Q&A for: 12-Jun-07
2339. Q:
How to reduce manboobs
A:
Please read this. 'Man boobs' are nothing more than extra fat deposits and the way to lose ANY unwanted fat deposits, whether on chest or stomach or anywhere else, is described in the article I linked.
2340. Q:
I wonder what your advice to someone who wanted to improve their fitness through weightlifting would be. Knowing how hard and slow it is to build muscle –not to mention overeating without stuffing yourself -would you advise them to do the weights with a good diet, hopefully lose some fat or do weights and eat lots to build extra muscle? We all have muscle – it’s just there waiting to be used or do large muscles have an advantage over strong but leaner muscle? Is it not low body fat that causes muscle definition to be visible, e.g. surely huge strong abs won’t show if body fat is too high?
A:
It's really up to each individual. One can be perfectly healthy with slim or slender body type with little muscle and one can be perfectly healthy with a lot of muscle. One thing I certainly would not advise is to have too much body fat, but as far as the amount of muscle it's entirely up to each individual. For most people it is certainly easier to have low body fat with little muscle, compared to same low body fat with a lot of muscle. In fact, while the former can be achieved by most average or moderately overweight within a year, the latter will take many years to achieve.
Also, as you imply, one can be quite strong even without a lot of muscle. Strength is a function of both muscle mass and nervous system, so even while your muscle mass remains the same it's quite possible to keep getting stronger and stronger. There are many training programs that are designed to do just that -- for example, this program should provide 10% or better improvement in deadlift, squat, and bench press weeks in just a few weeks. (Note that if you think 10% in 6 weeks is not much of a progress, consider that if you can keep that pace up for 2 years you'll likely be the strongest man on the planet!).
So ultimately it is up to you what goal you want weight training to play in your exercise routine. Combined with a weight-gaining diet it can build you muscle (though yes, in the process you'll gain some fat too which you'll then want to lose -- that's why achieving low body fat with a lot of muscle takes many years). Without any special diet weight training will still make you stronger and give you such benefits as stronger bones and lower body fat than would be otherwise. And if you really want to get strong and lean you can choose strength-specific programs like the one I linked above.
2341. Q:
best way to lose chest fat
A:
Please read this.
2342. Q:
Hi Mike.
I'm 17, and weigh 209lbs. I've lost about 15lbs since February following your no-equip. program which I tweaked a little bit to make it more demanding. I was doing it 3 times a week, every week. I'm wondering if I need to do it more than that to effectively lose weight? The real question I want to ask you however is this:
How can I still exercise in the summer heat? The temperatures are all above average where I live this year (30C pretty much every day, I live in south eastern Ontario). I can't do the exercises in the heat, we don't have air conditioning at this time, and going outside doesn't help because it's even hotter outdoors. I drink lots of water as it is, but I just end up light headed trying to keep up my tempo. Any suggestions? I don't want summer time heat and humidity to make me stop my exercises, because I really want to continue with getting in shape.
Thanks.
A:
Congrats on your recent weight loss! 15 pounds in 4 months or so is just about perfect weight loss pace. As far as exercising in the summer I'm not sure if I can help you much there if you don't have access to air conditioning. If you get lightheaded, then yes either your tempo is too much for the weather or you are not hydrated enough. The most important thing is to stay hydrated -- drink lots and lots of water and get used to sweating! In fact if you are not sweating while exercising then there's probably something wrong -- either you are not hydrated enough or not exercising hard enough. As long as you drink plenty of water and stay out of direct sunlight if possible you should be fine, though you will of course sweat more and won't be very comfortable in the heat.
One other thing you could try, especially for the cardio part of your program is to switch to shorter but more intense training for the summer. Search for 'HIIT' on my site if you haven't read about it already -- it is a very effective form of training (it's actually a sort of cross-over between weights and cardio) and while very intense it does not take too much time so the heat won't get to you as badly. Hope that helps!
2343. Q:
Hi Mike, I've been reading a lot about how important fibre is (I just read your response to question 2327 as well). I'm just wondering, in my quest to lose weight would greatly increasing my fibre intake help a lot? Also, what are some quick meals or snacks I can prepare or grab that don't take long to make (under 10 minutes), and are cheap and easy to find (or find ingredients for). Thanks.
A:
Increasing fiber intake is a good idea for most people since few get the minimum recommended 25 grams of fiber daily. I think that fiber can be beneficial in even greater amounts -- perhaps as much as 40 grams daily. However much more than that may not be a good idea since too much of it can leave you feeling bloated and cause all sorts of stomach discomfort and problems. As with most things, it's best to find a happy medium.
