Toning Time!

amyB27

I'm sure there are groups/challenges for toning on here, but I wanted to make one more for beginners & more targeted. I'd like to start tomorrow with this challenge. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and the following Monday we will do strength/toning that targets a specific body part. For 3 weeks I want to focus on this body part but a different muscle encounterd each week.

For example we will start tomorrow and this 3 week session will focus on arms. The first week I want to focus on triceps.

Here is the link to the group if you'd like to join

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/413531-saying-hello-to-tone-up-1

UponThisRock

1. There's no such thing as toning

2. Focusing on one body part per week is about the silliest way you could approach resistance training.

erickirb

1. There's no such thing as toning

2. Focusing on one body part per week is about the silliest way you could approach resistance training.

^^ This

I would suggest you work your whole body and hit each muscle group (either through isolation or compound lifts) 1 to 3 times per week.

questionablemethods

2. Focusing on one body part per week is about the silliest way you could approach resistance training.

I've never seen a program that trains only one body part per week and I imagine there is a good reason for this. But instead of just saying it is "silly" how about helping us all out with a bit of education as to why that might be and what a more effective program structure might be?

I love seeing women get interested in strength training but I know that the fear of looking "silly" is a big hurdle for a lot of women when they initially start a program. I would hate for the OP to get discouraged when a few adjustments might make for a perfectly effective program.

Sidesteal

2. Focusing on one body part per week is about the silliest way you could approach resistance training.

Just to elaborate:

If you're training with sufficient intensity, you should rest each muscle for 48-72 hours before trying to work it again.

Additionally, from an efficiency standpoint, if you're going to spend, say 45 minutes to an hour lifting, you should use compound lifts (these are lifts that use several muscles to complete). Most (ALL?) good training programs will be centered around compound lifts.

The other issue with training 1 bodypart per week is that in addition to not getting adequate rest, you're then not training other bodyparts for the entire week.

The beginning trainee will have great results by doing either full body training 3xweek (a lifting program that trains your whole body) or an upper-lower split done 4/week. At a glance, this method will train all your muscles 2 to 3 times per week rather than 1 muscle for the whole week.

neanderthin

Basically toning in this context is exposing more muscle going forward. To do this you need to lower your body fat which has everything to do with diet. You need a deficit.

As far as the type of exercise, I agree with others in that doing 1 body part a week is pretty useless. Just do full body compound lifts like squats, bench press, military press, chin and pull ups, assisted if necessary. The weight is up to you, but the more weight the better. quick answer.

LaSutopia

ok all of yall are just rude! Except maybe Kaitlinj... and the 2 guys before me....thank you for the HELPFUL INFO...You wanna make points, here are a few.

1- I happen to have gotten to know this lady very well over the past 7 weeks since she has been participating in my challenges since then and you have not! She is very motivated and committed to losing weight and being healthier in general.

2-She does a lot of other cardio work outs and "strength training", usually daily, the same as me and a lot of other people we have challenges with. But we are not perfect and we some of us are new to this and don't know a lot, but we are here and we want to learn. That is what we were hoping to get from this site and the people here....not verbal attacks.

3-A lot of us have problem areas that are weaker or whatnot that we would like to work out/strengthen MORE, on TOP of the other stuff we are also doing. I was just thinking last night, Amy, that I wanted to start something to target my upper body strength in addition to the other stuff i am doing and work extra on it cause it is a lot weaker than the rest of me....

4- and to the person that said there is no such thing as toning...http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/toning.htm...there. This person is correct but instead of arguing semantics maybe you could figure out what she actually wants to achieve and suggest helpful information (like the link I posted) to help her reach her goal instead of attacking her....but you would actually have to CARE about her reaching her goals to do that. I am not going to speak for her but she may have just been referring to strength training in general and just needs some advice on how to do it. I would like to know some good ways to better my upper body...like I said it is weak...and I mean be specific for all you thick headed people...I know it takes work and exercise and all that...but give me the specific exercises that worked for you....What are you here for if not to HELP and MOTIVATE other people? These comments were none of that. Would you like someone to tell you that you are ignorant, or would you want them to reach out to you and give you helpful information that they already have to increase your knowledge? Cause I can call you ignorant and rude and tell you that you need to take a hike that no one wants to hear what you have to say if that is what you like....what helps you....but so far I have not found anyone here that likes that or that is helped by that.....

Sorry for ranting on your post Amy, but you have helped me a lot to stay motivated and you have a kind heart. I believe you are really trying to get where you need to be and it really peeves me off to hear someone being so rude to one of my peeps! You are doing great and if you want I will do my best to gather some more info as to what you wanna achieve and try to help you get there.

UponThisRock

I've never seen a program that trains only one body part per week and I imagine there is a good reason for this. But instead of just saying it is "silly" how about helping us all out with a bit of education as to why that might be and what a more effective program structure might be?

