I honestly think everyone should read this article. It's long but chock full of great information.

http://www.answerfitness.com/181/bod...ness/#more-181

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Thanks PhotoChick!

I love reading articles like that. I'm still baffled by women who avoid weights in fear of bulking up or even worse are the ones that do over 20 reps with light weights. That's just ridiculous. lol.

I loved the article...
Thank you!!!

I've read The New Rules of Lifting for Women and I appreciate that more articles are addressing this "toned" issue.

Hey, I'm like any average chick who's read a women's weightloss mag. I thought lifting weights would make me all bulky. I thought more reps with less weight would be "better" since women "should" focus on endurance.

Thank goodness that phase is over & done with! Thanks for posting, Photo.

Its an interesting article with some very good points. Of course I have to say I didn't really care for the female pictures they chose. Well the first 2 were fine but the toned one being some fitness model with obvious breast implants? I would actually think someone 'toned' would be a bit more muscular looking than she is but everyone has a different ideal.

This is great!

So, I currently do 45 minutes of pretty high intensity cardio six days per week(I keep myself between 155-180 bpm on my heart rate monitor pretty much the entire time it seems) and am trying to do resistance training two-three days per week, though the reality last week was that I only made the resistance training once, twice the week before. I also do some yoga and ab exercises at least three times per week. I've pretty much lost all the weight I want to lose and am looking for definition now.

According to this, I could do less cardio and more weight training and might see better results - do you guys think if I did three days of cardio and three days of resistance training it would help or maybe shorten the cardio three days per week and toss strength training in those days?

Nelie - I wasn't thrilled with the images they chose either. I think they could have come up with better examples from popular culture. One of my role models as far as a goal to aim for is Billy Blanks daughter, Shellie. I love the way she looks - totally fit, but not "fake" or overdeveloped. That middle picture esp - I love the definition in her arms.


Shannon
Totally! I do weights/resistance 3x per week and HIIT cardio 2x or 3x per week. Sometimes after the weights I'll throw in 30 mins of ss-cardio ... just becuase it feels good and helps loosen up my muscles a little. I see more results when I'm good about keeping that schedule.

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Thanks for posting this article Photochick It definitely put things in perspective for me. I started doing strength training couple weeks ago and am doing it 3 times/week but wasn't doing it for more than 30 mins. But reading this article makes a lot of sense. And I also did walk on the treadmill after the weights cuz it helped me loosen up the muscles too. Thanks

Thanks for posting the link, PhotoChick (as well as the pictures of Shellie - she does look great).
The musings on the meaning of "toned body" and how it came about are interesting. But even if it is technically incorrect, I am sure the word is ingrained in our minds now and everybody will keep continue using it (especially if you see if in all the magazines).

I never understood the fear that weight training will result in bulking up. But then again, I am not your typical female. I DO want to see a nice muscle definition and even if there is a bit of bulk associated with it, I would say 'bring it on'. I always laugh at the assurances (so often found in fitness magazines) that "these exercises won't bulk you up".

I'm fighting the good fight to maybe try to change that a little.

I might be struggling uphill, but I'm gonna keep trying. *grin*

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I went swimming on Sunday and was sharing a lane with a runner. She had awesome shoulders and definitely had the kind of look I'd want. She didn't have what I think of as a typical runner body and it was obvious she does lots of cross training. Of course to get muscle definition you need low body fat beyond weights and obviously she had both.

The term toning is used as a reference to firming up muscles--it's in the dictionary:

Physiology. a. the normal state of tension or responsiveness of the organs or tissues of the body.
b. that state of the body or of an organ in which all its functions are performed with healthy vigor.
c. normal sensitivity to stimulation.


tone up: a. to give a higher or stronger tone to.
b. to gain or cause to gain in tone or strength: toning up little-used muscles.

To make firmer or stronger. Often used with up: exercises that tone up the body.


So, I don't think it's wrong to say that someone has good muscle tone or that you'd like to tone up your muscles.

I think the use of the word "toned" is OK - it's just an adjective, after all, with a dictionary-defined meaning.

When it gets confusing is when people start referring to "toned" in the same sentence as "but I don't want to build muscle". That'd be impossible. The common conception seems to be that "toning" and "muscle-building" are different things, and really they're not.

I would like to be toned. But to acheive that, I've gotta LIFT..."toning exercises" aren't going to work. As long as people get THAT distinction, I think "toned" is actually a GOOD word...I think it adds a shade of meaning to "muscular" that most people understand and can picture.

by the way, ddc, I love your arms!

I'm with mandalinn on my feelings of the use of toned. You can't tone without building muscle. Toned is fine as an adjective because it is descriptive although people may have their own definition of the term.