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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential and become inspired to live your most vibrant life. You're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for Hiking podcast. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the fit for Hiking podcast. This is your host, Brady. Today we're going to be talking all about building muscle, getting tone, getting lean, and kind of debunking some of these myths around weight lifting for women, what it really means to get toned, and how do we really do it? Okay. So let's get into it. A lot of women say that they want to tone up, get toned, and unfortunately this term can be a little bit misleading. So by the end of this episode, my hope is that you will understand what Tony really means and how to actually achieve it. How do we build muscle and get tone in a way that actually gets us the results that we want to see? And we're not just buying into fads or things that are marketed to us as women. We can be educated about this. Then we can train smarter and get the results without just falling into gimmicky things that we see on TikTok or Instagram, and stick around for a little discount code at the end for Mountain Metabolic coaching. All right, guys, so let's talk about the myth of toning. So the word tone gets thrown around in fitness quite a bit. But it isn't a real physiological process. So a lot of times when I'm talking with women on sales calls or, you know, when I worked at a group fitness studio for five years, I heard the phrase, I want to get toned. I don't want to grow my muscles. I want to tone my muscles a lot. Here's the thing, though. Muscles can only do two different things. They can either grow, which is called hypertrophy, or they can shrink, which is called atrophy. There is no. Toning. There is no muscle toning process. Either our muscles are getting bigger or they're getting smaller. So what people typically mean when they say, I want to tone, I want to get toned is they want definition, muscle shape that shows, you know, visibly, but they want to be lean enough, have less body fat so that that muscle is visible. So if we want to get toned, that means we need to grow. We need to hypertrophy with our muscles enough to actually show that muscle tone, to have it that way. We're not just thin, right? If if we're not having the muscle muscular part of the equation, then we're just going to be thin. We're just going to be skinny. Nothing wrong with that. But if you want to look toned, you need to have muscle tone to achieve that look. So you have to have both parts of the equation. You need to both have the muscle mass and low enough body fat to show off that muscle mass. So. A lot of people think if I want to get toned, then I need to lift lightweights, high rep or just body weight. And I'm not really sure where this came from, but it's definitely been one of the most pervasive, predatory marketing tactics for women. Um, is you use the little tiny pink weights in the girls section of the gym, but you don't want to lift anything heavy, because the second you do, you're going to start looking like a CrossFit champion or like you're on steroids. And this is just kind of silly because, again, there is no way to tone a muscle. You're either growing it or you're atrophying it. So if we're going to focus on getting muscle tone, then we need to apply enough stress to our muscles that they are forced to grow. Okay. So our our muscles are going to grow when you put enough stress on them, enough strain, there's enough little micro tears in your muscle fibers that then your body responds with growth. So it's necessary to challenge your muscles. You can do this by doing a million reps with lightweight, or you could save some time and just lift a more appropriate weight to challenge you for like 8 to 12 reps. Um, so either way you can achieve results, but it's going to take you a lot more time if you're constantly doing. Not really. Enough stress, not enough weight, not enough load for a ton of ton, a ton of reps. You're going to maximize your time and effort so much more. If you just pick up slightly heavier weights and do an 8 to 12 rep range. But what needs to happen is that by your last rep, you need to feel like you worked hard. I think what happens too often for women in the gym is we pick up these weights and we're like, oh, I can do this. And so we do like a pretty easy weight and we don't really ever challenge ourselves. And then we're shocked when we're going to the gym regularly, but we're not getting the results that we want. Well, it's because our body isn't being forced to change. It's not under enough stress. So we have to challenge our muscles if we want to see that change. There's no magical high rep range that's going to do that for you. It's not because you do bar, it's not because you do yoga only or bodyweight only. That's just kind of a marketing tactic. Unfortunately, that's been targeting women for such a long time so that we buy into some of these fads. So you're not going to get bulky from lifting moderate to heavy weights, especially because women don't have the testosterone necessary for that. The reason that you might see certain women that maybe have a body type that you're not after. Maybe they're they are a little bit on the bulkier side. This happens because one, they've been training specifically to get