I got this great question in my inbox this week:

Dear Cliff,

I workout at home 5 days a week but I am getting bored with my same workout.

I currently run 3 miles, do 100 regular crunches, 100 reverse crunches, 50
regular lunges, 50 backwards lunges, 50 push-ups, I do an arm workout with
5 pound dumbbells, and I do 25 squats.

I do not want to lose any more weight but I do want to get really toned.

I would like to know workouts that focus on my abs, my butt and back lower
thighs, inner thighs, and arms. My stomach is flat but now I want more definition.
I also want my butt and lower back thighs, and inner thighs tighter, I want them
to be as tight as possible lol, so when I walk around in my swimsuit I will not be
afraid of cellulite, I don’t think I have cellulite but I am always paranoid that I
will get it. I’ve heard that your arms are one of the fastest muscles to tone.

Although my arms have gotten leaner I would like more definition, like Cameron
Diaz’s arms. She has great arms!

Thanks!
Emily

Actually, that is one of the most popular questions that I receive from women.

But when I answer this question, which I will below, know that it is very challenging for
many women to accept the answer and put it into practice.

Here is my answer:

Weight training advice for women revolves around three “dirty” words that have
no real definition:

Toning
Shaping, and
Sculpting

The way that the word toning is used in magazines, means, “make your muscles
look better without making them bigger.”

Impossible.

There is no way to provide more toned muscles by lifting light weights a lot of
times.  You may lose more fat around the muscle, thus making it look better, but
that’s not a realistic way to look at your muscles.

If your muscles don’t grow, they won’t look any better than they do now, even
if you could strip off whatever fat sits on them.

Then, Shaping offers a different false promise.

Your muscle shape is determined by your genetics.  That was a done deal at
your conception.  You have to pick different parents next time around, if you
don’t like your genetics.

You can’t sculpt muscles you haven’t yet built!

Alright, you want a real world example?

Let’s look at the Boot Camp workout that we did yesterday morning in the park with
about 35-40 people:

Saturday Boot Camp Workout

Warm up Drills

Lifting CIRCUIT:
1 round of 45 seconds each, then 2nd round of 30 seconds each

1. Dumbbell Bent Over Row
2. Dumbell Snatches
3. Dumbbell Lateral Raises
   
4. Dumbbell Push Press
5. Dumbbell Hammer Curl

Exercise under Cone Drill (Round 1)
This is an exercise, where everyone runs down the hill, picks up
a cone, looks at the written exercise, comes back up the hill and
executes the exercise.

Lifting CIRCUIT:
1 round of 45 seconds each, then 2nd round of 30 seconds each

1. Dumbbell Cleans
2. Dumbbell Front Raises
3. Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks
4. Side Squats with Dumbbell Press
5. Dumbbell Deadlift then High Pulls
6. One Leg Rocket (Lunge and jump up)
   

Exercise under Cone Drill (Round 2)
This is an exercise, where everyone runs down the hill, picks up
a cone, looks at the written exercise, comes back up the hill and
executes the exercise.

Lifting CIRCUIT:
1 round of 45 seconds each, then 2nd round of 30 seconds each

1. Bodyweight Step Overs
2. Back and Front lunge
3. Lying Dumbbell Flies with Crunch
   
4. Dumbell Swing
5. Push Up Complex (differing hand positions)
   
6. Step Ups on Picnic Bench
7. Dips on Bench

Exercise under Cone Drill (Round 3)
This is an exercise, where everyone runs down the hill, picks up
a cone, looks at the written exercise, comes back up the hill and
executes the exercise.

Ab Routine
Stretch

But I Still Want to Sculpt My Muscles!!!

If you want to ’sculpt’, ‘tone’ or ’shape’ your muscles, then you would use weights
that only allow you to do 10-12 reps during those 30-45 seconds.

If you use a 5 pound dumbbell for all the exercises, that is completely fine,
in the beginning, as you will feel better, improve your health, lose fat
(if done quickly enough through the range of motion) and get a great workout.

But you won’t tone, sculpt or shape, after a few weeks of staying at the same weight.

Emily, your answer comes in increasing your weights.

There is no right or wrong workout, even though it should be changed on a
regular basis (everyday or at least every 2-4 weeks).

The above Saturday morning Boot Camp Workout is fine.  I have a thousand of
them, all different, all unique.

But if you did the above workout for a few weeks with much heavier weights,
you would get EXACTLY what you are looking for.

Unless your diet is “off”… and that is fodder for next week’s blog.

I am heading out for a run in the rain… 73 degrees and light rain.  Not a bad morning
to head out.

Posted October 4th, 2009 under Uncategorized. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.