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Muscle Tone vs Muscle Mass Workout Routines

By Expert Author: Rusty Moore
Word Count: 638 words | Views: 1528 view(s)
The approach between building mass and tone is extremely different. When you are shooting for mass, you are purposely trying to damage the muscle with a high volume of lifts... then you need to rest that muscle for a long enough period of time so it repairs itself. When you are going for muscle tone you want a lower volume of lifts each workout, but you want to work each muscle group more often.

How Many Sets Do You Need to Do For Muscle Tone?

The goal for muscle tone is to avoid damaging the muscles. One of the ways to insure that damage doesn't occur is to keep the volume low. I would recommend 2 exercises per body part and 3-4 sets for each exercise.

So How Many Reps Per Set?

Believe it or not, strength training can bring out amazing muscle definition. You can get pretty toned with medium to high reps in each set, but you won't reach your full potential until you include sets in the lower rep range. It is good to vary your rep schemes. Do 4 sets of 3 reps for a period of time, then switch to 3 sets of 8 reps, etc. Just make sure you include strength training in the lower rep range every now and then.

It is Important to Work the Muscles Often When Going for Tone!

Muscle tone is basically the partial contraction of a muscle in a relaxed state, so your muscles are contacting a bit on their own even when you are completely relaxed. The way to increase this is to contract you muscles hard (workout) on a frequent basis. The problem with damaging a muscle is that you will be unable to work that muscle again until it is repaired. If you work a damaged muscle too soon, it will result in over-training. Another problem with working a damaged muscle is that it won't be able to contract hard during your workout, so that workout won't be very productive when it comes to increasing muscle tone.

Forced Reps and Training to Failure is a BAD Idea When Going for Muscle Tone

Going to failure and using forced reps is great for muscle mass, but bad for muscle tone. These two lifting techniques insure that muscle damage will occur! Another problem with going to failure is that "you are training your muscle to fail". Your body will react by not contracting the muscle as hard during the next set.

Here is Common Mass Building Split Routine

A popular mass building routine is the "3 day split". This is where you work the entire body over a period of 3 days. Day one could be Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps... Day 2 could be Back and Biceps... Day 3 could be Legs and Abs. The benefit here is that since the muscles are getting damaged, they need more recovery time. Also since you are only focused on a couple of body parts, you could really do a high volume of intense lifts for each body part. Cardio would be limited to maybe twice a week for 30 minutes.

Muscle Tone Works Better With a "2 Day Split"

Since you want to work each muscle group more often when going for tone, you should try to split you workout over two days instead of three. The great thing here is that you don't need much recovery time when you don't damage the muscles.

Note: I'm just barely scratching the surface here when it comes to setting up a good workout routine. The main goal for muscle tone is that you just need to remember that muscle damage and sore muscles are not your friend. Lift just enough to generate strong contractions, and spend the rest of the time burning off body fat with intense cardio...also don't be afraid to lift heavy as long as you do not reach failure.
Rusty Moore

About the Author:

Need to achieve extremely toned Hollywood style six pack abs? Then click here for expert, up-to-date, Fitness Tips!

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