experienced opinon on this "The Toning Myth" article
hpsnickers1
Posts: 2,783 Member
Just curious:
http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/mythtoning.htm
The Toning Myth
"I just want to do a toning workout"
"What's a good toning exercise for ..."
If I hear either of these phrases uttered again I will scream! There is no such thing as a toning exercise! "Toning" is an imprecise and dangerous term and its not just an academic issue, its important to your success. The problem is that "toning" has no exact meaning and thus results cannot be measured or obtained. If you tell your trainer that you want to get a "toned body", you are set up for failure from the start!
When you grill people who are "toning" what it is they are trying to accomplish, most of them say they just want their muscles harder. Well, news for you. The way to make your muscles "harder" is not to lift weights but to remove that layer of fat under the skin and to do this requires cardio and reduced caloric intake - not weight lifting!
resistance training makes muscles stronger and bigger
cardio and diet makes you leaner, more defined, and harder (by removing squishy fat)
If you don't know exactly what you are trying to achieve, you will never achieve it. Here are some different things that people mean by "toning":
Goal: Example:
increase strength power-lifting
increase muscle mass bodybuilding
increase endurance marathon
increase speed swimming
increase flexibility yoga
decrease body-fat aerobic exercise
increase coordination gymnastics
If you cant measure what it is you are trying to achieve, then you will never achieve it! You can see that all these goals are very different and your training regimen will be very different depending on how you define "toning".
If by toning you mean that you want to get a little stronger and a little leaner, then lift weights a little and do a little cardio
http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/mythtoning.htm
The Toning Myth
"I just want to do a toning workout"
"What's a good toning exercise for ..."
If I hear either of these phrases uttered again I will scream! There is no such thing as a toning exercise! "Toning" is an imprecise and dangerous term and its not just an academic issue, its important to your success. The problem is that "toning" has no exact meaning and thus results cannot be measured or obtained. If you tell your trainer that you want to get a "toned body", you are set up for failure from the start!
When you grill people who are "toning" what it is they are trying to accomplish, most of them say they just want their muscles harder. Well, news for you. The way to make your muscles "harder" is not to lift weights but to remove that layer of fat under the skin and to do this requires cardio and reduced caloric intake - not weight lifting!
resistance training makes muscles stronger and bigger
cardio and diet makes you leaner, more defined, and harder (by removing squishy fat)
If you don't know exactly what you are trying to achieve, you will never achieve it. Here are some different things that people mean by "toning":
Goal: Example:
increase strength power-lifting
increase muscle mass bodybuilding
increase endurance marathon
increase speed swimming
increase flexibility yoga
decrease body-fat aerobic exercise
increase coordination gymnastics
If you cant measure what it is you are trying to achieve, then you will never achieve it! You can see that all these goals are very different and your training regimen will be very different depending on how you define "toning".
If by toning you mean that you want to get a little stronger and a little leaner, then lift weights a little and do a little cardio
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Replies
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bump!0
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So does having more muscle burn more fat? This is all confusing sometimes :indifferent:0
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I have a couple of links in my signature by a guy named Stroutman81. One is Relatively light and trying to get leaner and the other is Frantic about adhering to calorie intake. His information is amazing. He really knows his stuff. It involves a lot of reading though.
And yes, more muscle means more fat burning through the day.0 -
So does having more muscle burn more fat? This is all confusing sometimes :indifferent:
Yes, muscle burns fat! Strength training increases your metabolism!0 -
so basically there is hope for all my jiggilyness?0
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The article is correct to a point. There is no such thing as toning. You are either building muscle or breaking it down. His statement that to make the muscle harder you just do cardio, however, is completely wrong. Cardio only has actually proven to break down some muscle fibers, so when you lose the fat over the top of your muscles, the muscles will be soft and you'll still look flabby or like you have excess skin flaps. Basically, you have several types of muscle fibers and if you only train Type I, you will only maintain Type I. If you have a muscle group that is predominantly Type I fibers, it will look "toned" because you've built those Type I fibers by doing cardio. Leg muscles on a marathon runner (who only runs, no weight training) for example, appear "toned" because they have been building the strength and endurance in those Type I fibers. Look at that same marathon runners arms, however, and you won't see "tone" you will see soft, flabby muscle that hasn't been being strengthened. Weight training will focus on strengthening or building the Type II muscle fibers, so that the body appears "toned" after the fat is burned from cardio. You have to do both cardio and strength training in order to see "toned" muscles. But really, they aren't "toned" they have just been building the various types of muscle fibers and losing the fat.0
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Circuit training seems to be the best for me - cardio plus weight lifting. I have seen a difference in my body - but I'm also pretty small and have less fat to burn before I see a difference.0
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To get a leaned toned body you need to do cardio and resistance training. With cardio alone you will lose fat but you are not building muscle. Muscle gives you that nice toned look everyone wants. More muscle means more calories burned throughout the day. You need to lift heavy too. It is a myth that lifting heavy makes a woman "bulky". Lifting heavy challenges the muscles and they grow, thus, burning more fat off of your body.
