Toning, Real or Marketing? Part Two

Here is part two of my toning discussion, here is part one if you haven't read it, but if you don't care to read it I wont shed a tear. Now lets see if doing push ups and dumbbell lunges will make us look like fitness models

Looking Back

In part one I talked about the idea and use of “toning” and how it can/has lead to misuse and misinformed ideas about the body. Now in part two I am going to dig deeper into the programing that a lot of these “toning” workouts/routines will have.  First a quick review, we can not "tone" a muscle, the look of “toning” comes from a lower body fat percentage and more than average amount of lean body mass (simple overview), and when we break it down “toning” when used to describe a look has no holding. Now let me get started on why most of these programs fall short when it comes to reaching your goals and why their results do not continue.  

Overview

As I stated above improving ones body composition comes from lowering body fat/raising lean mass and/or (preferably) both, so when you look at these workouts/programs how are they doing this? Most are just body weight or band movements put together with short rest periods and continuous rotation of the movements with some type of aerobic work mixed in, but how is that going to increase lean mass or decrease body fat? Both factors are highly dependent on one's dietary habits (caloric deficit or surplus), doing such programs may stimulate the body for muscle growth and will burn calories but without the other piece of the puzzle its very hit or miss. Yes, people will probably see results when they first start programs like the above, but this is mainly due to it being a new stimulus and the fact that most people who start these are sedentary or minimally trained individuals (so anything you throw at these people will show results). How long do the changes or results last, weeks maybe a month or two? Sound familiar? Let me explain below...

The Thick of It

So if a increase in muscle and or decrease in body fat is what someone is looking for they should be lead in that direction, first making sure they are eating towards their goal (deficit or surplus) and then specific training for that goal. So remember that the “toning” workouts rely on mostly bodyweight and band movements with little rest time as the main way of changing intensity (mechanical tension and exertion level). This leads into one of the falls of most “toning” routines, the stimulus you usually give your body is low and can not vary/increase to the degree of weight bearing exercise (machines and free weights, also the varying repetitions and intensities). As I stated above if you are a beginner this will be enough to see improvements at first but eventually your body will adapt to the stimulus and then will plateau (increase in muscle size will slow or fully stop). So if most of if not all "toning" routines use a stimulus that most trainees will get used to after around 3 months what are they to do after? Now a lot of people usually shy away from strength training or the idea of using weights that only allow for rep ranges of  3’s and 6’s, but a lot of great adaptations can come from this since the body is being greatly stimulated. Also varying intensity and volume is a main factor to further progress after someone is out of untrained category and even more necessary once they are not a beginner anymore. Most routines will sell a second package or more advanced version but the stimulus has not changed much when it comes to intensity (mechanical tension on the body) which is a primary variable in adaptation, so the effect for the person will be no more than a caloric burning routine that like I previously stated unless ones nutrition is being accounted for then the program will possibly not do much (when it comes to improving body composition). After all this rambling I come to my problem with “toning” programs, low stimulus routines when it comes to intensity, and lack there of to raise that intensity to further produce results that people are seeking.

To Sum It Up

Now I know not everyone wants to deadlift 3x their body weight, some people prefer machines, others free weights, powerlifting, olympic lifting, crossfit etc. So the most important thing is to stick with what you love because that is going to allow you to adhere to an active lifestyle. The problem rises when people are telling others that they can grow 20 inch biceps by doing their “toning” program, or that they can gain 25-35 pounds of muscle mass from it as well. The outcome of those two are highly unlikely, this is when (if those or any similar goals are yours) some more specific programming will have to come in to play. One might have to start doing more free weight or machine movements while implementing a structured periodized program, but this doesn't mean you have to stop doing cross training or whatever else you love, you just need to add some specificity to your programing to reach your desired goal. If you or someone is happy with these programs and you don't have any specific goals then keep on going. I a not trying to deter anyone from programs like these if they are happy with what they are getting out of them, I am just trying to shake loose some of the lies and misinformation that they usually come with.  

