Re: Settle a debate: running & muscle building

On 2007-06-17, shinypenny <shinypenny0001@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm on a dieting forum and women are told all the time that if they
don't want to bulk up, they should "tone" their muscles by doing more
cardio and skip the weights. Having been into weight training myself
in the past (and then at a pretty intense level), I know this isn't
necessarily true. I know women don't bulk up like men, I know that
strength training does all kinds of good and valuable things for
women.

It's unfortunate that there is a lot of misinformation out there. But, you
know that it's wrong (-;

But I also agree with Charlie - cardio definetly does something nice
for the body, and different kinds of cardio will produce different
kinds of results.

It's not impossible for slow twitch fibers to hypertrophy, but the extent is
much less, and it doesn't always happen. Some elite distance runners are really
skinny (even their legs).

Check out Paul Tergat:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=paul+tergat&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=1

A gymnist is built differently than a ballerina. A
runner is built differently than a swimmer. Hockey players and ice
skaters have the nicest butts. Bikers don't have butts.

Nearly all of these disciplines have a an explosive strength component -- they
involve a lot of fast twitch muscle, and are substantially different from pure
cardio.

Call it something else other than "tone" if you like, but something is
going on here, and it's more than just burning off fat.

In many of the disciplines you mention, the athlete probably gains some lean mass.
Many athletes also weight train in addition to their sport.

Also, keep in mind that dieters do more than just burn off fat -- they also lose
quite a bit of lean tissue. Keeping lean mass while burning off fat actually takes
some work, it doesn't happen by itself. The shapely, or if you must, "toned"
look, depends on at least not being atrophied.

Cheers,
--
Elflord
.

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