If you’re reading this, then you probably want more muscle tone.
Maybe you want to tone up your legs, or your stomach, or your arms, or your chest, or your back or your shoulders. Hell, maybe you want to tone up your entire body.
Whichever it is, you want to know all about toning. You want to know the best muscle toning exercises, the best body toning workouts, and all of the tips, tricks and secrets of how to get toned.
Sound about right?
If so, then I have a message for you…
Everything You Know About Tone Is Bullshit!
That’s right, it’s true. You see…
- Nothing tones a muscle.
- Nothing defines a muscle.
- Nothing makes a muscle ripped or cut or slim or lean or sculpted or any other equally hilarious adjectives that essentially mean the same damn thing.
For all of that to make sense (and to get to the root of the bullshit), you first need a definition of what these words truly mean.
Since they all tend to be used interchangeably and really mean the exact same thing, I’m just going to use “tone” (and “toning“) to refer to this entire group of words. So…
What Is Tone?
Tone: To have some amount of muscle on your body AND then have a low enough body fat percentage so that this muscle can actually be seen.
The more muscle you have and the less fat you have covering it, the more “toned” and “defined” and “ripped” and “cut” you will appear to be. The more fat covering your muscle, the less visible it will be and the less “toned” you will appear.
Go and read that again so it really sinks in.
What this means is, whenever a person says that they want to “tone up,” they’re actually saying that they want to be able to see their muscle better than they currently do.
And to accomplish that, it will always be a matter of doing one of the following:
- Losing the fat that is covering your muscles.
- Building some more muscle.
- A combination of both.
More often than not, too much fat covering your muscle is the #1 reason a person isn’t as toned as they would like to be, although just not having enough muscle in the first place (or a little bit of both) is possible as well.
So, that’s what “tone” actually is, and you’re now WAY ahead of the game for knowing it.
The reason I say that is because most people think tone is this magical thing that happens some magical way using only magical methods and techniques.
However, it’s not that at all.
To show you what I mean, let’s go over the common silly things that people think help them tone up, but in reality don’t do a damn thing.
Things That Will NOT Make Your Body Toned
- Higher reps WILL NOT make you toned.
- Lighter weight WILL NOT make you toned.
- Machines WILL NOT make you toned.
- Supposed “toning exercises” WILL NOT make you toned.
- Magical machines/products/supplements that claim to make you toned (usually for “3 easy payments of $19.95”) WILL DEFINITELY NOT make you toned.
Why? Because none of these silly things (myths) directly target the fat covering the muscle you are training.
Why? Because NOTHING directly targets the fat covering the muscle you are training.
Why? Because the idea that you can burn fat from one specific area of your body by doing exercises that target that area is known as spot reduction… and SPOT REDUCTION IS A BIG STUPID IMPOSSIBLE MYTH THAT CAN NOT ACTUALLY HAPPEN NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO.
Why? Because the human body is only capable of losing fat from the entire body as a whole. Exactly where on your body you lose fat from first, second, third, etc. is predetermined by your genetics whether you like it or not.
No workout or exercise, no type of workout or exercise, no form of workout or exercise, and no amount of reps, sets, or anything else can change that and actually allow you to burn fat from the exact spot you want to burn it from.
It sucks, but it’s true.
Got all that? Good! Now let’s answer the big question that’s on your mind right now…
So, How Do I Actually Get Toned?
If you’ve made it this far, then you’re probably wondering if “tone” is even possible. Is muscle tone just a myth? Is there no way to actually tone up your body? Will you never be able to get the results you want?
Relax… I have good news. Tone is definitely real and definitely possible.
And guess what else? All it takes is just 2 simple things:
- Build some amount of muscle.
- Lose enough fat so that the muscle you have (or will build) can actually be seen rather than covered by a layer (or many layers) of fat.
Taaadaaa!
All you need to do is use an intelligently designed weight training routine that will allow you to build muscle (for example, any of the MANY programs included in Superior Muscle Growth).
Then, using your diet plan, cardio activity, or a combination of both… lose some fat from your body as a whole. It will eventually come off from the exact spots you want it to and therefore allow you to appear “toned” in those spots.
And that’s it.
The fact is, if you don’t appear as “toned” as you want to appear, then you either need to build some more muscle (a function of weight training), lose some more fat (a function of diet and/or cardio), or do a combination of both.
Case closed.
And Here’s Why Most People Never Get Toned
The problem is, most people believe the stupid myths mentioned earlier, and instead of doing what they need to be doing (losing fat, building muscle, or both), they’re wasting time doing a bunch of useless crap that isn’t actually helping them get toned (or doing much of anything else, really).
Not only is “light weight for high reps” and other such nonsense NOT directly targeting the fat covering your muscles, it’s also NOT providing the type of training stimulus needed to actually build muscle in the first place.
So, neither of the things you truly need to be doing to tone up (losing fat, building muscle) are actually happening in this scenario.
And, while many guys might find themselves in this scenario, the majority of women who weight train are nearly always in this scenario.
It’s due to a combination of A) “toning up” usually being the workout goal of most females, and B) the fear of getting too “big and bulky” like a guy (another stupid myth I destroy here: workouts for women) scaring them away from doing the stuff they should be doing.
So, all of these people (men and women) are just wasting time and accomplishing NONE of the things that need to be accomplished in order for a person to truly get toned.
Don’t Be One Of These People
So, if you truly want to get toned, don’t be like these people. If you already are, then just stop now and fix it. How? Once again…
Muscle + less fat = tone.
That’s all it is.
To supply the “muscle” portion of that equation, design yourself a proper weight training program that uses an ideal amount of frequency, intensity and volume, an ideal workout schedule, and proper exercise selection. Then focus on making progressive overload happen as often as possible.
Or, better yet, use one of my already highly proven workouts included in Superior Muscle Growth.
Then, for the “less fat” portion of appearing toned… set up your diet plan in a way that will cause fat loss to occur.
That’s all that works.
There’s no such thing as toning exercises. There is no combination of sets and reps that cause tone. There is no type of weight training workout or method that in and of itself allows you to tone up a specific area of your body or your entire body as a whole.
Tone is just a matter of having some amount of muscle and then having a low enough body fat percentage so that muscle can be seen.
Everything else is bullshit.
Source: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-tone/
