# Aerobic Exercise: Useless if less than 20 minutes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731 "2002-12-05T17:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/21 "2002-12-07T02:43:13Z")
But if you bench, include a row as well. You do _not_ want your chest and upper back to get out of balance. ---
**Author:** ![dudemanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@dudemanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudemanjack)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/22 "2002-12-07T21:01:05Z")
I was just thinking of the “big three” lifts, which are the Deadlift, squat, and bench press. I would if you are a beginning you’ll want to do those, plus others of course, like shoulder press, pull-ups (or lat pulldowns if you can’t do pullups), and others. Check out [http://www.aswonline.com](http://www.aswonline.com) and [http://www.stumptuous.com/program.html](http://www.stumptuous.com/program.html) ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/23 "2002-12-09T13:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dudemanjack \* > \*\*Crunches, leg lifts, etc will not increase muscle tone. They will simply strengthen and cause your abs to grow. \*\* Perhaps I should’ve been more specific, “Crunches, leg lifts, etc” will increase your abdominal muscle tone. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/24 "2002-12-09T15:02:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\*Perhaps I should’ve been more specific, “Crunches, leg lifts, etc” will increase your abdominal muscle tone. \*\* No, not really. There is no such thing as muscle tone in the way that people generally use it. There is two things; get bigger muscles, and lose weight. Toning is only doing both. So will crunches, leg lifts, etc increase ab “tone”? No. It may seem that way if you are doing other exercises and your diet is adjusted so that bodyfat % is lost. Will it work your muscles? To some degree. Are they worthwhile compared to weighted exercises. Nope. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/25 "2002-12-09T15:24:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*No, not really. There is no such thing as muscle tone in the way that people generally use it. There is two things; get bigger muscles, and lose weight. Toning is only doing both. > So will crunches, leg lifts, etc increase ab “tone”? No. It may seem that way if you are doing other exercises and your diet is adjusted so that bodyfat % is lost. Will it work your muscles? To some degree. Are they worthwhile compared to weighted exercises. Nope. \*\* You know, I’m gonna have to keep disagreeing here. You seem to be saying that the only way to create muscle tone, and by tone I’m gonna take the definition that says tone=not flabby, is by doing \<\\>. That is just not true. Pushups will both nicely develop and tone your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Pull ups will work great for your back, shoulders, and biceps. And sit-ups, crunches, and leg lifts will do the same for your abdominals. I give you boot camp as an illustrative example. Will \<\\> work too? Yes, of course. Will they work faster/more efficiently? With the right regimen, sure. But that does not negate the effectiveness of \<\\>. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/26 "2002-12-09T15:26:52Z")
All of your non-weighted exercises use the body as a weight. Depending on how much you weigh, that can be quite a bit of resistance. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/27 "2002-12-09T15:43:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\*Will \<\\> work too? Yes, of course. Will they work faster/more efficiently? With the right regimen, sure. But that does not negate the effectiveness of \<\\>. \*\* Depends on how much you want to “tone”. Do you need to lose 30lbs of fat to get “toned abs”. Have fun with your situps and pushups. Weighted exercises work much better because they cause greater hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which result in more calories burned. Weighted crunches develop thicker, stronger, and BIGGER abs. Bigger meaning they show up better, they use more calories, and they are stronger. (not necessarily stronger because they are bigger though) Situps with bodyweight only work marginally. They break down into doing MORE situps, which does nothing for strength, only endurance, and do nothing for size as well. They burn calories and elevate the metabolism slightly for several hours after… That is it. Can you develop a nice body with pushups, situps and pull ups alone? Not without diet. So do these exercises “tone” your muscles. No, the diet “tones” your muscles. All you get is endurance. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/28 "2002-12-09T16:09:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*Depends on how much you want to “tone”. Do you need to lose 30lbs of fat to get “toned abs”. Have fun with your situps and pushups. Weighted exercises work much better because they cause greater hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which result in more calories burned. Weighted crunches develop thicker, stronger, and BIGGER abs. Bigger meaning they show up better, they use more calories, and they are stronger. (not necessarily stronger because they are bigger though) > Situps with bodyweight only work marginally. They break down into doing MORE situps, which does nothing for strength, only endurance, and do nothing for size as well. They burn calories and elevate the metabolism slightly for several hours after… That is it. > Can you develop a nice body with pushups, situps and pull ups alone? Not without diet. So do these exercises “tone” your muscles. No, the diet “tones” your muscles. All you get is endurance. \*\* Here’s