that way for years. They work so hard to gain muscle. Maybe they're training twice a day for a CrossFit competition or for the Olympics or something like that. And they're working specifically with the goal of getting some big muscles to their eating to gain muscle. So you can also get bulky purely as a result of your diet. I definitely fell victim to this for a long time, where I was working out a time and I kept being like, oh my gosh, I think it's just because I'm lifting weights that I'm getting bulky. Uh, no, it was because I was eating like an ahole and I was eating too much and eating in excess every single weekend and drinking too much. All of those things. Okay. So you can't just blame the workouts and not be willing to look at the diet component two and three. It could also be some supplementation that's strategic for muscle gain or even some foul play going on with testosterone or things like that. So you got to look at the whole picture. Don't just assume because you see one woman who has a bulkier frame, that it's because she lifts weights three times a week and she has become bulky. Definitely, definitely not the case. Okay, so why is muscle key to looking lean to looking toned? So muscle is the foundation. We have to have it in order to create those curves. The definition, the shapes and ridges that we want in order to look toned again. Otherwise we just kind of achieve that skinny fat look. Also metabolic benefits. More muscle means a higher resting metabolic rate simply to keep your muscle active, so you're going to burn more calories at rest. This is why you get more bang for your buck with lifting weights than you do with running or something that's just cardio based. Even though in the moment you might be burning more calories with the cardio forward exercise, you're going to be learning more calories long term, at rest with the strength training and then performance benefits, you're going to be stronger, more capable for everyday life. Hikes. Fitness goals. There's so many benefits to having muscle on your body for longevity, bone density, metabolic purposes, and to have the body composition that you want. All right. So how to gain muscle. How do we actually do this if we want to look toned. If we want to have that muscle tone look lean and get strong. So strength training basics. The most important thing is what's called progressive overload. Progressively lifting heavier weights over time. that's all that it means. So say that one week you're doing, uh, £10 for your bicep curls. If a year later you're still doing £10 for your bicep curls, you're not really progressively overloading. You might expect that you're not going to see a ton of changes in your bicep size or definition. Same thing goes for squats or deadlifts or lunges or some of these heavier lifts. We have to slowly progress. It doesn't mean every single week doesn't mean every single workout. But yes, over time you need to be putting a little bit more weight in your hands on the bar, whatever it is that you're lifting with, okay? And it doesn't always look like lifting more weights. Sometimes it means trying some single leg or single arm exercises that really challenge you. Sometimes it means slowing down the tempo, maybe adding some pauses or pulses at the contraction point of that particular lift. Okay, so your ability to progress is not just all about the weight that you use, but that will play a key factor. So you have to be willing to practice progressive overload. Also focusing on lifting these main compound lifts regularly. So things like squats, deadlifts, presses, both, you know, like a chest press and an overhead press. Um, pull ups, rows, lunges, all of these things are fundamental lifts that should be a part of every single week of your programming. Okay, so if you never have those big compound lifts in your workout schedule or routine, you don't have a very good workout routine. And I will say that with absolute certainty, you need to have those bigger compound lifts. Um, those are the most beneficial and effective lifts overall. Um, so you need to be doing those basics every single week and then ditching some of those, like hit only type of workouts. The combo moves where it's like I'm going from a lunge to a bicep curl. If you're only doing those types of workouts, then you're not really getting a ton of benefits. And here's why. You can do a whole lot more weight on a lunge. If you just do a lunge, then if you incorporate a lunge to a bicep curl, right? Because your arms can only lift so heavy, but your legs have a whole lot more power and strength in muscle fibers than your upper body. So you're limiting yourself, and you're not maximizing what you can do as far as your leg output if you're combining those two. So if you're trying to get like a muscular endurance type of workouts, those combo moves can be great for a higher rep, lower weight if you're training specifically for muscular endurance for whatever purpose. However, if that's all that you're doing in your workouts and you're never really lifting those compound lifts to maximize, then you're going to kind of stunt your muscle growth. Okay, so don't limit yourself to only those kind of like social media type exercises that look super cool because you're doing like five exercises in one. Yes, they look cool. Yes, they're more exciting, but they're not always the most effective. The basics are