Toning upper and lower body

Corholio

Ive recently managed to lose a decent amount of weight, and for probably the worst time in my life i can think about toning my body. I tried lifting weights before but it was very uneducated and i ended up building muscle under the fat that was there and my upperbody stuck out more and made it look like there was more fat than there was. What are great exercises for toning upper and lower body (chest and abs)? I've no bother using weights, i guess ill just use a lower weight maybe and go from there, do crunches, sit-ups, push ups work?

t-ha

Corholio wrote:

I tried lifting weights before but it was very uneducated and i ended up building muscle under the fat that was there and my upperbody stuck out more and made it look like there was more fat than there was.

Weights are usually used to build strength and muscle size so I wouldn't say your efforts were that bad!

If you're happy with your current muscle size then just keep doing what you're doing weights wise - the toning will come from knocking down your bodyfat further still. Most people I've known who 'look' fat because they think they are carrying so much muscle, are in fact carrying too much fat*. Anyway, read the stickies on diet, nutrition & weightloss and if you have further questions then post up your current diet, exercise regime & goals. Also, remember that the diet which you used to lose weight before might not be suitable anymore if you are now smaller and don't need as much food. Diet is something that has to be adjusted as your body changes.

*that's not a pot-shot, it's just my experience.

Boru.

t-ha's spot on, thought I'd just add in a more detail. "Tone" doesn't exist as such. It's not medical or fitness professional terminology. Tone is simply the nervous tension in muscles. Imagined a coiled spring, tight and ready to explode - that''s the same thing with muscles.

"Tone" can be achieved using a combination of two methods - reduced body fat (achievable through long slow aerobics at 60-70-% of your max HR and for a period of 45-60 minutes.) and resistance training.

A muscle can only do three things - Get bigger, get smaller or stay the same size. Tone is a result of muscles the same size or larger visible due to low body fat.

I'd encourage you to build muscle. If you've been putting it on as you say with relative ease then you may have a natural apttitude for it and it will help in long term weight loss.

The more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn on a daily basis. Adding 5lbs on to your frame will burn anywhere from 25-40lbs of fat off your frame per year with no additional activity.

Another indication by the way, that you require to re-examine your diet as t-ha suggested is the fact you added muscle - this occurs when the body is in a positive nitrogen balance i.e. you're eating more calories than you need and so the extra goes towards building muscle.

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