I love seeing women get interested in strength training but I know that the fear of looking "silly" is a big hurdle for a lot of women when they initially start a program. I would hate for the OP to get discouraged when a few adjustments might make for a perfectly effective program.

Other than echoing what Sidesteal said, focusing on one bodypart and moving on to something else will not allow your body to maintain the (little) adaptations you achieved in that muscle group.

ShapeUpSidney

I'll comment on this thread when I get back from my "toning" workout

UponThisRock

4- and to the person that said there is no such thing as toning...http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/toning.htm...there. This person is correct but instead of arguing semantics maybe you could figure out what she actually wants to achieve and suggest helpful information (like the link I posted) to help her reach her goal instead of attacking her....but you would actually have to CARE about her reaching her goals to do that. I am not going to speak for her but she may have just been referring to strength training in general and just needs some advice on how to do it. I would like to know some good ways to better my upper body...like I said it is weak...and I mean be specific for all you thick headed people...I know it takes work and exercise and all that...but give me the specific exercises that worked for you....What are you here for if not to HELP and MOTIVATE other people? These comments were none of that. Would you like someone to tell you that you are ignorant, or would you want them to reach out to you and give you helpful information that they already have to increase your knowledge? Cause I can call you ignorant and rude and tell you that you need to take a hike that no one wants to hear what you have to say if that is what you like....what helps you....but so far I have not found anyone here that likes that or that is helped by that.....

-I never attacked her, I simply stated my opinion.

-I am also here to help, I've taken time and given expansive, detailed diet and training advice to several people. A message board is not really the best medium to be detailed (I've helped many through inbox communications). Message boards lend themselves to short, direct responses. I tailor my message board responses as such, and I also often try to make them "provocative" as to draw attention to them. My hope is that what I post will spark a larger discussion, either in the thread or through private communication, and that in the end someone can learn something. Some of my posts have sparked such discussions, and as I mentioned, have helped people.

-If my posts offend you, I suggest you get a thicker skin and a working mouse.

LaSutopia

4- and to the person that said there is no such thing as toning...http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/toning.htm...there. This person is correct but instead of arguing semantics maybe you could figure out what she actually wants to achieve and suggest helpful information (like the link I posted) to help her reach her goal instead of attacking her....but you would actually have to CARE about her reaching her goals to do that. I am not going to speak for her but she may have just been referring to strength training in general and just needs some advice on how to do it. I would like to know some good ways to better my upper body...like I said it is weak...and I mean be specific for all you thick headed people...I know it takes work and exercise and all that...but give me the specific exercises that worked for you....What are you here for if not to HELP and MOTIVATE other people? These comments were none of that. Would you like someone to tell you that you are ignorant, or would you want them to reach out to you and give you helpful information that they already have to increase your knowledge? Cause I can call you ignorant and rude and tell you that you need to take a hike that no one wants to hear what you have to say if that is what you like....what helps you....but so far I have not found anyone here that likes that or that is helped by that.....

-I never attacked her, I simply stated my opinion.

-I am also here to help, I've taken time and given expansive, detailed diet and training advice to several people. A message board is not really the best medium to be detailed (I've helped many through inbox communications). Message boards lend themselves to short, direct responses. I tailor my message board responses as such, and I also often try to make them "provocative" as to draw attention to them. My hope is that what I post will spark a larger discussion, either in the thread or through private communication, and that in the end someone can learn something. Some of my posts have sparked such discussions, and as I mentioned, have helped people.

-If my posts offend you, I suggest you get a thicker skin and a working mouse.

or you could just be helpful. If you wanted to be helpful and really believe that this is not the place, then don't comment here at all and directly message her with all your helpful information.

SergeantSunshine_reused

I agree nothing wrong with what UpoThisRock said. Truth hurts? Suck it up :P

writtenINthestars

ok all of yall are just rude! Except maybe Kaitlinj... and the 2 guys before me....thank you for the HELPFUL INFO...You wanna make points, here are a few.

1- I happen to have gotten to know this lady very well over the past 7 weeks since she has been participating in my challenges since then and you have not! She is very motivated and committed to losing weight and being healthier in general.

2-She does a lot of other cardio work outs and "strength training", usually daily, the same as me and a lot of other people we have challenges with. But we are not perfect and we some of us are new to this and don't know a lot, but we are here and we want to learn. That is what we were hoping to get from this site and the people here....not verbal attacks.

3-A lot of us have problem areas that are weaker or whatnot that we would like to work out/strengthen MORE, on TOP of the other stuff we are also doing. I was just thinking last night, Amy, that I wanted to start something to target my upper body strength in addition to the other stuff i am doing and work extra on it cause it is a lot weaker than the rest of me....

