How To Achieve A More “Toned” Body
If you desire to look more toned, trim and chiseled day after day then you read this article.
People (largely women) say that they want to be more “toned”. In other words, they don’t necessarily want to build extra muscle mass, yet they want the muscle that already have to look more in shape, toned, and defined.
How most people screw up trying to get “toned”
Nearly everyone absolutely screw this up. They make an attempt to firm up by “going for the burn” when exercising. They do this since
1. Someone told them heavy weights make you big
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 buildup
The reason you feel hard during and after the ‘burn’ is the same reason a corpse is stiff. Your muscle fibers are similar to mouse traps-they go off by themselves, but need energy to be reset to contract again. A dead body is out of ATP, the energy compound that relaxes the muscles, that’s why their muscles are permanently tightened.
A high rep workout exhausts ATP in your muscle and leads to a temporary hardness very similar to what happens to a dead body. But you probably don’t want to be dead, and yet you still want to be toned. The solution?
Real Muscle Tone = Tension
To get lasting tone, you need to exercise your nervous system to keep your muscles half flexed when you are calm. This is what muscle tone is-residual tension in a relaxed muscle! The kind of tension that comes from neurological activity, and not energy fatigue.
Increased muscle tone is not a physical transformation of your muscle. It is the result of the nervous system being more alert. It keeps the muscles partially contracted all the time.
Strength / Tension / Tone
Strength and tone training is the same thing. If you learn to create tension to acquire strength, instead of building more muscle, then the stronger you are, the harder you will be. This means you need to come to grips with strength training to sculpt a lean, hard, athletic physique you dreamed of. Max tension: max strength.
For Ladies
* Want buns of steel? Extreme, high-tension deadlifts work your butt WAY more than butt squeezes, ‘fire hydrants’, or similar silly moves popular in ‘muscle sculpting’ classes
* Sculpt rock-hard abs? Extreme, high-tension deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, ab wheel routines, planks, and all that force your abs to cause high tension
* Want chiseled, sleek, sexy hips and thighs? Deadlifts, squats, and other full body movements done with high tension, heavy weights are the ticket.
For males:
* Want a Thick Chest and Broad Shoulders? Extreme, High Tension Overhead Presses and Bench Presses will get you there
* Want a barnyard back? Weight Pullups and Bent over Rows to build those lats
* Ripped Abs? Squats, Deads, Overhead Squats, Overhead presses, Ab Wheels and planks like the ladies
* Want big arms? Heavy presses and other overhead work.
You Can Go Into Strength Training Without Getting “Huge”
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 build a hard body with muscles of steel – lean, hard, energized physique. As well as sculpt a killer six-pack, then you need to build strength.