Toning Your Body vs. Losing Weight
We have all tried to get into fitness at one point or another, whether it was to lose weight or to get into shape. Whether we actually managed to stick to the fitness plan is another story. But the real question becomes, is one method better than the other? Should you focus on losing weight and forget about toning, or vice versa? Today, I’m going to explain what both methods entail and potentially provide some answers to those questions.
Let’s start with how a body toning fitness regime works. Essentially, there are three key components: resistance training, regular cardiovascular exercise, and a healthy diet. The matter of the fact is, you can do all the right exercises for building lean muscle, but you also need to eat the right foods. Otherwise, your muscles won’t receive what they need to grow and repair themselves. A healthy diet involves fruits and vegetables, so definitely increase your daily intake of the two if you decide to follow a muscle toning fitness plan. But you also need to make sure you eat protein, because protein is the building block of your muscles. In addition, drinking lots of water is very important. As you may already know, water is essential to cleansing your body because it removes toxins and keeps you energized. In fact, you should aim to drink around two liters of water any day you exercise.
Now, the actual exercise portion can be intense. Exercises to tone the upper body include bench press, grip pull-ups, and bicep curls. Exercises to tone the lower body include pile squats, leg extensions, and dumbbell lunges. Of course, there are many others to choose from so there is no pressure to conform to a certain routine. But, it is highly recommended that you get a personal trainer. Toning your body is hard, because it’s not the same thing as simply losing weight. You are targeting specific regions of your body to get a defined, desirable figure. And like I mentioned, it is also very important to stick to a nutrition plan. A personal trainer can help you and guide you along the process.
On the other hand, let’s talk about how people lose weight. Funny enough, there are actually three ways to lose weight: lose fat, lose water, or lose muscle. Most people refer to losing fat when they talk about losing weight. When it comes to solely losing weight, the process is fairly simple. You focus on burning your energy and sweating as much as possible, so that the body is forced to use fat reserves as an energy source. Which means walk, jog, run, or simply move around as much as necessary.
So, which path should you take? Well, the process of becoming toned involves developing lean muscle. And in order to develop muscle in general, you need to lose fat. You need to lose the layer of fat covering the muscle you are trying to tone. Therefore, the process of toning automatically involves losing fat, which leads to weight loss. However, simply trying to lose weight will not help you develop lean muscle.
In my personal opinion, changing your body by developing lean muscle, and losing weight in the process, is the way to go. I have always believed that in order to stay fit and maintain a healthy body, just trying to lose weight and become skinny is not enough. You should also work to strengthen your body, by developing a good amount of muscle and eating properly. Ultimately, however, the decision is yours to make. In addition, please consult a physician or nutritionist before making a final decision.
References:
https://www.lalofitness.com/single-post/2017/09/11/What’s-More-Important-Losing-Weight-or-Toning-Up
http://www.fitnesshealth101.com/fitness/weight-loss/strategies/tone-lower-body
http://www.fitnesshealth101.com/fitness/weight-loss/strategies/tone-upper-body
