TeamFLEX Newsletter

Weight Loss Spotlight

Firm & Tone Myths

The most common objection women give the personal trainer when he or she tells them to lift weights to get firm and toned is that they don't want to get “big.” First of all, getting big or putting a significant amount of muscle mass on takes time, genetics and heavy weight training. Women in general do not have the genetics to build large muscles and gaining muscle size.

By exercising the muscles three to four times a week, you will not build large muscles if you keep the weights low and the repetitions high. Add cardiovascular exercises to this three to four times a week and you will have a perfect combination of fat burning and muscle toning exercises.

The myths that you don't need to use resistance training in order to get firm and toned muscles is nothing but a myth. To get the muscle hard and tight you need to overload the muscle fibers with resistance greater then what the muscle is use to handle but still not as much as if you would to build muscle mass. This is the only tricky part that requires a little bit of experimenting form your part. Only you can decide what weights are good for you to be able to achieve your personal fitness goals.

What feels heavy to you might not be enough weight for somebody else to even get any results at all. There are no set rules when it comes to how heavy you need to lift in order for the muscles to react however a rule of thumb is that if you get sore within 24-48 hours after your workout, you did a good job and used the proper weight for your body type. If you don't feel any soreness in your muscles, you can probably increase one of the three variables in the total volume of the workout, such as weight, repetitions or sets. Remember that changing one of the three will force your body to change with it and only one variable should therefore be changed at the time.

Another myth as far as firming and toning is that you can't change the way you look by working out. Yes, you can. You might be born with certain limitations to what you can do with your physical appearance but as far as changing the tone and the firmness of your muscles it's possible. Being a beginner sometimes work to you advantage rather then against you because your body will respond stronger to any new activity then to any fitness activity you have been doing for a while.

Sometimes you hear others say it's too late to start working out in your fifties or sixties and it's quite the contrary. Exercising is one of those few things in life that is never too late to begin. Your body can be firm and tone at any age within your own genetic limitations.

There are always going to be some parts of your body responding better and faster then others but your body will respond if you perform the exercises correctly. There is no question about that.

Some people don't believe that you can tone up a body after having children however that is just another myth. There are plenty of examples of women who are in their forties and in great shape after having two or three kids. It's a question of what you limit yourself to believe that you can achieve. If you tell yourself it's impossible to get firm and toned abs after giving birth to two children then you most likely won't achieve it either. You need to use the mind body connection. To achieve it is to believe it.