How many times have you heard about “muscle toning” exercises for your arms or legs? Maybe you’ve heard about “long, lean muscles,” and how to get them? How to “tighten” your tummy?
The way to do this, these products, sites and trainers tell you, is to perform some light (and mindless) isolation exercises that target the area you’re wanting to “tone.” The result is a tight, perfect body that you can get almost effortlessly while watching TV! What could be better than that?
Look, I get it. I hated my thighs so much growing up that I would do almost anything to change them. And then smiling Suzanne Somers came on during the commercials with the answer to my prayers! The Thigh Master was a 1990s phenomenon and OH MY GOD I WANTED IT SO BAD. I was too embarrassed to ask for it, though, so I settled for lying side leg raises in front of the television, which were almost as useless.
So, look: “Muscle toning,” at least in the way it’s usually presented, does not work. Despite that, there are still loads of people trying to tell you that it does. Do not listen to them. People lie. Advertisers lie.
The good news is that you can still achieve a “toned” look. It just might not come about the way you were thinking.
Myth #1: It is possible to tone muscles without building them.
According to this myth, you can work the top of the muscle and give it a shape and definition without building the rest of the muscle underneath it.
I’ve already said this, but NNNNOOOOOPE!
“Muscle tone” is a noun, not a verb.
You can achieve a “toned” look, but you can’t specifically “tone” your muscles in a way that’s different than building them. There is no exercise, method, workout, product, diet or supplement (or crystals, or spells or anything else) that “tones” or defines your muscles separate from regular ol’ exercise.
When shaping your body with exercise, you have two factors to deal with, and they both work steadily but slowly:
- muscle growth
- fat loss
That’s it. Strength training gives you the muscle, and fat loss takes away the fat on top of the muscle so you can see the muscle tone. However much muscle definition you want, you’re playing with a combo of these two elements.
If you want a “toned” look, you must build and strengthen the muscle and reach a low enough body fat percentage so the muscle tone shows.
But won’t building muscle make me big and bulky?
NO, no, no, no, no, no, NO. The reason Great Muscle Toning Myth even exists is because of Myth #2. Let’s break it down.
Myth #2: Strength training makes you big and bulky.
I’ve already touched on this in my post on strength training and why you should incorporate it into your routine. So I’ll try to keep it short and sweet.
When people say they want a “toned” body, what’s more evident than what they want is what they don’t want. A “toned” look is usually lean with some muscle tone. Not a lot. Some.
They very clearly do not want to be “bulky,” like a professional bodybuilder, athlete, or someone with a classically masculine physique.
However, the notion that you can even get “bulky” is flawed at best. You must train diligently and specifically to even attempt to bulk up, but you know what? You likely won’t get there without significant help, even if you want to.
And by “help,” I mean hormones.
In general, women don’t have the hormones necessary to get significantly “bulky” (and yes, I’m going to keep putting it in quotes).
That being said, you may still want less visible muscle tone than is possible for you. That’s OK! It’s great, actually. Part of the beauty of fitness is the ability to have some control and autonomy over your body and how it looks.
Myth #3: Performing high reps with low weights is the best method for muscle toning.
The suggestion to perform high repetitions of an exercise with low weight is the most common I see. But it’s wrong.
First of all, you can bulk up with this method. Or, I should say, you can build muscle just as effectively doing high repetitions with low weight as doing low repetitions with heavier weight.
What does that mean? Well, this myth says that “muscle toning” is accomplished by performing a high amount of repetitions with a lighter weight. To give an example, let’s say you are doing bicep curls. Doing it with the high-rep method, you would lift maybe 3lbs weight and do 25 reps or more at a time. Using low– or moderate-rep method, you’d lift maybe 8lbs for 12 reps or 15lbs for 5 reps. You’d then rest for at least a minute, maybe two, and do another set.
The thing is, studies have shown several times that muscle growth is almost identical with subjects performing the exercises with the high-rep method vs. low-rep or moderate-rep, as long as they are reaching a certain level of fatigue.
That is, after 25 reps you should not feel like you can do 25 more. You should feel like you can do 1-3 more reps and that’s it. Of course, if you’re lifting a 10lbs weight, you’ll reach that same level of fatigue much more quickly.
So, you can definitely do a low-weight, high-rep workout. It’s effective and can be a great part of your fitness program. But it won’t get you “toned,” and has just as much potential to get you “bulky” as lifting heavy.
But you won’t get bulky, girl. I gotchu.
Myth #4: Bodyweight workouts will tone your body without making it bigger.
