How to get to that “toned” look
Clients come to me usually with 2 goals. 1. Lose weight, and 2. Look Fit. So I want to address these 2 things and shed some light on exactly how that happens and how long it takes.
First let’s talk about the losing weight part. I understand why this is a big deal to women. We have been groomed all of our lives to think our body weight should not exceed a certain number and we put a lot of our value on that number. You first need to know that this is a big fat lie. Your body weight really does not tell you much about your health and fitness. Now, there are certain health risks if you are carrying too much body weight, but I am talking about that last 10-20 pounds you have been trying to lose for years. This is not about someone that is morbidly obese and actually does need to lose body weight for health reasons. Your body weight is made up of your whole body, your bones, your skin, your organs, the contents of your stomach and intestines, your muscles, your body fat, and lots of fluids. Some of these things fluctuate anywhere from 1-5 pounds a day. Most of your day to day body weight fluctuations are due to things other than body fat. If you are wanting to achieve a fit looking body, you are going to have to let go of the scale Sis.
To tell you the truth, most women you see that look fit, have 20-30 pounds more muscle than you do. Yep, you read that right. So logically, if you want to look fit, you are going to have to build some muscle and muscle weighs something, so you have to be able to not freak out when the scale doesn’t change much and may even tick up a little. Listen to me, you cannot build that kind of muscle in a calorie deficit. You just can’t. It’s science and I did a whole blog on how all of that works. Here is the link https://vibrantfitnessco.com/blogs/news/how-to-determine-how-many-calories-your-body-burns-in-a-day-tdee.
Exercise for Building Muscle
The only thing that is going to put the kind of muscle on you that you see it fitness models is a program designed for Hypertrophy, which is a fancy word for muscle building. Lets look at what is not going to get you there. Hours of cardio, whether it’s running, walking, elliptical, stair stepper, rower, etc. None of that is going to build any substantial muscle. Another misconception people have is that group classes are a great way to get toned. That is false. Group classes of any kind (yes, even those that say they are “sculpting” or any other creative term they call it to insinuate toning) are just another form of cardio. Pilates, Yoga, bootcamps, cross fit, etc are all great exercise, but you still aren’t going to build any substantial muscle with any of those programs. The only thing that works is fatiguing the muscle under enough load for enough time. In other words, you need to lift heavy weights in a way that is designed to build muscle. And you need to be doing this 3-5 times a week.
Now before the aerobics, pilates, and cross fit nazis come at me, I am not dogging that kind of exercise. It’s great, all of it. And if you like it, then keep doing it!! Any exercise is better than nothing. I just don’t want you to think you are going to put on any substantial muscle doing only those things, because you won’t. I have clients come to me all the time frustrated because have done these classes for years, or run hours on a treadmill and they still don’t have defined shoulders or quads. Are these good forms of exercise? Absolutely. Are they going to make you look like you have muscle? Maybe, if you get lean enough, but if you have been doing it for years, and you still don’t see muscle definition, do you think it is all of a sudden going to work?? Probably not. Just something to think about.
Nutrition for Building Muscle
You need to be at maintenance calories or a slight surplus in order to build muscle. You are not going to build muscle in a deficit. To find out how to determine your TDEE go read this blog I wrote earlier https://vibrantfitnessco.com/blogs/news/how-to-determine-how-many-calories-your-body-burns-in-a-day-tdee. You also need to be consuming at least .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day of complete protein. This is crucial. You have to eat to gain muscle. At maintenance calories, your weight will not change, but you will lose fat and put on muscle at the same time. It is called recomp. You are changing your body composition. This takes a very long time, but it is the easiest way to do it. You don’t gain weight, and it won’t put on body fat. But it does take months to see much progress. This is also the most sustainable way to do it, meaning, it won’t be difficult to stick to, and you are more likely to maintain your progress.
The fastest way to put on muscle is to go through periods of bulking, or eating in a surplus, and then cutting, eating in a deficit. This is tedious, and also takes a lot of time. I don’t recommend this to brand new lifters. If you are a more experienced lifter and you are comfortable with your body composition now and want to gain muscle, this is for you. If you are not happy with your body composition now, meaning you have more body fat than you want, this is probably not the best method for you. You need to be in a bulking phase for at least a year for it to make any difference. During that year, you will put on a little body fat with the muscle. It is inevitable. So you have to be in a good place mentally for that. You can’t be in a place where you are married to a number on the scale or you freak out if you have to buy a size larger in your jeans. Once you have completed your bulking, then you go through a period called cutting where you eat in a deficit to lose the body fat. This is hard to do for a long period of time and you will probably cycle between a deficit and maintenance for at least six months to get to your goals.
The majority of you reading this would best benefit from eating at maintenance, and getting on a well written weight lifting program written specifically for Hypertrophy. This will take time and patience, but if you focus on getting enough protein, sleep, and water, and showing up at the gym and getting your workouts done, it will work. I promise you that.
So where can you get a program designed for Hypertrophy? I have a very affordable group training plan that I would love to talk to you about. It is a plan written by me using methods and exercises that I do myself in my own training. This plan is delivered right to your phone via an app. It is explained here: https://vibrantfitnessco.com/blogs/news/new-programs-descriptions-and-cost. Contact me and I will be glad to talk to you about any program I offer. I specialize in Hypertrophy training.