Toning exercises are physical exercises that are used with the aim of developing a physique with a large emphasis on

musculature Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscle ...

. In this context, the term toned implies leanness in the body (low levels of

body fat Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular en ...

), noticeable muscle definition and shape, but not significant muscle size ("bulk"). Research and basic anatomical knowledge imply that the notion of specific exercises to improve tone is unfounded. Exercises can aid fat loss or stimulate

muscle hypertrophy Muscle hypertrophy or muscle building involves a hypertrophy or increase in size of skeletal muscle through a growth in size of its component cells. Two factors contribute to hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which focuses more on increase ...

, but cannot otherwise improve tone.Waehner, Paige
Can You Really 'Tone' Your Body?
/ref> The size of the muscle can change, as can the amount of fat covering the muscle, but the 'shape' cannot. The words "tone" and "toning" can be misleading as they suggest that

spot reduction Spot reduction refers to the claim that fat in a certain area of the body can be targeted for reduction through exercise of specific muscles in that desired area. For example, exercising the abdominal muscles in an effort to lose weight in or arou ...

is possible, which it is not. More accurate descriptions are "muscle building" and "fat loss."

Exercises

Exercises popularly believed to improve tone are primarily

weight lifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...

exercises performed with high repetitions and low resistance (low weight), with short rest periods. This

conventional wisdom The conventional wisdom or received opinion is the body of ideas or explanations generally accepted by the public and/or by experts in a field. In religion, this is known as orthodoxy. Etymology The term is often credited to the economist John K ...

is however criticized as poor-quality and inefficient. What is advocated is an exercise routine involving: *

resistance training Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...

- to stimulate muscle breakdown and repair (increasing muscle mass will raise metabolism, as muscle has a higher calorific usage than fat); *

cardiovascular exercise Aerobic exercise (also known as endurance activities, cardio or cardio-respiratory exercise) is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, inv ...

(particularly

interval training Interval training is a type of training exercise that involves a series of high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or relief periods. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods invo ...

) to burn calories; * optimal

diet (nutrition) In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. The word diet often implies the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management reasons (with the two often being related). Although humans are o ...

to manipulate calorie intake and provide sufficient

nutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

for muscle growth. The primary requirement for looking toned is obtaining low body fat, as it is fat that creates a 'soft' look.

Notes

{{Reflist Strength training Physical exercise

Exercises

See also

Notes