After you’ve reached your goal weight, you still may not feel ready to don a bikini and hit the beach once summer arrives. A lack of muscle tone in your stomach, thighs and upper arm areas can make you feel less fit than you really are. Although heavy lifting is the best course of action for developing muscle tone, you may not be ready for that type of routine. Thankfully, you can embrace a toning routine that does not use much more than your body weight to build muscle.

Trampoline Jumps

Short controlled, repetitive movements help build up the muscle fibers in stubborn areas throughout your body. A mini trampoline gives you the ability to work on muscle tone while driving up your heart rate into the ideal cardio range. While using your trampoline, keep your feet spaced six inches apart at all times to maintain balance. Start with the basic bounce before moving onto running in place and squat thrusts. Repeat each movement 25 times and repeat the session two to three times a week.

Goblet Squats

Goblet squats use a small dumbbell weight of your choosing to ramp up the difficulty of a normal squat. In reality, most of the muscle building develops due to repeated movement of your own body weight. You will want to keep your feet, including heels, flat on the floor with each squat. If you cannot keep a flat foot, start with normal squats until you can. Hold a single dumbbell vertically out in front of you with both hands. Squat down and return to the starting position at least 10 times, three days a week.

Running Planks

The crossover running plank is a variation on a toning exercise that tightens up your core muscles. By adding the running element to this exercise, you boost the effort in your arms and legs as well. To perform this move, get into the upright plank position with your arms straight, not bent. Alternating legs, bring one knee forward and across your body until it’s directly behind your opposite elbow. Repeat 10 to 15 times a session.

Lunge Pulses

The alternating lunge definitely targets all of the muscles in your body, but the gains can decrease considerably as you repeat the movement each session. To up the ante, complete lunge pulses instead, which tire your muscles to exertion. To complete the pulse, repeat the lunge movement with each leg 10 times in a row before switching.

Working Toward Results

At first, you may not notice any difference in your shape after completing this routine. Stick with it! It can take weeks to notice your muscles taking shape under even the smallest layer of fat on your torso. Even if results are slow, continue to focus on muscle building to develop the body shape you’ve always wanted. Even better, you will develop an immense amount of inner and outer strength to go with your new look.