Q&A for: 17-Jul-05
186. Q:
Does the atkins diet work for some people because protein is less fattening than carbs or because they are consuming less calories when they go on that diet?
A:
The theory behind Atkins diet is that by depriving your of carbs you force it to burn fat reserves for energy. It does work to a degree, but it also has a host of negative side-effects:
- As you can guess if you've been reading my responses to other questions, a carb-deprived body will turn to burning muscle for energy in addition to burning fat for energy. The ratio of muscle-to-fat loss will again vary widely depending on genetics and exercise regimen followed.
- The diet is extremely strict, especially in its first weeks, and is very tough to stick to. If Atkins is not followed strictly, then the whole point of it is largely lost and it becomes just another calorie-deficit diet.
- Atkins diet will often leave you completely devoid of energy, again especially in its first weeks. This also makes it very difficult to follow an exercise routine while on this diet.
- By rigidly restricting carbs, Atkins followers risk depriving their bodies of vitamins and minerals that they typically get from vegetables, fruits, and grains. I feel very strongly that popping a few multi-vitamins is not the same as getting natural nutrition from food.
- Another consequence of rigid carb limitations can be digestive and bowel movement problems. Once again, a common approach is to turn to any number of drugs or supplements for that which I feel is a bad idea for your health in the long-term if it can be avoided.
- Atkins does not, as far as I know, distinguish between healthy and unhealthy fats. I very very strongly advise avoiding using oils for high-temperature cooking (frying) because oils oxidate and turn into what you've probably heard of as 'transfatty acids' which are bad news. Same goes for foods containing hydrogenated oils (basically, the same thing).
- Atkins diet naturally leads to getting most of the fat intake from animal sources. While there's nothing wrong with animal fat as such, it is mostly saturated fat, while ideally you want to be consuming mostly monounsaturated fat (olive oil) and omega-3 polyunsaturated (salmon and other fatty fish as well as flax seed).
But even forgetting about possible negative long-term health consequences of Atkins, it is still not the best choice for most people simply because it will aggressively burn muscle along with fat. If you are not grossly overweight and are looking to lose less than 50 pounds, I suggest low- to moderate-carb diets (along with exercise, of course) such as described in the nutrition article instead of Atkins.
187. Q:
how to lose manboobs
A:
See here
188. Q:
Hey mike, last question for me.. ive been following the www.workout-routines.com/bodybuilding.html plan for about 2 moonths now. Im not the strongest chest guy, so and ive been on a plateau at 135 for like 3 months. doing only 2-3 reps :-( how can i get past this terrible plateau?
A:
Well, first of all that's not a terrible plateau at all -- that's about average strength for an adult man and you're only 15! You also have to remember that you won't be able to add 5 pounds to your bench press every week (if you did, you'd bench 400 in one year!!!). But in order to break past these strength plateaus, the best thing to do is to switch from a bodybuilding-style routine to a strength-style one, especially if you've been following the bodybuilding routine for awhile (like you have).
Look at this program, it's linked to from my weighttraining article. This is a variation of a typical strength-building cycle. It's a bit difficult to understand it at first, probably, so I'll try to explain here... You do this 3x per week (say, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and this is ALL you do (no other exercises at all).
For the first 4 weeks, Mon, Wed, Fri are all identical: 4 sets of 5 reps of squat, 6 sets of 5 reps of bench, and 4 sets of 5 reps of deadlift. The kicker is that you do these sets with very light weights. For the first week, you pick a weight that would cause failure in 15 reps, but only do 5 reps. Second week, weight that would cause failure in 13 reps, but only do 5. Third week: 11 reps, but do 5. Fourth week: 9 reps, but do 5. Since you can do 135 lbs for 2-3 reps, You would probably use 75 pounds in bench for the first week, 85 for second, 95 for third, and 105 for fourth. So none of your sets in the first 4 weeks will be anywhere close to failure and in fact will probably feel like warm-ups. This will seem weird compared to your to-failure bodybuilding training, but trust the program!
The last two weeks will be a little different... you will 'peak' in one exercise on Monday, one on Wed, one on Friday, while doing the other two exercises that day using week-two light weights. You'll peak in squat on Mondays, bench on Wednesday, and deadlift on Friday. In week 5, your peaking lifts will be two sets of 3 reps with a weight that would normally cause failure in 2 reps! So for your bench, it would mean using 135 lbs. In week 6, you'll peak even further by doing 1 set of 2 reps with a weight you can normally only do 1 rep with -- so try 145 lbs for your bench! YOU MUST HAVE AN EXPERIENCED SPOTTER FOR PEAKING LIFTS, especially the bench and squat!!!
By the end of these 6 weeks, you should be able to do at least 2-3 reps at 145 lbs, and there's a good chance you'll actually be able to do more. The program will feel very strange if you're used to to-failure lifts, but like I said, give it a chance. It also obviously emphasizes squat and deadlift along with bench (these three are THE standard powerlifting lifts) and I strongly encourage you to do those too. If you've never done deadlift before (or squat, but I think you have), then go easy on it and pick a weight that's less than your squat lift until you get used to the good deadlift form.
Hope this helps you break through your plateau! I know it's a lot of info to digest, but knowing and utlizing both bodybuilding- and strength-style training will give you the best of both worlds.
189. Q:
How do I get a 6 pack and perfect pecs?
A:
See here
190. Q:
im about to start one of your suggested low volume weight routines, but because of me being overweight and under-powered (not for long!) i cant do pull-ups. is it ok for me to substitiute these with machine pull-downs?
A:
Absolutely! Pulldowns pretty much mimic the pullups exactly and are a perfect substitute. Remember to maintain proper upright posture while doing pulldowns: only your arms should be moving, the rest of your body should be motionless. Do not do pulldowns behind your head, only to the chest. Feel free to use either the wide overhand or close underhand grips when doing pulldowns or alternate them. If you want to stick with just one grip, go with close underhand grip. And don't forget to test your strength doing actual pullups -- it won't take you long, especially if you're losing weight at the same time! Good luck!
191. Q:
how many calories does one sit up burn?
A:
Honestly I don't know, but very very few. Maybe a quarter of a calorie? But no matter what the answer is, trying to sit-up your way to losing fat is far far from the best way. The big advantage of weight training is that if done properly it will burn calories around the clock as your muscles recover. By limiting yourself to just the sit-ups, you ignore 90% of your muscle mass, thus ignoring 90% of potential fat loss. Please read this, read the other articles it references, and reconsider your training and diet. Good luck!
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