What is toning?

Options
124

Replies

  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
    Options
    It's a nonsense word designed to appeal to uninformed people.

    With respect to weight training..there is a pervasive MYTH that somehow there is a different lifting strategy for getting huge muscles or just a little gain or "muscle tone".

    For women, especially those new to weight training, have no chance whatsoever of getting "big" or "bulky" by lifting too heavy of weights or too intense training. This is one of those silly myths that women can get "big" by weight training.

    All you get by weight training is a smokin body lol. And the ability to do more stuff in life.

    Toning is a hot button word that pisses off snobbish people on MFP who want to harp about vernacular to make themselves feel superior.

    Terminology be damned if you want to look good get your but to the gym consistently. Eat a nutritious diet and lift heavy. Constantly push yourself to the next level and never give up. Then if you want to call yourself ripped, shredded, toned or anything else who cares you'll still look good.

    And also this.

    This is true. Unfortunately, to some people (not most thankfully it seems) "bulky" might mean that their lean 17-inch thighs increase by two inches over the period of a year or two. Pish-tosh.

    All we can do is be supportive of these types when we encounter them, and hopefully they will eventually see the light and realize weight training's benefits far outweight the negatives. (What negatives, lol????)
    My 17" chicken legs grew to a still small but getting better 19.5" in the past four months and I still feel super DYEL. I have no idea how some of these women think they're "bulky."

    Justsomerando: Great job, end even better outlook on the process!

    btw, when someone posts something like this on the other hand, we need to be supportive as mentioned: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1026904-bulky-legs
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    I think most often it means making the body more firm. Less jiggle. That's what I mean when I say it.
  • kookanddra
    kookanddra Posts: 92
    Options
    Who cares what people call it? You all know what they mean...

    And just because someone doesn't want to lift weights does NOT make them 'lazy' or 'uninformed'.

    Thank you!!!!!
  • shannonahenderson
    shannonahenderson Posts: 63
    Options
    The dictionary says: to give firmness to the desired area of your body.

    Is viagra for toning then?

    hahahha...based on the definition, yes, viagara is used for toning!!!! And strengthening too, for that matter!
  • shannonahenderson
    shannonahenderson Posts: 63
    Options
    wow...never dawned on me that this was such a hot topic...interesting.
  • sc10985
    sc10985 Posts: 347 Member
    Options
    Who cares what people call it? You all know what they mean...

    And just because someone doesn't want to lift weights does NOT make them 'lazy' or 'uninformed'.

    Thank you!!!!!

    Double thank you.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    Options
    Wow, people around here use the word "snobbish" as if that's a bad thing.
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    Options
    It doesn't exist.

    You lose fat, gain muscle. Nothing to 'tone'.
  • bornofthorns
    bornofthorns Posts: 143 Member
    Options
    LOL...this thing cracks me up. I think, ultimately, people approve of the noun and not the verb. AKA: It is ok to life heavy to be "toned up", but you can't go "toning" at the gym. However, based on my Communications 101 class, the fact that everyone knew what the other was talking about and was able to either answer the question or bash the word, effective communication occurred and the word is still good.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    Options
    LOL...this thing cracks me up. I think, ultimately, people approve of the noun and not the verb. AKA: It is ok to life heavy to be "toned up", but you can't go "toning" at the gym. However, based on my Communications 101 class, the fact that everyone knew what the other was talking about and was able to either answer the question or bash the word, effective communication occurred and the word is still good.
    I think the problem is that people don't know what the noun means, so they don't know how to get to a goal that they don't actually understand. Also there's the fact that it can mean the same thing as bulking, except some people see that word with a negative connotation, so they say something like "I want to tone but I don't want to bulk" which is ridiculous.
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
    Options
    LOL...this thing cracks me up. I think, ultimately, people approve of the noun and not the verb. AKA: It is ok to life heavy to be "toned up", but you can't go "toning" at the gym. However, based on my Communications 101 class, the fact that everyone knew what the other was talking about and was able to either answer the question or bash the word, effective communication occurred and the word is still good.

