No matter what form of resistance training you use, the principles of toning up are the same.
Why is this?
Because the factors responsible for “toning” a muscle apply across the board, and what you are looking for is a myth.
Let me explain.
Toning is a weird word. It’s very subjective. Usually, when people ask how to tone up using bodyweight exercises, what they really mean is how to make it so that area of the body doesn’t look fat. However, sometimes people use the word “tone” intending to express muscle growth.
Regardless of how you use the word, there are only certain things you can do to a muscle with bodyweight training or any training, for that matter. If you want to lose fat off a muscle, you are looking for a workout that will burn as many calories as possible while stimulating the muscles enough to maintain their size and strength.
I say this because no magic number of sets and reps will specifically cause a single muscle to lose fat and tone up. Toning up, when used to get leaner, results from your body burning calories and losing fat all over the body. This, then, results in all your muscles looking leaner.
Toning up to make a muscle leaner results from expending more calories than you consume daily until you have used enough of your fat for fuel that you have the leanness you desire.
Now if by toning up you mean building muscle with bodyweight exercises, then I can help you with more specifics in regard to the number of sets and repetitions.
Building muscle mass with any method, including bodyweight exercises, results from putting a load on that muscle it is unaccustomed to.
Generally speaking, going as heavy as you can for five sets of five, four sets of six to eight, or even 3 sets of 12-15 will increase muscle size. This is, of course, providing that you are eating and resting correctly.
One of the best ways to tone up your legs is by using the bodyweight one-leg squat, sometimes called the pistol squat.
Check out my free course here on how to go from Zero To Pistol Squat Hero