So You Think You Want To TONE?

I hear it all the time, “I don’t want to bulk up I want to tone”. Let me put it to you frankly, there is no such thing as “toning”. Physiologically, Muscle tone, which is also referred to as residual muscle tension or tonus is a continuous or passive partial contraction of the muscle. In laymen’s terms this would be the amount of tension present in the muscle belly (of an individual muscle or muscle group).

How did we get from that definition to using the word “tone” to refer to the ability to see ones muscles? “She is so toned I love her shoulders.” If any trainer ever uses the word “tone”, run-FAST. It shows they have little to no understanding of physiology; not exactly the person you want designing your training program—worse yet—your diet!

So how should we address our goals of being able to see more muscular definition? Just like that. In order to see definition you must: 1) have muscle to begin with and 2) reduce your body fat low enough to reveal that muscle.

In dealing with the “have muscle” requirement, remember that you cannot reveal what isn’t there. If you have never formally strength trained, played competitive athletics or have stellar genetics (those lucky ones) you will likely need to work on BUILDING muscle before trying to lose body fat. Failing to do so will only leave you “skinny” with little shape. Those fitness models you see with great glutes and beautiful shoulder caps, they had to spend time building that physique. 

Building takes TIME and a caloric surplus. You cannot be eating twigs and berries and doing hours of cardio and expect to increase your muscle mass. You need to be in an anabolic state, meaning taking in more calories than you are expending. It takes building blocks (specifically amino acids formed into peptide chains, but this is for another time) to create muscle tissue. Could you build a house without materials? Don’t think so.

This is hard for most to hear. You mean I have to try not to lose weight in order to be more defined. The answer in most cases is yes. Get a good year of solid lifting under your belt, then enter an active fat loss phase to reveal your masterpiece. 

There are a few instances where you can simultaneously build muscle and burn fat at the same time, but these are not common. First, if you are new to strength training you will see initial increases in muscle mass and may also drop body fat during this period (seasoned trainees do not have this benefit). Secondly those coming off a competition “cut” or dieting phase entering a building phase can see increases in muscle tissue while continuing to drop body fat for a short period of time. Lastly, individuals using Anabolic Steroids can synthetically induce the aforementioned effect (obviously I am STRONGLY against this).

I know what all the females out there are thinking. “This girl is crazy, I don’t want to ‘bulk up’”. Ok honey let’s get something straight. As females we naturally produce very little testosterone and produce much less Human Growth Hormone and IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor- 1) than our male counterparts. These hormones are the reason males have “manly” traits and why they build muscle more easily than females (and tend to have more/larger muscles). Unless you are synthetically increasing your levels of these hormones (as occurs with Anabolic Steroids) you have nothing to worry about. Being afraid you will look like a female bodybuilder from lifting weights is like being afraid you will turn into a Nascar Driver by getting in your car. It doesn’t happen like that!

Granted, if you are shoving your face with cupcakes and lifting weights you will “bulk up” but a majority of this increase in mass is from body fat, not muscle. Heck, you could bulk up from just eating cupcakes! Lifting will give you shape and the opportunity to see muscular definition, not make you manly or give you arms like the hulk. PROMISE!

The next requirement in achieving a more defined physique is to “reduce body fat”. This requires a moderate caloric deficit (taking in fewer calories than you are burning). We are bombarded by so many diets, products, cleanses etc. promising to help us do just this. Truth is—science only backs what has worked for centuries. Reduce your caloric intake, exercise moderately and strength train to preserve muscle tissue.

A good rule of thumb is to start with calories at 12 x your body weight in pounds (this is for a normal weight individual, those in the overweight or obese categories will have to go a bit lower). Consume 1-1.2 grams of protein per pound and fill the rest of your macros (short for macronutrients, we will dive into this concept in another post) with carbohydrates and fats depending on your preferences. 

Weigh yourself once weekly, same time, same place, in your birthday suit, after you’ve used the restroom. If you are dropping too quickly, slightly increase your calories, not dropping at all, slightly reduce. I STRONGLY caution you not to reduce too much as this will decrease your metabolic rate and can come with an array of health problems, not to mention an uphill battle in the fat loss game. For a normal weight individual I NEVER take calories below 10 x bodyweight (in pounds). 

Expect a weight loss of .5-2 pounds a week (depending on body size, gender, activity level, etc.). This will ensure your weight loss is coming mostly from fat tissue and not precious muscle tissue (which would again leave you “skinny fat” as discussed above—cannot see what you do not have!).

As you lose subcutaneous fat (that directly below the skin) you will start to see more muscular definition. YOU ARE NOT GETTING TONED—you are increasing your degree of leanness by reducing your body fat percentage allowing you to SEE your muscle tissue.

There you have it. Leave the “toning” to printers. Build a solid base of muscle then slowly reduce your body fat to see more muscular definition. I plead with you, stop using the word “toned”—especially those calling themselves health and fitness “Gurus” (what do you mean your 100 page Personal Training Manual didn’t get into tonus or the degree of muscular tension produced at rest or in response to being stretched?).

Here’s to getting summer lean the only PROVEN, SAFE and HEALTHY way!

Check out keypotentialfitness.com or email me at lindseymwoodkey@yahoo.com for more information on individualized training programs, meal plans, macros and other health/fitness guidance.