The Toned Hard Truth

As quite a number of personal trainers out there will tell you, women (far more than men) often times express an interest in getting more toned but with a great fear of also becoming bulky at the same time. While certainly many women can run the risk of gaining bulk as they seek that toned/hard look, it need not be a part of the process. In fact - according to quite a few fitness experts - it can be quite an easy thing to avoid.

For starters, one recently published report on this topic states that strength and tone are closely related. In other words, by increasing tension you gain strength and the stronger you become the harder your muscles end up as a result. Bottom line - concentrate on the idea of strength training in order to achieve the hard muscles and the toned look.

Another smart tip for firmness without bulkiness courtesy of Stephen Williamson, a fitness coach and owner of BodyBlast Personal Training and Nutrition, is to be sure and limit the amount of time resting between sets.
“We don’t want the body to work to its fullest capacity,” says Williamson, “trying to limit the amount of time the body has to recover cuts down on the amount of time the body is under tension.”

Williamson adds that it comes down to doing less weight and less reps (NOT less weight and more reps as is often quoted), “because your recovery time is faster that way - and the least amount of tension equals the least amount of time.”

Ok, so as not to contradict ourselves here, lets be clear on this important point. Yes strength and tension contribute to tone, however there are limits time wise. Try to complete each repetition in approximately 2-4 seconds and keep rest time in between sets down to no more than 30 seconds. Yes it is indeed a fine balance between strength and tension and time and tone.

Finally, here is how one published report suggests you can exercise without adding size or bulk. If you keep the volume low you’ll succeed in getting stronger, more toned and harder without increasing size. Overall, make sure you keep the number of reps completed in a single workout on the low side - no more than 10 reps at most.

For all you ladies looking to harden some specific body parts (you know the problem areas we are talking about here), here are some fine helpful tips only a really good trainer would probably share with you.. For rock hard glutes, high tension dead lifts definitely do the trick. For toned abs, once again those dead lifts deliver results by also targeting the stubborn abdominal area as well, along with sets of squats (both the barbell and dumb bell versions) and leg presses. As an added bonus, both dead lifts and squats help tone up the hips and thighs.

Want to know more, check out www.bodyblast.com for more information about how personal training and nutrition consulting can help you get the toned body you are looking for! BodyBlast Fitness Studio offers the most progressive programming in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area- That's the Toned Hard Truth!