Cardio+lifting heavy weights+ eating clean = your formula for success.0 -
This is exactly what I've been saying to my clients for a couple years now. Muscle is muscle and only grows one way (which is genetically predetermined in each person). The best way to build muscle is to lift weights - heavy weights! Lift as heavy as you can for 6-8 reps (sometimes more depending on plan, but most women I've worked with usually aim 12-15 - then honestly, stop at 15 not because they can't do any more, but because they hit 15 UGH!!!!)
The goal is go to failure! If you can do a 9th rep, pick a higher rep!
Toning is an endlessly frustrating topic for me to try to convince my clients what it really means. When a client says "I want to get toned" - what they really mean is "I want to lose this flab covering my muscles!".
Muscle burns fat all day long. Each pound of muscle you add, burn an additional 50 calories a day. Every single day - workout days and not! It's a great thing. For those cardio junkies out there - trust me and add some really hard resistance work. No, not the machine circuits - I mean go down to the dingy dark basement and lift the real weights. Get a trainer or experienced helper to show you around and start. Work towards going as heavy as you can with compound exercises.
Last myth. You won't get bulky. Honestly. Bulking up is super hard. I mean it! Super Hard! To bulk up, it generally takes a) a long time b) supplements to help that grow c) a big calorie surplus. If you're eating at or below mainenance calories, you won't bulk up, but you will help your general fitness levels!
Best of Luck everyone!
Steve
KnightFit.com
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/female_athletes.htm
http://knightfit.blogspot.com/2010/12/myths-about-woman-and-weights.html0 -
This is exactly what I've been saying to my clients for a couple years now. Muscle is muscle and only grows one way (which is genetically predetermined in each person). The best way to build muscle is to lift weights - heavy weights! Lift as heavy as you can for 6-8 reps (sometimes more depending on plan, but most women I've worked with usually aim 12-15 - then honestly, stop at 15 not because they can't do any more, but because they hit 15 UGH!!!!)
The goal is go to failure! If you can do a 9th rep, pick a higher rep!
Toning is an endlessly frustrating topic for me to try to convince my clients what it really means. When a client says "I want to get toned" - what they really mean is "I want to lose this flab covering my muscles!".
Muscle burns fat all day long. Each pound of muscle you add, burn an additional 50 calories a day. Every single day - workout days and not! It's a great thing. For those cardio junkies out there - trust me and add some really hard resistance work. No, not the machine circuits - I mean go down to the dingy dark basement and lift the real weights. Get a trainer or experienced helper to show you around and start. Work towards going as heavy as you can with compound exercises.
Last myth. You won't get bulky. Honestly. Bulking up is super hard. I mean it! Super Hard! To bulk up, it generally takes a) a long time b) supplements to help that grow c) a big calorie surplus. If you're eating at or below mainenance calories, you won't bulk up, but you will help your general fitness levels!
Best of Luck everyone!
Steve
KnightFit.com
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/female_athletes.htm
http://knightfit.blogspot.com/2010/12/myths-about-woman-and-weights.html
This is what I have learned also. My sis in law has a healthy BMI - she just wants to "tone". She purchased a used elliptical. I tried to tell her that she needs to start lifting heavy, too. But as usual in one ear and out the other.
I'm at a healthy weight, healthy BMI but want to get my bf% down. To do this I will be lifting heavy weight and increasing my protein and calories. Of course I will still do cardio, that's a given but my main focus will be weight lifting. Thank you Steve!0 -
The article is correct to a point. There is no such thing as toning. You are either building muscle or breaking it down. His statement that to make the muscle harder you just do cardio, however, is completely wrong. Cardio only has actually proven to break down some muscle fibers, so when you lose the fat over the top of your muscles, the muscles will be soft and you'll still look flabby or like you have excess skin flaps. Basically, you have several types of muscle fibers and if you only train Type I, you will only maintain Type I. If you have a muscle group that is predominantly Type I fibers, it will look "toned" because you've built those Type I fibers by doing cardio. Leg muscles on a marathon runner (who only runs, no weight training) for example, appear "toned" because they have been building the strength and endurance in those Type I fibers. Look at that same marathon runners arms, however, and you won't see "tone" you will see soft, flabby muscle that hasn't been being strengthened. Weight training will focus on strengthening or building the Type II muscle fibers, so that the body appears "toned" after the fat is burned from cardio. You have to do both cardio and strength training in order to see "toned" muscles. But really, they aren't "toned" they have just been building the various types of muscle fibers and losing the fat.
