WhAt It means to “tone” and why we cannot “spot REDUCE fat!”

Are you doing 100’s of crunches /AB exercises and not getting “flat abs?” “Toned abs” seems to be a term that is promised on social media if you do an AB circuit……

I’ll break down: We workout to build muscle. Most of weight loss comes from how we eat and being in a calorie deficit. “Toning” is putting that together…..losing fat while building muscle. To “get toned abs” (lose body fat and build muscle) you have to exercise + be in a calorie deficit …….consistently!

You cannot spot reduce fat in any specific area of the body, just like we can’t pick where we gain fat. Meaning…. the exercises you do won’t make us lose fat in that ONE SPECIFIC area. (That goes for abs, legs, arms, etc)

We have to reduce overall body fat….so we won’t be able to “see muscle growth” until we get rid of the body fat on top of it. That’s what “toning” is!

Getting back to abs….we do AB exercises to strengthen our core, but if we engage our abs when we workout, along with eating properly and exercise consistently…..that’s how we get abs!

So, don’t believe the hype that doing a workout for a specific body area (legs/arms/abs, etc) will make us lose fat/weight in that specific area……that’s not how it works…..but it will help us build muscle, get stronger, healthier and empower us.