Muscle Tone

Muscle toning: The idea of “toning up” is just an increase in muscle tissue with low enough body fat to see the definition of the muscle and getting rid of “the jiggle”. Muscle either expands or shrinks, so the idea of firming up your muscles is a myth. Fat doesn’t turn to muscle and muscle doesn’t turn into fat.

With this said, resistance training is necessary in order to gain muscle. Enough stress needs to be put onto your muscles in order for them to change and grow. The idea of “not wanting to get bulky therefore you don’t lift heavy is a myth approach. When opting for little to no resistance and a lot of repetitions might not put your muscles through the stress it needs and therefore it has no reason to adapt and grow.

Training with a resistance that will produce muscle fatigue 8-12 repetitions works great. To give you even a better insight, you can use strength training to give you cardiovascular benefits. Strength training is key and you can use it to your advantage. Aim to fatigue every set but keep your rest periods very short in order to keep your heart rate elevated (aim for 30 seconds). With every set, you will become more fatigued so don’t worry if you can’t complete as many repetitions as your first sets because eventually your body will adapt to the stress you’re putting it through, you will have more muscular endurance, and become stronger. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn at rest giving you another reason why you should be focusing on strength training. For every kg of muscle you have, your body utilizes between 13-28 calories to sustain itself vs fat, that only utilizes 4/5 calories.

When is comes to women, there is no way you will look like a man because you do not produce enough testosterone to build muscle like they do. Testosterone is a hormonal chemical mainly associated with men. However, women produce testosterone as well. Testosterone is very good for the female body. Sure, women will need it if they are trying to tone their bodies. But, research has revealed much more about this so-called male hormone.Testosterone production is substantially lower in women than it is in men. After puberty, a woman begins to produce an adult level of testosterone. The production is split between the ovaries and the adrenal glands. In men, the testes produce about 95% of their testosterone and the remaining 5% from their adrenal glands. So lift heavy, aim to build muscle and include strength training on a daily basis.

Choose HIIT cardio and circuit training over prolonged cardio. Prolonged cardio only burns muscle sabotaging the results you are looking for. If you’re looking to look toned and firm and loose "the jiggle" then you must get to resistance training.