4- and to the person that said there is no such thing as toning...http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/toning.htm...there. This person is correct but instead of arguing semantics maybe you could figure out what she actually wants to achieve and suggest helpful information (like the link I posted) to help her reach her goal instead of attacking her....but you would actually have to CARE about her reaching her goals to do that. I am not going to speak for her but she may have just been referring to strength training in general and just needs some advice on how to do it. I would like to know some good ways to better my upper body...like I said it is weak...and I mean be specific for all you thick headed people...I know it takes work and exercise and all that...but give me the specific exercises that worked for you....What are you here for if not to HELP and MOTIVATE other people? These comments were none of that. Would you like someone to tell you that you are ignorant, or would you want them to reach out to you and give you helpful information that they already have to increase your knowledge? Cause I can call you ignorant and rude and tell you that you need to take a hike that no one wants to hear what you have to say if that is what you like....what helps you....but so far I have not found anyone here that likes that or that is helped by that.....

Sorry for ranting on your post Amy, but you have helped me a lot to stay motivated and you have a kind heart. I believe you are really trying to get where you need to be and it really peeves me off to hear someone being so rude to one of my peeps! You are doing great and if you want I will do my best to gather some more info as to what you wanna achieve and try to help you get there.

Sensitive much? :noway: Hell if I had something in mind that would just be a waste of time and someone corrected me before hand...I'd be happy. Geesh.

engineman312

hmmm.

UponThisRock

or you could just be helpful. If you wanted to be helpful and really believe that this is not the place, then don't comment here at all and directly message her with all your helpful information.

Telling someone that they're doing something wrong is being helpful. If she wants more of my opinion, she'll ask. If she doesn't, she won't.

The fact that I wasn't as helpful as YOU would liked me to have been is your problem, not mine.

deadstarsunburn

1. There's no such thing as toning

I'm genuinely interested in this, please explain?
Thanks!

Lift_hard_eat_big

1. There's no such thing as toning

I'm genuinely interested in this, please explain?
Thanks!

You don't tone muscIe, you condition it

amyB27

:ohwell:

deadstarsunburn

1. There's no such thing as toning

I'm genuinely interested in this, please explain?
Thanks!

You don't tone muscIe, you condition it

Okay =] thank you

Iamfit4life

I agree nothing wrong with what UpoThisRock said. Truth hurts? Suck it up :P

Agreed. Honestly. What is the problem people have with being told the truth. Nobody in their right mind would tell you to focus on one body part a week.

amyB27

Ok can we say wow? First thank you purpleiris I appreciate all you said & you have been great motivation to me as well.

Next I'm not here to squabble over terminology or whether or not one regimin is better. I am not the most educated in strength training aka toning (hey I like the word & those who know me know what I mean) Sorry to have bothered some with calling it that. I said I am a beginner at this in my group post lol. To the person who posted below my OP yes I found it a bit offensive because 1) yes I'm a tad thin skinned but hey its me & 2) I'm not silly- not abundantly knowledgable in the terminology & physiology of strength training yes but not silly. I get it though. I also stated in my group that I am more than open to suggestions. I don't just do these strength whatever is the correct word. I do squats, yoga, other full body moves I've learned through other helpful people, sites, magazines etc. I just want to make sure I put effort into my "problem" areas. Most exercises (gosh you all have me skiddish about my terminology lol) I know involve more than the target area anyway. For those who offered support & help thanks alot. Thats a main reason I'm on this site. For those who didn't or at least not in the best of forms, its ok. I'll make it Didn't mean to step on so many toes but oh well it happens rt? And if you gave me helpful sites, exercise/moves I really do appreciate it. And I'll be sure to include your info about doing compound moves & such in my group post so that others can benefit in the knowledge. :happy: So I think we're good rt? If you have any sites that could give me more detail glad to hear them. But please lets not fuss over it. Thanks again purpleiris I appreciate it. She knows I~ve been in a rough spot motivationally lately & if not for her & some other ppl on here & in my life I'd probably have given up over these last couple weeks. So yea she was sensitive to the fact that it came off a bit harsh (but no hard feelings rt?) and I'm glad she was willing to come to my aid.

UponThisRock

1. There's no such thing as toning

I'm genuinely interested in this, please explain?
Thanks!

You can't "tone" a muscle. The only thing you can do to a muscle in terms of appearance is cause it to hypertrophy (get bigger) or atrophy (get smaller). Proper resistance training causes hypertrophy. The effect that people see that they call "toning" is actually a combination of hypertrophy and fat loss.

