How to Get Toned

How to get “toned”.

I have a lot of my clients telling me: “I don’t want to lose weight; I don’t want to gain weight either.  I just want to look more defined.”

This combination is pretty close to rare which is why if “toning and definition” are your goals, then you really shouldn’t pay much attention to your Weight.   

What you should focus on is your Body Fat % and your overall size … how you “Look”.

(The lady to the left is Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey.  She is the Bantanweight Undefeated Champion in UFC.  She became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women's judo since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992.  More on her later.)

My job as a Trainer is to decipher what a client ‘says’ (while they try to use fancy and incorrect scientific terms) and try to figure out what it is they ‘mean’.

You see, to look ‘defined’ while staying at your current weight will mean that you will lose ‘size’. 

You will look smaller, much smaller.  So to maintain your size, your weight will more than likely have to go up to compensate for the lost size.

Here’s why.

Muscle tissue is heavier than Fat tissue, but Fat tissue consumes more space.   You can have two people, both at 150lbs, but one looks considerably smaller than the other because her body fat is much lower.

For example:

1.       Imagine 2 duffel bags that are different sizes.

2.       One is filled with feathers; the other is filled with sand.  But both bags weight 150lbs. 

3.       Using your imagination, which duffel bag is larger?

If you said the one with the feathers, you are correct.  It will take more feathers to equal the weight of the sand, because the feathers are less dense.

On the other hand, you can have two people who are the same size (5’6” size 8 dress), the one with lower body fat will be heavier.

1.       Again, imagine 2 duffel bags but this time they are the same size. 

2.       One is filled with feathers; the other is filled with sand.

3.       Using your imagination, which duffel bag is heavier?

If you said the one with the sand, you are correct.  Sand is denser than feathers; therefore, while consuming the same amount of space they will provide more weight per square inch.

Yes, your body is the duffel bag in these illustrations :)

If you understand this, then you are beginning to understand my job.  So, once you get past the whole ‘weight thing’ and focus on how you look, then we can get somewhere.

OK, so here’s what needs to happen.  Simply put, you need to drop body fat.  Drinking protein shakes may or may not be in your future, but dropping body fat is basically what you need to do. 

If your body fat is above … 26%, then you will need to have a very low fat diet and your exercise regimen will be mostly resistance - Pushing, pulling, lifting, etc.  NOT Cardio.

If your body fat is between 17% - 25%, then you’re already eating a low fat diet, but your protein consumption is low.  So you’d probably need to consume additional protein while maintaining low fat consumption.  Your exercise regimen will also consist of mostly resistance - Pushing, pulling, lifting, etc.  NOT Cardio.

Your total daily consumption of protein should be approx. equal to your overall body weight in grams.  This is a rule of thumb and this will vary from person to person.   But this is a good number to start with.

Note that I said your “total daily consumption”!  DO NOT go out telling people I told you to drink 100 plus grams of protein shake!!!

If your current diet (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, & drinks) is only giving you 80grams of protein, but your current weight is 130lbs and your body fat is below 25%, then you will need ADDITIONAL protein of approx. 50grams per day.  Thus, your total daily protein consumption becomes 130grams.

Again, these are broad strokes with tons of variables and it’s different for every person.  But I want you to begin understanding what it is I focus on when you mention ‘toning’.

Lastly-

Ladies, do not be afraid to lift weights.  I’ve said it time and time and time again. But I keep having this conversation.  “I don’t want to look like a man.”

Women DO NOT have the genetic make-up to lift weights, to bulk up, and then – look like a man.  Without Human Growth Hormones or Steroids, it is impossible for you to look like a man.

So stop using that as an excuse to not lift weights. 

And two more things:

1.    Do you know ANY ‘scrawny, skinny’ guys? If you do, well trust me – they know themselves too.  And you can believe they have tried to put on weight, size, muscle, etc. and if they are still scrawny & skinny, then  they have failed.  And they HAVE the genes to put on muscle ‘like a dude’ because … they are dudes.

So if you think YOU, as a female, are going to lift a few 20lbs (let alone 5-10lbs) weights and put on more weight, and size than them – you quite simply are wrong, and misguided.

2.    What women are you looking at when you say: I don’t want to look like a dude?  Who are the examples of the women you DO NOT want to look like? Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Snooki, Mo’nique? Who?  All of them use weights and I'm sure you agree - none of them look like dudes

      If you are you imagining some obscure ‘woman body builder’ that no one knows … then you are simply making excuses.  Plus, yes – those women DO USE Steroids! 

All of them do!  The use of steroids is why Body Building is NOT and Olympic Sport!  It’s because they use Steroids to get so freakishly huge!

But besides that …

If you think you train as hard as they do, eat as much as they do, take as many supplements as they do … – you quite simply are wrong, and misguided.

Back to Ronda:

She is 5'6" 135lbs Current MMA Champion, meaning she fights for a living.  She uses weights.  Heavy weights ... much heavier than what we use in Bootcamp.  She is toned.  She does NOT look like a dude!