Q&A for: 1-Oct-06
1799. Q:
As you have so often said heavy weight training alone will not make you bulky – that requires in addition extra food. How then is it possible for muscles to adapt and strenghten over time to progressively heavier loads without increasing in size. Does the muscle structure become harder and denser, even without a increase in size?
A:
There is some evidence for muscle density change with weight training, but by far what's most responsible for your getting stronger without gaining mass is your nervous system's adaptation.
Our muscles are composed of thousands and thousands of individual fibers. Each fiber is 'fired off' by one neuron and it's the nervous system that's responsible for making sure that all neurons fire off simultaneously to produce maximum muscle contraction all at once. However the truth is that all fibers NEVER fire exactly simultaneously so none of us ever achieve the maximum strength we are theoretically capable of! What we can accomplish however, is train our nervous system to fire the neurons more and more simultaneously thereby producing greater and greater effort.
It is this nervous system's learning to contract muscle fibers at the same time that leads to the most strength improvement and is responsible for strength gains without muscle mass gains.
1800. Q:
For my weight training i use whey protein.I dont use it all the time but only when my mother cooks makes meals that dont contain any protein.When we have meals like chicken,meat,fish i eat these and not the protein.As far as i know every 2 months we should make a break from taking whey protein for one week(is that true by the way?).The week i make the break is also the same i take break from the gym every 2 months to let my body rest.This week i dont use whey protein(only after making some cardio if i will and one time before i go to bed)but meal i eat every day ar not always contain any protein.
If i dont eat protein for one week but only when it happens to and i dont go to gym this week also is it possible i will lose any muscles?
A:
There is no reason to take a break from eating whey protein. Taking breaks from dietary supplements is advisable when the supplement replaces, suppresses, increases, or decreases the amount of some naturally produced substance in our bodies. However whey protein powder is just a food like any other and it does not interfere with our body's chemistry any more than any other food.
To answer your question about taking the week off from the gym and from the whey protein: don't worry about it. As long as you eat a reasonable diet that includes some protein (and it sounds like it does) during that week off and don't lose weight, you won't lose any muscle either. You have nothing to worry about.
1802. Q:
mike, do our bones get bigger when we weight train and add lean mass?
A:
Yes, one of the many benefits of weight training is increase in the strength, density, and to some degree size of skeletal bones! Our bones are active metabolic tissues, just like muscles and organs, and they can and do adapt to external stimuli. By putting your body through the stress of weight training you force it to strengthen and that includes its skeletal bones. The majority of the change will come from the increased bone density and breaking strength, but the size can increase somewhat over time as well.
This is a big reason why weight training can be of great health benefit to older population -- it fights not only muscle degradation due to age but also bone weakening and helps prevent bone fractures and breaks that are so common in old age.
1803. Q:
what supplements are good for you?
A:
I am not a big fan of dietary supplements -- they are hugely overhyped for the most part with minimal if any benefits and potentially serious side-effects (not to mention costing a good bundle). On top of that many trainees tend to develop an obsession with taking the 'best' supplements and ignoring fundamentals like good diet.
Having said that, to me two supplements stand out: creatine and whey protein powder. These are two of the oldest supplements and have a long proven track record. Creatine is effective in increasing strength and muscle mass, especially when bulking (get creatine monohydrate powder, not the liquids which are useless). Whey protein powder is a very cost-efficient and convenient way to get more protein into your diet if you're having trouble getting enough from your regular meals.
Don't expect miracles from these or any other supps, but with a good diet and weight training program they will help you gain more lean mass and strength.
1804. Q:
Is sugar alchohol really any better than plain sugar. Would it still be considered a 'bad carb'?
A:
Yes, sugar alcohols should still be considered 'bad' carbs. They're somewhat better than plain sugar in that they contain fewer calories per gram and a lesser insulin response, but they have no redeeming nutritional value and often cause intestinal discomfort.
1805. Q:
Is there something like 'Flushing Your System.' I think they are caled a detox diet but I just want to completely empty my stomach of the 'Garbage' thats in there. I was planning to drink a water bottle every two hours and maybe some fruits here and there for the whole day because my stomach has been getting large amounts of food at times for years. I think its about time I do something. Any opinion on this?
A:
The way I see it is if you never eat junk food to begin with then there's nothing to 'detox' your system from. I don't believe a one-time 'detox' will do you any good if you go right back to eating bad stuff. Instead simply start eating healthy nutritious foods and you'll have nothing bad you'd want to flush out.
1806. Q:
hey mike, i got a couple questions
1)when im squatting, the bar doesnt rest very good. it starts to slip down, and most of the work of holding the bar is done by my arms. putting lots of pressure on the wrists and rotor cuffs, when i put the bar back when im done, those places are in pain. how do i correct this issue?/
2)how can i get my traps wider? they are pretty tall, but rather slim. they dont have the width, nor the part that goes around behind the neck..
3)how do i work the back part of the delts? my front delts are starting to come in, but the back part of the delt kinda by my back, there isnt much muscle there. for delts, i do dumbell military press and lateral raises sometimes
thanks
A:
1) It definitely takes some time to learn proper bar placement for squats. The idea is to have it rest on the lower ends of your traps. You create a traps 'shelf' by pushing your chest out and shoulders back and maintain that position while you perform the exercise. You'd rest the bar on that 'shelf' and use your hands with wider-than-shoulders grip (pick the width you're most comfortable with) to balance the bar. But the traps shelf should be supporting most of the bar's weight.
2) There isn't anything you can really do to widen your traps unfortunately -- you can only work on their height which you said is already good. You can work on your medial deltoids (shoulder sides) to add some impression of shoulderline width, but there isn't anything you can really do with traps.
3) Posterior delts is a very very small muscle and it's very difficult to make it stand out to any appreciable degree. I honestly would not worry about it at all since you won't be able to make a big difference in its appearence anyway. Exercises that hit it the most are bent-over side/rear DB raises as well as high rows (rows to the shoulder level). But again, don't expect to see much difference in the appearence.
1807. Q:
mike, my lower chest is more muscular then upper, and it tends to stick out more. it gives me a kind of man boobish look. my chest workout for the past month or so has been: bench press 1x10, 1xfailure incline db press 2x 6-12 incline flyes 2x 8-12 flyes 1x10. i want to build upper and middle chest more. what exercises, rep range should i do?
and in general, how many sets/reps should i do if im aiming to get bigger
A:
Lower chest muscles will always look bigger than the upper chest -- that's just the way our bodies are. You are doing the right thing by doing incline work to target the upper chest more.
I am not sure how many times per week you are doing your current workout, but if it's just once a week, you can certainly do more if you really want to target chest. Up to 20 to-failure sets per week for the chest is not unreasonable for an intense chest program (though not year round).
For you program try something like this:
- 3x8,12 Incline BB Press Drop Sets (In each set do 8 to-failure reps, lower weight and immediately do another 12 to-failure reps)
- 3x8 Flat DB Press supersetted with 3x12 Flat DB Flies (Do 8 reps of DB press and immediately to 12 reps of DB flies)
- 3x15 High (Chest level) Cable Flies
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