Toning

[tgzerozone]

Fark. If I had a dollar for everytime I try to explain to someone trying to loose weight that the stupid word toning doesn't exist.

What's up with that? Either you build a muscle, or a muscle gets smaller, WTF is up with this toning.

And then you tell them there is no toning, you either build your muscle or you loose it, or you loose the fat around it to see it. But no.

And all of the time these people are eating 1200 cals a day and then when you tell them to hit the gym harder, they say to you: " I don't want to get big muscles, I want to tone my current muscles". It's like they think Dorian yates and Arnold and all those people got their size from eating 1200 cals a day and throwing pink dumbbells around.

Same goes when you tell someone that is trying to loose weight and is at a point where they cannot really do strenious exercise. You tell them to start swimming to at least do something that won't really strain them so much and then they tell you they don't want to get massive shoulders. Somehow they think the Olympic female swimmers gets massive shoulders from swimming 30 minutes 3 times a week.

That me done venting for today.

[hhhh1]

didnt read most of that but pretty much gathered that you're jealous of people with toned abs.

i suggest incorperating more toning excercises into your workout routine. stuff like lighter weights-higher reps and also resistance band and swiss-ball excercises. also train abs every 2nd day. diet is pretty irrelevant, the toning excercises are key.

[tgzerozone]

didnt read most of that but pretty much gathered that you're jealous of people with toned abs.

i suggest incorperating more toning excercises into your workout routine. stuff like lighter weights-higher reps and also resistance band and swiss-ball excercises. also train abs every 2nd day. diet is pretty irrelevant, the toning excercises are key.

:pfft: Damn, read right through me. :roll:

[Pseudonym]

I know where you're coming from, tgerozone. And yes, you're right - "toning" is often used wrongly.

But in all seriousness, some people DO seem to have better "muscle tone" than others. By that, I mean even disregarding muscle size and leanness, some people just seem to have naturally firmer muscles - as though they are in a constant state of slight tension. There's a proper term for this, but it escapes me now.

Anyway, I'd be interested in discussing this aspect of "muscle tone" further. Why do I look soft unless I flex (even when really lean), while others can appear hard even when relaxed?

[tinytraps]

I know where you're coming from, tgerozone. And yes, you're right - "toning" is often used wrongly.

But in all seriousness, some people DO seem to have better "muscle tone" than others. By that, I mean even disregarding muscle size and leanness, some people just seem to have naturally firmer muscles - as though they are in a constant state of slight tension. There's a proper term for this, but it escapes me now.

Anyway, I'd be interested in discussing this aspect of "muscle tone" further. Why do I look soft unless I flex (even when really lean), while others can appear hard even when relaxed?

Its called tonus srs

[Pseudonym]

Hah. So it is! I think "residual muscle tension" was the phrase I was thinking of.

So now that we've established that such a thing does exist, can anyone shed some light on what causes it? As per Tgerozone's post, I don't believe the conventional "high reps, light weights" so popular in ladies' gyms works... but what does?

This is a wild guess on my part, but is muscle tone related to androgen levels?

[tinytraps]

I think it is mostly based on myofibril hypertrophy rather than sarcoplasmic. Someone that lifts relatively heavy weights will have thicker muscle fibres so when dieted down will have that permanent toned look (a low bf pler will look pretty jacked all the time) where as someone who lifts purely in the high rep range with lighter loads will have that sarcoplasmic growth (or the pumped look) while they are pumped up they look mean but as soon as they lose it they look like shit again.

EDIT http://chaosandpain.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/you-want-to-get-toned-how-about-you.html this is a good blog post that explains it quite nicely

[two_phat]

So basically lift heavy if you want your muscles to look harder and fuller without flexing/having a pump?

[hhhh1]

strong broscience ITT

[tgzerozone]

Hah. So it is! I think "residual muscle tension" was the phrase I was thinking of.

So now that we've established that such a thing does exist, can anyone shed some light on what causes it? As per Tgerozone's post, I don't believe the conventional "high reps, light weights" so popular in ladies' gyms works... but what does?

This is a wild guess on my part, but is muscle tone related to androgen levels?

I'm thinking marble steak here. Maybe some people hold on the fat in between the muscles and others less so. lol. Bro science.

[tomleegolf]

I think it is mostly based on myofibril hypertrophy rather than sarcoplasmic. Someone that lifts relatively heavy weights will have thicker muscle fibres so when dieted down will have that permanent toned look (a low bf pler will look pretty jacked all the time) where as someone who lifts purely in the high rep range with lighter loads will have that sarcoplasmic growth (or the pumped look) while they are pumped up they look mean but as soon as they lose it they look like shit again.

EDIT http://chaosandpain.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/you-want-to-get-toned-how-about-you.html this is a good blog post that explains it quite nicely

Arnie says this in his book and uses himself and Franco as an example