As far as quick snacks, there are many foods that while do not make a complete meal by themselves can provide a perfectly healthy snack -- these include pieces of whole fruit or berries, celery sticks or baby carrots, dry-roasted nuts (just go easy on these since they are very calorie-dense), mozarella or string-cheese sticks. Again these are good as snacks, not as meals -- you won't have a very balanced diet if all you ate were dry-roasted nuts or string-cheese but they can be daily part of your diet as a between-meal snack.
If you are willing to do a little more preparation, then a sandwich on light whole-wheat bread can provide a perfectly healthy and balanced meal. For example, whole-wheat bread + sliced hard-boiled egg + a bit of canned tuna (or turkey or just about any other meat or fish) + lettuce and tomatoes + slice of cheese or some mayo. It doesn't take very long to prepare a sandwich like that and you can take it with you and it'll keep good for half a day or longer even at room temperature.
2346. Q:
I AM 12 YEARS OLD WHAT SHOULD BE MY MINIMUM WEIGHT?
A:
This is something you'll need to talk to your doctor about. The average weight for a 12-year old, either boy or girl, is about 90 pounds, but there is a wide acceptable range around that number. If you are worried that you might be underweight you should talk to your parents and doctor.
2351. Q:
how to lose fat on belly and chest
A:
Please read this.
2353. Q:
i'v been trying to loss weight for about 4 weeks .It is hard to do because I have not lost any weight! i eat right . i work out every day at least 45 min .I feel better but I want to look like I care about heath .can you help explane
A:
Sorry to hear about your troubles with weight loss. Unfortunately I can't help you much unless you give me a lot more information about yourself (age, sex, weight, height) and details about what and how much you eat every day and how you exercise. In 4 weeks you should certainly start to notice some positive changes and if there is absolutely no progress then your diet or training could probably use some improvement. For most people the biggest problem is eating right. Many of the foods and meals we think of as healthy are actually not particularly good for weight loss. Another problem for many people is that they end up eating too LITTLE shutting down their metabolism and making them vulnerable to weight gains. But again, I need more information from you before I can give detailed advice. For my general weight loss advice, please read this.
2357. Q:
i am 13 yr old boy 5'4''/54 kg does bodybuilding or dumbles affect my height
A:
There is no evidence that weight training affects your height development in any way, as long as you don't suffer any serious injuries (these can stunt your growth). At your height and weight you're taller and proportionally heavier than about 75% of your peers so it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with your development.
2358. Q:
Is there a chest exercise that will help with the lower outside part of the chest?
A:
Plain old decline barbell press would be best for this. Use wider hand grip than usual.
2359. Q:
hey mike what do you think of this program while bulking
Monday Quads/hamstrings
Squats (4 sets)
Leg press (3sets)
Leg extensions (2 sets)
Leg curls (3 sets)
Stiff leg deadlift (3 sets)
Tuesday Chest/triceps
Bench press (3 sets)
Incline dumbell press (3 sets)
Dips (2 sets)
Close grip bench press (3 sets)
Skullcrushers (3 sets)
Thursday Back/biceps
Deadlift (4 sets)
Barbell rows (3 sets)
Pullups (3 sets)
Dumbell rows (2 sets)
Barbell curls (3 sets)
Incline dumbell curls (3 sets)
Friday Shoulders/calves
Military press (3 sets) Seated dumbell press as alternative
Side laterals (3 sets) I prefer seated
Rear laterals (3 sets)
Shrugs (3 sets) Barbell or dumbell
Standing calf raises (3 sets)
Seated calf raises (3 sets)
A:
That looks like a very solid program! You should be able to make good progress with it. Some minor ideas would be to add direct ab training (though they will get indirectly hit when you do big compound exercises) and maybe move stiff-leg deadlifts right after squats since it's a major movement and those should generally be done before the isolation movements like leg extensions (exhausted quads will hamper stiff-leg deadlifts). Finally if you don't use wraps when doing shrugs, they'll double as a forearm workout. But again these are all minor points -- your program looks very good!
2360. Q:
Mike i cant eat or drink milk products at all due to an allergy i have.Is there any protein out there that comes from eggs only?(i mean like whey).
A:
Certainly! You can buy egg protein powder just like you can buy whey powder. Check out your local nutrition store or search for 'egg protein powder' online.
2361. Q:
Mike, I've been following your program but because of work lately, I've slightly deviated, but have kept my diet relatively clean and lowered my calories because I wouldn't be working out as much. My fiancee proposed to me and we've set a wedding at the end of august, would it be possible for me to cut around 2.5kgs for then healthily? I'm 23 male and 75kg, I'd like to get down to 72kg. I have quite a bit of free time till then as i've just finished work as a teacher.
