Why don't people like the phrase "tone up"

Cranktastic

Don't worry, I'm not spot reducing, or trying to, lol. I actually like my *kitten* just the way it is, It would be nice if it were a little perkier however... I work all my muscle groups along with cardio. I think when I get my body fat to where I want it, I will start incorporating the heavier lifting.

Nooooo
You will be MUCH happier if you start lifting NOW.
It will help you achieve the results you are looking for.

Crochetluvr

this is really a thing?

Ummm...my sentiments exactly. Who cares?

Contrarian

Why don't people like bees? They're okay little guys. They mind their own business and puke up honey all day.

_JR_

Don't worry, I'm not spot reducing, or trying to, lol. I actually like my *kitten* just the way it is, It would be nice if it were a little perkier however... I work all my muscle groups along with cardio. I think when I get my body fat to where I want it, I will start incorporating the heavier lifting.

Start lifting now!

Strengthening the muscles will help make things tighter, giving you the illusion that you weigh less while the pounds come off. Plus, heavy strength training releases hormones that aid in better fat burning. Keep doing your cardio too. Tackle it from both angles.

robin52077

Don't worry, I'm not spot reducing, or trying to, lol. I actually like my *kitten* just the way it is, It would be nice if it were a little perkier however... I work all my muscle groups along with cardio. I think when I get my body fat to where I want it, I will start incorporating the heavier lifting.

Nooooo
You will be MUCH happier if you start lifting NOW.
It will help you achieve the results you are looking for.

this

perkier butt= heavy squats and deadlifts NOW.

anemoneprose

Don't worry, I'm not spot reducing, or trying to, lol. I actually like my *kitten* just the way it is, It would be nice if it were a little perkier however... I work all my muscle groups along with cardio. I think when I get my body fat to where I want it, I will start incorporating the heavier lifting.

If you want to be 'toned' and wait until you weigh less, you will have the problem of trying to build muscle while being 'skinny fat'. Which is much harder than building muscle from the beginning, because you have less of a margin of error with calories, etc.

I think you will probably not be ABLE to have body fat where you want it without weight training - you will look the same, just smaller, and still probably be dissatisfied.

Contrarian

Why don't people like bees? They're okay little guys. They mind their own business and puke up honey all day.

Also, they are fuzzy and stripey! And, yes, I did just quote myself. Who's going to stop me? You? Hah. I laugh at your inability to stop me from doing things. Hah!

geekyjock76

The term "tone" was created decades ago to trick women in to believing that their muscles behaved and developed differently than that of a man to get them involved in strength training. Think of it as false advertising.

From a biomechanical standpoint, muscles can only lengthen and shorten during relaxation and contraction. In terms of size, it can either atrophy or hypertrophy.

"Toning" is more of a process, if anything - it's alternating between goals of reducing whole body fat and hypertrophy until one reaches satisfaction in regards to degree of leanness vs muscle volume.

meshashesha2012

Don't worry, I'm not spot reducing, or trying to, lol. I actually like my *kitten* just the way it is, It would be nice if it were a little perkier however... I work all my muscle groups along with cardio. I think when I get my body fat to where I want it, I will start incorporating the heavier lifting.

Nooooo
You will be MUCH happier if you start lifting NOW.
It will help you achieve the results you are looking for.

this

perkier butt= heavy squats and deadlifts NOW.

BUT here's the down side : it's harder to get the small of your back flat against the bench when you want to bench press. yesterday i spent so much time between sets trying to get myself set properly :laugh:


and OP definitely start lifting now. lifting will help you reach your body fat loss goals sooner because it ensures that you hold on to as much muscle mass as possible while you lose weight

Sarauk2sf

Don't worry, I'm not spot reducing, or trying to, lol. I actually like my *kitten* just the way it is, It would be nice if it were a little perkier however... I work all my muscle groups along with cardio. I think when I get my body fat to where I want it, I will start incorporating the heavier lifting.

Start lifting now!

Strengthening the muscles will help make things tighter, giving you the illusion that you weigh less while the pounds come off. Plus, heavy strength training releases hormones that aid in better fat burning. Keep doing your cardio too. Tackle it from both angles.

^^this

_JR_

...

n2thenight24

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

BusyRaeNOTBusty

BUT here's the down side : it's harder to get the small of your back flat against the bench when you want to bench press. yesterday i spent so much time between sets trying to get myself set properly :laugh:

Here's a suggestion for if you have good core strength and a spotter..... lift your knees up into the "crunch" position while you bench press. This will put the small of your back flat on the bench. Unless I'm doing really heavy stuff, I'll do it that way.

Practice with dumbbells or the Smith Machine before going heavy on the bench w/o a spotter.

I thought you were SUPPOSED to arch your back when benching. And yeah, have your feet on the ground.... Somewhere I read something about good bench form. Let me find it.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

Sarauk2sf

BUT here's the down side : it's harder to get the small of your back flat against the bench when you want to bench press. yesterday i spent so much time between sets trying to get myself set properly :laugh:

Here's a suggestion for if you have good core strength and a spotter..... lift your knees up into the "crunch" position while you bench press. This will put the small of your back flat on the bench. Unless I'm doing really heavy stuff, I'll do it that way.