Toning, Real or Marketing? Part One

This is going to be a two part series, part one I dig into the definition and semantics. Part two I dissect the programs that are usually associated with "toning". Please do not be so emotionally tied to this term that you automatically disregard everything I say, now break out the pink dumbbells and get the circuits started, its time to tone!

What is Tone?

You see it in on headlines all over, magazine covers, the internet and youtube, “toning”, what does it mean? Most people use the term "toning" in place of desired body composition, usually the image of a lightly defined body where the the major beach muscles are etched through body fat is what comes to most minds. When we say body composition we are usually talking about

“In physical fitness, body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone, water and muscle in human bodies. Because muscular tissue takes up less space in our body than fat tissue, our body composition, as well as our weight, determines leanness”.

how much lean body mass and body fat you have on your person, someone who weighs 190 pounds at 15% BF (body fat) is going to look more "toned" than a gentleman who is 190 pounds at 20% BF, with muscle mass being the exact same. So we can argue that "toning" is mostly understood but it is vastly dependent on body fat where usually the focus is on the muscle itself. This part is more about semantics and some may think its a petty thing to argue about, but if the base of an idea is wrong even in the slightest it allows for other ideas that stem from it to be vastly deranged.

Here is the actual definition of tone, 

verb past tense: toned; past participle: toned

1.give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a part of it)."exercise tones up the muscles"

2.harmonize with (something) in terms of color."the rich orange color of the wood tones beautifully with the yellow roses"

Breaking it Down

So you see that tone only speaks of the actual firmness/strength of a muscle from exercise, a muscle can be as firm as it can be, but if you still carry enough body fat your body will not have that prefered sculpted look to it or your desired body composition. So now you may be thinking, “okay, yea so the term may not be 100% correct but people get what we are saying and I know what I mean”. Yes, you may know what you mean but how does that help anyone else? Why use a term if it changes per person (similar to the term clean eating), the term has no holding. Now remember that the definition of tone talks only of the strength/firmness of a muscle, but the whole idea of a “toned” body heavily relies on having a reduced body fat (in most cases, some people may need only to increase muscle size but both is more likely) and the definition makes no connection to body fat, very similar to how people think of toning the body.

As I stated earlier, “if the base of an idea is wrong even in the slightest it allows for other ideas that stem from it to be vastly deranged”, now we get to the deranged parts of using the term “toning”. People sell programs and devices of all sorts with the idea of “toning” behind them, but very rarely will the idea of losing body fat be the main focus, most of the time it will be some quick 20 min home workout circuit to tone the body (focusing on the muscle development not body fat). So from the start these programs are terrible because the idea they are based on is wrong (In part two I go into deeper inspection of “toning” programs). I saved the best for last (in this article), the bastardization of “toning” has become so bad that people (who usually are trying to sell you something, go figure) have used toning as an idea of changing the shape and length of an actual muscle/muscles. Human physiology would like to say other wise, the shape and length of a muscle is already pre determined by ones own genetics. We can not “tone” a muscle, the muscles insertion point, muscle belly, and genetics have decided that for us. A muscle can grow and shrink, holding a dumbbell semi lateral while doing tricep kickbacks while sanding on a bosu ball in hope to tone the tricep muscle to grow a certain way is futile. We can only hope to increase the muscle size (hypertrophy) and keep our body fat at a desired level to give us the body we are looking for.

Toning Real?

I hope this post has shown how a wrong use of a word can lead to such deranged branches of it, usually in the hope of selling something by appealing to the masses. So remember to tone is to strengthen or make more firm, if you are looking to change your body composition then usually a increase in muscle size and reduction in body fat (neither have to be to the extreme) will more than likely give you the body and “look” you desire. I might add that following those “toning” routines/workouts will usually have a very small effect that will not last long, but I dig deeper in part two.

