A lot of people HATE the word "muscle tone".

I get it.

 To display muscle tone, it takes having some muscle in the first place and a low enough body fat percentage to see it.

 

This is how you DISPLAY the muscle tone you have.

 

But...

 

It IS possible for two people to have the same body fat percentage and same amount of muscle, but one person looks much more "toned".

 

Why is that?

 

The person with the greater muscle definition typically has the ability to contract their muscles to a greater degree.

 

Pound for pound, they are typically stronger as well.

 

Strength and muscle tone are largely a nervous system thing.

 

 

Strength does NOT have to equal size.

 

There is a principle in my book "12 Weeks Physical Transformation Journey" I teach called Irradiation.

 

I read about this in the year 2000, from a Russian special forces trainer named Pavel Tsatsouline.

 

It allows you to "borrow" nerve impulses from surrounding muscles, to create a much stronger contraction to the muscle you are working.

 

Here's how you would use this on bench press:

 

• Squeeze the bar hard as you slowly lower it.
• Let the tension work from your hands down to your forearms, upper arms, and all the way to your chest.
• At the bottom of the set your arms and chest should be contracted to the max, full of tension.
• Use that tension to lift the weight back up.

 

Note: In order to really build tension these reps need to be done slowly. This is another reason I teach men and women to stick to 5 reps or lower (most of the time).

 

I cover this in greater detail in my new book. 

 

 

QUALITY contractions over quantity.

 

 

 

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