Q&A for: 8-Aug-06
1712. Q:
mike, i have more muscle in lower chest then upper, so it kinda looks like i have man boobs because the lower chest sitkcs out more then the upper. should i do like all incline work then just 2 sets of a regular bench or something? i was thinking like incline bench , incline flyes, (need something else here), 2 sets of reg bench
A:
Yes, it would be a good idea to prioritize upper chest work with a bit of flat bench fixed in, just like you said. Don't do decline at all. Your lower chest will always be bigger and more developed than upper, but it doesn't mean you can't emphasize upper more to help it catch up a bit.
1713. Q:
Im not into boxing or kickboxing but I must admit that the training involved seems to give great results in terms of body definition and strength and burning calories how would you rate these sports rate in terms of their exercise value as opposed to a normal gym and cardio regime.
A:
Definitely! Martial arts, boxing, wrestling are all superb whole-body developers that build power, strength, as well as cardiovascular endurance. Correspondingly, training for these sports would typically involve elements of traditional weight lifting, power exercises, and cardio exercises, as well as practicing the sport itself of course.
1714. Q:
Hello Mike.Again!Before some months i had told u about my case(dont remember in which question).I was a bit overweight then (175 cms high 78 kgs 23 years old)and after doing weight training and cardio i was after 3 months 65 kgs only.As a beginner i got in a diet without much protein in it thus burning my muscles along with fat.After that i began heavy weight training plus eating more(many protein also this time) in order to get muscles.This way i got at 73,5 kgs after 8 months.After that i made some cutting and with losing slowly weight in order to lose fat only and mainten my muscles (one pound a week only)iam now 70 kgs.I eat 2300 calories a day in order to mainted this weight now.Is that too little?By eating so much i mainten my weight and muscles just have less energy in the gym and i can lift less kgs in weight training than before.
A:
Great job! Sounds like you've made terrific progress in one year! Yes, I would think that 2300 calories daily to maintain weight is a bit low for you, considering you are weight training. Increase the calories slowly (by about 100 calories per week) and you should be able to get to 2700 or even higher without any significant weight gain (might have a small water weight gain which is pretty much unvoidable when increasing calories -- but should be virtually no new fat gain). With extra calories you should regain some of your energy and strength.
1715. Q:
hi mike I am the guy from 1658 and 1698. You said I should keep my calories the same when taking a couple of weeks off. I am currently on a cut cycle. I just had a thought that maybe I should increase them while taking a week or two off, just to help with recovery. I was also afraid that lossing weigth while not lifting would cause me to loose more muscle than fat. Thanks for any advice.
A:
If you're cutting and taking time off from the gym, then it's a good idea to try to maintain the weight while you're not exercising. However whether you need to increase calories or just keep them as is in order to accomplish that depends on how fast you're losing weight now. If you're losing no faster than about a pound per week then you can probably just keep the calories constant (remember that not exercising during this time already means that you'll be burning less calories). If you're losing faster than that, then it's a good idea to increase the calories a little... In fact, if you're losing weight faster than about a pound per week, then it's a good idea to increase the calories in any case to slow the speed of weight loss.
1716. Q:
I was wondering if it is possible to loose muscle mass or strength if you stop working a muscle as much. I used to concentrate heavily on my biceps. like doing them first and doings about 25 sets a week. For the last two months I have been doing the push pull programe adding a few sets extra for biceps. I don't know if it is just in my head or not, but my biceps seems to have gotten smaller.
A:
It is possible that your biceps have gotten a little bit smaller. What happens when you work them very heavily like you did before is that the blood flow to the muscles increases for the duration of that very heavy training making them 'plump'. The blood flow to the muscles brings the nutrients needed to repair the muscle damage while the blood flow away carries the waste products of all these processes. Now that you're working them less, the blood flow is reduced as well. However the actual muscle mass is unlikely to change from then till now.
Your bicep strength may also be reduced somewhat. This is also to be expected since you prioritized bicep exercises before more than now. So now your nervous system is not necessarily so optimzied for curls, but is able to 'learn' other exercises better. You should be able to notice that your strength in other exercises, such as squat and deadlift, has increased while your bicep strength has decreased (assuming, of course, your weight is staying about constant -- if your weight is changing, then you can't really make any valid strength comparisons).
Finally, remember that even if during your prior high-volume program you were stronger all around compared to now, it's still not a waste of time to do a low-to-medium volume program like my push/pull. It gives your body a chance to recuperate from the stress of high-volume, high-intensity training while still maintaining muscle mass and strength. You will achieve better results in the long run by periodizing your training throughout the year by giving your body a light routine for a couple of months before jumping back into very intense one.
1717. Q:
Mike, In your essential exercises, they only show Bench Press not Incline Bench Press. Is there a link for Incline Bench Press, so I can see the correct posture and how to do it. In your Lose Fat?! article, Inlince Bench is the best for upper chest (My Man Boobs). Thanx
A:
Sure, here it is.
1718. Q:
I always hear that when people lift weights they must allow a rest period for their muscles to recover either by having a rest day between weight training or not training the same muscles on adjacent days. Its just occurred to me what about people like manual workers - whose work involves them doing the same physical labour (lifting things and the like)day after day how come they dont suffer from muscle fatigue or overstraining?
A:
It depends on the nature of the job, but many manual workers certainly do suffer from acute and chronic injuries and fatigue. Our bodies are naturally better at taking long-term cardiovascular stress than long-term anaerobic stress, so somebody who mows lawns has a better chance of staying injury free than somebody who loads and unloads heavy weights. Many people in manual labor jobs simply do not have the option of not working or changing careers so they must work through their injuries as best they can.
On the other hand you have people who are not able to take the stress that comes with a particular manual job and choose to drop out. This process naturally leads to having only the fittest people for the job making up the majority of the workforce. In that respect heavy manual labor jobs are a bit like professional sports: it's not just a bunch of average joes who trained/worked themselves into impressive physical specimen, but rather it's people with innately superior genetics and natural ability who rise to the top of their sport or profession.
So it's a mistake to think that putting yourself through extreme long-term physical stress will necessarily give you great physique. If you're young or have great genetics then your body will be able to hold up and possibly benefit from it better than otherwise. But there's no guarantees and you may end up simply injuring yourself with not much good to show for it.
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