Practice with dumbbells or the Smith Machine before going heavy on the bench w/o a spotter.

I thought you were SUPPOSED to arch your back when benching. And yeah, have your feet on the ground.... Somewhere I read something about good bench form. Let me find it.

Yes - shoulders on bench. butt on bench, feet on floor - arch back for leverage.

meshashesha2012

BUT here's the down side : it's harder to get the small of your back flat against the bench when you want to bench press. yesterday i spent so much time between sets trying to get myself set properly :laugh:

Here's a suggestion for if you have good core strength and a spotter..... lift your knees up into the "crunch" position while you bench press. This will put the small of your back flat on the bench. Unless I'm doing really heavy stuff, I'll do it that way.

Practice with dumbbells or the Smith Machine before going heavy on the bench w/o a spotter.

I thought you were SUPPOSED to arch your back when benching. And yeah, have your feet on the ground.... Somewhere I read something about good bench form. Let me find it.

Yes - shoulders on bench. butt on bench, feet on floor - arch back for leverage.

it felt like i had too much sway going on back there though. maybe it's because i've gone from pancake to badonkadonk but now it feels weird. :laugh:

next time i bench i'll try to record it so i can get a better idea of what i should be doing

_JR_

I thought you were SUPPOSED to arch your back when benching. And yeah, have your feet on the ground.... Somewhere I read something about good bench form. Let me find it.

For strength and power, yes... keep the shoulders on the bench, and feet wide on the floor. I would do the knees up for isolating the pecs a little more (lighter weight). I should've emphasized the different purposes. Thanks for catching it.

I removed the post as to not confuse anyone else.

JesterMFP

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

^This. Additionally, if you start now, you'll be able to maintain more of your muscle while you lose weight. It's likely that you will lose some, but lifting heavy will help to keep that loss to a minimum. Far better to keep what you have than have to build it again once you have lost the weight.

n2thenight24

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

I'm definitely not afraid! I WANT muscle, I don't care if I look "bulky" or whatever. I want to have nice muscles. And a low body fat %

robin52077

I thought you were SUPPOSED to arch your back when benching. And yeah, have your feet on the ground.... Somewhere I read something about good bench form. Let me find it.

Yes - shoulders on bench. butt on bench, feet on floor - arch back for leverage.

this

Yogi_Carl

Cyclink: "Muscle either grows or shrinks. It's not something that you can control the way in which it grows."

I tend to agree with you, but I do wonder why people who do yoga and bodystrength type exercises tend to have longer more lean looking muscles, whereas weight lifting tends to build the middle - the belly - of the muscle giving the body a more rounded bulky look?
Not wanting an argument - just an observation.

Because yoga and bodyweight exercises don't build much, if any muscle. So those people don't have much muscle, giving them a smaller, leaner look. People who do real weight lifting build muscle mass and get the rounded bulky look you're talking about. In general.

Thanks. Lean and strong is what I'm aiming for, so I'll stick with the yoga and bodyweight exercises.

n2thenight24

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

I'm definitely not afraid! I WANT muscle, I don't care if I look "bulky" or whatever. I want to have nice muscles. And a low body fat %

I just thought you had to have your weight where you wanted it, so you were no longer eating at a deficit in order to see results. Especially since I don't have much to lose in the first place, I figure it would not take very long to get where I could start muscle building.

Sarauk2sf

BUT here's the down side : it's harder to get the small of your back flat against the bench when you want to bench press. yesterday i spent so much time between sets trying to get myself set properly :laugh:

Here's a suggestion for if you have good core strength and a spotter..... lift your knees up into the "crunch" position while you bench press. This will put the small of your back flat on the bench. Unless I'm doing really heavy stuff, I'll do it that way.

Practice with dumbbells or the Smith Machine before going heavy on the bench w/o a spotter.

I thought you were SUPPOSED to arch your back when benching. And yeah, have your feet on the ground.... Somewhere I read something about good bench form. Let me find it.

Yes - shoulders on bench. butt on bench, feet on floor - arch back for leverage.

it felt like i had too much sway going on back there though. maybe it's because i've gone from pancake to badonkadonk but now it feels weird. :laugh:

next time i bench i'll try to record it so i can get a better idea of what i should be doing

lolz - I have always had ample badonkadonk so it feels normal to me. Check out Mark Rippetoe and Dave Tate vids for form tips.

Capt_Apollo

"toned" is the female equivalent of "ripped." they both mean low body fat percentage.

Sarauk2sf

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

I'm definitely not afraid! I WANT muscle, I don't care if I look "bulky" or whatever. I want to have nice muscles. And a low body fat %

I just thought you had to have your weight where you wanted it, so you were no longer eating at a deficit in order to see results. Especially since I don't have much to lose in the first place, I figure it would not take very long to get where I could start muscle building.

