d712

Hi

I've just joined this forum and am posting my first thread.

I would like to keep fit for obvious reasons but also as a way of relieving stress. I'm hoping to tone up and I know this sounds shallow but my ideal would be to look like this:

http://us.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0381061/Ss/0381061/PK0400.jpg?path=gallery&path_key=0381061

I am slim, reasonably fit, I'm in my 20's (younger than Daniel Craig, might I add) and I would like to know what it takes to tone up and be able to disrobe with pride.

What diet, exercises, equipment are needed? What sort of timescale would I be looking at?

I can't stand salads to be honest but I am well prepared to take all the necessary disgusting foods and blend them into a drink, pinch my nose and gulp it down if it means I get the necessary nutrients.

I understand that high protein drinks may be needed. I really am a newcomer to all of this so would appreciate any advice.

When would I start to see any noticeable change if I stuck to a regular routine?

Thanks in advance

Mark

Pscarb

your not telling us anything about your self your diet or your training and cardio regime...I am sure you want to be muscly and toned but this takes time and alot of patience.

so let us see your daily diet meal by meal with times that you eat....
also your daily training routine and cardio if you do it a picture would also help us let you know how long it will take you...

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Daiv

Get down a local gym, speak with some instructors there. The best possible way you can acheive your goals is speak with a personal trainer. They'll work everything out, what you need to do and what you must not do.
Of course, they'll want payment

Its difficult to do that from online.

For cardio, its required that you know your resting pulse rate. This way it can be worked out which intensity you need to work at to increase your aerobic fitness or decrease your fat levels etc.

For toning up muscles, generally Low weights High Reps will work endurance (For example, bicep curls, 7kg - 15 reps). Which in turn, works your tone.
Now this is no use if there is a load of fat hiding them. So cardio is important.


Oh, first time poster... Hi folks

crazycacti

i'm not sure what you mean by toning a muscle but a muscle can only do 3 things:

- get bigger
- get smaller
- stay the same size

so basically when 'toning' i imagine you mean gaining muscle whilst losing body fat... which is possible...

now lightening the weight being lifted is only going to oppose the idea of progressive resistance and the muscle will adapt to the smaller weight...

its best to lift heavy and progressively (even when dieting) with proper deloading periods...

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big

Nice post

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ah24

What exactly are 'deloading periods'?

crazycacti

we sure think on the same wavelength hey ;)

it their simplest form they are periods which we still lift but not a close to failure at all...

our bodies can't take a beating all the time - the Central Nervous System for one can take a battering in the big lifts such as deads and squats...

a deload is needed sometimes - this could be a week off when you think you need it, or scheduled into your training program (see dual factor training on an example of this)...

some training programs call for a slight overtrain beofre a deload - essentially this is when you recover and repair...

personally (atm) i train hard with very high intensity for 4 weeks and back off for 2 and then back in again for another 4 and so on...

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Tinytom

I use deloading periods in my training.

Its essential for letting the body repair itself after a heavy lifting cycle. Normally my deloading periods are inbetween courses as this is the time when you wont be lifting heavy (relatively) anyway.

Normally on a deloading phase I increase the reps/sets and decrease the weight but its still an effort, I don't fire out 50 reps with a light weight cos thats just cardio lol.

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Pscarb

This is one of the biggest Myth's about weight lifting...

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megatron

Hmm, from my experience you can make a muscle harder by "toning" it by using lighter weights for bigger sets. At least that's exactly what I do when I feel a muscle getting soft and it works. Is that just getting rid of fat? I dunno - some muscles on my body can be as hard as bone wereas others can be almost as soft as fat - surely that is muscle tone?

Pscarb

lifting smaller weights for higher reps gives the muscle endurance not tone...tone comes from working the muscle just like you have done to build it plus alterations in your diet this is what happens for most you must be the exception Megatron...

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megatron

Maybe i'm reading the signs wrong then. In my head I thought that the density of muscle fibres would increase as you trained it for endurance - thereby making it harder or more toned.

Pscarb

from what i have experienced when i diet for a show i have got harder and more toned as the weeks go by mainly through diet and cardio as my way of training does not change one bit from the off-season so i would always advise to change a diet(increase protein as this does harden muscle some what) and add more cardio over reducing weights and increasing reps....

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Tinytom

More toned = Less bodyfat and so muscles show more thats all.

high reps burn more calories and pump the muscle full of blood same as how your legs get pumped and tired after a long run.

To my knowledge muscles do not grow as a result of a sub-maximal stress as they have no stimules to get bigger.

Although muscles can waste away from over exertion (over training) and this can be possible with any training regime without proper nutrition.

Fat mass and water retention (related to fat) all contribute to how 'toned' you look.

using low weight with high reps because you are worried about 'getting massive' is short sighted. If it was that easy to get massive then everybody would be.

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Jock

Great post Tom.

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