Darn hit. Heavy lifting left me "toned".

To everyone who says "toning is a myth," you've proven them wrong! Great job! Congratulations on your toned body! :happy:

So what is toning? The word tone simply describes the state of your muscles. When at rest, your muscles are in a constant state of partial contraction in order to be ready for action. The 'tone' of your muscles is involuntary, so you can't change it by lifting weights a certain way.

Over the years, people have taken the word 'tone' and redefined it to mean how lean we are--how defined our muscles appear. In fact, it's even a gender specific word. Women go to the gym to 'tone up' while men go to the gym to lift weights and build muscle but, the truth is, they are the exact same things. Becoming lean and building muscle requires lifting weights, the difference is in how much you lift.

While you can lift weights to change your body, you're limited as to what you can really change about your muscles. In a nutshell, this is what your muscles can do:

1. Grow larger and/or stronger
2. Shrink smaller and/or get weaker

You can't make a muscle longer (without surgery) and you can't etch it into a certain shape or look. If your goal is to see your muscles, your goal isn't toning--it's losing body fat. And, whether you're a man or woman, wanting to bulk up or slim down, you'll do the same kinds of exercises and training methods. The difference lies in the weights, reps and sets you'll do, as well as how many calories you take in (more if you're building muscle, less if you're trying to lose fat).

You may be wondering why it matters if you believe in toning or not. The problem with the idea of toning is that it leads to that other stubborn myth...