Bolstering Aesthetic Prowess 

 

One of the more popular incentives to do resistance training and engage in regular cardio-vascular activity is to transform your body so that it LOOKS GOOD. (Who’re we kidding? Appearances DO matter, both for others as well as oneself.)

 

People often speak of “toning”. We must ensure we do not subscribe to certain

myths:

 

1) There is no physiological process called “toning”. There is only the visual effectof seeing the contours of the muscle tissue through the skin. Here, the topography of the musculature “pokes” up through the epidermis because

 

A) There is enough muscle to do so, and

 

B) There is not much adipose tissue under the epidermis to mask the muscle topography. In other words: fat hides muscle contours.

 

2) There is no “spot reduction”. We must remember what “fat” IS. It is unused potential energy: potential energy (“calories”) you took into your body that didn’t get used, and was thus stored away for a rainy day. The body uses (“burns”) this stored energy (WHEREVER it happens to be) when you engage in energyburning activity (WHATEVER that might be). If there’s a lot of fat on your ankle, and you wave your arms around a lot, then the arm-waving would use the stored energy in your ankle—because THAT is where the stored energy IS.

 

People often say: “I want to get rid of fat HERE and HERE.” No matter where “HERE” is in that statement, the answer is generally the same: BE MORE ACTIVE (i.e. burn energy).

 

Depleting fat, and thus getting a “toned” effect, involves 3 things: 

 

1) Engaging regularly and consistently in ongoing cardio-vascular (aerobic) activity—in order to deplete fat stores and keep your metabolism high.

 

2) Maintaining the muscle tissue so that, when the fat is gone, there is something to show beneath the skin. (Also, higher percentage muscle keeps the metabolic rate higher, thereby bolstering one’s immune system and helping to burn fat.)

 

 

3) Having a sensible diet. Eating intelligently involves providing your body with enough sustenance (complex carbs, vitamins, potassium, calcium, protein, anti-oxidants, etc.), but not TOO much.

 

This means do the following on a DAILY BASIS:

 

• Drink lots ‘n lots of H2O, as frequently as possible.

• Eat several small, incremental meals (not a few gluttonous big meals).

• Burning ALL that (or SLIGHTLY more than) you are taking in.

• Maximizing HDLs (high-density lipids: the GOOD kind of fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids)

• Minimizing sodium, anything ending in “-ose”, chemicals and other preservatives, and LDLs (low-density lipids: the BAD kind of fats, such as saturated / trans-fats)

 

“Toning” is a matter of changing what is called “body composition”. That is the percentage of your total mass that is body-fat vs. lean muscle tissue. This is a ratio, and is not reflected in one’s net weight (what you read on a scale). The better terminology to use is: “I want to become ‘lean’ and ‘efficient’.” THEN the aesthetics will follow! Basically, looking GOOD means looking HEALTHY AND ACTIVE. The visual effect we call “toning” ensues naturally...so long as you attend to your physical fitness.