How To Tone and Build Muscle As A Woman

Toning was a term invented to help to market to women who didn’t want to get bulky.

The idea was that you could do certain exercises to achieve a tighter look to your body. Many health experts say it’s impossible to tone your physique.

While I do agree that you can’t tone a muscle through specific styles of training, I must argue that it is, in fact, possible to tone your physique over time.

This can be accomplished through body recomposition.

If you look at a cross section of skin, subcutaneous fat, and muscle, the thickness of each layer determines how “toned” you look.

Over time, you can build your muscle layer and reduce your subcutaneous fat layer, thus improving overall muscle tone.

Characteristics that make toning up easier:

1. Being a newbie at lifting.

If you have just started lifting weights, know that you can recomp your body very quickly, as you can gain muscle more rapidly than someone who has been training for a few years plus.

2. If you aren’t very lean, you will have a much easier time recomping than if you’re lean.

It takes effort to get and stay lean, and the body generally has a harder time losing fat and gaining muscle when you’re already lean.

So, if you’re more on the “juicy” side of things, that’s great! You have some energy reserves and will have an easier time with recomping.

If you’re a trained athlete, recomping or toning takes time.

If you’re already really lean, you may want to consider doing a separate build phase with a short fat loss phase after.

✅ Focus on compound movements, progression in your programming, patience, and making sure you’re eating around maintenance calories – and getting enough protein in!

✅ Carbs will also help with gaining muscle, satiety, and protein sparing.

✅ Take your progress pics, measurements, and/or get your body fat tested.

📝 Know that the scale will not give you an indication that your body composition is changing. 

Thank you for reading, watching, and sharing!

Train smart and train hard 💪