Hi all, I was always under the impression that heavy weights builds mass and lighter weights with more reps will help with tone and lean muscle mass. I just read in an article that lifting light weights for toning is a myth and does not benefit you unless you're lifting heavy weights to tax the muscles.
I weigh 215 lbs, fairly muscular but I want to drop the fat fast and just add lean muscle and tone up. I dont want to bulk up anymore than i am so whats the deal? Should I go heavy with cardio or light w/more reps and cardio? What your thought?
Thanks
I am under the same belief. I would go with lighter weights more reps and intensify the cardio - but mix up the cardio between running, HIIT and some form of plyometrics, step or something that gets your whole body moving and shaking. Just like you can plateau in weight training you can in cardio as well.
Also, watch your diet - less carbs more protien. And if you go high protien and really low carb intake, don't do it for more than a month - it's suppose not be good for your kidney's.
First off, Muscle development will burn the fat . Many physiological reasons for this. So the more muscle you have ( meaning you need to build muscle to burn the most fat)
Second Cardio will burn calories, so the lighter you lift the more your stay in your aerobic training zone therefore it is going to help you lose over all weight by assuming you are eating right, so you are burining more calories than you are taking in.
This is the short answer , I am sure some will give you a more deeper version.
2 - you said you want to add lean muscle but not bulk up? doesn;t make sense...you add muscle you get bigger, simple as that...lose some fat and you'll look leaner though
3 - heavy lifting is where it's at...most think of heavy liofting as a 1 rep max but doing sets of 6 with a 6 - 8 rep max is also a form of heavy lifting
4 - tone doesn't even exist...muscle develoment - body fat = definition..it's a pretty simple equation
5 - light wts don't build much muscle, ecpsecially with sub par eating plans that most people have
