Q&A for: 19-Oct-05
748. Q:
hey mike im 16, 175 lbs, 5 11 and i bench 235. work out 5 days a week and i still have little bit of man boobs. my upper chest is hard but my lower chest is flabby. im on no-xplode and hot roxs. i was wondering if there is anything else i can do to help make my chest hard all around
thx-Trev
A:
Congrats on the 235 bench, that's impressive for any age and size, let alone for 16 years and 175 pounds. Small 'man boobs' is actually pretty normal for your age and they should go away in another year or so. But in general since it sounds like your workouts should be good, the problem with extra fat is in the diet. You can find my recommendations in the Nutrition article and if you post your daily diet (in as much detail as possible), I can tell you what you can do to improve.
749. Q:
Hey Mike. I'm overweight and I'm sure that one of the culprits is school cafeteria food (actually I'm pretty much positive). I don't really have enough time to prepare any lunch in the morning, and I know that pretty much all the foods in a cafeteria are bad, but can you tell me which common ones a little bit more passable? They sell chicken ceaser (salad) wraps - is that good for you? Thanks.
A:
The wraps might be OK, though I'm guessing they just have a lot of bread and little actual chicken or lettuce. I would definitely recommend bringing food from home with you -- all it takes is waking up 10 minutes early and making a sandwich or a salad to take with you in a tupperware container! Check out Q&A #531 and other Q&A's it references to get some ideas how to eat right as a student.
The other thing is that it's VERY unlikely you are overweight just because of the cafeteria food. You should examine the stuff you eat every day, both as meals and (especially) as snacks. A bag of chips here, a soda there all pretty soon add up to extra fat. Read my Nutrition article to learn how to eat healthy for fat loss.
Finally, besides eating right, the best thing to do to shed the extra pounds is exercise. Since you're young, any physical activity will give results -- from sports, to running, to weight lifting, to even mowing lawns or shoveling snow. If you're interested in weight lifting specifically (which is probably the single best fat-burner at any age), read my Weight Training article, but in any case try to be more active.
750. Q:
I get done working out at 9pm 5 nights a week, should i have anything to eat or any protien mix after that? I do three nights weightlifting and two cardio.
A:
Yes, you should eat after your workouts. After cardio workouts, at least have the protein. After weightlifting workouts, you should have a complete meal -- just go easy on carbs since it's night time, use mostly veggies for carbs. For example, chicken caesar salad with olive oil (don't use commercial dressings), or a steak with green beans and carrots, or salmon and broccoli. You can also use the same protein mix too, just have some other light carb and a source of fats along with it -- even something as simple as protein mix and a handful of almonds.
751. Q:
At days in which my muscles dont recover from weight training does the protein do me any good?I mean can i take it or should i take it even these days?for example day 1 i do weight training.day 2 i recover.day3?Take enough protein like the day 1and 2 or not?Will this help me even in no recovery time?
A:
Keep your diet and protein intake the same on all days unless you take more than 2 weeks off weight training. Muscle recovery can continue well past 1 or 2 days so that protein is not going to go to waste.
752. Q:
I use an 100% whey protein that gives me about 23 grams of pure protein every time i use it.Is that protein better than this i get from normal foods?What i do now is take main protein from food i eat daily and in case the food we have at home doesnt contain any protein then i use this i bought to take the protein i need.Do i use this product correct?Also,how much protein can a human body disgest succesfully in 3 hours?I have heard around 25 grams.Is this correct?
A:
That is a good protein brand (I recommend it, above) and you're using it correctly. It's no better or worse than protein you get from 'regular' foods, though it is relatively fast-digesting which makes it a good choice in the morning and immediately before and after workouts. But eating regular protein-rich foods at those times is perfectly fine too.
As to how much a body can digest at a time, there's no one answer, but it's definitely more than 25g in 3 hours. There're numerous studies that prove that the atheltic performance improves significantly when eating 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. That means a 180-pound person can certainly digest and benefit from 180 grams of protein a day and the studies did not require participants to split it into 6 or more meals. So they got 40-50 grams at a time and still benefitted. And there's a lot of anecdotal evidence for benefits from even more than 1 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. I'd say 40 grams of protein per meal with 5-6 meals a day is a good target for an 180-pound person, for example.
753. Q:
other ways that are best to work out your chest.
A:
Bench press, bench press, bench press! It's really that simple. Use both barbell and dumbbells and mix in incline and decline bench, along with flat. I'd give priority to flat, then incline, then decline. The only other worthwhile chest exercises are dumbbell flies and pullovers (pullovers also work back lat muscles). But focus on the bench press.
754. Q:
best way to get abs.
A:
You need to have a good diet to burn fat and do heavy whole-body weightlifting to burn fat and maintain high metabolism. Please read Fat-loss article carefully and follow its directions.
755. Q:
Hi Mike, I decided to tryout your 'No equipment at home' routine. Does it really work? I'm trying to lose around 30-70 lbs in about 1-3 years. Will I be able to if I stick to the routine? Oh and is there a staff answering these questions or how does that work (just wondering)?
A:
Yes, it really works. It won't give you quite the results you'd get from a full gym, but it'll still be pretty good. You have a good approach to it -- planning for a long term -- so you should be able to stick to it. Just remember this will take time. Don't expect miracles quickly and don't lose focus by falling for some fad diet that promises to lose you 30 pounds in 1 month! 30 pounds in 1 year and 70 pounds in 3 years is very doable with a good program. Of course, you'll need to have a good diet at that time too. Read my Nutrition article to learn how to eat right, if you haven't already. Without a good diet all bets are off.
When you start on the workout program it's possible that you'll find yourself unable to do the prescribed number of pullups or pushups or whatever. That's OK. Do the best you can, then do a couple partial reps of the exercise to push yourself, and then just stop and break for 1-2 minutes before the next set. Your strength will build up relatively quickly, just keep doing those exercises to the best of your ability and don't be afraid to push yourself.
As to your second question, there's no staff, just me :) I try to answer as many questions as I can, usually a chunk in the morning and another chunk in the evening.
756. Q:
man boobs
A:
You need to have a good diet to burn fat and do heavy whole-body weightlifting to burn fat and maintain high metabolism. Please read Fat-loss article carefully and follow its directions.
757. Q:
im 16 male 5ft 5 i weigh 200lbs i need to get to 140lbs by june 12th please help me i wanna be able to go swimming in front of other people for once
A:
It's not at all a good idea to try to lose 60 pounds in less than a year at your age, even if you're overweight. Dramatic weight loss like that will jeopardize your growth and you might stay at 5ft 5 when you could've grown taller otherwise. So I don't recommend trying to follow through with that plan. You could lose maybe 20 pounds in 1 year safely at your age and that along with a good diet and exercise plan to burn fat and build muscle and, quite possibly, a couple of inches of growth can get you looking pretty good in 1 year.
To start, read and thoroughly familiarize yourself with the principles of Nutrition and Weight Training. Then fill out Mike's Fitness Guide to get a complete diet and exercise prescription. Then redo the sample diet it gives to make it fit your life. Then stick to the diet and exercise for a year :) Remember to not lose weight too fast and if you're finding yourself losing more than 2 pounds per month, increase the calories in your diet until weight loss slows down. Good luck!
758. Q:
If my muscles are sore (the next day) should I workout anyways or wait for it to stop?
A:
You shouldn't work out the muscles that are sore, but you can work out other muscles. For example, if your legs are sore you can still work out your chest. That's why 'split' weightlifting programs are popular -- they split up your schedule to work out different muscles on different days allowing you to be sore in one muscle group but still working out another. You can find several sample split routines in my Weight training article.
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