A:
Absolutely! You can quite easily cut 2-3 kgs in the next couple months before your wedding. It sounds like you are already know what to do, so best of luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding! Remember that you have plenty of time to lose those couple of kilos, so your weight loss can be quite slow and you don't need to cut calories very much at all.
2362. Q:
how many tmes a week can i train my calves? they just don't seem to be growing as fast as my biceps and chest!! I'm only training them once a week is this too much/little? should i be training them with resistance/isometric/plyometric excercises, i'm just doing calf raises at the moment (standing and seated). Mark
A:
Calves can be a very stubborn muscle group for many people. Oftentime one can develop very strong calves with barely any change in size. And on the contrary many people don't do direct calf training at all but have well defined calves -- this is often true for runners. Unfortunately there is no way of knowing ahead of time what method of training (if any) your calves will respond to best. So I would certainly recommend trying all the different approaches -- try a very high volume period where you do 5-10 to-failure calves sets every other day. Try doing both low-rep and very high-rep (20 and more reps to failure) training. If it does not interfere with your other goals you could try running a lot (of course you'd need to add calories then unless you aim to lose weight). Finally if you tried all the different methods and none seem to work try simply not doing any direct calf work at all (they'll still get hit somewhat in many other leg exercises). All this will take time to try out of course, but it's always valuable to try many different approaches, especially for stubborn muscle groups like calves.
2363. Q:
mike, i'm happy with the size of my biceps, can i ommit excercising them from your program? I don't think I'll be leaving them out completely because I'll still be using them when exercising my back?? I'd just like to proportion my delts and tris moreso. thanks
A:
Certainly! You can and should decide which muscle groups to prioritize and if you are already happy with your biceps there's no reason to keep hitting them, especially since as you say they'll get worked during back exercises anyway.
2364. Q:
Hi mike, i am 173 lbs and i want to reduce my man boobs in my chest area. Kindly help me..
A:
Please read this article. Chest fat or any other fat cannot be targeted directly but can only be lost as part of a larger overall body fat loss. That article will tell you how to accomplish that most effectively.
2365. Q:
I am an 18 year old girl and I work out almost every day. I do 45 minutes of cardio, ab work and weights. However I feel like my legs are getting bigger and I want them to be smaller. I am very toned but I dont want bulk muscle. How long will it take for my legs musicles to shrink>? I want my legs to look slim.
A:
Women often develop fairly muscular legs and it sounds like that's happening to you. Unfortunately intentionally losing leg muscle is not very straightforward. One thing you should certainly do is cut out any weight or resistance training for legs (so no squats or lunges or leg presses, etc). Over time, with no stimulation and no new weight gain you'll lose some of the leg muscle bulk.
But depending on your genetics your leg muscles may grow even from simple running or other cardio work which you may not want to give up. In that case, the only real way to lose extra leg muscle is through overall weight loss. As you lose weight without directly working leg muscles you'll lose some of the leg muscle mass. Of course, if you happen to grow leg muscles from running or cardio alone then you'd have to lose weight without much running or other impact cardio -- swimming may be a good option then. And of course, this assumes you are open to losing weight at all -- if that's not the case then simply stopping or at least reducing direct leg exercise is the best you can do.
2366. Q:
hi mike,
i used to be a fat kid (220pounds - i am an indian), and now i am a 170pound 21 year old.
nowadays, i am extremely athletic - i'm in the gym 3 times a week, playing soccer or some form of cardio another 3 times a week). my muscle mass has definitely increased, and i am much more leaner and toned. and i try to eat healthy as well.
HOWEVER, i still have a problem: man boobs and a little lower belly fat. although my chest is muscular, the lower chest is fatty around the nipples, and it really looks unsightly. how do i get rid of it (either diet or exercise or anything else)?
also, i also want to develop stronger and bigger legs (my legs are really skinny), for the purpose of pace and acceleration for field soccer. but as i was a fat kid when i was younger, i find that if i eat more in order build muscle, my belly fat and man boobs tend to become larger. what can i do (again, in either diet or exercise)?
i do not consume protein shakes as I have a 'phobia' about its contents. i have tried it a couple of times as some of my friends take it - i find that i usually can't sleep well after (but i'm not sure about this).
please help me out. thank you very much,
Nick
A:
Congrats on your weight loss!! Losing 50 pounds to bring yourself back in shape is a great accomplishment! You didn't mention how tall you are but at 170 pounds but if you are 5 foot 9 inches or shorter, then you can safely lose some more weight which will help reduce that extra fat appearence. You also need to keep in mind that both stomach fat and lower chest fat are perfectly normal and not unhealthy in any way -- that's where men naturally store fat. Of course the extent of how much fat is OK is somewhat subjective and difficult to describe over the net. If you do decide that you'd be willing to lose some more weight to lessen the appearence of fat, then that's your best option. You can read my fat loss article and then fill out fitness guide to get a sample diet.
