After losing weight, many people are still not happy with the results. Sure, it feels good to fit into clothes better. And to not feel winded going up a few stairs. Yet, there is still something missing when they look in the mirror.
The thing missing is muscle tone. This is what makes the difference when you see a bikini model and what you see in the mirror. You could even be the same size, but their muscles are lean and toned which stand out more.
After losing weight, to go the extra mile, it is time to work on muscle definition. This is what people think of for that killer bikini bod. In this article, we will go over how to get those toned muscles.
What does toning mean?
People often mistake losing weight from working out as toning their muscles. Part of toning is when you make the muscles more noticeable, but it isn’t the complete picture.
When you burn more fat and build more muscles there is more definition. The shape of the muscles becomes important because this is how they look when toned.
Toning muscles is a combination of building more muscles mass while reducing the amount of fat that surrounds them. The mass comes from an increase in protein after the muscles have repaired themselves. Using muscle gainers like Steel Supplements (Texas, USA) helps to do this.
Bodybuilders have toned and defined muscles but in a very exaggerated way. The average person is aiming to do the same thing by body sculpting but without making their muscles huge or bulging.
How to tone muscles
Your workout routine is important when it comes to building definition as just having a fitness activity is not going to get you tone. You’ll lose weight and feel better by being in better shape but you won’t have toned muscles unless you add other routines.
Muscles require a certain type of stimulus to grow and take on their natural shape. There are two stages to the stimulus. The first is tension. This is when the muscles strain under duress from an activity. Usually, the activity in question is lifting weights. The tension from the strain of the weights starts the process of muscle growth.
The second is fatigue. The muscles get tired from having to do this kind of work and require a lot of oxygen from the blood to be able to keep going. Then, the muscles are damaged from this effort and need to heal and rebuild.
This cycle is necessary for toning. The first two stages of tension and fatigue will allow the muscles to grow and start getting their defined shape. The last part, the damage, is what will burn the fat necessary to allow the muscles to be seen well and gives them their structure.
It’s a hard process and when fatigue kicks in you’ll feel like giving up, so if you find yourself hitting a wall, consider hiring a Personal Trainer to help push you through. A personal trainer will encourage you to keep going and fight the urge to rest, enabling you to make it to the next level of muscle growth.
Fat loss
Losing fat has to go hand in hand with trying to build muscle. There are two keys to this fat loss when it comes to toning muscles. The first is that the muscles need to repair the damages caused and they use fat to do this. The cells are damaged and the fat is what comes in to help them rebuild. This burns fat from the rest of the body as the muscles use it.
Next, there is calorie intake. It is vital to reduce the amount of calories that are consumed to be able to burn fat. The muscles should use fat stores that are already within the body for the toning to take place. If too many calories are consumed then the body will continue to produce fat and it becomes a never-ending cycle. Muscle toning without a disciplined CICO (Calories In/Calories Out) routine is not going to work.
A common myth is that it takes working out a particular area where there is a deposit of fat to be able to tone that area. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Muscles will pull in fat from around the body to repair themselves. The fat doesn’t come from the area surrounding the muscles so the definition doesn’t come in that manner.
Benefits of toning muscles
Besides looking great in a bikini, toning muscles has other benefits. For instance, it gives you the stamina to get through a lot of different activities. The workday goes by much faster when you have a toned and lean body, for instance. You’ll feel less fatigued by your daily exertions.
The mood is elevated when muscle toning as the workouts release endorphins into the system. These endorphins help keep you in a good mood. Also, looking at the results in th mirror help keep you in a good mood!