I LOVE bodyweight workouts. If you follow this blog, you know that. So, while I agree that bodyweight workouts are excellent to incorporate in your training, and they will get you a “toned” look, most of these trainers are suggesting them for the wrong reasons.
Firstly, “bodyweight” doesn’t mean “no weight.” Some bodyweight exercises actually require you to lift heavy loads. Pull-ups and handstand push-ups are two fairly advanced bodyweight exercises that require a lot of strength (as well as coordination) to do. Standard push-ups, dive bombers, dips, one-leg squats (pistol squats) also require a moderate to heavy load.
There are countless calisthenics programs, trainers and books out there. Check out Convict Conditioning, Al Kavadlo, Danny Kavadlo and Barstarzz. Because some of these are targeted to men, who generally look for training programs to help them get bigger, a lot of them will give the message, “You CAN get big from bodyweight training!” This, of course, is the direct opposite from the female-leaning “muscle toning” messages.
And the proof is in the pudding. You can see for yourself that it is possible to build a healthy amount of mass from bodyweight training alone.
Granted, perhaps what these “toning” “experts” mean are some of the less challenging bodyweight exercises: bodyweight squats, lunges, back lifts, pull-downs, and so on.
Here’s the thing: If you aren’t getting fatigued from the exercise, it’s almost pointless. Almost. Bodyweight exercises that don’t tire you will do very little towards reaching your goal. They might be good for activating muscles or providing some pain relief, but that’s about it.
So, bodyweight exercises will give you muscle tone by building muscle—if they’re difficult enough—and they’ll do squat (pun intended) if you’re not getting tired.
That leads us to progressive overload, fatigue and failure.
Myth #4: To get a toned look, don’t fatigue the muscles, and definitely don’t go to failure.
“Failure” is when the muscle is no longer able to fulfill a repetition. So, if you’re aiming for 10 reps of bicep curls, each rep gets harder and harder until the tenth, when you start the repetition but you can’t fully contract the muscle. That’s failure, and it used to be thought necessary to build muscle.
However, there are a lot of studies now suggesting that doing repetitions to failure is unnecessary, and perhaps not ideal. Not only do people seem to reach the same muscle gains when they stop with one or a few reps in reserve, but they also have less chance for injury.
You still need to stop somewhat shy of failure. You should feel like you have no more than a few reps left in you when you stop.
Progressive overload.
This brings me to progressive overload. This is a necessary component in your workout if you want to build muscle. Wikipedia defines progressive overload as “the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training.”
If you can do the exercise and it’s not hard, the body’s like, “OK, cool, bro,” and slumps down on the couch. The next time you do the exercise, nothing will have changed, because last time it wasn’t hard.
“If it ain’t broke…” and all that.
On the other hand, if you push yourself so that you reach a certain level of stress or fatigue, your body says, “Girl, that was hard. I better get stronger so I can do this next time.” And the muscles that were broken down during the exercise repair and become stronger.
So without progressive overload, or as I like to lazily call it, “effort,” you don’t build muscle.
“Muscle toning” is accomplished through progressive overload.
And if you say, “But I don’t want muscle! I want TONE!” then I’ll have to redirect you to Myths #1 and #2 and give you a firm (metaphorical) slap across the face.
If you don’t have muscle to begin with, then you can’t have “muscle toning” without muscle growth, and you can’t have muscle growth without progressive overload.
Therefore, you cannot “tone” without progressive overload.
Well, you can… if you already have decent muscle definition and just need to maintain it. But when people are looking to “tone,” they aren’t usually in that position.
Now, to achieve progressive overload, you don’t need to lift heavier and heavier weights. There are other ways to stress the muscle, like increasing reps, increasing time under tension, or tweaking the exercise. Bret Contreras, the “glute guy,” has a great post on the rules of progressive overload.
What about if you don’t need to build muscle?
I don’t really aim for progressive overload in my own workouts. Why? I have good muscle definition, and with the exception of a few areas, I am not looking to build. I, therefore, don’t actively strategize for progressive overload.
However, that doesn’t mean I’m not adhering to it. I just don’t obsess about using heavier weights or doing more reps. I make sure I’m fatiguing the muscles either a little or a lot, depending on the workout. If an exercise isn’t hard at all by the end of the set or the interval, I consider it a failure.
This means that I’m mostly not building muscle, but I am maintaining it, and I am enjoying my workout, staying focused, and burning lots of calories, to boot.
In conclusion, you need to fatigue the muscles somewhat in order to get a “muscle toning” effect, whether or not you are building or maintaining muscle.
