2 Steps to “Tone & Tighten” in 2025
“I don’t really want to lose weight; I just want to tighten up.”
“I’m pretty happy with my body, but I definitely want to flatten my stomach.”
I heard both of these quotes over the holiday break.
So, what does it take to tighten things up and make your stomach as flat as a protein pancake?
Before we dive in, we had our first clients from Scotland, and Switzerland join this week! How cool is that?!?!
Ok, back to it…
Let’s tackle “tightening up” first.
When someone says they want to tighten up, that means there’s something somewhere with a little too much jiggle or looseness.
Maybe it’s the back of your arm that jiggles when you wave.
Maybe it’s the area above your pants that spills out over your waistband.
Wherever it is, you want it to tighten it up so you look slimmer and leaner.
Let’s start by figuring out exactly what the jiggle and spillage are.
Unfortunately, If it jiggles, it’s fat. If it’s pooches, it’s fat.
Muscles don’t jiggle, bones don’t shimmy, and if you can grab it with your hand, it’s fat.
We all have it, and we’re all able to lose it with the right approach.
What to do?
Take a fat burner, buy a Peloton bike, and get some AG1?
No.
We need a two-pronged, science-backed approach to tighten up:
Step 1 - Lose fat via a calorie deficit.
You need to eat a little less (in calories, not just quantity) than you’re eating now so your body burns your fat to make up the difference in energy.
How much less? It depends. There are a lot of factors at play, and I can’t give you an exact number tailored to you in this email. But here’s some good news: it’s probably not as drastic as you think.
A 10% calorie deficit is plenty for most folks.
Step 2 - Build muscle.
You need to do strength training with weights that’s focused on making you stronger and building muscle in your “problem areas.”
It’s not that building muscle on your triceps magically eliminates the jiggle.
But without muscle underneath, you’ll never look tight or toned.
Without strength training, as your body burns away fat, you’ll stay loose-looking—or what’s called “skinny fat.”
This is the reason that just adding more cardio is a dead end.
The calorie deficit gets rid of the jiggle. Building muscle gives your body shape.
Now, let’s talk about flattening your stomach.
If you want to flatten your stomach in 2025 should you do:
Crunches?
Planks?
Pilates?
Let’s think for a second. What’s behind the belly pooch?
It’s fat.
Here’s the hard truth about fat:
You don’t get to choose where your body stores it.
You don’t get to choose the order your body loses it.
For many people, your stomach is one of the last stubborn spots to lose fat. For others, it’s the thighs or love handles.
So, what’s the answer?
You guessed it: lose fat via a calorie deficit.
Sadly, no amount of crunches will flatten your stomach.
No number of “tone and tighten” ab moves on YouTube or Instagram will target your belly fat, even if an unscrupulous influencer claims otherwise.
To flatten your stomach, you need to lose fat—and be patient.
Gyms are full of people using ab machines, hoping to shrink their tummies. But the only real solution is controlling what you put in your mouth.
It’s not glamorous, but it works.
How long will it take?
That depends on how much fat you have to lose and how consistent you’re willing to be.
As long as you’re doing the right things, the progress will serve as the motivation to keep going.
Not sure what those right things to do are? It’s your lucky day.
Click the Avocado Green button below and I’ll send you our program options and pricing.
Lift heavy, and be nice.
Jonathan