I Just Want to Get Toned- Not Big

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Seniors/fit, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | (0) Comments

This is something you hear from women all the time- and sometimes from men. The problem is that most people are already big (as in fat) and they need an exercise and diet plan to lose fat and gain muscle. For the most part, you are not going to get “big” by accident. It just doesn’t happen. Women don’t have the right hormones to gain lots of muscle mass easily and even men need to work very hard to gain the kind of muscle mass that would qualify them for a cover shot on Muscle and Fitness. So don’t worry about getting big by accident; worry about not making any progress because you won’t train hard enough to make a difference.

There is a good post over at Women’s diet and fitness that helps explain this.You really do need to push yourself or you will not make much progress and become disillusioned very quickly.

First off, getting “toned” really just means increasing muscle and decreasing fat to allow that muscle to show a bit more. And sure… lifting light weights for high reps is a decent workout program… but not for getting toned. It is best for increasing your endurance and burning calories.

Let’s dispute the first part of the post: women just don’t have the body or the hormones required to get all jacked up like a man. Those women you see on magazines or bodybuilding shows are not natural and the chances of you getting that big is very very slim.

Ok, so you want to get “toned” and you want to get slim… now what? Lift weight! Real weight, don’t be afraid to move up on the barbell rack and really push yourself. Instead of lifting light weights for 15-20 reps, aim for 6-10 reps but lift heavy enough so you can’t get past the 10th.