Brizzle Rant #1

This is my first official Evolve rant... "Toning"!

Let's start with the wiki definition of "Toning"; "Toning exercises are physical exercises that are used with the aim of developing a physique with a large emphasis on musculature. In this context, the term toned implies leanness in the body (low levels of body fat), noticeable muscle definition and shape, but not significant muscle size ("bulk")." The notion that you can tone or shape a muscle is just silly, it either shows through your fat layers or it doesn't. You can reduce the layers of fat through a calorie deficit or increase muscle size through hypertrophy to get that "toned" look, but it is not "toning up". Research and basic anatomical knowledge implies that the notion of specific exercises to improve tone is unfounded. The size of a muscle can change, as can the amount of fat covering the muscle, but the 'shape' cannot. This also takes me onto spot training or spot reduction... both are often tangled up between each other as people want to target specific areas to look better, which usually leads to cries like "I really want to tone my arms, so I will start working my triceps to get rid of my 'bingo wings'...". This is great, but working your triceps will not automatically make your arms look more toned. They will build the triceps and make them look bigger, but that is it. The best approach is to target your whole body through a progressive training and nutrition plan, incorporating a calorie deficit to reduce overall body fat. Unfortunately your body will decide where the fat comes from, there is no way of picking a spot! Rant over

Thanks Brett Adapt. Evolve. Become