Q&A for: 11-Mar-06
1417. Q:
mike, i did benches yesterday, and it seems the day after benches i always get the burn next to my armpit. thats where most of my musclei s at, and my chest kind of sinks down towards the center. my grip: pinky on the 'power ring' as some call it. so its a bit wider then shoulder length
A:
Soreness (DOMS -- Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) a day after the workout is not really an indicator of anything. In general your outer chest will better developed than inner chest. If you want to try and hit the inner chest more do close-grip bench press (also an excellent tricep exercise) as well as cable crossovers.
1418. Q:
Hi mike my abs area is a little pain am i gaining muscle at that area because i had my soccer training and we did sit ups den after that my chest was like stretched and for a few days now i can still feel that stretch am i developing more packs cuz i currently have 2 packs
A:
As I mentioned in the previous question, the muscle soreness you get the following day is not really an indicator of anything (and some people can develop plenty of muscle without ever getting sore). The other thing to remember is that everyone always has their abdominal six-packs -- it's just that some or all of them are covered by a layer of fat. As long as you have the fat covering your six-pack, you'll never see the separation between the 'packs'. If you're a teenager, don't try to lose weight, but just eat healthy (lots of vegetables and fruits), exercise, and be generally active.
1419. Q:
What is 'cutting' and why and when are we doing it?Can u give me some details?
A:
'Cutting' is just a bodybuilding name for trying to lose fat while preserving muscle. Cutting is what most people who want to 'lose weight' really want, even if they don't realize it. Key to a successful cut is good weight training program, good nutrition program, and some (not too much) cardio.
If you want a starter cut program for yourself, fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal.
1420. Q:
Can you make a page that shows PICS or VIDEO of all the weightlifting exercises? I am a beginner in weightlifting and dont know many of the lifting terms and how to properly do the lifting? Thanks !!
A:
Check out my Exercises page and click on the exercises listed there to see how to perform them.
1421. Q:
can you tell me the required dietary allowance for a 15 yo boy
A:
Sorry that's too generic a question for me to asnwer. It depends on your height, weight, and activity level among other things. For most guys, it'll be somewhere around 2500 calories but like I said it depends on a lot of factors. If you are worried about eating healthy, check out my nutrition article and especially the section titled 'Create Your Own Healthy Meals' -- it'll tell you which foods are best for you. And always remember to eat a lot of veggies!
1422. Q:
Mike. Im in a situation where im lifting weights 4 times a week to build muscle but i also need to lose quite a bit of fat. Even though im working out 4 times a week and doing a little cardio, im just not losing the fat. Whats happening? Even though im not eating a lot of calories, im not losing fat. Im starting to lose hope...
A:
That's not enough information for me to make good suggestions -- I need your age, gender, height, weight, the program you are following, and your diet. Most likely the culprit is inadequate diet: just not 'eating a lot of calories' is not enough -- you need to eat the right amount (too little can be bad, just like too much can) and you need to eat the right foods. I describe how to structure your nutrition program here. You also should keep in mind that losing fat is and should be a fairly slow process -- you won't see much difference in a month, but if you follow a good program for half a year you'll see great results and you can completely change yourself in one year.
Fill out my fitness guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal to get a starter weight training and diet program which you can then tweak to fit your life. Good luck!
1423. Q:
After gaining the 'easy' kgs of muscles the first six months of weight training it is logical not to gain so easy anymore.How do i know from now and on when i ll be able to lift more so as to increase my daily calories a bit.Lets say 1 month passes and i cant lift more than i do now.Does this mean that i should increase the calories i eat?How many time should pass so as to know how to increase my daily intake?
A:
It's really up to you. As long as you can continue gaining muscle while gaining little or even no fat, there's no reason to stop (unless you feel you're getting too muscular). So just keep track of your appearence (taking pictures every couple months helps), how tight the pants feel, and maybe even track body fat % and as long as you feel your fat gains are at acceptable level you can just keep on bulking and increase calories by 200-300 after every 4 weeks that your weight stays constant. Typically this results increasing calories every 2 months.
On the other hand if you start noticing that you're starting to gain more fat than muscle, then you have a decision to make. If your strength is most important to you, then you may choose to continue eating and bulking even though fat gains outstrip muscle gains. Most people would not choose to do this, of course, but if you are, say, a football offensive lineman then you don't really have the option of staying at low body fat and bulking while gaining lots of fat is a possibility. The other thing to keep in mind, of course, is that if strength is your top priority your training should be strength-specific which is quite different from bodybuilding (muscle gain/fat loss) training. I have a couple of strength programs which you can find in my weight training article -- look for word 'strength' in sample program descriptions.
1424. Q:
Mike, I have a question about a friend. He has lost weight, about 15 pounds in 7 months. He has reduced to 1800 to 1900 calories per day but his diet is not very clean (he has cut down from 2 to 1 corn tortillas, seems to eat Mexican sweet bread more than he should, eats a Whataburger once a week {we live in Texas}). He has increased his veggy intake and irregularly walks 3 times a week and has recently started walking while holding 3 lb. dumbbells. He is 5'6', about 34, and weighs 194 lbs. He has been bouncing between 194 and 198 for the past 5 or 6 months. He will not lift weights despite my constant urging. It looks like his weight loss has stopped. Any idea how he can improve his weight loss with his walking? P.S., I also am pretty sure he will not do HIAT. I know that slow weight loss is important, but his is so slow, it seems to have stopped.
A:
There probably isn't a whole lot I can recommend for your friend -- you can only get so far in fat loss with just a lower-calorie diet and walking. On the plus side, he is trying to do the right thing, eating more veggies, and he has made a potential step towards weight training by walking with those three-pound dumbbells. It sounds like you know what he needs to do to break through his present plateau: improve the diet and increase the amount and the intensitry (weight levels) of weight training. Keep encouraging him and focus on the positives of his diet, exercise, and progress -- that will make him more likely to keep doing the right things and fix the things that should be fixed. Good luck to him and to you helping him!
1425. Q:
Mike, this is not a question, rather it is a comment. 'Well, Mike says...' has become a normal part of my daily conversation.
A:
I am glad and flattered! :) I hope that means my advice has helped you personally which is always good news for me. And I most definitely appreciate your spreading the word about my site, thank you!
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