Ex gymnast who wants to get toned again

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kakobe4
kakobe4 Posts: 9 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone! I did gymnastics for 18 years. After I quit my sophomore year in college my definition started going away almost instantly. I have a lot of muscle left (those thunder thighs) but I want to get toned again. Anyone have any advice?

Good luck to everyone!

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  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Heavy lifting, adequate protein intake and a small caloric deficit.
  • marcolbmp
    marcolbmp Posts: 92 Member
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    workouts are the easy part, diet is definitely much tougher and accounts for 80% of your results,
    what do you have access to? gym? workout at home?
  • kakobe4
    kakobe4 Posts: 9 Member
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    @erickirb‌ I'm also training for a half marathon? Will that thin me out or not do much? Lift before or after running? And thank you!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    kakobe4 wrote: »
    @erickirb‌ I'm also training for a half marathon? Will that thin me out or not do much? Lift before or after running? And thank you!

    If your goal is running I would put your focus there. depending on your diet, it should "lean you out". Normally it is better to lift before cardio, but is goal dependent.

    lifting and getting adequate protein while in a small deficit ensures that a larger % of your loss comes from fat and less from lean muscle. Cardio can just make you have a larger deficit, or you can eat more and maintain the same deficit.
  • kakobe4
    kakobe4 Posts: 9 Member
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    @marcolbmp‌ I would definitely say that food is my weakness. I was used to a high carb diet since I worked out for 3+ hours a day and now I still eat too many carbs. But I have access to a gym (2 actually!)
  • gamesandgains
    gamesandgains Posts: 640 Member
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    erickirb wrote: »
    Heavy lifting, adequate protein intake and a small caloric deficit.
    This is correct.
  • marcolbmp
    marcolbmp Posts: 92 Member
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    kakobe4 I'm right there with you. I raced motorcycles most of my life and it required high carb and protein intake before, during and after...it's tough to break that cycle.
    Like mentioned by erickirb, training for a specific goal, like a marathon, is a great place to start.
    I have a bunch of training programs written for friends if you want to try them out, all would be geared towards overall toning and shaping your lower body. The training I do now for racing is very specific and would probably not make sense to most, lol

  • kakobe4
    kakobe4 Posts: 9 Member
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    @marcolbmp‌ I'm glad I'm not the only one haha but that would be great! I'm easily motivated as long as I have some sort of plan/workout
  • marcolbmp
    marcolbmp Posts: 92 Member
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    message sent
  • kakobe4
    kakobe4 Posts: 9 Member
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    Thanks everyone!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Strong curves, new rules of lifting for women (both books) or strong lifts 5x5 (website)

    And eat at a defecit

    (Also avoid the word "tone" it gets some bad reactions on here :grinning: )

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