Muscle toning

xabi

Hi,

I want to tone my muscles. My Gym instructor has suggested i do 3 sets of 10 reps on each muscle. Would it be better for toning to increase the weight and do 2 sets of 12 -13 reps?

X.

Smellyirishman

It would be better if you posted your current weight/height/age/sex and detailed diet.

Also your current body fat (if possible) and your current cardio regieme.

"Toning" is having low enough body fat to show muscle that you have built. Doing 3x10 and eating right will build muscle. Then it's down to eating right (Notice how that has shown up twice!) and cardio to burn fat.

xabi

Smellyirishman wrote:

It would be better if you posted your current weight/height/age/sex and detailed diet.

Also your current body fat (if possible) and your current cardio regieme.

"Toning" is having low enough body fat to show muscle that you have built. Doing 3x10 and eating right will build muscle. Then it's down to eating right (Notice how that has shown up twice!) and cardio to burn fat.

Here goes:

Male 31 Years old
5ft 11ins
14 stone

Breakfast
2 * wheetabix or Scone or 2 *toast and jam
Coffee

Lunch
canteen food, usually some type of meat, fish with rice or potatoes and veg

Diner
usually a sandwich with tuna or ham, turkey etc

Snacks
3 - 4 peices of fruit, apple, bannanas, oranges, Coffee/

Current regeim 3 times per week

Weights 10 -15 mins
20 mins running 9.5 KM / Hr
10 mins cycle

X.

Boru.

Hey first congrats on having made the decision to imporve your health and fitness, add to that resolve and commitment and you'll succeed.

Regarding tone - it doesn't exist. As Smellyirishman said it's low body fat combined with muscle mass. Pure and simple. There's also a case to be made for resiudual tension in the msucles.

A muscle can only do 3 things - get bigger, get smaller and stay the same size. In order to achieve "tone" as fast as possible I advise lifting heavier wieghts in 4-6 rep range perhaps even less (truth be told I prefer if you attempted intense 1 rep lifting...but it probably won't happen). Decrease your rest period and try to lift as much within as short as possible a time frame.

This creatses intensity. Sufficent high Intensity makes your muscles grow bigger. Bigger muscles burn more calories - lading to long term weight loss. Combined with cardio and diet you'll achieve a great look.

Now regarding diet - its crucial. Without this right, your gains will be mediocre at best. Currerently your diet is inadeqiuate - not bad, just not approraite to the look you want.

Your no.1 red flag is meal frequency and protein intake. You need protein in every meal and you need to eat every 2.5-3 hours.

Read the stickies on diet and figure out your calorie intake. Then find out the ratio's of protein,. carbs and fat you need.

You need to do this twice. 1 for a calorie surplus to encourage muscle growth and 2 a calorie deficit to encourage fat burning.

Go, get reading. If your unsure of the answers pm me.

abetarrush

Oh dear god you used the damn TONE word!


I thought tone describes how tense your muscles are when relaxed

Like, the muscles get stronger and look more tense at rest, but aint necessarily bigger


a fvck dat shlt, im not goin into this again, each to their own, and me to my tone!