What about if you want to lose muscle? Well, eat less and maybe do more cardio. We’ll get to this later.
Myth #5: Keeping your workouts short will prevent you from getting bulky.
The idea to keep workouts short in order to “tone” comes from the same misguided information as Myth #4. It’s an effort to make sure you’re not fatiguing the muscles. But without fatigue, you’re not really doing anything. Sure, you’re burning a little more calories than you would sitting on the couch, but not a lot.
You’ll burn a lot more calories if you put some effort in.
Short workouts are great, by the way, but in order to make them worthwhile, you need to up the intensity. This is generally done by increasing weight, increasing volume, and reducing rest. So sure, do short workouts. They’re super helpful and when you’re new to training, you can make huge strides with only 10– or 15-minute workouts.
But don’t make them short to avoid fatigue, otherwise you’re sabotaging yourself.
Myth #6: Do yoga or Pilates to lengthen your muscles.
Okay, look: You cannot, not, NOT “lengthen” your muscles.
Muscles are attached to your bones, so it’s impossible to lengthen them in any discernible way, unless A) you’re still growing, in which case your muscles will grow as your bones grow, or B) you get surgery to break and lengthen your bones. (Yes, it’s possible. It’s called “cosmetic lengthening” and it’s super expensive and downright terrifying.)
There are studies that suggest that you actually can lengthen muscles, but through resistance training. Inversely, immobility can shorten your muscles. More research needs to be done on humans, though, and any length achieved would likely not be visible. And that’s what we’re talking about: how to look longer.
What about stretching?
Yoga, dance, Pilates and other practices are frequently marketed as giving making you “long and lean,” but is that accurate?
Not exactly.
You might think that stretching lengthens your muscles, but it doesn’t. You’re not dumb; that’s what we’ve been told over and over and again. Doing a quick Google search, people—some with fancy designations—are still selling this myth.
Stretching doesn’t actually lengthen the muscles, it just lowers the pain threshold. It might make you feel longer, but that’s about it. Supposedly, it doesn’t even prevent injury.
What these forms of exercise, and others, can do is improve your posture and change the way you carry your body, which might make you appear or feel taller. But there is no permanent change in the anatomy of your body that will literally cause you to lengthen.
This isn’t to say that yoga, Pilates or dance aren’t wonderful forms of exercise. They are. And look, you can even temporarily lengthen your body from such practices, but it’s merely making the gap between your bones a little larger, which is mostly in your spine, and it eventually settles back to normal.
You can’t really make yourself longer, but you can do other things, like wear high heels, improve your posture, strategically dress to give the illusion of length, or slim down.
Myth #7: Cardio alone is effective for muscle toning.
People suggesting that “muscle toning” is achieved through cardio alone are usually buying into Myths #1 and #2. They’re telling you to avoid strength training and concentrate on losing fat. The first part of that is faulty; the second, though, has some truth.
As I mention above, for a “toned” look, you need two components: muscle definition and low body fat percentage. If you do not have a toned look and want one, you probably need to either build muscle or lose fat (so you see the muscle). Most likely, you need a combination of both.
Cardio does help with fat loss.
Cardio is anything that raises your heart rate and makes you breathe more heavily, and that includes loads of activities: walking, gardening, running, lifting heavy weights, climbing a mountain, rowing a boat, manual labor, and more.
There is a lot of debate on which type is best: slow and steady, like walking, or high-intensity, like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Both help with fat loss, though, and that’s why this myth is partially correct.
However, you burn a lot more fat with strength (resistance) training than you do with just cardio. Muscle requires more energy to maintain, so having more will raise your metabolism.
I prefer a combination of strength and cardio training with Metabolic Resistance Training. It’s fast and hits everything I need. But you can also incorporate intensity into any cardio activity for added metabolic and strength benefits. For instance, during a jog at a moderate pace, do one minute of all-out sprinting every five minutes or so.
So cardio actually will help you “tone,” but it has to be the right kind of cardio. A 25-minute moderate run on the elliptical won’t get you there alone, though it will help with your fat loss efforts.
Information is power.
I’m aghast at how much misinformation there is regarding this, but the truth is, fitness is a big business, and marketing is powerful.
So if you see an article or program that stresses the above myths, without proper caveats, ignore the crap out of it.
More than that, these programs promise you something that isn’t realistic and it could be damaging. It tells you that you aren’t beautiful if you’re not a perfectly “small” size.
Don’t buy into it. You don’t need to be small, skinny, lean, “long,” or “toned” to be beautiful. You do need to be confident, healthy and happy, and that starts with loving the body you have to begin with.