I saw an article, recently, titled: “3 Myths About Toning”. It was actually a pretty good article, but my immediate thought—especially at the title—was the writing an article titled “3 Myths About Toning” is very much like writing an article with the title: “3 Myths About Zeus”.
“Toning” is a myth. In my opinion, “toning” is a phrase used in the gym by someone who really wants to say to the fitness trainer: “Make me look good, but I don’t want to work hard.” It bothers me to see it even discussed in reference to exercise prescription. Indeed, there are only five possible outcomes with regards to body composition change resulting from one’s efforts at the gym. One will see: 1) increased muscle mass, 2) decreased body fat, 3) both 1 & 2, 4) neither 1 nor 2, or 5) one will see an increase in both muscle and fat. “Toning” is #1, 2, or 3–only on the smallest scale.
“Toning” hardly seems a suitable term for the results one is going to see with CrossFit and other WOD- or HIIRT-type training programs. These tend to be moderate weight and high-repetition by design. The result is (usually—as diet plays a great role in managing fat loss) both a modest gain in muscle mass and a loss in fat. The volume and intensity of training is often much higher than that which is attributed to “toning”. Most who want to “tone” prefer light-moderate weights for high repetitions and caloric restriction. The result is most often a leanness with relatively little muscularity.
The beauty of the “I want to get toned” approach is that it doesn’t take the effort that training physique or bodybuilding requires—i.e., long hours in the gym and a very strict diet. It also doesn’t require the extensive periodization that more extensive gains require—e.g., hypertrophy, strength, and cutting phases. Getting “toned” is really just having general fitness goals—recomposition (losing fat and gaining muscle). Recomp is controversial among bodybuilders. It is unlikely that one will maximize muscle gains on a diet that allows for simultaneous fat loss. To be done most effectively, careful caloric control must be maintained from day to day, based upon daily caloric needs (e.g., more on training days and less on non-training days). For the average person with general goals a bit of “recomping” is possible, though the results are far from dramatic.
In the general sense, a basic workout in the range of 2-4 working sets of 8-12 repetitions for 8-10 exercises performed 2-3 times per week (the more traditional American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines), coupled with a cardio workout program and modest caloric restriction, will result in a more “toned” look—firm muscles and leaner body composition. If one wants the “wow” factor, however, it won’t be there.
For more dramatic improvements in body composition, one will want to lift weights for hypertrophy and strength. Initially, one may want to grow into his or her body fat by gaining muscle, which require more than a eucaloric diet. Fat gain can be minimized or curtailed by remaining close to a eucaloric diet—even going slightly hypocaloric on non-training days, but muscle needs calories to grow. The higher the body fat the easier it is to pull off being hypo- or eucaloric without losing muscle or sacrificing gains. We are fat, after all, because we are consuming more calories than our body needs. The additional muscle progressively consumes the calories going otherwise to fat. Thus, we may see little to know change on the scale as we “recomp”. We can speed further the fat loss by an occasional “cut” phase—restricting calories to lose fat while manipulating the training to maintain muscle mass. Ideally, those of us with higher body fat percentage at the onset of a training programs will see little to no upward movement on the scale, while seeing impressive change in the mirror. Any downward movement on the scale should not be accompanied with a loss in muscle mass. Typically, this means a loss of no more than a pound or two a week. The higher the initial body fat, the more dramatic the movement on the scale will be. Here it should be recognized that the gains in muscle will be less recognized until the fat weight is lost. The leaner one becomes the more relevant muscle composition becomes for aesthetics. The exerciser can decide whether he or she wants to add muscle.
The reality of “toning” is that high repetitions and light weights with little progression is going to produce very little in the way of observable results. The best results come with the best effort.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!