my original quote “And my own $.02, sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, et al will increase your abdominal muscle tone, if however, your abdominal muscles are behind a thick layer of fat you will still have a gut. The only way I’ve found to show a nice six pack has been to go on a low fat diet. I’m at my optimum weight now, so it usually takes about a week of dieting to show some serious cuts. Someone who’s somewhat above their ideal weight will probably take longer.” Note the part where I say “sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, et al will increase your abdominal muscle tone, if however, your abdominal muscles are behind a thick layer of fat you will still have a gut”. I think now were getting into a pointless argument about the definition of “muscle tone”. So I’ll leave the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/29 "2002-12-09T17:54:52Z")
to help clear this up… one can only “tone” ( i hate that word) a muscle in the way bayonet is talking about if the muscle was dormant to begin with. then, and only then, will the muscle acquire a more firm “resting tension”… the muscle will be standing at attention more so, looking “toned”. you cannot ask a seasoned bodybuilder to do situps to tone his abs… they are already toned. that’s why Epimetheus is saying this. the BB’er needs a load during his movements. all there is is losing fat and gaining muscle. any different way one’s body looks is a combo of these two things and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/30 "2002-12-09T17:58:14Z")
i hate that you can’t edit your post… just to say that a dormant muscle becoming toned is simply your body realizing an abnormal load on that muscle and storing more water and glycogen in that area. (causing an increase in size and changing the slumping look into a firm look) this is why a trained muscle cannot get any more toned… this adaptation has already occurred. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/31 "2002-12-09T18:09:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*No, not really. There is no such thing as muscle tone in the way that people generally use it. There is two things; get bigger muscles, and lose weight. Toning is only doing both. > So will crunches, leg lifts, etc increase ab “tone”? No. It may seem that way if you are doing other exercises and your diet is adjusted so that bodyfat % is lost. Will it work your muscles? To some degree. Are they worthwhile compared to weighted exercises. Nope. \*\* This just simply is not true. Increased muscle tone is the recruitment of more of the _existing_ muscle fibers in a contraction. Low weight, high reps will tone by merely fatiguing fiber clusters that are used most often and forcing the recruitment of those rarely used. Toning is the training of to use all of its’s fibers in a contraction. Building muscle with heavy weights is microtearing the muscle and rebuilding it with more during rest. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/32 "2002-12-09T18:54:50Z")
Maybe you should tell that definition to all those fitness trainer, bodybuilders, kinseologists and exercise physiologists then. I can find you quote after quote of certified trainers, or trainers with a degree, saying “there is no such thing as toning”. Here are a few: From: [http://www.aswonline.com/faq6.html](http://www.aswonline.com/faq6.html) > [@](#): > > 6.8 Q. What is “toning”? > > A. “Toning”, or its evil cousins “firming”, “sculpting”, and “shaping”, is largely a myth. There is no such thing as “toning”. There is muscle gain and fat loss, and this goes for both men and women. “Toning” is used as a euphemism for training so that it is not threatening. **“Toning” is likely a bastardization of the concept of muscle tonus, which is a partial contraction of the muscle characteristic of normal muscle (tonus is lost when muscles experience insufficient stimulation for prolonged periods of time, such as lying down for an extended period).** Probably otherwise known as the “pump”. From: [http://www.dolfzine.com/page33.htm](http://www.dolfzine.com/page33.htm) > [@](#): > > Question: > > Do you need much protein if you just want to tone up? > > Answer: > > There is no such thing as toning up. Muscle either grows or shrinks and bodyfat either grows or shrinks. Toning up is simply building muscle and losing bodyfat. To build muscle and lose bodyfat you need to eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. Otherwise your body will break down muscle tissue to obtain the protein and amino acids that it needs From: [http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutritionsupp/p/1886.jsp](http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutritionsupp/p/1886.jsp) > [@](#): > > Myth #4: You don’t have to eat much protein if you just want to “tone.” > **First of all, there’s no such thing as toning. Muscle cells either grow (hypertrophy) or break down (catabolize), and bodyfat deposits either grow or shrink – those are the only adjustments you can make.** Toning is usually understood to mean adding a minimal amount of muscle, increasing muscle tonus (degree of firmness) and reducing bodyfat. From: [http://www.stumptuous.com/gymlies.html](http://www.stumptuous.com/gymlies.html) > [@](#): > > In purely technical terms, “tone” refers to the ability of the central nervous system to provide passive muscular resistance to being stretched. What you probably think of as “toned” muscles are merely muscles which are not hidden by a lot of bodyfat. In other words, there is no reason why you should waste your time on the stupid little weights when you could be getting tough and strong. Maybe they are all wrong. If you feel so, I am open to seeing some citations that prove me wrong. After all, I have no vested interest in the fact that there is no such thing as toning. Other than getting tired of explaining it to people because it is a common myth. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/33 "2002-12-09T19:11:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\*Note the part where I say “sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, et al will increase your abdominal muscle tone, if however, your abdominal muscles are behind a thick layer of fat you will still have a gut”. > > I think now were getting into a pointless argument about the definition of “muscle tone”. So I’ll leave the discussion. \*\* I see that part. That was the part I was calling you out on. Clapping my hands will help me lose weight, if as long as I watch my diet. See the logical fallacy there? Situps, crunches, and leg lifts do NOT increase muscle tone. Diet does. Walking around all day and stabalizing yourself utilizes more muscle fibers in your abdominals, and is used much more than situps. Those people that do push ups, sit ups, and do high rep dumbell curls with 10 lbs trying to “tone” are fooling themselves, and I am preventing beginners from falling into a trap of wasting their time. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/34 "2002-12-09T19:30:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*I see that part. That was the part I was calling you out on. Clapping my hands will help me lose weight, if as long as I watch my diet. See the logical fallacy there? Situps, crunches, and leg lifts do NOT increase muscle tone. Diet does. Walking around all day and stabalizing yourself utilizes more muscle fibers in your abdominals, and is used much more than situps. > > Those people that do push ups, sit ups, and do high rep dumbell curls with 10 lbs trying to “tone” are fooling themselves, and I am preventing beginners from falling into a trap of wasting their time. \*\* What can I say, we obviously have had different experiences in working out. In my world moderate-non-heavy-weight-lifting exercise has been quite effective in developing and maintaining what I have always called muscle tone. Diet never has. Btw, here’s how you can tell that situps, crunches, and leg lifts will most definetly work on yor stomach muscles much more than walking around all day: walk around all day. Rest. For the next few days you will feel some muscle soreness, probably on your legs, butts, maybe your lower back. Now, do a few sets of sit-ups, crunches, and leg lifts. Rest. For the next few days your stomach muscles will tell you what muscles you were exercising. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/35 "2002-12-09T19:38:14Z")
Perhaps I am coming off as saying they have no benifit. Re-reading my post I guess it does seem that way. The average joe, with very little muscle, will benifit from these exercises. For awhile. When it comes down to 100 sit ups, they offer no benifits other than being able to do more sit ups. If twisting back and forth for 8 hours at my job worked my obliques I would have the best obliques in the freaking world. Doing situps untill you can do 20-30, then alternating them with weights, declined planes, and such will help in muscular growth. That is not the debate. What I am saying is this: There is no such thing as muscle tone. What you are attributing this myth to is building up slight muscle mass from your bodywieght lifts, and losing fat from your low fat diet. (lets just hope it is not too low) That is it, you cannot “tone” a muscle, you can get “tone” yes, but you cannot “tone” a muscle. Only have it grow. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/36 "2002-12-09T20:47:03Z")
Muscle tone is the level of contraction of existing muscle. [http://www.weightrainer.com/physiology/pgrowth.html](http://www.weightrainer.com/physiology/pgrowth.html) Toning is casued by sarcoplasmic hypertrophy while body building is caused by sarcomere hypertrophy. From that cite: \*Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy Increasing the volume of the tissue that supplies energy to the muscle or is involved with the neural drive: Intimately involved in the production of ATP are intracellular bodies called “mitochondria”. Muscle fibers will adapt to high volume (and higher rep) training sessions by increasing the number of mitochondria in the cells. They will also increase the concentrations of the enzymes involved in the oxidative phosphorylation and anaerobic glycolysis mechanisms of energy production and increase the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid inside the cell (including glycogen) and also the fluid between the actual cells. This type of hypertrophy produces very little in the way of added strength but has profound effects on increasing strength-endurance (the ability to do reps with a certain weight) because it dramatically increases the muscles’ ability to produce ATP. Adaptations of this sort are characteristic of Bodybuilders’ muscles. It should also be obvious that as the volume of the tissue that supplies energy to the muscle represents only around 20% of the total muscle cell volume in untrained individuals, this isn’t where the real size potential lies. