How do I get Toned?

An all too familiar question in health and fitness forums and one of the most common goals of people entering the gym for the first time revolves around a single word with a simple meaning; “toned.” While the knowledgeable lifter may know the correct term is “defined”, “toned” is a commonly mis-used term by newer trainees and one that can be easily corrected and then elaborated upon.

Chances are by searching the internet or saying they want to get “toned” they will receive the generic responses including light weight, high reps, lots of cardio, and diet. Experience tells me there is a better way, a faster way, and a way to do more than just look the part. You can actually be strong and be defined at the same time and it all starts with the training program.

Defined bodies have moderately low bodyfat percentages and a substantial percentage of muscle. I won’t explicitly give bodyfat percentages because the number has absolutely nothing to do with the look. Everybody holds and stores fat in different ways, so 15% on one person may look very defined and soft on others. Defined is about what you see, not some number that nobody knows unless you’re boasting.

Dropping fat is the first requirements and without turning this into a 20 page post, fat loss can be accomplished in several ways: diet, metabolic conditioning, cardiovascular training, and strength training. How you lose the fat is up to you, but the fat layer needs to be minimized.

The second requirement is growing muscle. Typically that comes through high volume hypertrophy programs. The most effective method also includes high intensity strength training.

*Intensity is defined as the amount of weight relative to your 1 rep max, it is impossible to do high volume and high intensity at the same time.

I can hear the concern “I don’t want to get big and bulky.” Guess what! Big and bulky is heavily dependent on genetics and most of us aren’t that lucky to instantly turn into a Phil Heath or Dana Lynn Bailey. If you’re a woman, you’re even less likely to experience the massive growth due to Mr. T, Testosterone. Testosterone is the king of all the muscle-building hormones [1]. And most women don’t have as much of it as men.
Besides the years of hard work and unwavering devotion to exercise and diet, developing the kind of muscular physiques you see in the magazines takes hours of training with heavy weights, eating a lot of food, and getting plenty of rest. (And in some cases, heavy supplementation)

Avoiding heavy training because you don’t want to get “too big” is like owning snow clothes and living on the equator.

It just doesn’t make sense.

Most people fail to realize how adding muscle to their frame can change the way they look. Since muscle occupies less space than fat, your proportions will change, typically accentuating the V-Taper. There was an interesting study published several years ago regarding the increase of bodyweight and lowering of bodyfat. [2] Simply, the studied demonstrated an increase of muscle mass and a lowering of bodyfat, which correlates to smaller tape measurements and “definition.”

The study used a group of female tennis players following a planned strength program for nine months. The program involved lifting weights three times a week in an undulating manner, meaning there are heavy (4-6 reps), medium (8-10 reps) and light (12-15 reps) weights.

The result, the women had gained weight – around 2.5 pounds and dropped from an average of 23% to 19% bodyfat. In other words, the layer of fat got thinner and the muscle got bigger.
While you can change your shape with diet or aerobic exercise alone, chances are you cannot create the “toned” muscular look you want without gaining muscle. Strength training gives you control in how you look by allowing you to cut fat and build enough muscle to achieve the look you want.

Sources:
[1] West DW, Phillips SM. (2010). Anabolic processes in human skeletal muscle: restoring the identities of growth hormone and testosterone. The Physician and Sports Medicine, 38, 97-104 [2] Kraemer, W.J., Hakkinen, K., Triplett-Mcbride, N.T., Fry, A.C., Koziris, L.P., Ratamess, N.A., Bauer, J.E., Volek, J.S., McConnell, T., Newton, R.U., Gordon, S.E., Cummings, D., Hauth, J., Pullo F, Lynch JM, Fleck SJ, Mazzetti SA, Knuttgen HG. (2003). Physiological changes with periodized resistance training in women tennis players.Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35, 157-168