incline walking for toning glutes,hamstings,quads

[madcol]

Hi all
I'm Colette and new to this forum, love it too!!
Can anyone tell me if walking on a 4-5 deg inline on a treadmill will tone glutes, hamstrings and quads? I have really sore knees and am waiting for an operation so the lunges, leg extensions and squats are out for me, they are just too painful to do.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks in advance



Live, Laugh, Play and be Happy !!

 

[skidmark]

I don't think there is really any such thing as toning. You can't spot reduce fat from particular areas. You hear of alot of people doing situps because they want a flat stomach but they'd really be better off doing a full body compound exercise because what they really want to be doing is reducing body fat.

Walking on an incline may target specific muscle groups slightly more and you may have increased endurance in those muscles as a result. But 'toning' is really just about building muscle and dropping body fat. If your knees are bad maybe you could try stiff leg dead lifts for glutes and hamstrings. It's hard to work the quads without putting pressure on the knees so I'd probably get advice from a personal trainer/physio about that.

Walking will definately be good though and the incline might make it harder so you burn more calories. As your body fat drops you will start to notice more definition which is the 'tone' people refer to. Maybe you could try running laps in the pool because it will be low impact and the resistance will be good.

 

[Kyle Aaron]

"Toning" usually means the muscles are a bit bigger, the fat is a bit less, and the muscles are a bit tighter and ready-for-action instead of being slack little rubber bands

Walking on an incline will increase the size of your leg and bum muscles, yes. However, if you can't squat, leg press etc even a small weight without getting sore, I think the incline walk would hurt, too, yeah?

To reduce fat, eat less junk and more fresh fruit and vegies, and combine with that exercise. This reduces overall fat, but as skidmark said, you can't reduce in just one area - or else I'd have a sixpack.

What have you done to your knees, and what operation will you be getting?

 

[madcol]

Hi and thanks for the replies. I know i cant spot reduce, i should of phrased it a different way.
I'm 4 foot 11 inchs and am almost 40 with 3 kids. I'm 48kg and I'm not sure how accurate those bodyfat scales are but it tells me i have 25% BF. NOT GOOD. Before pregnancies and kids came along i used to train and was nicely defined with 17% bf and i was happy with that.
I used to work in the mines in WA for 5 years and one time i fell off a dump truck and broke both knees (it was the way i landed). I just dont think they have healed properly and i can only squat down a little way before they hurt.
I do interval training on a treadmill every morning for 40 min (sometimes i cant do it before breakfast) but otherwise its about 2 hours after i've had my mid morning snack then i wait about 30 min and have lunch. i eat protein with every meal/snack and use protein powder as well.
When i mentioned about "toning" i was more referring to the fact that i cant train those areas with weights as i do shoulders, arms, back etc. Will i still get the same benefit as far as definition and a little size goes?
Thanks for your advice

 

[Kyle Aaron]

Are you having a knee operation or not? Your first post said so, but your next post, it doesn't sound like you've got a doctor or physio's advice on weight training - which you should do before doing anything.

Go to the quack, get some advice - maybe you're scared they'll tell you that you can't do anything, but usually they tell you ways to work around whatever your injury is. And there may be treatments, surgical or otherwise, that'll make your life much easier.

25% bodyfat is no threat to your health, it's well within the healthy range for a woman. What you feel comfortable and attractive with - well, it seems you prefer less. That's okay, you have to decide that for yourself. Don't focus on exact percentages, as you say these things are not very accurate, more important is your health and how you feel about yourself.

Incline walking will grow muscle, but not much in bulk. Muscle is of two kinds - fast twitch, and slow twitch. Fast gives those quick explosive movements, like in weightlifting and sprinting, and fast twitch fibres have some size. Slow gives slower movements, like in jogging, and slow twitch fibres are quite skinny. This is why sprinters have enormous legs, and marathon runners don't.

Walking will grow the slow twitch ones mostly. This is good for you, but will take a long time to give you the "toned" look. As I said, "toned" usually means that the muscles are a bit bigger (more fast twitch!), the fat is a bit less, and the muscles are a bit tighter and ready-for-action instead of being slack little rubber bands.

For that, you need heavy weight training. See your quack.

 

[madcol]

Thanks for that info. Yes i will be needing one, they will do one at a time, approx 10-12 weeks apart depending on recovery and rehab. I have a specialist appointment at Monash Hospital on July 28th and i'm not quite sure what they will do. I just wanted to start weights/cardio and i did Mon last week and feel great for it. So i do
Mon- chest/bicep
Tue-back/hamstring
wed- no weights only cardio
thur- shoulders/triceps
fri- quads/calves
I do 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Does this sound ok?

 

[Kyle Aaron]

It's okay.

When you're a beginner or relatively untrained, such as coming back after a time of not doing anything - as you're doing, and as I've done this year - just about anything will work well - same few exercises every session, one day on one day off, supersets, splits, whatever. It's such a shock to your body to actually be doing something that you'll get good muscle growth and lose some fat.

Just choose a workout you enjoy and which leaves you a bit hungry for more, so that you want to come back to it tomorrow. Better an "okay" workout that you stick to than a perfect one you give up after two weeks!

Monash hospital, you must be in my neighbourhood

 

[madcol]

Thanks for the positive words.
Actually i'm in Narre warren sth, not quite near Monash.