Q&A for: 18-Sep-05
518. Q:
are there any foods that you can eat to make your butt bigger?
A:
Please see Q&A #340 and Q&A #236.
519. Q:
Even though I've been doing lowerbody weight training for a while already( 60-120 pound weights) I experienced a moderate amount of muscle soreness in my legs after my first day of playing ball hockey. I thought that my weighttraing would have prevented this.but I would have to conclude that playing hockey targets certain muscles that the leg machines dont target.
A:
It's not that different muscles are being used in hockey vs. weight training, but that very different metabolic demands are being put on those muscles in the two cases. Machine or freeweight weight training puts stress on the anaerobic systems while hockey puts stress on aerobic. Not only that, but muscle soreness can be extremely specific to a motion or a set of motions -- even a new weight-training exercise on a muscle that's already been weight-trained can cause soreness.
So it's not really fair to expect weight training in the offseason to eliminate muscle soreness in season. It may or may not have made some difference, but anyway that's not its goal -- the goal of weight training for atheletes is to develop strength and power aspects needed by the sport, not the endurance or aerobic recovery aspect of it. What will most likely happen going forward is that your soreness will diminish after future games and practices as your body gets used to the demands of the hockey season -- though it may not go away completely.
520. Q:
When your muscles recover from weight training do u burn fat?Also,how many time does it take for muscles to recover?
A:
Yes, the biggest fat-burning benefit of weight-training comes during the recovery time. This is what makes whole-body weight training a superior fat-burner compared to cardio. As far as how long the recovery takes, it'll vary quite a bit depending on the person, diet, training volume and intensity, etc. There's some evidence that suggests that recovery may continue for WEEKS (!) after the workout.
If you're looking for a quick rule of thumb, I'd say to allow 1 day of recovery for every 2 heavy to-failure sets for that muscle. So, for example, if you have a good back workout on Monday with 10 heavy to-failure sets, then wait 10 / 2 = 5 days, or till Saturday to work the back again.
521. Q:
How much is it ok to spent at gym each time doing weight training?Is 2 hours ok or too much?Keep in mind that i only do weight training and breaks during this time and not losing time with talking or such things.When i say 2 hours i mean 2 hurs full of weight training.I would like your opinion on this.
A:
I feel that for an average person 1 hour per weightlifting session is a good limit with 2-5 hours/week total spent on weightlifting (so 2-5 one-hour sessions per week). A heavy 1-hour weight training session will usually consist of around 20 sets -- this may not seem like a lot, but when working in 6-12 rep to failure range, you should allow at least 2-3 minutes between sets for recovery.
That doesn't mean that some people can't benefit from longer training sessions. But overtraining (doing too much) is far more common among gym enthusiasts than doing too little. What you'll need to do is keep track of your progress and also look out for symptoms of overtraining. If you're finding yourself not making much progress, feeling tired a lot, getting sick, lacking appetite, unable to sleep, irritable, then those are all potential indicators of overtraining. In that case, I would recommend that you take 1-2 weeks off from the gym completely and then come back to a lower-volume program. You can find a number of sample programs with different volumes here.
522. Q:
mike, I'm in a desperate situation, I'm about to start fasting (ramadan) and I want to lose fat and still continue to gain muscle. I've tried every diet and nothing seems to work. when i did too much cardio, i lost weight, but most of it was muscile, and i think i even put on fat. now, i'm doing weight training, but I want to see results fast. what is the best course of action?
A:
With having to fast during the day, you probably want to make it your goal for Ramadan to simply try to hang on to the muscle that you have now and take any fat loss as a bonus. You'll only be able to eat twice a day (if I understand correctly) -- you should make both of those meals quite big. The morning meal should be rich in carbs (oatmeal with fruits is perfect here) and protein (perhaps whey protein powder or cottage cheese) with some fats. The night meal should consist of a lot of vegetables, protein (meat or fish) with olive oil or other source of healthy fats. Make the meals BIG -- 1000 calories or more each.
As far as training, don't do any cardio (as you've discovered already, it's not optimal for fat loss and it'll be even worse during fasting) and continue heavy whole-body weight training. You won't have much energy for long intense sessions, so keep your training to just around 2 hours/week, using heavy weights and emphasizing exercises like squats, lunges, bench presses, pullups/pulldowns, and rows for maximum impact. After Ramadan you can get a better diet going (multiple small meals during the day) and also ramp up your weight training. Good luck!
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