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy of muscle cells does directly produce moderate increases in size . But also, as you’ll know from the Neuromuscular System series, ATP is the source of energy for all muscular contraction - type II fibers included. Wouldn’t having more of this in the muscle, and having the ability to produce greater intramuscular quantities at any one time, be an asset? The answer is, cleary, “yes”. That’s where a major portion of the importance of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy comes into Bodybuilding. (We’ll deal with training to produce this type of adaptation in an article on the ‘Training Related Articles’ page.) As for increasing the tissue that is involved with the neural drive, this would theoretically occur in response to the need for contracting cells with hypertrophied contractile machinery. Directly, it would produce very little in the way of added size. In addition, there are other intracellular bodies who’s growth and/or proliferation would fall under the category of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. These would be organelles such as the “ribosomes”, which are involved in protein synthesis. As in the case of neural drive machinery, in most cases they would increase in size or number only to support sarcomere hypertrophy. They would have little direct impact on overall muscle size. Sarcomere Hypertrophy Increasing the volume of contractile machinery: The vast majority of the volume of each muscle cell (~80%) is made up of contractile machinery. Therefore, there lies the greatest potential for increasing muscle cell size. Trained muscle responds by increasing the number of actin/myosin filaments (sarcomeres) that it contains - this is what is responsible for increased strength and size. But before a muscle will grow like this it has to be “broken down”. Let’s take a look at both the “breaking down” and “building up” processes: The Process Of Exercise-Induced Muscle Cell Damage Actin/myosin filaments sustain “damage” during high-tension contractions. In addition, breaches in plasma membrane integrity allow calcium to leak into the muscle cells after training (there is much more calcium in the blood than in the muscle cells). This intracellular increase in calcium levels activates enzymes called “calpains” which “break off” pieces of the damaged contractile filaments (called “easily releasable myofilaments”). Following this, a protein called “ubiquitin” (which is present in all muscle cells) binds to the removed pieces of filaments thus “identifying” them for destructive purposes. At this time, neutrophils (a type of granular white blood cell that is highly destructive) are chemically attracted to the area and rapidly increase in number. They release toxins, including oxygen radicals, which increase membrane permeability and phagocytize (ingest and “destroy”) the tissue debris that the calcium-mediated pathways released. Neutrophils don’t remain around more than a day or two, but are complimented by the appearance of monocytes also attracted to the damaged area. Monocytes (a type of phagocytic cell) enter the damaged muscle and form into macrophages (another phagocytic cell) that also release toxins and phagocytize damaged tissue. Once the phagocytic stage commences, the damaged fibers are rapidly broken down by lysosomal proteases, free O2 radicals, and other substances produced by macrophages. As you can tell, the muscle is now in a weaker state than before it was trained. Incidently, macrophages have an essential role in initiating tissue repair. Unless damaged muscle is invaded by macrophages, activation of satellite cells and muscle repair does not occur. - ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/37 "2002-12-09T20:48:15Z")
err, that should read “Muscle tone is the level of contraction of RESTING muscle” not existing. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/38 "2002-12-10T05:56:04Z")
Well, seems I am somewhat wrong. I am going to read this article in greater depth when I get some sleep, but skimming it I see no mention at all that Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy is toning, It seems YOU are attaching that type of hypertrophy to the term ‘toning’. Well, off to bed, work was hell today. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![dudemanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@dudemanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudemanjack)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/39 "2002-12-10T13:36:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\* > > There is no such thing as muscle tone. What you are attributing this myth to is building up slight muscle mass from your bodywieght lifts, and losing fat from your low fat diet. (lets just hope it is not too low) > That is it, you cannot “tone” a muscle, you can get “tone” yes, but you cannot “tone” a muscle. Only have it grow. \*\* This is 100% correct. Couldn’t have said it better myself 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731/40 "2002-12-10T13:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*Well, seems I am somewhat wrong. I am going to read this article in greater depth when I get some sleep, but skimming it I see no mention at all that Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy is toning, It seems YOU are attaching that type of hypertrophy to the term ‘toning’. Well, off to bed, work was hell today. ☹ \*\* Yes I alone am attributing the term toning to sacroplasmic hypertrophy but I think it’s a reasonable one. Our disagreement is more of a reflection on how bad the term “building muscle” is than anything else. Like the article said this type of hypertrophy is typically the result of high reps. Whether you work out with high rep/low weight or low/rep high weight you are still reminding your body to recruit ALL the muscle fibers in a contraction which is, imo, what contributes to what people consider to be muscle tone. The difference is that the former is not producing more muscle fibers while the latter is. IMO, there is a reasonable difference in these types of hypertrophies to warrant the seperate terms of “toning” vs. “bulking up.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerobic-exercise-useless-if-less-than-20-minutes/140731.md?page=3)