The Truth About “Toning Up”
“I just want to tone up…” - said every woman I have talked to ever.
I get it, you want to have the body of a supermodel with nice muscle outlines and curves in just the right places.
All the fitness influencers on the internet are telling you that this will happen if you do light weights for lots of reps, go to gym classes like body pump, pilates and spinning, and only do HIIT workouts where you jump around and sweat a lot.
In theory, this works because not using high weights and sticking mostly to body weight exercises will not get you bulky… Right? You definitely don’t want to get bulky and look like a man, so you won’t even go near the weight section of your gym.
I’m sorry to burst you bubble, but I have to…
Light weights, booty band workouts, HIIT cardio and classes will NOT get you toned.
It is a common misconception that is taught to women from an early age that we shouldn’t lift weights and stick to “more feminine” activities that simply elevate our heart rates because that will make us look more feminine. Well, research has shown time and time again that this concept is extremely wrong.
Doing cardio only or more repetitions with lighter weights or no weights at all will not, in fact, make you look more toned. All it will do is waste your precious time to get the physique you actually want.
I know, it’s all hard to take in because you’ve been told by websites, blogs, celebrities and influencers that it is what they did to get their incredible shape. People sharing their journey with the public usually aren’t experts in the field, they have full teams working with them on making sure that they look the part and they only share the things online that “look cool”. Most of the time their bodies only look that way for a couple hours or days leading up to an event that they diet and train extremely hard for.
Truth is, that you can’t “tone” a muscle. It is a term invented by fitness influencers and the media to make gaining muscle and losing fat sound more digestible for women who are looking to work on their physiques. Because lifting heavy and going to the gym to work hard sounds more scary than doing a HIIT class or a toning workout. You can only get a “toned” body if you build muscle under the fat layers that you carry and then lose the fat from over it to improve your body composition.
It’s time for us to forget the idea that lifting heavy makes us bulky and accept the fact that it is the best way to improve your physique combined with eating enough protein and calories that help muscle growth, and staying consistent over time.
And no… you will not get “bulky”. That would probably take you years of consistent heavy lifting, training harder than you’d ever be able to comprehend, and eating in a calorie surplus. Even then you’d probably have to take some extra assistance to look “bulky” or “like a man”.
Eating well and lifting heavy is more time and energy efficient than “toning workouts”. Let’s put it into perspective:
You can do 200 reps of squats with 1kg weights or 20 reps with 10kg and you’ll get the same load on the muscle, leading to the same results. It won’t only save you time but it will also make you realise how strong you actually are. I bet you have no idea how strong you really are, because you have been sticking to the baby weights all your life thinking that higher weights would accidentally make you bulky.
It makes me laugh and cry at the same time when I see women carry their +20lbs child in one hand, a backpack on their back and +10lbs of groceries in the other hand daily go into the gym and be scared to lift anything above 5kg. Think about it for a second and try to make it make sense…
“Toning up” is not rocket science, yet we make it so complicated and magical by using fat loss pills, toning workouts, and trying to cut corners from actually doing the work needed, which includes gaining muscle and losing fat.
If you want rounder glutes and an hourglass shape, it’s time to stop the booty band kickbacks and take your rightful spot in the free weights area, showing all the men how you can hip thrust twice their body weight and shoulder press double your groceries.
Take the next step to getting your dream body while eating your favourite foods and book a FREE Discovery Call [CLICK HERE] with me.