The issue with not resistance training while losing weight is that you have a much bigger chance of losing LBM than if you do. So, you are starting from a deficit position so to speak when you get to your goal weight. If you start now, you can take advantage of newbie gains, plus you will have strength gains (muscle growth =/= strength growth necessarily) that will set you up for when//if you want to increase muscle mass and eat at a surplus.

n2thenight24

"toned" is the female equivalent of "ripped." they both mean low body fat percentage.

I like that word better. I wanna get 'ripped'

n2thenight24

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

I'm definitely not afraid! I WANT muscle, I don't care if I look "bulky" or whatever. I want to have nice muscles. And a low body fat %

I just thought you had to have your weight where you wanted it, so you were no longer eating at a deficit in order to see results. Especially since I don't have much to lose in the first place, I figure it would not take very long to get where I could start muscle building.

The issue with not resistance training while losing weight is that you have a much bigger chance of losing LBM than if you do. So, you are starting from a deficit position so to speak when you get to your goal weight. If you start now, you can take advantage of newbie gains, plus you will have strength gains (muscle growth =/= strength growth necessarily) that will set you up for when//if you want to increase muscle mass and eat at a surplus.

So are things like 30 day shred not good enough? Do I need to add more weight training?

Sarauk2sf

Cyclink: "Muscle either grows or shrinks. It's not something that you can control the way in which it grows."

I tend to agree with you, but I do wonder why people who do yoga and bodystrength type exercises tend to have longer more lean looking muscles, whereas weight lifting tends to build the middle - the belly - of the muscle giving the body a more rounded bulky look?
Not wanting an argument - just an observation.

Because yoga and bodyweight exercises don't build much, if any muscle. So those people don't have much muscle, giving them a smaller, leaner look. People who do real weight lifting build muscle mass and get the rounded bulky look you're talking about. In general.

Thanks. Lean and strong is what I'm aiming for, so I'll stick with the yoga and bodyweight exercises.

I would like to point something out and it may nor be relevant for your goals so this is more informational to others - if you strength train you gain muscle all over (assuming you train all your muscle groups). At a deficit, this will be minimal as already mentioned. So, what strength training can do is to effectively allow the illusion of a smaller waist by increasing your glutes and lats for example. A bigger butt and wider lat spread create the illusion of a smaller waist. So, the very small amount of width you may add to your middle can easily be offset by the increase in other areas.

Sarauk2sf

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

I'm definitely not afraid! I WANT muscle, I don't care if I look "bulky" or whatever. I want to have nice muscles. And a low body fat %

I just thought you had to have your weight where you wanted it, so you were no longer eating at a deficit in order to see results. Especially since I don't have much to lose in the first place, I figure it would not take very long to get where I could start muscle building.

The issue with not resistance training while losing weight is that you have a much bigger chance of losing LBM than if you do. So, you are starting from a deficit position so to speak when you get to your goal weight. If you start now, you can take advantage of newbie gains, plus you will have strength gains (muscle growth =/= strength growth necessarily) that will set you up for when//if you want to increase muscle mass and eat at a surplus.

So are things like 30 day shred not good enough? Do I need to add more weight training?

30 day shred will help, but imo it is not strength training in the true sense of the word. I would look into a strength training program like New Rules of Lifting for Women or Starting Strength, assuming you have access to a gym.

mmapags

So, will lifting now build my muscles even if I'm in a decent deficit? Again, don't yell at me, I have no idea what I'm doing here. But I kind of, probably wrongly, thought that you could only build muscle if you were eating at or above your maintenance calorie levels?

You might build a small amount if you are new to lifting. These are called "newbie gains". Obese people can, as can those who are returning to lifting after a long lay off. But it won't be much and is certainly nothing to fear. Muscle is awesome.

I'm definitely not afraid! I WANT muscle, I don't care if I look "bulky" or whatever. I want to have nice muscles. And a low body fat %

I just thought you had to have your weight where you wanted it, so you were no longer eating at a deficit in order to see results. Especially since I don't have much to lose in the first place, I figure it would not take very long to get where I could start muscle building.

The issue with not resistance training while losing weight is that you have a much bigger chance of losing LBM than if you do. So, you are starting from a deficit position so to speak when you get to your goal weight. If you start now, you can take advantage of newbie gains, plus you will have strength gains (muscle growth =/= strength growth necessarily) that will set you up for when//if you want to increase muscle mass and eat at a surplus.

So are things like 30 day shred not good enough? Do I need to add more weight training?

30 day shred will help, but imo it is not strength training in the true sense of the word. I would look into a strength training program like New Rules of Lifting for Women or Starting Strength, assuming you have access to a gym.

What Sara said! my wifes began Starting Strength a few months ago and she is loving how her body looks. Especially what used to be her saggy butt that is nice high and round at age 53!! (I'm digging it pretty much too!)

FTR, the word "tone" is like fingernails on a blackboard to me. This is only my opinion but it just sounds like a moronic euphemism to me. You are either developing your muscles or you're not and "tone" has more to do with music than muscles. (end rant) lol