Bulking vs. Toning

Hey guys... Today I want to talk about two terms that are used in the fitness industry almost every day. Bulking and Toning. Let's loosely define both. Bulking is a term that is used to describe someone who is increasing their muscle size as well as their weight in an attempt to look "jacked" or "huge". Toning is a term used to describe someone who is looking to slim down so their muscles are more defined and their overall size is smaller. Say that both of these terms are a bunch of BS. There is no such thing as bulking and toning!!!! They are made up terms used by people that do not understand and do not know how to describe the effects of training and nutrition. It is for this reason that you will not hear the fitness professionals at Accelerated Fitness Solutions using them to describe our client's goals or progress.

A few months ago I wrote an article detailing how I lost 50-60lbs while increasing my muscle mass and reducing my body fat to 4-5%? Throughout that entire process of preparing for my bodybuilding show the major factor for the change in my weight and body composition resulted from a manipulation of my diet. While training stimulus ( a.k.a. what I did during my workout) played a role in what happened to my body, it was the food that was most important.

So why am I even brining these two terms up in the first place?

I would like you as our clients past, present and future to realize that just because you are lifting "heavy" or going "light" you control whether you "bulk" up or "tone" down by the types of food you eat. If you read a text book written for fitness professionals, the book will describe a term called hypertrophy. This is an increase in cross sectional area of the muscle. Layman's terms, making your muscles bigger. Take a guess at how you are supposed to achieve larger muscles. Yup, using lighter weights and more reps. 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. But I thought that's how you "tone". FALSE!!!

When you trainer takes you into a phase or two of 3 sets of 8-10 reps it is not to "bulk" you up, it is to introduce a new training stimulus that will result a huge fat reduction and a tighter "toned" looking body. This assumes that you are eating the way we tell you to.

Take away... trust that your trainer has listened to your individual goals and has your best interest at heart. We follow what the science tells us to do to achieve your specific goals. It is up to you to realize that you have wisely chosen an unlimited personal training company that knows what they are talking about and can take you anywhere you want to go with your fitness.