Health and Fitness Myth Busters: Toning Up

The Myth: If you want nice muscle tone, you need to use lighter weights and higher repetitions (more sets might help as well).

The Reality: The theory sounds good: lighter weights and higher reps will give you a lean, supple, musculature; while heaving around heavy weights with fewer reps will bulk you up and make you muscle-bound. Apparently the belief is that this style of workout will burn more fat, leaving you with a sleek, athletic physique.

The fact of the matter is that this style of workout is not a magic bullet to solve your fat loss dilemmas. And light weights with higher reps certainly won't "tone" your body unless you also manage to create a calorie deficit and lose the right amount of body fat. Workout all you want, but don't expect to see those muscles until that layer of fat is gone!

Train hard and pray harder,
Brandon Jubar