    Yup! I always think of tuning up a car engine when I hear a girl say she "wants to tone up".
  • soldier4242
    soldier4242 Posts: 1,368 Member
    Options
    Toning is a hot button word that pisses off snobbish people on MFP who want to harp about vernacular to make themselves feel superior.
    Or as a Professional Trainer, it could be that I feel it's important to dispell BS terminology and give my clients the correct information. Nothing wrong with actual truth.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    For every personal trainer our there that is only concerned about clarity of terminology there are about 100 people that just want to act like they are smarter than whatever poster happened to drop the word "toning" rather than "tone up" or "I want to lower my BF%."

    Not to mention the people that are saying that they want to "tone" some area of their body are normally your beginners to MFP who don't know the can of worms they are opening. Sure some of the respondents are just trying to discourage people from falling in to wrong headed strategies.

    You can normally tell who they are because they will say something like. "Just focus on lowering your body fat percentage and you will achieve the look you are going for." then they might follow that up with some tips about how to achieve that from there.

    Your snobs will say something like "Toning is a word only used by the mentally retarded."

    I say that a person using the word "toning" is not sufficient justification to criticize their intelligence. As long as the overall meaning is understood I have no problem with assimilating the word in to the lexicon of fitness terminology.
  • chunkydunk714
    chunkydunk714 Posts: 784 Member
    Options
    pardon my ignorance but I seriously thought you can tone your body with heavy lifting, etc. I guess I was wrong :ohwell:
  • Loasaur
    Loasaur Posts: 125
    Options
    For me when I say I'm trying to "tone" up, I mean that I want to gain muscle mass in a certain area. I don't have much muscle mass, as I destroyed it with anorexia, so when I say "tone up" I mean I want to gain the muscle mass back that I lost. That's just what it means for me, not sure if it's "correct" or how other people mean it, but that's how I mean it. :P
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
    Options
    its not like people are actually using two forks to pull their Ab muscles apart
    isn't toning something you do to a musical instrument..?
    Unfortunately I have been unable to find any toning forks for sale, for either purpose.

    Did you try ebay?
    ebay, ibey, obey, all the vowels. And all the rivers and lists.

    Don't forget utube! I'm sure they have some tootoriulz...

    (teehee)
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Options
    It's the accent you use to order a NYC pizza. Yo' TOOOOONYING can I get a slice of dat pie?
  • Isakizza
    Isakizza Posts: 754 Member
    Options
    I think its just the female verion of getting``ripped.`` Most girls don`t wanna be ``ripped,`` it`s just not feminine...

    ^^Yup.

    Most women get scared from "build, ripped, bulk, muscle, lift, heavy weights". Toning sounds nice, safe, and feminine.
    To tone, you have to lift.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    Options
    It's a nonsense word designed to appeal to uninformed people.

    With respect to weight training..there is a pervasive MYTH that somehow there is a different lifting strategy for getting huge muscles or just a little gain or "muscle tone".

    For women, especially those new to weight training, have no chance whatsoever of getting "big" or "bulky" by lifting too heavy of weights or too intense training. This is one of those silly myths that women can get "big" by weight training.

    All you get by weight training is a smokin body lol. And the ability to do more stuff in life.

    err... Are you saying that different weight lifting schemes make no difference? lol
  • CeddysMum
    CeddysMum Posts: 101 Member
    Options
    Toning is what people do when they are too scared or too lazy to lift heavy or too ill-informed know that this is what they should do.

    Or maybe they've been advised by their doctor not to lift heavy for medical reasons?
    I think it's really not necessary to talk down to people if they don't want to lift heavy, you don't know their whole life story so maybe they actually have good reason.
    Just sayin' ....
  • totem12
    totem12 Posts: 194 Member
    Options
    ^^Exactly!

    Also, I've seen plenty of women with amazing physiques, definitely what I would call 'toned', who do not lift any weights whatsoever, just keep active.

Categories