“I just want to, like, lose some fat and be toned.”
**Cue the eye rolls from trainers all over the world.**
To all my lovely ladies out there who have said this to a personal trainer before, know that we probably have vented about you. Sorry, not sorry (but also actually kind of sorry).
This goal, or reason for working out, has been described to me in a variety of ways by 95% of my clients... with the majority of that percentage being women. I used to be the trainer that hit them with an eye roll (in my head of course). But I don’t have that reaction anymore and I don’t vent or complain about it to other trainers because, to be honest, I get it.
Number one, I know what you actually mean by this and I know how to get you there. And number two, I personally want to, “lose some fat and be toned,” too! But, the thing is, you aren’t going to get there if you listen to mainstream advice about toning up. Why?
Keep reading.
The Secret:
Here’s the deal. Physiologically speaking, muscle tone (residual muscle tension) is defined as “the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles, or the muscle's resistance to passive stretch during resting state.” Meaning, when we are awake and conscious, we are ALL toned, literally speaking. Muscle tone is what helps us maintain our posture and the only time it really declines or calms down is during REM sleep.
The secret lies in understanding that “toned” as we all know it is an adjective, not a verb. Toned is used as a descriptive word that typically defines a person that has visible muscle definition and a lower body fat percentage. You can look toned, but unfortunately you can’t do an exercise to tone a muscle... which, I know, is contrary to what many magazines and other fitness marketing states.
The Problem:
All of the problems with the word tone lie deep in advertising and the marketing of fitness to women. Toning is a term that popped up in fitness culture a few decades back as a way to sell strength training to women. Back then, most of the people that were lifting weights were men and/or the bodybuilder-type. Not many women want to "get big" and look like a bodybuilder. Many believed (and still believe) that if they lift heavy weights they will look like the Hulk. Newsflash... you won't. I pinky promise. We don't have the same hormones or body structure to allow this to easily happen. However, because of this concern, somewhere along the way, lifting light weights for a million reps to "tone your muscles" became the way that women strength trained. "Toned” and "toning" became synonymous with “lean.” But to be lean or look toned, you need muscle, which brings us to my next point.
The Solution:
So then, how do you tone up your body? Well, you lift. You lift heavy… in a properly prescribed hypertrophy (muscle building) program. The ONLY way to appear toned is to have muscle. To gain muscle, you need to be stressing your muscles enough to cause them to change. So you need to ease up on the light weights and the pulsing and dive in to lifting some heavier weight. Ideally you should be lifting weights that challenge you for about 6-10 reps. Once you have a solid foundation and have increased your muscle mass - nutrition becomes key. To get lean, you need to be in a safe and sustainable calorie deficit… in other words you need to pay attention to what you are putting into your body and make sure you are burning more than you are consuming.
With all of that, I'm going to leave you with two final thoughts:
1. I am not saying lifting light weight and doing high reps is bad or shouldn't be done. Training with higher reps helps to build muscle endurance, and can still contribute to muscle growth. But it shouldn't be the only way you strength train.
2. This process isn't quick and it's not easy. It takes months, sometimes 6+ months, to build muscle and then lean out. It requires a ton of patience and dedication to your program to see results. So just trust the process!
If you are interested in building your strength, gaining muscle, or losing fat but aren’t sure where to start... send me a message and ask about online personal training and accountability training with me!
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