This is what I was looking for. That one statement didn't make sense at all and it threw off all of the good points in the article.
Weight lifting will make muscles "harder" while cardio burns off the fat so you can see those "hard" muscles. And more muscle also means more fat burning. Thank you Tonya!0 -
Bump so I can read it later.0
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So does having more muscle burn more fat? This is all confusing sometimes :indifferent:
Yes, muscle burns fat! Strength training increases your metabolism!
AArrrhhhggg
Muscle does not "burn fat". Muscle can't do that. They are two different tissue types.
Increased lean mass does increase your metabolism, but that's NOT the same at all.
MUSCLE CAN NOT AND DOES NOT BURN FAT.0 -
it's confusing to think of "heavy lifting" when for me that's 10-15 lbs. :laugh:0
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So does having more muscle burn more fat? This is all confusing sometimes :indifferent:
Yes, muscle burns fat! Strength training increases your metabolism!
AArrrhhhggg
Muscle does not "burn fat". Muscle can't do that. They are two different tissue types.
Increased lean mass does increase your metabolism, but that's NOT the same at all.
MUSCLE CAN NOT AND DOES NOT BURN FAT.
Actually, it depends on how the muscle is working as to what substrate is being "burned" to produce the ATP for energy. If it is quick, explosive movements from the muscle, no, fat can't be the substrate that is being broken down for ATP. If it is anaerobic activity (weight training, sprints, etc. that the actual activity is <2 minutes and then rest), then no fat can't be broken down for ATP. If it is a long, endurance activity or low intensity level activity, however, the muscles can use fat stores for ATP production. Glycogen has to be broken down first to produce pyruvate to enter the Kreb's Cycle and Electron Transport Chain, but once in those systems, fat is a major fuel source for energy production. While at rest, the body (including the muscle tissue) primarily functions from the aerobic systems which breaks down a small amount of glycogen and fat to produce the necessary ATP for the body to maintain the BMR.0 -
Tonya you're correct in your science of the metabolic process.
However the simplistic comment of "muscle burns fat" makes a lot of people on this forum believe that on a "spot reducing" basis you can strength train a particular area of your body, and that any muscle developed there will somehow as by magic consume the fat in that area. For instance people do a lot of tricep dips because they believe that a more developed tricep muscle somehow burns the bingo wings fat...0 -
Tonya you're correct in your science of the metabolic process.
However the simplistic comment of "muscle burns fat" makes a lot of people on this forum believe that on a "spot reducing" basis you can strength train a particular area of your body, and that any muscle developed there will somehow as by magic consume the fat in that area. For instance people do a lot of tricep dips because they believe that a more developed tricep muscle somehow burns the bingo wings fat...
Sorry, I misunderstood you. You are 100% correct in the fact that you can't spot reduce. I thought you were talking from the perspective of several people that I've worked with over the years that weight training can't help reduce body fat stores because it doesn't use it as the substrate of choice during the activity, when in fact the added muscle is capable of burning some fat at rest and during endurance training.0 -
I have wiped out my originial comments because I misunderstood something and nothing I typed applies anymore.0
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So does having more muscle burn more fat? This is all confusing sometimes :indifferent:
Yes, muscle burns fat! Strength training increases your metabolism!
AArrrhhhggg
Muscle does not "burn fat". Muscle can't do that. They are two different tissue types.
Increased lean mass does increase your metabolism, but that's NOT the same at all.
MUSCLE CAN NOT AND DOES NOT BURN FAT.
No but increased muscle mass means increased metabolism which means more fat burned throughout the day - isn't this mostly what we burn through the day or are we just burning glycogen stores (and/or the food we eat) continuously through the day? Am I saying this right? I'm not good with words.
I really didn't get 'spot reduce' from the above comment though. But I guess some people could.0 -
So does having more muscle burn more fat? This is all confusing sometimes :indifferent:
Yes, muscle burns fat! Strength training increases your metabolism!
AArrrhhhggg
Muscle does not "burn fat". Muscle can't do that. They are two different tissue types.
Increased lean mass does increase your metabolism, but that's NOT the same at all.
MUSCLE CAN NOT AND DOES NOT BURN FAT.
No but increased muscle mass means increased metabolism which means more fat burned throughout the day - isn't this mostly what we burn through the day or are we just burning glycogen stores (and/or the food we eat) continuously through the day? Am I saying this right? I'm not good with words.
I really didn't get 'spot reduce' from the above comment though. But I guess some people could.
That is EXACTLY true. I did not mean you can spot reduce. I'm pretty sure by now MOST people here know that you cannot do that. But the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is in general. You need to relax a bit
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