Q&A for: 16-Nov-05
1045. Q:
How much time will it take to get a six pack if your stomach is hard but there is a layer of fat over it?
A:
There's no way of saying for sure. Everybody, believe it or not, has rock-hard abs. It's just that almost everybody also has a layer of fat covering them. It all depends on how thick that layer is. For an average young guy who never trained and has a small gut one year is a good target to get to six pack. However it is not easy, and you do need a good exercise and diet program that you follow closely. If you lack one or the other, it's unlikely you'll ever get the six-pack. Check out my fat loss article.
1046. Q:
can you safely lose muscle mass
A:
You can and it's easy to do -- just lose weight by restricting calories and don't exercise. It is however the wrong thing to do for vast majority of people. Check out Q&A #780 and Q&A #845.
1047. Q:
About how long will it take my man boobs to just shrink a little if I incline bench press everyday? (And of course go on a good nutritious diet)
A:
A good plan will have you losing around 1 pound of fat per week, so after 4-6 weeks the progress should start to be quite noticeable. But just doing inclines everyday isn't a very good training plan at all. You should be working as many muscle groups as possible, not just chest. The more muscle groups you work the better are your chances of losing fat and shrinking man boobs.
If you have the equipment to do bench presses, then you should be able to use the very same barbell to do: lunges (hold the bar on the back of your shoulders) -- legs, light-weight squats -- legs, barbell bent-over rows -- upper back, barbell upright rows -- shoulders, barbell curls -- bipces, tricep extensions/skullcrushers -- triceps, close-grip bench presses -- triceps. Read my Weight training article and check out my Exercises page if you're not sure about some exercises.
1048. Q:
Dieting is really hard for me, so i have a question, can you get your abs big enough that they will show even though there is a layer of fat over them???
A:
Nope, sorry. No matter how big your abs are, they won't show through if you have more than just a thin layer of fat over them. You need to get your body fat level to 10% or less to see the six pack.
1049. Q:
I was reading question 1005 and saw that you said 'or other heavy physical activity' and just wanted to know if you meant sports and stuff like that.
A:
Yes, some strength and power sports (football, wrestling) will do it or heavy physical labor jobs (construction, landscaping, etc). All of these can over time develop your muscles and, along with the muscles, your blood vessels in the same way as heavy weight training.
1050. Q:
What is creatine?
A:
Creatine is a natural substance found in all your muscles and your body uses for muscle contraction. Every single movement you make is produced by chemical reactions involving creatine. Creatine is found in some foods (mainly meats and fish), though your body can also manufacture it from amino acids (which you get from your diet) if needed.
It was discovered that your muscles can actually hold a little more creatine in them than they typically do. It's a bit like filling up gas, but not topping it off. So a diatary creatine supplement was created to help you 'top off' your muscles' creatine stores. As the result it allows most people lift slightly heavier weights and work out slightly harder leading to better muscle gains and quicker fat loss. The effect is not going to be very significant for most people, but every little bit can help. Atheletes, who are always looking for any small edge on competition, have been using creatine for many years.
Not everyone can benefit from it -- 20-25% of people will get absolutely no benefit from creatine in the gym. And it does have some side-effects, usually mild, including possible stomach cramps and gaining a pound or two of water weight (not fat) when using it. I would encourage you to do your own research if you're concerned about creatine safety.
1051. Q:
My goal is to lose fat at a normal rate, how many hours a day will i have to do cardio exercises and weight training to replace dieting?
A:
You won't get as good results without a good diet, no matter what or how much training you do. You will make some progress initially when you take up exercising, but depending on what your diet looks like the progress will either grind to a halt or even reverse after some time. Having a diet doesn't have to mean that you only eat lettuce all day -- it's all a matter of degrees.
As the first step, resolve to stay away from junk food, alcohol, sweets, chips, sodas, pizzas, burgers, and hot dogs. That alone will take you a long way. It doesn't mean you'll never ever eat these foods, but keep it to no more than a couple of times per week.
If and when you're ready to take the next step, you could replace white bread while whole-wheat bread, white rice with brown rice, white pasta with whole-wheat pasta, corn and potatoes with sweet potatoes, cold breakfast cereals with plain old-fashioned oatmeal, fruit juices with actual whole fruits.
For the third step, you could make sure you eat more veggies and lean meat, fish, or chicken and less bread/pasta/rice during the day.
Finally for the fourth step you could split some of your large meals into two or more smaller meals and adjust portion sizes up or down to stay on track for your fat loss goals.
Any one of those steps would constitute being on a diet and pretty much everyone can (and should) at least take the first step -- for health, if not for looks! If you just take that first step towards a good diet, then keep weight training to 3-4 hours/week and cardio to 2-3 hours/week and you'll make a good progress for quite a while. It may even be enough to reach your ultimate goal physique. If you take other steps, you fat loss will be that much more successful, of course. But at least take the first step. Good luck!
1052. Q:
Is the drink Capri Sun healthy (just in case you havnt heard of it, it comes inj a silver pouch w/ a picture on the front, it has names like mountain cooler, and pacific cooler). I go through at least 3 a day.
A:
No, that's a pretty bad choice of drink. Each pouch of Capri Sun is the same as eating 25 grams of sugar and it has absolutely no redeeming qualities. A slightly better choice would be orange juice and a MUCH BETTER choice would drinking plain water and eating actual whole fruits.
1053. Q:
I hear hot water relaxes muscles, so if i take a hot shower after a work out will it effect mucsle growth?
A:
By all means, go ahead and take the hot shower. It will likely have a small positive impact on muscle growth since it will help you relax (always good outside the gym -- stressful situations cause your bodies to release cortisol which eats up muscle for energy in emergencies) and may improve blood flow to the muscles, speeding the recovery process. Honestly I doubt the positive effect will be large enough to notice, but it certainly won't hurt your progress.
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