How To Achieve A More “Toned” Body
If you want to look more toned, more beefy and have a radically ripped abs for life then read this article.
People (women mostly) say they want to be more “toned”. Meaning they don’t necessarily want to build more muscle mass, but they want the muscle that already have to look more in shape, toned, and defined.
How most people screw up attempting to get “toned”
A number of people completely screw this up. They make an effort to get in shape by “going for the burn” when training. They do this for the reason that
1. Someone told them heavy weights make you bulky…
2. Their muscles feel and look toned when they “Feel the burn” when exercising with high reps.
Here’s why you shouldn’t “go for the burn” when exercising if you want to get in shape
The Burn is Lactic Acid.
The reason you feel hard during and after the ‘burn’ is the same reason a corpse is stiff. Your muscle fibers are akin to mouse traps-they go off by themselves, but need energy to be reset to contract once again. A dead body is out of ATP, the energy compound that relaxes the muscles, that’s why their muscles are permanently contracted.
An elevated rep training wears out ATP in your muscle and leads to a momentary stiffness extremely similar to what happens to a dead body. But you probably don’t want to be dead, and in spite of that you still want to be toned. The solution?
Real Muscle Tone = Tension
To get lasting tone, you need to work out your nervous system to keep your muscles half flexed when you are comfortable. This is what muscle tone is-residual tension in a relaxed muscle! The kind of tension that comes from neurological activity, and not energy exhaustion.
Increased muscle tone is not a physical change of your muscle. It is the result of the nervous system being more on the ball. It keeps the muscles somewhat contracted the whole time.
Strength = Tension = Tone
Strength and tone training is the same thing. If you learn to generate tension to gain strength, instead of building more muscle, then the stronger you are, the harder you will be. This means you need to focus on strength training to get that hard bod you want. Max tension = max strength.
For Women
* Want buns of steel? Heavy, high-tension deadlifts work your butt WAY more than butt squeezes, ‘fire hydrants’, or similar silly moves popular in ‘muscle sculpting’ classes
* Want toned abs? Heavy, high-tension deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, ab wheel routines, planks, etc force your abs to generate high tension
* Want muscular, sleek, sexy hips and thighs? Deadlifts, squats, and other full body movements done with high tension, heavy weights are the ticket.
For men:
* Want a Big Chest and Shoulders? Heavy, High Tension Overhead Presses and Bench Presses will get you there
* Crave for a barnyard back? Weight Pullups and Bent over Rows to build those lats
* Lean chiseled abs? Squats, Deads, Overhead Squats, Overhead presses, Ab Wheels and planks like the ladies
* Want firm, sculpted arms? Heavy presses and other overhead work.
You Can Strength Train and Not “Get Bulky”
Here’s how you strength train without getting bigger: keep the volume low. And you will get stronger, harder, and more toned without getting any bigger. Keep the total number of reps low per workout. A general rule is 10 reps or less. So two heavy sets of 5 would work with the major exercises.
If you want to get big, and build muscle: Lift more volume during your workout. Keep the reps low though so you’re still able to lift with maximal tension and build more strength. 5 sets x 5 reps as an example for each major exercise.
So there you go. If you want to get more toned, more ripped, more “hard” then you need to build strength.
Tags: Muscle Building