Tone Up With Higher Resistance
In this column I’d like to discuss one of the great misconceptions that continues to plague people in their fitness efforts. Over my fifteen years of weight training I competed in a number of bodybuilding events, all the way to the Canadian Nationals. Now you may not want to be a bodybuilder, in fact I suspect bodybuilding is almost the furthest thing from the minds of most people reading this column. But what we may likely agree on is that most of us are looking for ways to achieve that harder more athletic look or what many people like to call a “toned” body.There are two ways to tone the body. You must either shed some bodyfat—if you’ve been reading my series of columns you likely have a few ideas on how to do that—or you must create larger stronger muscles.
If your nutrition is working well it’s time to set forth on building the muscles; and don’t worry you won’t become Arnold Schwarzenegger over night. Let’s try to find a common ground and create a better understanding of how the body works and what it means to achieve that idea of muscle tone that many people have. Let’s first look at our muscles in a very simple way. Essentially for any movement we perform, whether it’s talking or walking, we use our muscles.
If we can complete that movement repeatedly with little to no real effort there is no need for that muscle to change in any way. The best gym example of this is the traditional light weights and high repetitions. However if we increase the stress on that muscle such as progressive increases in resistance, now our body will be forced to adapt. It may respond by increasing the size and strength of the muscle or figuring out how it can supply more oxygen to the muscle for a greater capacity to work. It’s this adaptation that is so important if we are to achieve a toned body.
Remember that next time you are in the gym; try to increase the resistance just a little over what you completed last week. Don’t be afraid to try different ranges of repetitions to make progress in different ways. But most important of all make sure that the next workout will always provide a greater challenge over the last, this will ensure continued progress.
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