Q&A for: 13-Oct-05
694. Q:
I was just wondering if paintball, since it tends to get your heart-rate up and usually there's alot of squatting/running/crawling involved, is a rather decent physical activity.
A:
I don't know much about paintball unfortunately, but if it does involve all those different modes of activity then it should be a pretty good fat-burner. The only question I'd have is how much of the time you're moving and doing something versus staying in one place hiding? If you're moving at least 50% of the time, then it should very good.
695. Q:
Mike, what will happen if I suddenly exercise really hard(not exercising before) Will I push myself too hard? Is that good for you? I am really out of shape I lose my breath going up stairs.
A:
I would recommend easing into any new program for a couple of weeks at least. For weight training it'd mean using relatively light weights and not going to failure on any exercise. For cardio it'd mean going slower and for less distance than you potentially could. That'll give you a chance to learn all the new exercises and reduce the risk of injury Beyond that however, you really do want to push yourself.
Pushing yourself in weight training never means injuring yourself or sacrificing good form in order to lift more weight or do an extra rep or two. It does however mean pushing yourself right to the limit of what you can do with good form. You should feel quite tired after a set of to-failure exercise, especially if you're working your legs. Cardio is a little different and I don't advocate pushing yourself all the way to the limit in cardio if you're doing weight training at the same time. But a cardio workout should still certainly feel tiring, just not exhausting. The one exception to that is if you do Hight Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio -- it consists of very short sessions, but you would push yourself to the limit multiple times in each session). You can read about HIIT near the bottom of my Fat-loss article.
So while it's prudent to take a couple of weeks to ease into the program, after that period you do want to push yourself to the limit on each set with weights (keep in mind my comment about maintaining good form though!) and somewhat less so, but still challenging, with cardio. It will not necessarily be fun, but as long as you don't have any existing health condition (check with your doctor if in doubt) and as long as you maintain good form, you will make progress safely.
696. Q:
Hello there again.Before 3 months i had asked u some things about nutrition and weight training.I had just finished losing fat then and started heavier weight training.My fat percentance had reached 10,7% and in 3 months i had lost around 13 kgs.3 months after this iam still 65 kgs like then but my fat percentage is 8,4 now.In 3 months i have gained also 1,5 kgs of muscles and i go on very slowly.I dont do any abs now.If i start doing abs now 3 times a week and go on like this will i be able to gain a six pack and in how long?Thanks in advance.
A:
Ahh I remember you from Q&A #216!. Congratulations, you're really making very impressive progress! Just getting to 10.7% is tough enough and now you're at 8.4% at the same weight as before which is truly rare. At this point you should be able to see at least the outline of your abdominal six-pack. If you don't see any separation between any of the abdominal muscles, it probably means that your fat-percentage measurements were a little off (which is not uncommon). However in either case, with body fat below 10%, working abs as you described will make a difference in the appearence of the six-pack. So yes, definitely start on it. I'd say if your body-fat measurements are approximately correct and if you continue doing what you've been doing for the last 3 months and add ab work, you should be seeing the six-pack very very soon, certainly within a month or two. Good luck!
697. Q:
I wrote question 684 and 685 (sorry should have mentioned that) during the day I eat normal good foods, low cal, low fat, but like I said, at night I'm starving. I usually crave and want brownies, cookies, pizza, all that bad stuff I cut out of my diet. At night, the healthy foods just don't satisfy me. Any sugestions?
A:
Don't eat only low-fat foods. Healthy fats like olive oil or fatty fish (like salmon) or nuts and flax seed are not only good for you, including for fat loss, but they will also keep you satisfied for longer. As one of your last meals, have a generous chicken breast salad with a tablespoon of olive oil, for example. A fat-free or a very low-fat diet is not healthy in long term and will lead to hunger like you're experiencing.
The other thing is that it's OK to cheat and have something sweet once in a while. Something like one cookie you can eat every day even.
698. Q:
My goal is to lose fat, like a million other people. Is Cytosport Muscle Milk a suitable protien source to be used as a meal replacement once a day for effective fat burning?
A:
Yup, once a day it should be perfectly good. Muscle Milk makes a good meal replacement since it has a lot of fats to go along with protein making it a complete meal.
