Paul Miller, Hawkes Bay Personal Trainer answers one of the most common questions he is asked ‘How do I get more toned?’
Before we get into the training plan I thought I would explain what toning really is.
People often think that toning is being lean and thin, being sculpted or having definition. Though they’re not wrong, these are just fitness marketing words that are often thrown around. Toning simply means decreasing excessive body fat and increasing lean muscle tissue.
Conditioning Workouts
A great way to lose the excess layer of fat is to do some form of conditioning workouts. These conditioning workouts could include interval training, distance running, biking, swimming etc
Now if your goal is to burn fat fast then interval training is incredibly effective. By incorporating intense periods of exercise with short periods of recovery, intervals allow you to keep your work rate high, meaning more calories burnt in less time. The real secret to interval training is a phenomenon called EPOC or Excess Post Oxygen Consumption.
So what is EPOC I hear you say?
In short your body isn’t able to get enough oxygen during these intense workout periods, meaning that you create an oxygen debt. This debt must be repaid, so once you finish exercising your body ramps up your metabolism to pay back the debt. So unlike conventional training where you may run for 30 minutes and only burn calories for those 30 minutes, intervals allow you to continually burn calories for up-to 48 hours after you have exercised.
An example of an Interval Program
Jump on a stationary bike and follow the protocol
Warm up – 3 minutes @ level 2 (This should be a comfortable pace)
Interval 1 – 1 minute @ level 6 (Increase your cadence)
Recovery – 2 minutes @ level 2 (bring your cadence back down and recover)
Interval 2 – 1 minute @ level 6 (Increase your cadence)
Recovery – 2 minutes @ level 2 (bring your cadence back down and recover)
Interval 3 – 1 minute @ level 6 (Increase your cadence)
Repeat this process until you have completed 6-8 intervals
Spend two minutes warming down and then you’re done.
Resistance Training
To get toned you need to do some resistance training. This goes for woman too!. All cardio and no resistance training will leave you looking scrawny, weak and fragile. If you want to look toned you must lift weights. Not only will lifting weights tone your muscles but it will also increase your metabolism allowing your body to burn more calories at rest.
But won’t lifting weights make me bulky?
No. I cannot stress this enough. Lifting weights isn’t going to leave you looking like the female version of the incredible hulk. To look even remotely like that would require years of intense training a diet that would be excessive in carbohydrates and maybe even a little help from steroids.
Also don’t be fooled into thinking that lifting those 2kg pink dumbbells for high reps is going to help you tone. In fact the truth is quite the opposite. High reps of an exercise is like doing cardio. If you’re not challenging your muscles they won’t change. 7-12 reps of a challenging weight is a great place to start. When starting a resistance training program you will find that you quickly get stronger. In order to keep progressing you should increase the weight you lift. As a general rule if you can lift more than 15 reps then its time to up the weight.
For more on resistance training and conditioning visit us at www.personal-trainers.co.nz and see how we can help you shift the fat and get a toned body
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