the basics for a reason, and they've been that way for years. Getting people results for a reason. Okay, so stick with those. More so than just like these fad type of things that you might see on social media. And then actually sticking with your program instead of just program hopping. So if you're constantly just like finding these random workouts and you have no idea what you're doing, when you show up to the gym and you look up something on Instagram and then you do that, that might get you so far. But if you really want to elevate and step up your results, then you're going to need to follow a program. Because the other type of approach of just kind of bouncing around from thing to thing with no plan is going to get you diminishing returns. And then I would recommend training each muscle group about two times a week for best results. Obviously that's not always realistic. Like if you're in a busy season of life, you might only be able to hit each muscle group one time a week. Just know that if you're able to ever, you know, step it up a bit more. Do two times per week. That will be optimal, but it might ebb and flow. There might be times of your life where you're doing a little bit less, and then times when you have the capacity to do more. All right. So let's talk about nutrition for a muscle gain and fat loss. Um, so if you're wanting to focus on gaining muscle protein is going to be crucial and this is a really easy thing to eat. A lot of women have no idea how little protein they're getting because they've never tracked it before. They're kind of eyeballing and they're like, well, I had some protein and said, protein is like one egg, which is actually seven grams. So they think that they're getting a high protein breakfast, when in reality that's a very low protein meal. Okay. So it's important to bring awareness to how much protein you're actually getting. And then start shooting for about one gram of protein per pound of either your body weight or your ideal body weight if you are trying to lose weight at that time. Um, so if you start out and you're like, Holy cow, I realized I'm only eating 40g of protein a day, I wouldn't recommend trying to jump from 40 to 120. Um, you need to kind of stair step your way up. Otherwise it's going to feel so daunting and unrealistic. And that's where working with a coach can really help, um, to kind of get you where you want to be with without it feeling, like, totally overwhelming. Another key component of this is to not underrate. In general, you need to be eating enough that you can either maintain or gain muscle. Okay. If you're under eating constantly, you're just going to be fighting with your body and you're not going to really gain much muscle. So if you want to find the right balance, you need to be in a slight surplus for muscle gain. If you wanted to gain a pound of muscle per week, you would need to first be actually lifting, right? You can't just eat in a surplus and hope that it turns to muscle. You got to be doing the muscular work as well. But say you're doing all the right things in the gym. You need to be eating a 500 calorie daily surplus every single day of the week to gain £1 per week. If you wanted to gain half a pound a week, so not quite as aggressive, you could go with 250 calories per day surplus over your maintenance calories. And again, that's something you've got to kind of work out with the coach as to what your maintenance and surplus calories actually look like if you want to just focus on body recomposition. So meaning maybe you want to lose a little bit of fat, but you also want to gain muscle. One this is going to be a lot easier if you are a newbie. If you're starting out, you're going to have better success with this because everything's going to be a new stimuli and your body is going to be very responsive. If you've been doing this whole thing for a while, this might be a little bit tougher, but you're going to have more success eating at maintenance with progressive overload strength training for body recomposition. However, if you're trying to like, really grow, like if you're like, I want big glutes, I want to grow that butt or something like that. Yeah, you might need to kind of give up on having super visible abs for a while and focus on more eating in a surplus for a time, and really training hard. So you got to balance your training with your nutrition and also have realistic expectations, right? If you're eating in a huge surplus. To gain muscle. You're gonna not be as lean. That's just natural. It's hard to do both goals at the same time. Um, but my best piece of advice, if you're wanting to just focus on body recomposition, where you're maintaining or getting a little bit more muscular while leaning out, then you're going to want to eat at maintenance with intense progressive overload. Strength training for the best results of body recomposition, and make sure you're eating at least a gram of protein per pound of body weight. And then the next component really is just your recovery and lifestyle. So even if you're eating well most of the time and getting to the gym, if you're not getting enough sleep, if you're crazy stressed out, if you have all these gut issues because of stress and you're eating really poorly, like your food quality is terrible, you're just eating to hit your macros or you're drinking tons of alcohol every single day, not having rest