Food is Fuel, It Also Taste F#cking Amazing

This post is more of a rant than educational piece, I go and rant on the ideology that food is fuel and you shouldn't enjoy it and if you do enjoy your food it's probably unhealthy.

The fitness community is a weird one (generally speaking, mainstream fitness), when you sit back and really take a good look at it. “Food is fuel!” and “Food will not control me!” are very popular sayings among the diehard health wairy. I dont care how any one person decides to eat or their philosophy on food, if they decide that food is just a means to survive and they feel that anything else and they are being controlled then that is fine it doesn't bother me (even if I see that as a very unhealthy view on food). When people start to proclaim that the above view is healthy and is the way to better oneself to others is when I have a problem, why is it that people who try to be 110% healthy seem to only view life in black or white? Back to the idea that food is fuel, yes food is fuel, it gives us macro and micro nutrients that enables our bodies to run at its finest, why do people then make the correlation that if they enjoy their food then they will immediately be controlled by it and then fall into a vicious downfall of gluttony and laziness? A recurring theme I bring up is the overrestriction that leads to such binges that is rooted from misleading and wrong information. 

Here is a scenario to think about, Lacy is 5’3” 120 pounds, she works out 6 times a week doing HIIT resistance training along with cardio 3 times a week. Lacy wants to lose 10 pounds and maintain it so she overly restricts the food she will allow herself to eat and follows the ideology that food is fuel. Now over a 2 week period Lacy lost 7 pounds, but on the third week she binges on food she saw to enjoyable (“unhealthy”) and gained back 4 pounds (mostly water weight but some tissue weight), Lacy then becomes depressed and believes food is controlling her again so she falls into a slump for another week until she feels she is strong enough and goes back onto the program again. Lacy continues this vicious cycle posting things on facebook and instagram about her journey and how happy she is and also how she will never let food control her again because “healthy” feels so good. 

The above scenario is not far fetched a quick look through your friends list may show some similar journeys. Now compare Lacy to Bethany...

Bethany is 5’3” 130 pounds, Bethany has decided she wants to lose 10 pounds so she starts to work out 2 times a week weight training, she doesn't do any hardcore or advanced style of weight training she just goes at her pace and uses progressive overload. Bethany puts herself in a slight caloric deficit with no restrictions on the foods she eats, she does start to eat more vegetables, fruits, protein and whole foods all while still eating foods that others (Lacy) might see as “unhealthy”. Two weeks go by and Bethany has lost 3 pounds, on the third week Bethany decides to introduce some walking with friends once a week for some SS (steady state) cardio. Another 7 Weeks go by and Bethany has hit her goal of 10 pounds lost, Bethany continues to eat foods she enjoys and has introduced one more day of weight training. Bethany is able to follow her lifestyle since she can adhere to it very easily. 

Now decide who is more healthy, Lacy or Bethany? So why do people continue to push the idea that food is controlling and only fuel? If someone has a real issue with self control and food then they need to go see a medical professional to advise them and help them through their disordered eating. 

My unprofessional advice would be to take a deep breath and understand that food can not control you if you understand that eating foods you enjoy in respectable amounts (depending on the person and goals of said person “respectable” changes quite a bit, context is key) is not going to damage you, yes food is fuel but it also taste so f#cking good! There are so many different cultures around the world that prepare and cook foods so differently, different taste and textures are amazing to experience and yes, enjoy. I have just recently been eating more guava, guava jelly on my toast with small amount of butter is amazing, also I have been mixing 3 servings of vanilla ice cream with a 4 oz of guava nectar in a blender, the guava shake is highly enjoyable and refreshing and I make it whenever I feel like one, that can be once a week or maybe 3 times. The thing is I have not gained 10 pounds or lost controll, my health has not plummeted and you could say my mental health has improved. 

Like I said in the beginning if you want to eat food on the idea that its mainly fuel and you are in control then by all means go ahead, but it is not necessary or some would say even healthy. In the end eat how you want but don't let people make you think that enjoying one of lifes greatest pleasures is counter productive to health or your goals.