How To Sculpt Your Body in 4 Easy Moves

Whether beginning your journey towards your best summer figure or shedding some holiday weight, it's natural to seek simpler paths to sculpting your ideal figure. The good news is, with a strategic gym routine, you can significantly enhance your fitness journey to bring you closer to your goals.

Read on to learn more about how to sculpt your body with exercise. Plus, you’ll get tips on diet, stress management, and skincare technology to enhance your results.

Which Workout Moves Can Help Sculpt the Body?

When you’re looking to define your silhouette, the first place to start is typically the gym. However, many bodyweight exercises can also be done outside the gym — you can even do them from your home. 

This can help make exercise more accessible and convenient. In other words, if you have a busy schedule, you can build a workout that you can do from anywhere. This way, you can ensure you get your gym time in no matter where you are. 

Before starting a workout program, it’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor, who can affirm you're ready for challenging exercises. You can also work with a personal trainer to correct your form and maintain your safety. Poor form can make your workout less effective and even cause severe damage in the long run.

Once you’re cleared to exercise, you may want to start sculpting your body with the following moves:

1. Squats

Squats are popular because they focus on the lower body — specifically, the glutes and quadriceps. However, they’re an excellent exercise for body sculpting because they activate many muscle groups. When you practice squats, keep your core engaged to experience the full-body benefits.

Many people perform squats as simple bodyweight exercises. However, if you’re looking for more of a challenge, you can use dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands to add resistance to the movement.

Here’s how to do a squat:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out.
2. Keep your chest up and your shoulders back, and maintain a neutral spine.
3. Hinge at the hips, pushing them back as you bend your knees.
4. Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the ground or as low as possible if you can’t go that far.
5. Push through your heels to raise back up. Make sure you squeeze your muscles tightly at the top of the movement.

2. Push-Ups

Push-ups are excellent exercises for sculpting your biceps and triceps. If you do them correctly, they can also activate and build your core, upper and lower back, and buttock muscles.

One of the best things about push-ups is you can do them anywhere. If you’re just starting, you can start by balancing on your knees instead of your toes or doing push-ups on the wall. After some time, you should be able to transition to traditional push-ups. You can also try moving your hands close together if you need more of a challenge.

Here’s how to do a push-up:

1. Start in a plank with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
2. Maintain a straight line from your head to your heels and engage your core.
3. Bend your elbows, lowering your chest toward the ground.
4. Push through your palms to return to your starting position.

3. Lateral Dumbbell Raises

Lateral dumbbell raises are great weight training exercises for anyone looking to define their arm muscles and build functional strength. These exercises focus mainly on the lateral deltoid muscles, which include the triceps, shoulders, and upper back muscles.

You can do these without dumbbells by activating the muscles if you're just starting. You can switch to heavier dumbbells to increase resistance and build muscle as you progress.

Here’s how to do a lateral dumbbell raise:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells in each hand.
2. Palms facing your body, maintain a slight bend in your elbows.
3. Raise both arms to the sides, keeping that slight bend in your elbows.
4. Lift until your arms are parallel to the ground, making sure to relax your neck.
5. Avoid swinging your arms quickly — slow, controlled movements provide the best results.
6. Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

4. Side Plank Dips

Side planks are great exercises for full-body sculpting because they engage almost every muscle group. However, one way to add an extra layer of sculpting is to throw in some dips.

The key to performing a successful plank is form. It can be easy to compromise your form as your muscles tire, so ensure you’re only sustaining your plank for as long as you can properly hold the form.

Here’s how to do side plank dips: 

1. Begin in a side plank position. You can balance on your knees or feet, depending on how much of a challenge you want.
2. Make sure your supporting arm is directly beneath your shoulder.
3. Lower your hip toward the ground, keeping your core engaged.
4. Make sure to keep your body fully still, aside from the dip.
5. Lift your hip back up to the starting side plank position.

What Are Other Ways To Sculpt Your Body?

As we hinted earlier, body sculpting might start in the gym but can also extend into other areas of life. Here are a few tips to enhance your results outside the gym:

Eat a Healthy Diet

Exercise and diet almost always go hand in hand. To have the energy to work out, you’ll want to make sure you’re eating enough calories. However, to lose weight, you’ll also want to be careful to burn more calories than you consume.

As you sculpt your muscles, you should also prioritize protein. Since protein is what muscles are made of, your body will use it to build muscle in response to your workouts.

In general, it’s a good idea to include lots of whole foods like fruits and veggies and lean meats like chicken and fish. If you’re struggling to hit your daily protein goals, you can also mix up a protein shake to help you hit your macros.

Manage Stress

Even if you do everything right regarding exercise and diet, you can easily hinder your success if you’re too stressed out. Stress releases cortisol and adrenaline in the body, which can affect your metabolism. 

While short-term stress (like a big presentation at work) might cause you to lose weight, chronic stress can ultimately cause you to gain weight. If you want a well-rounded approach to body sculpting, it’s important to incorporate stress management practices like yoga and meditation into your day.

Incorporate Skincare Technology

Finally, you can add a microcurrent treatment to your skincare routine. Microcurrent technology can work on both face and body skin to sculpt the appearance of your features and tighten skin for a more toned appearance.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Prep the skin: Cleanse the area with an oil-free cleanser or NuFACE Prep-N-Glow® Towelettes, which cleanse and exfoliate the skin. 
2. Activate your skin: Brush a layer of your favorite NuFACE® Microcurrent Activator over the area you’d like to lift. Use the NuFACE NuBODY® Device to perform glides and holds. Repeat for five minutes until the device automatically powers off. 
3. Finish up: Repeat on each area of skin you’d like to sculpt. Smooth any remaining Activator into your skin and finish your body care routine. 

The NuBODY® Toning Device can help to tighten and tone skin on the arms, abs, bum, and thighs for a more toned, taut look.

The Bottom Line

Sculpting your body isn’t always easy, but it can be attainable when you focus on exercising, eating a healthy diet, and managing stress. With the help of skincare technology, you can develop a holistic approach that can help sculpt the body in just minutes a day.

Sources:

The Importance of Proper Technique and Form to Your Workout | A Healthier Michigan

Weight training: Do's and don'ts of proper technique | Mayo Clinic

Counting calories: Get back to weight-loss basics | Mayo Clinic

Stress, cortisol, and obesity: a role for cortisol responsiveness in identifying individuals prone to obesity | PMC