So you want to tone your muscles…

Many women don't want to build up their muscles (what the guys like to call bulking up), they want long, lean muscles, like ballet dancers have.

The thing is, to get those "toned" muscles, you have to do the same strength and resistance training that's required for bulking up. Don't panic, ladies – you don't have enough testosterone to get the "bulk" effect. But you do need to do the same work.

Overall strength and resistance training will increase your basal metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories at rest), thereby reducing your body fat content. And you need to reduce the overall body fat in order to see the muscle you're building with specific exercises for specific muscle groups.

Here's an example – you want toned arms. So you'll do exercises to build and strengthen your biceps and triceps, but you'll also work on reducing your overall body fat percentage with other exercises, so the fat on top of those muscles starts to melt away, showing off the muscles underneath.

Get moving! Now that school is starting, lots of gyms and community ed programs are starting their fall classes.