Shifting your body composition is key.
If you ever thought you needed to do hours of cardio to improve your body composition, think again. Strength training alone can actually reduce body fat percentage, body fat mass, and visceral fat in healthy adults, according to a review of research published in Sports Medicine.
Plus, another study looking at the impact of strength training and cardio on body composition found that participants who only performed resistance training had a nearly 30-percent reduced risk of obesity and tended to have an edge when it came to maintaining body fat percentage over the years.
Shifting your overall body composition by increasing muscle while decreasing fat “can’t happen without muscular tension,” says Nicolette Amarillas, a certified strength and conditioning coach at Tonal. She says that body conditioning or training under load is one of the best ways to improve your body composition. The following Tonal programs are designed to help you get lean and geared toward muscular tension that burns fat and fatigues your muscles to create the change you crave.
Beginner 90-Day Plan
If you’re completely new to exercise and strength training, this track is the perfect place for you to start your journey.
Month One
- Program 1: Beginner Heat
- Duration of program: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 25 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Kick it off with a two-week program that introduces you to healthy movement and helps you lock in a habit. Each workout brings the heat by pumping up the heart rate and targets the entire body to help you build strength while breaking a sweat.
- Program 2: Beginner Breakthrough
- Duration of program: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: After spending two weeks getting comfortable with movement on Tonal, it’s time to tackle the next level of your strength training. This program is accessible but a little more challenging and designed to help improve form and learn breathing techniques to get stronger.
Month Two
- Program: Fit for Summer
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-35 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Now that you’ve locked in the workout habit, this approachable program increases the number of reps and sets so it’s an ideal way for new lifters to keep progressing. You’ll utilize compound movements and full-body work to keep pushing the needle toward your goal. The second half of this program also incorporates Tonal’s dynamic weight modes to help you build up the intensity of your workouts.
Month Three
- Program: Lean Muscle Mastery
- Duration: 35 Minutes
- Average time of workout: 35 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Each full-body workout in this program helps you boost metabolism and build strength as you shred with movement variations, plyometrics, and core stability. The increase in exercises and sets will add more volume and intensity for the home stretch of your 90-day plan.
Intermediate 90-Day Plan
If you have experience strength training consistently and feel comfortable with movement, follow this track.
Month One
- Program: Everyday Fit
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 45-50 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: Build strength for everyday tasks like picking up a suitcase or moving a car seat as you get lean. This intermediate program is broken up into lower-body and upper-body workouts, and will leave you feeling strong, athletic, and powerful.
Month Two
- Program: Advanced 5×5
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 55 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Challenge yourself with longer sweat sessions. Throughout the week, you’ll do an upper-body workout, a lower-body workout, and a full-body workout. Each workout begins with five reps and five sets of a heavy lift, followed by exercises to help you build functional strength. The focus on getting stronger in this program is an essential building block for the rest of your journey.
Month Three
- Program 1: HIIT the Beach
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-35 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Build on progress with two weeks of HIIT-based, full-body strength workouts that will sculpt you as you sweat.
- Program 2: Unstoppable Strength and Sweat
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-45 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: This program alternates between strength-based workouts and more endurance-focused workouts, so you’ll do two of each every week. This combination will turbo-charge your training routine as you cross the finish line of your 90-day plan.
Advanced 90-Day Plan
If you have a lot of experience with strength training, and you’re looking to challenge yourself during your first 90 days on Tonal, follow this track.
Month One
- Program 1: HIIT the Beach
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-35 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Kick off your 90-day plan with two weeks of HIIT-based, full-body strength workouts that will jumpstart your progress.
- Program 2: Sweaty and Lean
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-35 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: This program increases in reps for more volume and adds an extra challenge to the second half of the month. Work your major muscle groups in a variety of ways to burn fat and build lean muscle.
Month Two
- Program: Raising the Barbell 2
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 60 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: Building off the fast pace and volume of the previous month, this program will challenge you in a new way. Work on functional hypertrophy—a mix of strength and muscle growth—as you master the barbell.
Month Three
- Program: Four Weeks to Fat Loss 2
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 60-70 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: This program utilizes metabolic resistance training to improve body composition by burning fat and building lean muscle. The high reps in this program’s full-body workouts will push you to use the strength you created in the first two months—it’s the perfect way to complete this phase of your journey.
