How hard do I need to work out to get a little definition?

[Anonymous]

So I'm kinda thin.
Only 120 ish pounds at 5'7".
And I'm in alright shape. My job is active. I walk around 8 miles a day doing it. And I ride a lot of horses.. So. I'm not in bad form.
But I lost a lot of weight (45 lbs) and I'm trying to tone up.
My upper body is really thin and bony. And then lower belly and down is where I carry fat. Its not a ton. But it jiggles more than I like.
I do usually the elliptical for a mile and half with some resistance. And a little on the treadmill. I do hip adductors and abducters. I do sit-ups and the thing where you hang and bring your legs up (lower ab?). I'll do lunges with 8 lb weights.. And then a little shoulder stuff.
I'm usually at the gym and hour and a half is 2-3 times a week. And I work 30 hours at my job a week.
I'm new at gymming.. So how am I doing?

[xobrowneyedbeauty]

If you want to tone your upper body add some weights. Bicep curls, shoulder press, tricep kickbacks, those are good easy ones to start with. Do some squats to tone your thighs and butt (keep the lunges too). Make sure you do your abs, squats, hip adductor, weights, etc. up to the point where it's very hard to get your muscles to even do one more but you also don't lose your form (you could hurt yourself). Get your heart rate up high when you do your cardio. Assuming you're about 20 years old, shoot for around 140-170 in that range for about 20-30 minutes and that's a good cardio workout. Then do your weights and stuff. You're doing well though those are just some tips to make your workout more effective and efficient :)

[Climber]

Your weigth is perfect for your length, so don't go lower. If you want to get more muscle, you need to use weigths and not light ones. 8lbs for lunges is nothing. That is a supermarket bag. Your legs are much stronger. After warm-up in the gym (very important), look for the weigth you can lift just once for that particular exercice. Then train at 60 to 70 % of that weigth and do 3 to 4 series of some 10 reps. Example: if you can lift 30 lbs once in a biceps curl, train with appr 20 lbs. And eat healthy. You need proteins or protein replacers (if you are veggie) to build muscle

[KäseChäe]

I'd say keep up the good work. Maybe step up the cardio with a mile-long full out sprint on the treadmill or track. As far as upper body, maybe do some decline crunches on a bench.

The best way to tone up is to do chest flies, decline bench (dumbells) and shoulder press. Bring a partner and do two easy sets and three hard sets of each workout, attempting to increase your weight by five or ten pounds each set.

These will add a few extra minutes onto your workout. But don't work them too hard, give yourself a few days to rest, and let yourself heal.

Good luck!

[ThatOneBoy001]

If you have a girl, use her as a partner and go hard.

[Illusive_Man]

You're doing A OK but you should step up the intensity of your exercising.
A GOOD workout lasts around 30-45 minutes , if you can do it for an hour and a half you're not working out hard enough I will say.
PUSH YOURSELF TO THE BREAKING POINT!