There is much information available about getting toned, however much of it is nothing more than nonsense, myths and misconceptions. The second part of this article is about achieving a six pack.
So what creates a toned body?
Being toned is simply having a low body fat percentage and that’s it! it has nothing to do with actually toning your muscles. Muscles may become larger and firmer with weight resistance training, however if you have too much body fat you will not look toned, no matter what condition your muscles are in.
So if you want to look toned, you have one simple goal and that is reducing your body fat percentage.
To achieve your goal you need to increase your activity levels and control your calorie intake, it’s that simple.
Best exercises for toning your body?
Anything that burns off as many calories as possible, many cardiovascular exercises are ideal, including running, swimming, aerobics and even walking.
I was asked for some advice recently regarding toning up, specifically toning up around the upper arm tricep area, (bingo wrings) she explained that she had been performing tricep extensions to try and tone up her arms, (spot training myth), this is a very common myth and way of thinking. There are two problems with this idea, spot training doesn’t work, where we burn fat from is decided by our genetics, not by training specific areas of our bodies. Second, tricep extensions is not a good exercise for burning calories and therefore it’s not a good way for her to achieve her goal.
While reducing your body fat percentage is your main goal, you should also consider increasing your muscle mass, a little extra muscle will help to improve your body shape and help to appear more toned when you get to your target body fat percentage.
There is not much more to it than that, many people fail to achieve their goals simply because they listen to bad advice and fall for all those weight loss myths that float about.
How to get toned?
The reality is very simple, all you have to do is to burn more calories than you are consuming. You can achieve this by simply increasing your daily activity levels. If you want results quicker you should ideally start and stick to a high calorie burning workout program.
Having a calorie controlled diet, including healthy foods will also play a massive part. The healthier your body is, the better it will be at burning body fat.
High repetition weight training
You may have heard about high repetition weight training as a good way to tone up your body. Performing high reps will definitely burn more calories than performing low reps, however it’s not an ideal or optimal way of training to get the best results when it comes to getting that toned look.
Cardiovascular training, even going for a long walk will be more effective, however high rep resistance training may still be a useful addition to achieving your goals, as it will aid weight loss and muscle development, it just should not be relied on as a sole strategy to get toned.
Getting a Six Pack
Getting a six pack or simply achieving a flat stomach is one of the most sought after and popular goals related in fitness, weight loss and dieting. One of the main reasons why so many people struggle to achieve this goal is simply because of all the nonsense information that is available.
How to get a six pack?
This is very simple, you need to have a body fat percentage of around 10 percent or lower for any abdominal muscles you may have to become visible, therefore resulting in that six pack look. Training and developing your abdominal muscles via abdominal exercises will be pointless if you have too much body fat covering them, they just will not be visible. It really is this simple, no magic training routines or crazy diets or anything like that, forget all the advertisements about special abdominal training equipment, training methods and supplements.
The truth is just so straight forward and simple. You just need a lifestyle which includes more physical activity with improved eating habits to achieve your desired results.
How long will it take to get a six pack?
Well that’s mostly up to you. It all depends on your current physical condition, the amount of effort you exert in your training, how often you train and generally how active you are, and of course your diet and calorie consumption will make a significant contribution to your efforts.
Directly training your abdominals
Performing exercises to directly target and develop your abdominals is certainly not a bad idea, however it should not be your main focus. Abdominals exercises alone will simply not burn many calories which equals body fat, perform them, just don’t rely on them. There are many health benefits to having strong abs, plus developing your abs should help speed up the process of having visible abs. As your abs develop they will pop out which will make them more visible as your body fat percentage lowers.
Can anybody gain a six pack?
Many factors will be needed to be taken into account, such as genetics, metabolism, age and current body fat, the truth is it may not be possible for everybody the achieve this goal. For most people, with the right information, diet and activity levels it should be a realistic achievement.
What is a four pack?
Some people may only have or be able to achieve what is known as a four pack, this is for two main reasons. First reason is, the lower stomach area is one the hardest areas to lose fat from, so the upper and middle abs may only be visible.
The second reason is to do with your abdominal muscles themselves, they may not be developed in such a way where a full six pack can be fully seen, however targeting certain sections of your abs via the appropriate exercises maybe able to correct this.
