I’m going to kick this one off with a bang – there is no such thing as ‘toning’. There are no ‘toning’ exercises, and you can’t ‘tone’ a muscle. I just want to put that out there, because I think that a great number of motivated men and women are wasting a lot of the time that they spend in the gym trying to achieve that ‘toned’ look. They may be throwing everything that they have into their gym sessions, but if they are making fundamental mistakes – as I think many of them are – they will fail to achieve the results that they’re after.
You Can’t Tone a Muscle
It is physically impossible to tone a muscle. A muscle can either grow and get stronger, or shrink and get weaker. To think that there are special exercises that you can do to tone certain problem areas – like your bum, thighs, ‘bingo wings’ and abs – is a mistake. Whenever I see an overweight person trying to crunch out hundreds of sit ups, or going on leg machines that help to ‘tone’ your thighs, my heart sinks, because it isn’t possible! In the same way, there are not certain rep ranges that will define and tone your muscles. So if you have been smashing the weights room up every session, performing 20 or more reps per exercise because you think you’ll get toned, please stop.
Fat Loss and Tonin
When people do achieve that toned and athletic look, they do it through a mixture of fat loss and resistance training. If you spend all of your time in the gym doing sit-ups and crunches, you’ll probably have an awesome 6-pack, but no-one will be able to see it because it’ll be covered by a significant layer of fat. So if you want to achieve that toned look, it is absolutely crucial that you begin by stripping body fat levels through a well thought out training and diet program.
Weight Training
Once you have started to drop some body fat you need to start introducing some weight training into your program. For both women and men, weight training is the only way of achieving that toned look. You can strip all of your fat away, but if there is not a developed muscle underneath then you will look slim rather than toned. As such, make sure that a well-structured weight training program features in your overall exercise plan. And before you say it ladies, no, weight training will not make you bulky! It takes anyone a long time to build muscle and simply put, the majority of women do not have enough testosterone to support serious muscle building. If you’re still in doubt, just look at female athletes like swimmers, gymnasts and heptathletes – all of whom do some form of resistance training – they certainly aren’t bulky, but they are toned!
Conclusion
If you are trying to lose weight and achieved that toned look, stop wasting your time with toning exercises and machines, and get down and dirty with a serious program. Do a mix of cardio and weight training, and if you are eating well, the abs will come through in no time at all!
Filed under: Cardio, weight lifting Tagged: abs, diet, exercise, fitness, healthy, nutrition, weight loss, weightloss, workout Image may be NSFW.
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