As far training for soccer, you don't necessarily need to gain weight and muscle to get stronger. You can take up plyometric training (I don't have a plyometrics section on my site yet, but I plan on adding it) or simply do heavy leg exercises such as squats and leg presses. These will make your legs stronger even without significant weight or muscle gain. However if you do want to add significant amount muscle to your legs, then some weight gain will be necessary. Some fat will inevitably come with new weight as well, but you can minimize it by having a very clean diet and gaining weight as slowly as possible -- one pound every two weeks or slower (the slower the better). After you've gained some weight and some new fat you can stop eating to gain weight and cut calories to slowly lose weight thereby eliminating the unwanted fat. After such a bulk-cut cycle your weight will be slightly more than now and all or almost all of that new weight will be muscle.
Finally, whey protein powders are certainly not necessary for successful muscle gain or sports performance. They are merely a convenient source of protein. You can get all the same protein from regular everyday foods such as chicken and fish, soy and beans and lentils. Try to get 1 gram of protein for each pound of bodyweight daily if possible. Good luck!
2367. Q:
Hi Mike. Great site. I have a quick question. I am a 20 year old male, about 180 pounds, about 5' 11''. However, I am pretty skinny. And unfortunately, I suffer from 'man boobs.' They are psychologically devastating. I stumbled upon your site, and my question is, how can I both gain muscle and lose these man boobs? I was looking at your page that suggests gitness guides, and you ask to select either the 'lose fat' option or the 'gain muscle' one. In my case, where I desperately want to lose those man boobs and gain muscle, what do I do? Thank you so much!
A:
If you are a relative newcomer to weight training, then you'll be able to build muscle even while losing weight for some time, assuming you have good diet and training program as I describe on this site. So you may be able to get down to, say, 170 pounds, significantly reduce your 'man boob' appearence and still have gained some new muscle. However these early easy gains when you can both lose fat and gain muscle at once will stop as you get in better and better shape. At that point you'd need to decide whether to focus on one or the other.
For example... You may want to allow 6 months to gain 10 pounds of weight most of which will be muscle (again, assuming good diet and training). After those 6 months you can change your diet to slowly lose weight for 2 months, losing 4 pounds in the process. If you do everything right most of these 4 pounds lost will be fat. So the end result, after 8 months, you'll have gained 6 new pounds and they should be entirely new muscle! After that you can repeat the bulk-cut cycle again. It's a slow process but this sequence of bulk-cut cycles is what allows you to eventually attain a lot of muscle while keeping low body fat.
So, to summarize, if you are a beginner, then just focus on slowly losing weight with good training and diet. If you lose weight slowly (no faster than 1 pound per week) then you'll be able to get some relatively easy early muscle gains at the same time. Once the muscle gains stop you can decide whether you have lost enough fat (and 'man boobs') to allow yourself to start a bulk-cut cycle to build up some more muscle. Hope that helps and good luck!
2369. Q:
hey mike im 15 and im 6 feet tall and my weight is only 130 pounds every one in my famley is skinny and tall i eat a good amount probley a little more then the averge person even though im skinny im pretty strong and toned and im in good shape. its hard for me to gain weight. ive been trying to put on more muscle for the past week ive been doing more then 30 push ups and situps every night do you have any advice on any easy execires and ways that i can gain weight muscle thanks.
-Donnie
A:
The key for you will be to eat more and more until you start gaining weight. Good news is that once you finally eat enough you will likely find that you gain muscle and keep fat low much easier than an average person. However it really may take a LOT of food. One of my favorite 'weight gainers' for guys like you is a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Take two slices of whole-wheat bread. Spread generous amount of natural peanut butter (ingredients should list only peanuts and maybe salt) on both slices and put cut-up banana in the middle. That's a 600-700 calorie sandwich right there that's tasty and easy to stuff down. Have a couple of these every day in addition to your regular meals and you'll be sure to gain weight. If a couple of them is not enough, then add more! But the bottom line is you'll have to eat more calories in order to gain weight. Once the weight gain comes, start on weight training to make sure that new weight is muscle. Prime muscle building years start around the age of 16, so you're just about there. Just make sure you learn proper form for all exercises and have adult supervision and spotters for exercises like bench press. Good luck!
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