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Coach Tommy

How to - Lose Inches & Tone Up, Not Get Bulky.




Nobody ever came to me asking for more body fat

As usual I'm going to give you a short answer and my normal long-winded answer going over avoiding getting bulky in the gym. This past Saturday (2 days ago from writing this) I had a client tell me she wanted to get lean and tone up but was worried about getting bulky. Her goal was to drop inches and body fat. After hearing her goals, I replied, "Welp in the last 16 years I've done this I've never had a client come to me and say - Tommy, I want more body fat." Good news is I've had lots of practice working with clients on similar goals. So, next paragraph is the short ish version of what do follow / do and then below the long version.



Short(ish) Version of Not Getting Bulky


If you have a bank account or worked at a cash register Im sure you have been required to check and balance the money going in and out. In some form or fashion paying attention to what happened that day. Your food and exercise isnt much different. How many calories are we consuming and how many are we burning. If you are in a calorie deficit you will be shrinking and if weight training you will be building lean, tone muscle. There are a few exceptions to the rule that I will discuss below however at the end of the day its finding a calorie deficit and increasing your burn.


Longer Version


Ok so calories in vs. out. Got it, aka law of thermodynamics and conservation of energy. If you are worried about being hungry dont. If you drop your food intake just slightly (500 calories less) and your macros are fairly balanced (getting enough protein) then you should be just fine. However in the long term there are several catches.


As you begin dropping weight or body fat your metabolism slows. This is natural. You wont burn as many calories day to day. Think of it like gas milage with a vehicle. A large truck uses a lot of fuel fast but if you have a small call its more efficient. The same is true for your body. If you have less mass day to day you will burn less. One small way to off set this is to add more muscle on to your body. If you do this you may need to up your calories to your maintenance level as it's quite hard to add muscle and be in a deficit. That is one example of where you may need to eat a little more food than you are used to....after you have dropped some body fat.


Last, lets discuss body types and training phases. Some people can build muscle faster than others. If you are one of those people I envy you lol. Its a Hypertrophy means 75-85% of your max weight and 3-5 sets with 6-12 reps. Either high reps and supersets like HIIT training or maximal strength style 3-5 heavy reps with lots of rest. This is following protocols from the National Academy Of Sports Medicine. Body type, training phase, and type / amount of food will dictate what you will look like. As always, if you have questions please reach out and ask away! Thanks for reading!!!




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