Note that for that same reason Muscle Milk would NOT make a good protein supplement to go along with a meal because in a protein supplement you want to have near-pure protein without extra carbs or fats since you'd be getting those from the 'regular' food. But as a complete meal replacement, Muscle Milk works well.
699. Q:
kettle bells
A:
See Q&A #668
700. Q:
kettlebells
A:
See Q&A #668
701. Q:
i need to lose inches from my upper arms fast what can i do?
A:
Please read this article carefully and then fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal for a complete program prescription. You can't have a quality fat loss happen fast, so have reasonable expectations and commit to the program for the long haul. Losing around 1 pound per week is the best pace for long-term sustained fat loss. Anything much faster than that will backfire on you.
702. Q:
i want to get leaner arms
A:
Please read this article carefully and then fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal for a complete program prescription. You can't have a quality fat loss happen fast, so have reasonable expectations and commit to the program for the long haul. Losing around 1 pound per week is the best pace for long-term sustained fat loss. Anything much faster than that will backfire on you.
703. Q:
I can't losew eight. I am 14, 200 lbs. and 5'9. I have no motivation to lose weight. :(
A:
Good news is that at your age you don't need to actively try to lose weight. All you have to do is change your eating habits to eat healthy and participate in as much physical activity as you can, whether it be school sports, pickup basketball games, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, weight lifting, going jogging, biking, or pretty much anything else. Check out my answers to Q&A #655 and Q&A #459 for a bunch of tips and ideas. Eat healthy, be active, and your continuing growth and maturation will take care of the extra fat over time. By the time you get to 10th grade you should be in great shape!
704. Q:
What's the best way to lose weight? And can I lose weight fast? If not, what can i do to see result soon?
A:
Please read this article carefully and then fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal for a complete program prescription. You can't have a quality fat loss happen fast, so have reasonable expectations and commit to the program for the long haul. Losing around 1 pound per week is the best pace for long-term sustained fat loss. Anything much faster than that will backfire on you.
705. Q:
i run with a hundred pounds in my backpack everday then i do 15 decline and regular pushups with the weighted backpack on will this help build strenght and muscle in my legs and chest
A:
That's a pretty hardcore routine! Yes, that certainly will get you pretty far as far as leg and chest muscle development. I do want to warn you that running with loose 100 pounds of weights in your backpack can lead to serious lower back injuries as well as knee and ankle problems. For that reason it certainly wouldn't be my first choice of exercise. Be on a lookout for lower back pain and do NOT try to exercise through it.
As an alternative to running you can do lunges with those same 100 pounds in your backpack. Check out my Exercises page to see about lunges and other leg exercises. You can do squats with the backpack as well. Both lunges and squats are very very effective strength builders, though they will not have quite the same endurance training effect you get with running. However if you keep up what you're doing now you're virtually certain to develop lower back problems, so I'd switch to lunges and squats for strength training and continue running without weights if you want to have good cardio endurance in addition to strength.
706. Q:
how to lose man boobs
A:
Please read this article carefully and then fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Lose Fat' as your goal for a complete program prescription. You can't have a quality fat loss happen fast, so have reasonable expectations and commit to the program for the long haul. Losing around 1 pound per week is the best pace for long-term sustained fat loss. Anything much faster than that will backfire on you.
707. Q:
i am a male 13 year old, how do i get this layer of fat off my stomache, i do alot of situps and my stomache is hard but i just cant get the layer of fat off???!!!
A:
Situps by themselves won't do much to get that fat off. At your age all you have to do is make sure you eat healthy and are physically active as much as you can be and your growth will naturally take care of the extra fat. Physically active is pretty straightforward -- anything from school sports to biking to mowing lawns.
Eating healthy is a little more involved... Please read the first part, titled 'Principles', of my Nutrition Guide (don't worry about the rest of that article so much, just the first part). There you'll find out what to eat and what not to eat. Don't try to diet specifically to lose weight, it's a bad idea at your age. But do eat all the healthy foods mentioned in the article and avoid the bad stuff and the fat will get taken care of with physical activity and your continuing growth.
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