days. All of those types of things will throw off your results, so it's important to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep to optimize recovery. Give yourself rest days to allow your muscles to actually repair and grow. That's just as crucial as getting to the gym and then stress management. Chronic stress is going to hinder muscle growth and fat loss. Okay. So you got to manage that to. Let's talk about common mistakes that women make when they're trying to look toned. The first one is pretty obvious. It's just only focusing on cardio, being a cardio body, just doing all the running, the elliptical, things like that, or the group classes. That's kind of a sneaky form of cardio because you're like, But I'm lifting weights, but really you're just using like super lightweights and going as fast as possible. It's just glorified cardio. So don't fall for that. That's that's great for conditioning, but it's not really doing a whole lot for muscle growth. Typically, unless you're going to classes that do practice progressive overload and have proper programming and you are able to pick up some heavier weights. So only sticking with the cardio is not going to actually help you look quite as toned as one would hope. Lifting to light for fear of bulking, to the point where you're never really able to put on any muscle definition under eating protein and expecting quick results. Muscle gain is going to be slower than fat loss. That's another reason why. Thinking you're just going to bulk up overnight is is just kind of flawed. So how long does it actually take so you can manage your expectations? Visible muscle tone is going to take months of consistency, not weeks. So beginner females can expect to see noticeable changes in about 8 to 12 weeks with consistent consistency. Okay. So that's like 3 to 4 days of training a week. And you're really progressively overloading. You're following a solid program. Your nutrition is in line with your training. You got to be doing that for like 8 to 12 weeks before you can expect to really see visible results, or even kind of the strength gains that you want to see. So don't expect it to happen overnight. Be patient. Trust the process. Stick with a really solid program and you will get there. So let's talk about action steps. What can you really do to apply all of this and start now? Um, one is start by strength training three times a week with progressive overload. If you're looking for a program. Mountain Metabolic is amazing for women who don't know what they're doing strength wise. They need guidance. They need a plan that fits their life, where you don't have to go into a gym or you don't have to work out at a certain amount a certain time, every single day. It's flexible to your life. Um, and we can meet you right where you are. Again. Got a little discount code coming up for you in a second. Um, but we can start you out with three days a week and tailor everything to you so that you can get going and figure out how to do this in a way that works around your life and your schedule. The next is prioritizing protein. And balanced nutrition, getting enough sleep and recovery and then just being consistent and patient. The toned look is going to come from layering these habits altogether over time, and often it's a little bit more time than what one would hope. It's not going to happen in weeks, sometimes not even months, but just keep going with it. Because even apart from how these habits will affect your physical appearance, these habits are going to benefit your health. Mental health. So, so much. It's worth it for far more than just how you're going to look on the outside. Okay, so as promised, I have a little discount code for you guys if you're interested in Mountain Metabolic coaching. I talk about it on here a lot, but it is seriously such an amazing option for someone who's just like, spinning their wheels, not seeing progress. You've been kind of struggling with, like, feeling like you're constantly dieting or trying to lose weight, but it's not happening. You have no idea where to really start with training. Um, and you're just not getting the results that you want on your own. And so it might be time to actually invest in a solution that will get you where you want to go faster. And you can get there once and for all, and then just maintain. And then you're just you're cruising. Um, so if that sounds interesting to you, you want to learn a little bit more, then I'm going to give you guys $100 off of coaching for your first month. So if that sounds good to you, you can DM us at the Fit Underscore for Hiking Instagram page and just DM us. Apply and we'll get you going on the application process. Our next start date is October 1st, so we only have limited spots. We only have a few left. Make sure you jump on it. And then whenever I'm on a call with you, let me know that you're coming from the podcast and I'll get you that $100 off. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope that this has been a really great kind of gaming. Muscle 101 what is toning really, really mean? And hopefully this will kind of clear up some of those misconceptions for our listeners out there. Thank you so much for tuning in and I will chat with you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this. Be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at ponytail on Etrailer.com. Happy and healthy trails.