Mother wants to "tone"

[KillerRabbit]

she doesnt understand that "tone" comes from low body fat...


how can i explain this to her

[terracotta]

This is explained really well here (http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=45). Perhaps you can show her that? I also have a very comprehensive fitness and bodybuilding website she can check out here (http://terracotta2.googlepages.com).

[muscled4life]

she doesnt understand that "tone" comes from low body fat...


how can i explain this to her
tell her gently that " well mom the best way to tone is to do cardio and lift light " but be subtle . i had the same problem with my girlfriend a few weeks ago. Shes 5'10 120 lbs but shes a pro dancer lol! shes strong to! anyways your welcome :)

[terracotta]

tell her gently that " well mom the best way to tone is to do cardio and lift light " but be subtle . i had the same problem with my girlfriend a few weeks ago. Shes 5'10 120 lbs but shes a pro dancer lol! shes strong to! anyways your welcome :)

not only can you not tone.. how do you expect to tone fat?? You have to build the muscle underneath, before you can lower your bodyfat, otherwise you will just look skinnyfat.

[Miranda]

tell her gently that " well mom the best way to tone is to do cardio and lift light " but be subtle

heh, is this a joke?
i spent 10 years (!) doing light full body lifting exercises using 6# vinyl dumbbells with tons of cardio. i was skinny and flabby all the way.
it does not work. period.

[KillerRabbit]

tell her gently that " well mom the best way to tone is to do cardio and lift light " but be subtle . i had the same problem with my girlfriend a few weeks ago. Shes 5'10 120 lbs but shes a pro dancer lol! shes strong to! anyways your welcome :)


.... there is no such thing as "toning" so no, your not welcome.

[Laurie]

Well KillerRabbit, you hit on the hateful "buzzword" advertisers use to mean "building muscle". Still to many women, "building Muscles" means a "guy thing". Most of us just do not have that much testosterone to build upon.

But Women for decades have been brainwashed that "building muscle" is not feminine...but "toning" is. Some perfectly good Women's Fitness Magazines have continued using this term because otherwise, they think most women will get scared off from buying it.

Well, true. Some would. Which is unfortunate.

Most women will "lean out" rather than bulk. The female bodybuilders work hard for years with special diets to get that "look". Some are helped with genetics. But most women will not look like that. My 50 year old sister is quite strong from her 20 years of performing semi professional Middle Eastern Ethnic bellydancing. She is 5'4", mediumboned and I think 145lbs. Because there is an expected "look" with Middle Eastern dancing, some "softness" is still retained. But "soft" she is not. Her legs, arms and abdomen are all hard muscle from the muscle built up from the exercise and practice.

I knew another woman who also danced the same, occasionally, and decided to lift weights to help keep her in shape when not. But she never did this before and was surprised at what her scales told her. She was gaining weight according to them! Her husband explained that muscle is denser for it's size compared to fat of the same weight...but the fat takes up more room.

Why scales are not the best for a reference point. But how your clothes feel are after lifting for awhile.

[BODYBUILDER889]

Well KillerRabbit, you hit on the hateful "buzzword" advertisers use to mean "building muscle". Still to many women, "building Muscles" means a "guy thing". Most of us just do not have that much testosterone to build upon.

But Women for decades have been brainwashed that "building muscle" is not feminine...but "toning" is. Some perfectly good Women's Fitness Magazines have continued using this term because otherwise, they think most women will get scared off from buying it.

Well, true. Some would. Which is unfortunate.

Most women will "lean out" rather than bulk. The female bodybuilders work hard for years with special diets to get that "look". Some are helped with genetics. But most women will not look like that. My 50 year old sister is quite strong from her 20 years of performing semi professional Middle Eastern Ethnic bellydancing. She is 5'4", mediumboned and I think 145lbs. Because there is an expected "look" with Middle Eastern dancing, some "softness" is still retained. But "soft" she is not. Her legs, arms and abdomen are all hard muscle from the muscle built up from the exercise and practice.

I knew another woman who also danced the same, occasionally, and decided to lift weights to help keep her in shape when not. But she never did this before and was surprised at what her scales told her. She was gaining weight according to them! Her husband explained that muscle is denser for it's size compared to fat of the same weight...but the fat takes up more room.

Why scales are not the best for a reference point. But how your clothes feel are after lifting for awhile.
well i think the best way to lose fat is to do cardio. simple. burn fat and the muscle will show givng the "illusion" of being toned. toned is really just a stupid phrase because your not toned your skinny enough for muscle to show. then once you dropped the fat try working out. i dunno what muscled4life is thinking lol. im certified by 3 different associations and specialise is several different area ranging from elderly excercise to bodybuilding seminars .

[Laurie]

Well, I was told that by my Orthopedic doc when I told him why I was lifting weights at my age ("50") by taking a college women's strength class. He asked "Why I wanted to look like I did when I was in my 20s at my age"

His attitude changed when I told him how much I had lost in the first six months beginning a lifting program. (245 to 200) That in my 20s, I WAS anywhere from 225 to 240. So just why did I want to look like I did in my 20s? I didnt. I wanted to look more like I was in my late teens....and was 155lbs.

BUT saying this, I did do alot of cardio then as my primary exercise. Was riding a 10spd all over San Diego California and to high school/college back in the 60s when doing this was not "Boss" or "Groovy". (Driving a car was). When not doing that was helping my mother gardening in the yard. Just was not "built" be a willowy "hippie girl" or "twiggy" back then. I am largeboned at 5'6" and have a "Scots/Irish" farmstock build. Broadshouldered to boot.

My husband is a blacksmith/swordmaker and he ate big meals. I followed suit after we married. Instead of riding a 10spd (no place to ride a bike where I moved to) , I helped raise some small animals but it was not enough to keep the fat off. This went on for most of my 30 years of marriage (at the time.) When I had the kids, was mostly 260. This in my 30s to very early 40s.

I had dropped from 260 to 245 when hitting menopause at 44. Later at 50, seriously wanted to take an exercise class at a local community college. I had thought about aerobics but felt my knees would not take it. I live out in the desert and no place to ride a bike....and I hate stationary ones. But was Always curious about lifting but lived with a bunch of stupid "Women and Lifting Myths" when younger and my husband did not know enough to help. But to him, there was nothing wrong with a woman who was strong.

Anyway, I took a college women's strength class at 50. Liked the feeling it gave me to lift and ran with the premise to see how far I could take this for a year. Was losing fat by burning the excess for the energy while lifting. Did better when I relearned how to eat properly and modified my diet (which "wasn't" or hardly ate before...or the wrong things when I did) By the time, the year's worth of semesters were over...had dropped to 185 according to the scale. The relearning stuck too.

So, yes, you are right....you burn fat with cardio. But you burn more with lifting. At least it did for me and it taught my Orthopedic doc a lesson. But of course he was so used to seeing women my age (and older) with a bunch of injuries from being out of shape/overweight.

I was there for an MRI because of some discomfort from over training the second semester. It was from an old partially torn left front shoulder tendon. Did not know I had this and he said it came from an long forgotten fall apparently. The lifting actually was improving the arm's strength and range of movement. So, he advised no surgery....just take it easy for a bit. Found some alternative dbl work later and continued.

It's been nearly 4 years since I started this change. Kept up the lifting on a regular basis for most of that.....without any cardio at home as my husband found a professional Olympic bench w/ bb and weights. I added some dbls. My weight presently is 165. Back to where I was when I first married and wearing clothes sizes just a wee bit smaller. So, some of the "scale" weight is not from what fat I still have.

But I dont mind.