Why High Reps Do Not “Tone” Your Muscles

Many beginners believe that high number of repetitions performed with light weights will tone the body and add definition to your muscles. Actually, the truth is there is no such thing as muscle toning. The tone that people often search for, has everything to do with low body-fat percentage. Also, certain exercises cannot shape the muscles in a certain way. The muscle will grow and shape according to your genetic profile. Read The Myth of “Shaping” and “Toning” Exercises. High reps will actually help you build muscle endurance and certain size size as well, but do not tone the muscles and certainly don’t make the muscle much stronger. High reps will cause sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which means that you’ll get an increase in the volume of the non-contractile fluids of the muscle, called sarcoplasm. This fluid will make you bigger, but won’t give your muscles any definition. You won’t get a lot stronger either. So sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is not that bad. The bad news here is that sarcoplasm makes only about 25% of the muscle mass, or in other words – you’ll get a little bigger and bloated but not toned or defined. Myofibrillar hypertrophy on the other hand is a result of mechanical tension of training with heavy weights. It happens when the number of myofibrils, or muscle fibers increases. This causes muscles to increase in strength and density. Myofibrillar hypertrophy makes the muscle harder, stronger and more dense. In conclusion : The tone and definition that people desire is not a product of high reps and low weights. It is a product of hard training with heavy weights in combination with a sensible diet and cardio training. You might want to read : Muscle Hypertrophy – Everything You Need to Know About It (Example Hypertrophy Routine)