Lifting weights increases muscle tone, but it is possible to fail at your efforts if you do not follow some simple guidelines. There are techniques you can use to make your workouts more effective. If you are overweight, seek help from a nutritionist, dietitian or your physician if you need assistance to shed pounds and expose muscle tone.
Muscle Fatigue
When you lift weights, you must use the appropriate amount to fatigue your muscles. An appropriate amount of weight is neither too light nor too heavy of weights. The right weight is the amount that causes fatigue on your last repetition, but that you can control. You do not speed up your results by using weights that are so heavy you have to use improper exercise form to lift them. Using weights that are so light that your muscles do not become tired is also not an effective technique. MayoClinic.com recommends using a weight that you can perform 12 to 15 repetitions with per set to increase muscle tone.
Use Proper Form
You must use proper exercise form to increase muscle tone. Without using proper form, you do not work the correct muscles. Doing exercises with improper form can also lead to injuries, which will force you to take time off from weight training, causing you to lose muscle tone. A personal trainer can watch your workouts and correct any instances of poor technique.
Compound Exercises
Using large body movements when you weight train elevates your heart rate so that you burn calories during workouts. This builds muscle from lifting and contributes to weight loss. Big movements that use multiple joints are known as compound exercises. This includes exercises such as squats and pushups. When you use only one joint to isolate one muscle group, you burn fewer calories because there are fewer muscles involved. An example is a biceps curl. Only the biceps activate to move the elbow.
Rest
Scheduling time to rest during your workout routine is another muscle toning technique. Your body does not increase muscle tone during workouts but rather between workouts. You should give you each muscle group at least one day off between workouts to rest. During this time, your body rebuilds the muscle that you tore up during your workouts. Lifting weights creates microscopic tears in your muscles and if you do not give yourself rest, your body cannot fix these tears, which means you will not see physical changes in your muscles.
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