once I start doing the toning exercises. Here goes nothing! This is about as transparent as I get. As I said before, *gulp*

The Bikini Workout

Having a baby killed any chances I ever had of wearing a bikini, but it is time for a change up in my strength training regimen, so this looks like a good overall workout to get me back in the groove, and hopefully looking GREAT by the end of summer. I need to tone a LOT, and I plan on wearing sleeveless and halter tops this summer, so I should do something! Plus, it's about time to start changing things up anyway to avoid plateauing given that it's been about 6 weeks on the program I'm currently using (even if I haven't been terribly consistent on the exercise).

The chart, like most of the resources I use, comes from SparkPeople. For the rest of the article, click here.

Muscle Group	Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
Abs	Crunches	Straight Leg Raises	Kneeling Roll Out
Obliques	Crunches with Twist	Bicycle Crunches	V-Sit & Twist
Lower Back	Back Extension	Swimming	Back Extensions with Swiss Ball
Biceps	Concentration Curls	Alternating Biceps Curls	One-Arm Side Push Up
Triceps	Seated Tricep Extension	Skull Crushers	Dips
Shoulders	Upright Rows	Shoulder Press on Ball	Lateral Raises
Back	Boxer	Seated Rows	Reverse Flys on Ball
Chest	Chest Press	Push Ups	Chest Flys on Ball
Thighs	Forward Lunge	Wall Squat with Ball	Single Leg Squat
Hips	Bridge Ups	Skater Squat	Genie Sit