Do you tone up by losing weight?

jaymikhail69

I hear you can't gain muscle eating at a deficit, but more working out with cardio and doing some resistance training to keep the muscles good, while burning fat, you look and appear more toned, is this true?

loriq41

What I am presently doing is eating at a deficit (not a huge one) and doing full body weights three times per week and cardio about twice a week. Actually with the weight program I am doing, they are having me do 15 minutes of intervals right after...it was my first time doing it last night and actually..much better and more interesting than straight cardio. I have not lost any more weight (I am like 10 lbs from goal but I am trying to not be so scale reliant) but in the past 8 weeks of lifting (heavy) I feel waaaaay more toned. I suggest upping your protein do avoid losing lean muscle mass, heavy lifting program, and intervals to get the EPOC effect.

LKArgh

Toning is not the same a gaining muscle volume. If you want to get in better shape, of course you can do this while at a deficit. If you want to bulk, this is different.

cwolfman13

I hear you can't gain muscle eating at a deficit, but more working out with cardio and doing some resistance training to keep the muscles good, while burning fat, you look and appear more toned, is this true?

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Yes..."toning" is just the act of preserving lean mass and uncovering that lean mass by reducing BF. In the absence of resistance training you will lose lean mass along with your fat mass...so even when you get to some goal weight, you may not look "toned" because you're burned up muscle mass as well as fat. You have to have muscle to look "toned."

KarenJanine

Strength training while at a deficit will help you keep the muscle you have while you lose fat, so you'll reveal the muscle underneath, which will make them appear bigger.

You may see a small size increase owing to increased glycogen and water storage in the muscles giving a bit of 'pump'.

You can also gain strength at a deficit as you train the muscles to work more efficiently, but this is not the same as increasing the amount of lean muscle tissue, which requires eating at a surplus.

alyhuggan

Toning is essentially the act of making your physique look more aesthetic. This is achieved in many ways, but traditionally bulking and cutting phases are the most effective.

Bulking is eating anywhere between a slight and a large surplus while resistance training. You will be building muscle while gaining fat as a bi-product. Most people try keep the fat gains to a minimum.

Cutting is eating at a caloric deficit, usually by around 250-1000 calories per day and is optimal to do while resistance training. By resistance training, you will be giving your body a reason to keep that muscle and not use it as fuel as it needs to find another source of energy as it isn't getting enough energy from food alone. This means it will mainly use fat as fuel, however, without the use of performance enhances (mainly clenbuterol) you will still lose muscle, although it should be minimal if you stick to a 500-1000 deficit a day.

A common misconception is that you burn fat by doing cardio. A calorie is a unit of energy and you burn more units of energy by doing cardio. This can help you achieve a caloric deficit while eating more calories.

For example, your TDEE is 2800 calories a day. To lose a pound of fat a week you would need to eat at a calorie deficit of 3500 per week, which would usually be done at around a 500 calorie deficit a day. This means each day you should be eating 2300 calories. If you then add in 15 minutes of cardio and burn 200 calories you would then be able to eat 2500 calories.

Charliejl82

I don't get this word 'tone' it really doesn't mean anything?

Unknown

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mxmkenney

The less fat you have, the more your muscles show. Everyone has "abs" but the question is can you see them. Mine are covered with a good layer of fat. So yes, you will look more toned by losing weight, but you will not gain more muscle without exercise.