^^^Is this just an issue of semantics? Somewhat. However, a lack of understanding of the mechanism behind what you're trying to accomplish can lead to training protocols (like, say, training one body part per week) that don't aren't going to accomplish your goal

bry_all01

wow....

servilia

bump

ShapeUpSidney

wow....

thank you! I was wondering if anyone else noticed the "white knighting" that went on. I'd be offended if any of my friends thought I was so meek and pathetic that I needed such vehement defending in my absence...

writtenINthestars

Ok can we say wow? First thank you purpleiris I appreciate all you said & you have been great motivation to me as well.

Next I'm not here to squabble over terminology or whether or not one regimin is better. I am not the most educated in strenght training aka toning (hey I like the word & those who know me know what I mean) Sorry to have bothered some with calling it that. I said I am a beginner at this in my group post lol. To the person who posted below my OP yes I found it a bit offensive because I'm not silly- not abundantly knowledgable in the terminology & physiology of strength training yes but not silly. I also stated in my group that I am more than open to suggestions. I don't just do these strength whatever is the correct word. I do squats, yoga, other full body moves I've learned through other helpful people, sites, magazines etc. I just want to make sure I put effort into my "problem" areas. Most exercises (gosh you all have me skiddish about my terminology lol) I know involve more than the target area anyway. For those who offered support & help thanks alot. Thats a main reason I'm on this site. For those who didn't or at least not in the best of forms, its ok. I'll make it Didn't mean to step on so many toes but oh well. And if you gave me helpful sites, exercise/moves I really do appreciate it. And I'll be sure to include your info about doing compound moves in my group post so that others can benefit in the knowledge. :happy:

No toes stepped here! (Just blown away by the response from other member). Good luck on your WL journey, regardless of whatever terminology you use! =p

amyB27

2. Focusing on one body part per week is about the silliest way you could approach resistance training.

I've never seen a program that trains only one body part per week and I imagine there is a good reason for this. But instead of just saying it is "silly" how about helping us all out with a bit of education as to why that might be and what a more effective program structure might be?

I love seeing women get interested in strength training but I know that the fear of looking "silly" is a big hurdle for a lot of women when they initially start a program. I would hate for the OP to get discouraged when a few adjustments might make for a perfectly effective program.

Thanks

amyB27

Ok can we say wow? First thank you purpleiris I appreciate all you said & you have been great motivation to me as well.

Next I'm not here to squabble over terminology or whether or not one regimin is better. I am not the most educated in strenght training aka toning (hey I like the word & those who know me know what I mean) Sorry to have bothered some with calling it that. I said I am a beginner at this in my group post lol. To the person who posted below my OP yes I found it a bit offensive because I'm not silly- not abundantly knowledgable in the terminology & physiology of strength training yes but not silly. I also stated in my group that I am more than open to suggestions. I don't just do these strength whatever is the correct word. I do squats, yoga, other full body moves I've learned through other helpful people, sites, magazines etc. I just want to make sure I put effort into my "problem" areas. Most exercises (gosh you all have me skiddish about my terminology lol) I know involve more than the target area anyway. For those who offered support & help thanks alot. Thats a main reason I'm on this site. For those who didn't or at least not in the best of forms, its ok. I'll make it Didn't mean to step on so many toes but oh well. And if you gave me helpful sites, exercise/moves I really do appreciate it. And I'll be sure to include your info about doing compound moves in my group post so that others can benefit in the knowledge. :happy:

No toes stepped here! (Just blown away by the response from other member). Good luck on your WL journey, regardless of whatever terminology you use! =p

I know. Thanks you too!

LaSutopia

I agree nothing wrong with what UpoThisRock said. Truth hurts? Suck it up :P

The truth does not have to "hurt"...not if the person delivers it in a loving or caring way...Im sorry if you have experienced painful truth a lot in your life...

amyB27

2. Focusing on one body part per week is about the silliest way you could approach resistance training.

Just to elaborate:

If you're training with sufficient intensity, you should rest each muscle for 48-72 hours before trying to work it again.

Additionally, from an efficiency standpoint, if you're going to spend, say 45 minutes to an hour lifting, you should use compound lifts (these are lifts that use several muscles to complete). Most (ALL?) good training programs will be centered around compound lifts.

The other issue with training 1 bodypart per week is that in addition to not getting adequate rest, you're then not training other bodyparts for the entire week.

The beginning trainee will have great results by doing either full body training 3xweek (a lifting program that trains your whole body) or an upper-lower split done 4/week. At a glance, this method will train all your muscles 2 to 3 times per week rather than 1 muscle for the whole week.

Thanks for the elaboration. I do include full body moves and leave a day in between to rest. I mainly just meant to add the ones that use the problem area mostly. But I get what you're saying.

amyB27

I agree nothing wrong with what UpoThisRock said. Truth hurts? Suck it up :P

The truth does not have to "hurt"...not if the person delivers it in a loving or caring way...Im sorry if you have experienced painful truth a lot in your life...

I do agree completely. Tact goes along way. He had good intentions just not the best of delivery. Thank you very much