Running to tone
healthy491
Posts: 384 Member
Does sprinting intervals on the treadmill help you tone your inner thighs ? As I dont like lifting but I love the treadmill and the elliptical
I dont want to lose anymore weight so I dont think i should be in a calorie deficit
I dont want to lose anymore weight so I dont think i should be in a calorie deficit
0
Replies
-
Losing weight removes fat. Running can help create a caloric deficit to lose weight, which in turn, lets muscle show because of fat loss.1
-
-
First, you can't spot reduce. It comes off in whatever way it wants to. Second, running on the treadmill and the elliptical are great for your heart and conditioning your muscles for endurance but not for strengthening your muscles, which is really what you want to do when you're talking about "toning". Lifting isn't my favorite thing either but I do it to try to preserve my lean muscle mass while I am actively losing weight.6
-
You have fat and you have lean body mass (LBM.) If you want to lose fat but remain the same weight, you need to increase LBM.
Example of the math:
total mass = fat + lean
100 = 15 + 85
If you were to lose 5 pounds of fat, you'd have:
95 = 10 + 85
So in order to get back to 100, you'd need to have:
100 = 10 + 90
In summary, if you don't want to lose any weight but would like to lose fat, work on losing fat and building LBM in the form of muscle. You can either do a recomp, which means you're working on both at the same time (eat at maintenance) or you can do a bulk and cut cycle (eat over maintenance to gain muscle and then eat below maintenance to lose the fat you've added plus hopefully some more fat.) Either way, you need to do resistance exercise such as lifting weights.
3 -
"Toning" is basically getting leaner so that muscles are more visible. Often times that can be difficult based on doing cardio alone.0
-
Arose1122 is the best comment in answer to the question. Cardio is important for overall health. However, to tone which is what you want to do. Resistance training is what you will need to do. Which we commonly associate with weight training. Depending on what areas of your body you want to focus on, there are a number of different exercises to try. First off. Start by stating exactly what you want to achieve. Then build a programme round that. If you need a hand give me a shout. X1
-
Your results will be a direct reflection of your efforts. You can't expect the results if you don't do a program that supports that. Like others have stated, getting toned means less body fat. If you don't have the definition you desire, it means you have a body fat that is high. Resistance training (even body resistance) a small deficit and adequate protein (about .8g per lb of weight) will allow you to cut fat and help maintain your lean body mass.0
-
To give you an idea what kind of muscles might be 'trained' from running here's some actual experience. I'm running for over a year now and stopped doing strength training sometime in October. Last Saturday I did some bodyweight lower body exercises that targeted pretty much all big muscles.
Sunday: Back of thights and bum hurt
Monday: still back of thighs and bum, slight pain on inner side of thighs
Today: back of thighs and bum pain gone, inner side pain almost gone, very slight pain just above the knee, backside.
Thus I guess running mainly trains the thighs at the front and outside, and the lower legs1 -
The answer to the original question is yes0
-
Try Pilates0
-
Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.0
-
healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Understandable. Unfortunately, you can't spot reduce fat.1 -
healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Do some sort of progressive resistance program. It's already been said. Looking "toned" means having a bit of muscle and being lean enough for it to show. If you are as lean as you want to be, you are left with the option of building muscle. There are no other options.
1 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Understandable. Unfortunately, you can't spot reduce fat.
I dont think its fat though I think they are stretch marks or some loose skin but they are really bothering me0 -
healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Weight and body fat have ranges. How are you defining a healthy range? If you dont have definition you either dont have good enough body composition or your body fat is too high.1 -
healthy491 wrote: »Asher_Ethan wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Understandable. Unfortunately, you can't spot reduce fat.
I dont think its fat though I think they are stretch marks or some loose skin but they are really bothering me
You can't exercise skin any more than you can exercise fat.
Would suggest getting a "second opinion" from someone you trust to give an honest opinion - what you are seeing may not be what everyone else sees.0 -
healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Weight and body fat have ranges. How are you defining a healthy range? If you dont have definition you either dont have good enough body composition or your body fat is too high.
My body fat percentage is 22.7 % , I am 157 cm tall and I weigh 49 Kg so no I dont think its too high0 -
healthy491 wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
Weight and body fat have ranges. How are you defining a healthy range? If you dont have definition you either dont have good enough body composition or your body fat is too high.
My body fat percentage is 22.7 % , I am 157 cm tall and I weigh 49 Kg so no I dont think its too high
That isnt high but its may be high for your goals. If you want to be toned, you might have to lose another 3 to 5% body fat depending on genetics. This is also pending your bf is accurate. Based on your info you would have around 84lbs of lbm. To hit 20% bf, you would need to cut around 4lbs of fat which is still within acceptable ranges. But in order to ensure max lbm retention, you would need some sort of progressive resistance training; weight training, body weight, body pump, cross fit, kettle bell, etc. Add that with adequate protein ( 85g) and a small deficit 10% under maintenance would work.
If you didnt like that route you can recomp. Eat at maintenance and again have adequate protein and a good resistance program. This is more time consuming but can work for those who don't want weight loss.
Either way, its no surprise that the key to a lean body is resistance training. It just produces more ideal results.1 -
healthy491 wrote: »Does sprinting intervals on the treadmill help you tone your inner thighs ? As I dont like lifting but I love the treadmill and the elliptical
I dont want to lose anymore weight so I dont think i should be in a calorie deficit
I don't like flossing but I do it because it's good for my gums.4 -
Try pilates or yoga, or a workout with 3-5 lb weights. I dislike Tracy Anderson as a person [he diet is too restrictive], but her workouts are great.0
-
When I started training for a marathon, I went from lifting 4xs per week to lifting 1x\2xs. While I did lose a lot of weight and strengthen my legs, the rest of my body was a little mushy (skinny fat). Now, I run no more than 1x\2x short runs per week (back to lifting 4 days)and a long one on the weekend just to keep up my cardio strength. Yes, I have put on a few pounds but my body is tighter and I look better then when I was focused on cardio.2
-
Start lifting or do some other kind of resistance based exercise to build muscle1
-
It may not be what you want to hear, but this is probably the way to the goals you're after.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p11 -
healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
2 -
healthy491 wrote: »Thanks all for your help , but as I said I cant lose anymore weight and my body fat is already in a healthy state for my age. I just want to tone my thighs.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Running uphill is such a good idea. Surprised that no one else mentioned it !
Thanks a lot0 -
Thanks for your help everyone !1
-
I don't life lifting either so I do body weight exercises like squats, lunges, that kinda thing. I'm still getting back in shape after having my second baby so those are still a challenge.0
-
Your question is probably already answered, but I'd like to let you know my personal experience. My years of running certainly helped build leg muscles, and adding incline will definitely help. But I haven't noticed much difference in the inner thighs. I see the greatest difference in my front thighs, calves and glutes (when doing incline). You may look for an alternate exercise if you specifically want to build inner thigh muscles.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 432 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.9K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.7K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions