I love lifting weights. I could probably count the number of bad lifts I've had over the past 14 years on my hand. But fuck cardio, though. Every second of cardio feels like slow-motion.
I live a pretty active, involved lifestyle. I strength train with a trainer twice a week and run 40 minutes another 4 times a week (though I will scaling it down to three times after this week). I eat very balanced but don't "diet." My goal is 10% body fat and to keep it there..
I'm pretty psyched with where I'm at. Last summer was great & active with the amount of and strength & energy I have. I'm 195 an am starting to see lots of muscle definition shine through and the start of a six-pack (which has taken forever to get to with how my body likes to store fat).
If you know anything about me, you'd know i was obese @ 360 lbs when i was 21 years old. I lost 200 lbs with my trainer/nutritionists help (same lady strength training me right now) but didn't really adjust my lifestyle properly after doing it. By May-2012 I had put 70 lbs back on. I figured out a sustainable lifestyle & everyday diet after that, lost 55 on my own. Last April I approached my old trainer about taking things to the next level with strength training and here i am.
I turned 28 today. Everyone is teasing me for being almost-30 but considering how old and helpless I felt at 18, it doesn't really affect me.
If I ran two miles and took a muay thai class, I'm not about to go eat at Jack in the Box or something.
I started getting back into shape around this time last year with Muay Thai and then added in kettlebells a few months ago. I can already see and feel the difference, which is weird. I never really had muscles until recently, so it was super alien to have my fiance grab my arm a month or so ago and tell me I have big muscles. (My default response is still "no I don't. What the fuck are you talking about?")
I used to run religiously, but I fell out of the habit in late 2010 after running a 5K and taking a week off to relax... But, I went for a run on Monday since it was Veteran's Day and I had it off. It was kind of deflating, but I'm going to do my best to keep at it and at least be able to run a 5K again.
I live a pretty active, involved lifestyle. I strength train with a trainer twice a week and run 40 minutes another 4 times a week (though I will scaling it down to three times after this week). I eat very balanced but don't "diet." My goal is 10% body fat and to keep it there..
I'm pretty psyched with where I'm at. Last summer was great & active with the amount of and strength & energy I have. I'm 195 an am starting to see lots of muscle definition shine through and the start of a six-pack (which has taken forever to get to with how my body likes to store fat).
If you know anything about me, you'd know i was obese @ 360 lbs when i was 21 years old. I lost 200 lbs with my trainer/nutritionists help (same lady strength training me right now) but didn't really adjust my lifestyle properly after doing it. By May-2012 I had put 70 lbs back on. I figured out a sustainable lifestyle & everyday diet after that, lost 55 on my own. Last April I approached my old trainer about taking things to the next level with strength training and here i am.
I turned 28 today. Everyone is teasing me for being almost-30 but considering how old and helpless I felt at 18, it doesn't really affect me.
My major deal is I've never done weightlifting before, I don't know proper form, and I don't really have anyone at the moment who is willing to commit to go with me and workout regularly. I'm concerned that I would just wind up injuring myself.
Get a trainer. Technique/pacing is so important and really the biggest danger for someone who doesn't know their limits. As a newbie, at best you're wasting your time and energy by doing the exercise inefficiently. At worst you hurt yourself. Seriously, even if it's just to start, it's well worth the money. You don't have to keep doing it - they get one to to show you the ropes for a few sessions, show you proper techique and get you a routine together. If you want you can meet once a month after that to help you adjust your routine as you get better.
I've trained with a trainer constantly the last year because she keeps me motivated and challenged and knows when to push me and also when to stop and correct me when my technique is off. Maybe not the best use of my paycheck, but like Dark Souls, better to dump my earnings it into my own stats and make myself stronger before something comes around and takes it all.
I live a pretty active, involved lifestyle. I strength train with a trainer twice a week and run 40 minutes another 4 times a week (though I will scaling it down to three times after this week). I eat very balanced but don't "diet." My goal is 10% body fat and to keep it there..
I'm pretty psyched with where I'm at. Last summer was great & active with the amount of and strength & energy I have. I'm 195 an am starting to see lots of muscle definition shine through and the start of a six-pack (which has taken forever to get to with how my body likes to store fat).
If you know anything about me, you'd know i was obese @ 360 lbs when i was 21 years old. I lost 200 lbs with my trainer/nutritionists help (same lady strength training me right now) but didn't really adjust my lifestyle properly after doing it. By May-2012 I had put 70 lbs back on. I figured out a sustainable lifestyle & everyday diet after that, lost 55 on my own. Last April I approached my old trainer about taking things to the next level with strength training and here i am.
I turned 28 today. Everyone is teasing me for being almost-30 but considering how old and helpless I felt at 18, it doesn't really affect me.
I live a pretty active, involved lifestyle. I strength train with a trainer twice a week and run 40 minutes another 4 times a week (though I will scaling it down to three times after this week). I eat very balanced but don't "diet." My goal is 10% body fat and to keep it there..
I'm pretty psyched with where I'm at. Last summer was great & active with the amount of and strength & energy I have. I'm 195 an am starting to see lots of muscle definition shine through and the start of a six-pack (which has taken forever to get to with how my body likes to store fat).
If you know anything about me, you'd know i was obese @ 360 lbs when i was 21 years old. I lost 200 lbs with my trainer/nutritionists help (same lady strength training me right now) but didn't really adjust my lifestyle properly after doing it. By May-2012 I had put 70 lbs back on. I figured out a sustainable lifestyle & everyday diet after that, lost 55 on my own. Last April I approached my old trainer about taking things to the next level with strength training and here i am.
I turned 28 today. Everyone is teasing me for being almost-30 but considering how old and helpless I felt at 18, it doesn't really affect me.
and because "picks or it didn't happen"
Me @ 19 years old.
M @ 28.
Daaauymn! That looks like 2 completely different guys, congrats!
i got some winter running gear from my mom for my birthday yesterday. gave it a try today, but nope, running in the rain in Vancouver is still unpleasant. Still, I wasn't freezing and it didn't inhibit my running so that's cool!
my sister got me this fitbit tracker (www.fitbit.com). it's a wrist band that counts steps and interfaces with your phone/PC. so if you're not running on a tread mill but want to know how many calories you're burning on a walk or run outside (or while christmas shopping or touristing or just anything that involves transversing x and y axis), it's really handy.
i got some winter running gear from my mom for my birthday yesterday. gave it a try today, but nope, running in the rain in Vancouver is still unpleasant. Still, I wasn't freezing and it didn't inhibit my running so that's cool!
my sister got me this fitbit tracker (www.fitbit.com). it's a wrist band that counts steps and interfaces with your phone/PC. so if you're not running on a tread mill but want to know how many calories you're burning on a walk or run outside (or while christmas shopping or touristing or just anything that involves transversing x and y axis), it's really handy.
Yup, hate running in the rain in Vancouver, I just start swimming more often.
Y'all people are weird. I LOVE running in the rain. Though, I do need to get the all weather Newtons so that my shoes don't get waterlogged when I do it.
I am finally reaching the point where I enjoy running. It took me about six months but I look forward to the feeling of accomplishment I get when I am done. Still hate strength training though. My body still gives me a ton of issues about it. Very easy to make myself so nauseated I puke. I hope a few more months of it and my body will adapt as well.
I accidentally purchased Nike Running shoes today that can calculate distance or whatever via an app on my iPhone that I don't have, because I don't care to have it.
Now the NSA can chide my lack of running, secretly.
Y'all people are weird. I LOVE running in the rain. Though, I do need to get the all weather Newtons so that my shoes don't get waterlogged when I do it.
I was going to comment that I hate how there's so little rain in LA. Running in the rain is like a blessing.
There's an astonishing amount of bullshit out there.
Despite it all, I think I'm going to stick with this plan:
1: If I'm increasing the amount of work I can do, I'm increasingly strength.
2: If I'm increasing my strength I'm either toning or building muscle.
3: I can only tone my muscles so much before increasing strength will require building.
4: Push everything I've got.
It's true. A lot of what you can find written about fitness is based upon different exercise plans rather than actual science so there's tons of contradictory info out there. If I try to bro-science it up tho:
1: yeye.
2: Sort of. Muscle tone is continuous and partial muscle contraction. I think it's correlated with muscular endurance more than anything else. So more how long you can lift stuff for rather than how much you can lift. There's also other ways to increase strength; i.e. neuromuscular development (your brain gets better at telling your muscles what to do) -- if you start lifting weights this causes the greatest part of your increase over the first 2 weeks or so, and it continues to be relevant.
There's also shit like explosive and reactive strength -- explosive strength is how quickly you can get you muscles up to exerting their maximum force. As in you might have strong legs, but you might not be able to get them to exert force quickly enough to jump as high as you might. So if you can increase your rate of force utilization / explosive strength and jump higher while your legs don't actually get "stronger." Reactive strength is how elastic-y your muscles are; e.g. how well your muscles can store energy from a push up descent for the ascent phase. It's a why it's easier to do a push up from the extended position than the floor.
3. Absolutely, although you don't need to get heavy to get freakishly strong. Eric Cressey for example can deadlift more than 600 pounds at 165. To be fair there exist heavier people who can deadlift more than 1000 pounds, but yeah.
4. Yeyeye. Unless by this you mean training till failure? Whether you do that really depends on what sort of people you want to listen to.
Also guys, I managed to squat 2 plate (225!) for the first time today. Did 3x5. I was panting by the second rep, but I got through them. I've been increasing it by 5 pounds a workout, but I think I'm going to either let it sit for a bit @225 or drop down to like 180-200 and build back up (and hopefully through to something higher)
Best thing I did for working out was to go to a group training class. It is 6 days a week with different activities every day. Usually 2 kickboxing, 1 lighter yoga class, 2 kettlebell/body weight classes, 1 circuit class. I usually go 3 times a week.
The thing is, when you are paying for the classes, you actually go. And since there is an instructor it seems like you need to show up for them too. You feel obligated to go. Plus they help correct your form. We wear heart rate monitors so you can adjust your workout up or down accordingly. You don't want to have the heartrate too high for a long time, it is bad for you and you don't want it too low, you aren't going to get the results. We weigh in every week on one of those electric scales that says your body fat % and muscle and all that. It is pretty great.
Costs me about 70$ a month. Totally worth it.
and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
but they're listening to every word I say
As I've gained strength I've noticed a slight loss in flexibility. At first I was worried I was losing limber...ity...ness... But I always stretch before and after workouts.
Then I realized it's just that when I try to move certain ways now, there are muscles in the way. New experience.
As I've gained strength I've noticed a slight loss in flexibility. At first I was worried I was losing limber...ity...ness... But I always stretch before and after workouts.
Then I realized it's just that when I try to move certain ways now, there are muscles in the way. New experience.
It was really weird to me the first time I realized my arms were brushing against my torso when hanging at my sides.
As I've gained strength I've noticed a slight loss in flexibility. At first I was worried I was losing limber...ity...ness... But I always stretch before and after workouts.
Then I realized it's just that when I try to move certain ways now, there are muscles in the way. New experience.
It was really weird to me the first time I realized my arms were brushing against my torso when hanging at my sides.
try discovering hip bones for the first time.
I thought it was a tumor before I realized there was another one and they were symmetrical.
Thursday was day 2 of my re-started DB routine. I'm doing a 3-day split routine with chest/back as one split and legs/arms as the other. Thursday was legs/arms and I made the mistake of jumping right back to what I was doing before I took a month off. Squats & lunges obliterated my legs. I had to skip day 3 on Saturday because I couldn't walk until yesterday afternoon. I was literally crawling up the stairs, and there's still a tiny bit of residual DOMS handing around my quads. The funny thing is that at the time I didn't feel like I was pushing myself that hard.
The smart thing to do would probably be to back off a bit. But I'm not that smart.
I used this self made program for a year and I had pretty good results with it. Not Arnold levels, but decent muscular tone.
Day A
5x5 squat
5x5 bench
5x5 barbell row
Day B
5x5 Military press
5x5 Deadlift
5x5 squat (reduced weight).
This routine (with a more detailed schedule than this) has given me a nice toned upper body with defined arms and nice thighs, which I still have to this date despite stopping the program 1 1/2 years ago.
Currently I am looking into doing some yoga on a weekly basis as I have always found my body being stiff on a regular basis as I sit down during most of the day. Tried it once and I actually liked it. I think that is because I can feel the stretch in my slightly larger than average muscles :-p
As Arnold once said: I feel the pumping - it's like cumming all the time.
There's an astonishing amount of bullshit out there.
Despite it all, I think I'm going to stick with this plan:
1: If I'm increasing the amount of work I can do, I'm increasingly strength.
2: If I'm increasing my strength I'm either toning or building muscle.
3: I can only tone my muscles so much before increasing strength will require building.
4: Push everything I've got.
It's true. A lot of what you can find written about fitness is based upon different exercise plans rather than actual science so there's tons of contradictory info out there. If I try to bro-science it up tho:
1: yeye.
2: Sort of. Muscle tone is continuous and partial muscle contraction. I think it's correlated with muscular endurance more than anything else. So more how long you can lift stuff for rather than how much you can lift. There's also other ways to increase strength; i.e. neuromuscular development (your brain gets better at telling your muscles what to do) -- if you start lifting weights this causes the greatest part of your increase over the first 2 weeks or so, and it continues to be relevant.
There's also shit like explosive and reactive strength -- explosive strength is how quickly you can get you muscles up to exerting their maximum force. As in you might have strong legs, but you might not be able to get them to exert force quickly enough to jump as high as you might. So if you can increase your rate of force utilization / explosive strength and jump higher while your legs don't actually get "stronger." Reactive strength is how elastic-y your muscles are; e.g. how well your muscles can store energy from a push up descent for the ascent phase. It's a why it's easier to do a push up from the extended position than the floor.
3. Absolutely, although you don't need to get heavy to get freakishly strong. Eric Cressey for example can deadlift more than 600 pounds at 165. To be fair there exist heavier people who can deadlift more than 1000 pounds, but yeah.
4. Yeyeye. Unless by this you mean training till failure? Whether you do that really depends on what sort of people you want to listen to.
Also guys, I managed to squat 2 plate (225!) for the first time today. Did 3x5. I was panting by the second rep, but I got through them. I've been increasing it by 5 pounds a workout, but I think I'm going to either let it sit for a bit @225 or drop down to like 180-200 and build back up (and hopefully through to something higher)
Tone has to do with 2 things, muscle size, and body fat %. S'why thin folk with no muscles still have some tone, because their body fat is just incredibly low, even though they have no substantial muscle. The whole endurance = thin, ripped muscle, is kind of a sham.
Tone has to do with 2 things, muscle size, and body fat %. S'why thin folk with no muscles still have some tone, because their body fat is just incredibly low, even though they have no substantial muscle. The whole endurance = thin, ripped muscle, is kind of a sham.
False. Muscle size and body fat percentage are more important but tone is actually also a real thing: wikipedia.
Higher muscle tone basically means your muscles look like they're flexed all the time. If someone has a pump going on or is flexing it looks the same as having tone, but if you've got two otherwise identical people in a neutral state, the one with better tone will look more ripped.
Totally speculation: I think it's why power-lifters sometimes have stomachs that when they flex look like they have ridiculous abs, but otherwise look flabby most of the time. Cause though they have low bodyfat and good abdominal muscles, their abs aren't in the continually flexed state that happens from doing infinity crunches. Not that doing crunches will help you at all if your body fat % is too high.
To be fair though, a lot of the time I think the significance of "toning" is overplayed by sources that are really bad.
EDIT: Huh, I can't seem to find any reliable sources that show a link between muscle tone - as in "continuous partial contraction" and exercise. And lots of garbage source that are in favor or say it's a myth. To be fair, what most people mean by tone is achieved by lower body fat % and more muscle. Real "muscle tone" may or may not be affected by exercise. Though I'm leaning towards believing it is.
Tone has to do with 2 things, muscle size, and body fat %. S'why thin folk with no muscles still have some tone, because their body fat is just incredibly low, even though they have no substantial muscle. The whole endurance = thin, ripped muscle, is kind of a sham.
False. Muscle size and body fat percentage are more important but tone is actually also a real thing: wikipedia.
Higher muscle tone basically means your muscles look like they're flexed all the time. If someone has a pump going on or is flexing it looks the same as having tone, but if you've got two otherwise identical people in a neutral state, the one with better tone will look more ripped.
Totally speculation: I think it's why power-lifters sometimes have stomachs that when they flex look like they have ridiculous abs, but otherwise look flabby most of the time. Cause though they have low bodyfat and good abdominal muscles, their abs aren't in the continually flexed state that happens from doing infinity crunches. Not that doing crunches will help you at all if your body fat % is too high.
To be fair though, a lot of the time I think the significance of "toning" is overplayed by sources that are really bad.
EDIT: Huh, I can't seem to find any reliable sources that show a link between muscle tone - as in "continuous partial contraction" and exercise. And lots of garbage source that are in favor or say it's a myth. To be fair, what most people mean by tone is achieved by lower body fat % and more muscle. Real "muscle tone" may or may not be affected by exercise. Though I'm leaning towards believing it is.
Power lifters look fat because their abs are huge and they have to bulk a lot.
The biggest thing to take away is that you don't have to worry at all about that stuff unless you are really advanced. Get in the gym and work hard. You will get bigger and stronger.
Man, you guys are managing to make lifting weights seem nerdy.
Like nobody has ever lifted weights and mentally thought "That's +1 to my strength score." Or announced it out loud to everyone around them.
Managed to overhead press 100 lbs 5x3 today for the first time.
As D&D character can hold their maximum load above their heads and the D&D strength chart is as follows: (from here)
Lvl Light Med. Max Load
6 20 lb. or less 21–40 lb. 41–60 lb.
7 23 lb. or less 24–46 lb. 47–70 lb.
8 26 lb. or less 27–53 lb. 54–80 lb.
9 30 lb. or less 31–60 lb. 61–90 lb.
10 33 lb. or less 34–66 lb. 67–100 lb.
11 38 lb. or less 39–76 lb. 77–115 lb.
12 43 lb. or less 44–86 lb. 87–130 lb.
13 50 lb. or less 51–100 lb. 101–150 lb.
14 58 lb. or less 59–116 lb. 117–175 lb.
15 66 lb. or less 67–133 lb. 134–200 lb.
16 76 lb. or less 77–153 lb. 154–230 lb.
17 86 lb. or less 87–173 lb. 174–260 lb.
Posts
Y'all need to stop indulging in thin priveledge.
pleasepaypreacher.net
But I thought that fat people were just as healthy and fit as thin people? I don't understand what we're doing wrong.
I'm pretty psyched with where I'm at. Last summer was great & active with the amount of and strength & energy I have. I'm 195 an am starting to see lots of muscle definition shine through and the start of a six-pack (which has taken forever to get to with how my body likes to store fat).
If you know anything about me, you'd know i was obese @ 360 lbs when i was 21 years old. I lost 200 lbs with my trainer/nutritionists help (same lady strength training me right now) but didn't really adjust my lifestyle properly after doing it. By May-2012 I had put 70 lbs back on. I figured out a sustainable lifestyle & everyday diet after that, lost 55 on my own. Last April I approached my old trainer about taking things to the next level with strength training and here i am.
I turned 28 today. Everyone is teasing me for being almost-30 but considering how old and helpless I felt at 18, it doesn't really affect me.
If I ran two miles and took a muay thai class, I'm not about to go eat at Jack in the Box or something.
I started getting back into shape around this time last year with Muay Thai and then added in kettlebells a few months ago. I can already see and feel the difference, which is weird. I never really had muscles until recently, so it was super alien to have my fiance grab my arm a month or so ago and tell me I have big muscles. (My default response is still "no I don't. What the fuck are you talking about?")
I used to run religiously, but I fell out of the habit in late 2010 after running a 5K and taking a week off to relax... But, I went for a run on Monday since it was Veteran's Day and I had it off. It was kind of deflating, but I'm going to do my best to keep at it and at least be able to run a 5K again.
and because "picks or it didn't happen"
M @ 28.
I really can't tell if you are serious or not. Cause that blog osculates between 'maybe you have a point' and 'batshit crazy'
I've trained with a trainer constantly the last year because she keeps me motivated and challenged and knows when to push me and also when to stop and correct me when my technique is off. Maybe not the best use of my paycheck, but like Dark Souls, better to dump my earnings it into my own stats and make myself stronger before something comes around and takes it all.
Ah, a brain-diet.
Daaauymn! That looks like 2 completely different guys, congrats!
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
Best form breakdowns I have found and even some programming. Really good stuff.
my sister got me this fitbit tracker (www.fitbit.com). it's a wrist band that counts steps and interfaces with your phone/PC. so if you're not running on a tread mill but want to know how many calories you're burning on a walk or run outside (or while christmas shopping or touristing or just anything that involves transversing x and y axis), it's really handy.
Yup, hate running in the rain in Vancouver, I just start swimming more often.
PSN:Furlion
Snow running is indeed wonderful. Nothing like cranking the black metal and going for a run in the snow.
Now the NSA can chide my lack of running, secretly.
I was going to comment that I hate how there's so little rain in LA. Running in the rain is like a blessing.
There's an astonishing amount of bullshit out there.
Despite it all, I think I'm going to stick with this plan:
1: If I'm increasing the amount of work I can do, I'm increasingly strength.
2: If I'm increasing my strength I'm either toning or building muscle.
3: I can only tone my muscles so much before increasing strength will require building.
4: Push everything I've got.
--LeVar Burton
It's true. A lot of what you can find written about fitness is based upon different exercise plans rather than actual science so there's tons of contradictory info out there. If I try to bro-science it up tho:
1: yeye.
2: Sort of. Muscle tone is continuous and partial muscle contraction. I think it's correlated with muscular endurance more than anything else. So more how long you can lift stuff for rather than how much you can lift. There's also other ways to increase strength; i.e. neuromuscular development (your brain gets better at telling your muscles what to do) -- if you start lifting weights this causes the greatest part of your increase over the first 2 weeks or so, and it continues to be relevant.
There's also shit like explosive and reactive strength -- explosive strength is how quickly you can get you muscles up to exerting their maximum force. As in you might have strong legs, but you might not be able to get them to exert force quickly enough to jump as high as you might. So if you can increase your rate of force utilization / explosive strength and jump higher while your legs don't actually get "stronger." Reactive strength is how elastic-y your muscles are; e.g. how well your muscles can store energy from a push up descent for the ascent phase. It's a why it's easier to do a push up from the extended position than the floor.
3. Absolutely, although you don't need to get heavy to get freakishly strong. Eric Cressey for example can deadlift more than 600 pounds at 165. To be fair there exist heavier people who can deadlift more than 1000 pounds, but yeah.
4. Yeyeye. Unless by this you mean training till failure? Whether you do that really depends on what sort of people you want to listen to.
Also guys, I managed to squat 2 plate (225!) for the first time today. Did 3x5. I was panting by the second rep, but I got through them. I've been increasing it by 5 pounds a workout, but I think I'm going to either let it sit for a bit @225 or drop down to like 180-200 and build back up (and hopefully through to something higher)
The thing is, when you are paying for the classes, you actually go. And since there is an instructor it seems like you need to show up for them too. You feel obligated to go. Plus they help correct your form. We wear heart rate monitors so you can adjust your workout up or down accordingly. You don't want to have the heartrate too high for a long time, it is bad for you and you don't want it too low, you aren't going to get the results. We weigh in every week on one of those electric scales that says your body fat % and muscle and all that. It is pretty great.
Costs me about 70$ a month. Totally worth it.
but they're listening to every word I say
Then I realized it's just that when I try to move certain ways now, there are muscles in the way. New experience.
--LeVar Burton
It was really weird to me the first time I realized my arms were brushing against my torso when hanging at my sides.
try discovering hip bones for the first time.
I thought it was a tumor before I realized there was another one and they were symmetrical.
The smart thing to do would probably be to back off a bit. But I'm not that smart.
Day A
5x5 squat
5x5 bench
5x5 barbell row
Day B
5x5 Military press
5x5 Deadlift
5x5 squat (reduced weight).
This routine (with a more detailed schedule than this) has given me a nice toned upper body with defined arms and nice thighs, which I still have to this date despite stopping the program 1 1/2 years ago.
Currently I am looking into doing some yoga on a weekly basis as I have always found my body being stiff on a regular basis as I sit down during most of the day. Tried it once and I actually liked it. I think that is because I can feel the stretch in my slightly larger than average muscles :-p
As Arnold once said: I feel the pumping - it's like cumming all the time.
Tone has to do with 2 things, muscle size, and body fat %. S'why thin folk with no muscles still have some tone, because their body fat is just incredibly low, even though they have no substantial muscle. The whole endurance = thin, ripped muscle, is kind of a sham.
False. Muscle size and body fat percentage are more important but tone is actually also a real thing: wikipedia.
Higher muscle tone basically means your muscles look like they're flexed all the time. If someone has a pump going on or is flexing it looks the same as having tone, but if you've got two otherwise identical people in a neutral state, the one with better tone will look more ripped.
Totally speculation: I think it's why power-lifters sometimes have stomachs that when they flex look like they have ridiculous abs, but otherwise look flabby most of the time. Cause though they have low bodyfat and good abdominal muscles, their abs aren't in the continually flexed state that happens from doing infinity crunches. Not that doing crunches will help you at all if your body fat % is too high.
To be fair though, a lot of the time I think the significance of "toning" is overplayed by sources that are really bad.
EDIT: Huh, I can't seem to find any reliable sources that show a link between muscle tone - as in "continuous partial contraction" and exercise. And lots of garbage source that are in favor or say it's a myth. To be fair, what most people mean by tone is achieved by lower body fat % and more muscle. Real "muscle tone" may or may not be affected by exercise. Though I'm leaning towards believing it is.
Man, you guys are managing to make lifting weights seem nerdy.
Like nobody has ever lifted weights and mentally thought "That's +1 to my strength score." Or announced it out loud to everyone around them.
Power lifters look fat because their abs are huge and they have to bulk a lot.
The biggest thing to take away is that you don't have to worry at all about that stuff unless you are really advanced. Get in the gym and work hard. You will get bigger and stronger.
After a successful lift I twirl the barbell above my head before sheathing it behind my back.
Managed to overhead press 100 lbs 5x3 today for the first time.
As D&D character can hold their maximum load above their heads and the D&D strength chart is as follows: (from here) My strength skill should now be around 11.3
Cool.
FITNESS IS KRIEG