Q&A for: 19-Sep-05
523. Q:
I'm looking for a excellent book on weighttraining.have any suggestions?
A:
The one indispensible book is Delavier's 'Strength Training Anatomy'. It is a superb reference for all the major muscle groups and exercises that most people will ever need. I highly recommend it. As far as different training programs, there're many good books with various training routines. The thing to keep in mind is that there's no such thing as THE best training routine -- customization, variety, and adjustments is what makes or break training programs and it's one of the major duties of a personal trainer to keep the routine continually challenging for the trainee. Stay away from books that make too-good-to-be-true claims or purport to provide the most effective training routines -- these are usually much more hype than substance. Having said that, Baechle and Earle's 'Fitness Weight Training' is a no-nonsence book that provides a variety of routines for various training levels and goals.
524. Q:
Q 519: does aerobic recovery burn calories like muscle recovery?
A:
No, aerobic recovery process is very different from and much less metabolically demanding than anaerobic recovery. The calories you burn during the actual aerobic (cardio) exercise is all you'll get out of it calorie-wise.
525. Q:
What is your take on polio victims and weight training?
A:
Sorry, that's really out of my scope of expertise. I know light weight training is used in post-polio therapy, but that's about it. Polio victims and other people with serious medical history should always work very closely with their doctor and/or physical therapist (not just with a personal trainer) when putting together and actually following an exercise routine.
526. Q:
dear mike, how many calories are burnt during complet rest in 24 hours. i am 63 years /180 ponds/66inches
A:
What you're referring to is called Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to use to just keep all your organs functioning normally. At your age and physique the number given will typically around 1500-1600 calories per day.
The thing to keep in mind is that it's wrong to simplify everything down to calories burnt (BMR calories + activity calories) minus calories eaten. You, regardless of your age or physical condition, have a great degree of freedom in shaping your own metabolism. You can structure your diet, the foods you eat, the exercises you do to boost your metabolism and help you lose fat and weight (if that's your goal) and/or build muscle. It is not at all uncommon for two people of the same age/height/weight to have completely different metabolism. One of them might gain weight eating 2500 calories/day while another would be losing weight doing the same.
So it's not by any means a simple equation where you can just plug in your calories burned minus calories eaten and figure out how much fat you'll lose. What I try to do on this whole site is help you find ways to achieve your own fitness goals and boost your metabolism, no matter your age or physique. For some very simple tips look here.
527. Q:
how do i gain muscle being so skinny?
A:
Believe it or not, you're actually in the PERFECT position to gain muscle! What you'll need to do though is eat big and lift big. Without lots of food you'll never build a whole lot of muscle, but with a good workout and a good diet program, the sky's the limit. You can realistically shoot for as much as 20-25 pounds of muscle gained in your first year of good training and eating. Fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Build Muscle' as your goal and see what kind of training and eating it'll take. Good luck and remember: if you're not gaining weight -- EAT MORE!
528. Q:
I increased the weights I use so that instead of being able to do 15-20 (or sometimes more) reps/set, I can only do 6-10. But now I don't get that muscle ache that you get when your muscle starts getting fatigued. Instead the muscle just gives out, but I don't feel a burn or an ache or anything. Just complete weakness to where I can't finish another rep. Is that ok?
A:
That's perfectly fine. The burn you were feeling before is not an indicator of progress either in strength or in muscle growth. With your new rep range you hit failure before the burn sets in, but in this range you'll make much quicker progress in building muscle and getting stronger.
Same thing is true for 'the pump' which many people like to exercise for. There's nothing wrong with having 'the pump' (just like there's nothing wrong with the burn), but you do not need the pump to make progress and, conversely, achieving the pump is no guarantee of progress.
529. Q:
Would I want to train my abs just minimally if I want a small waist? Doesn't it increase the thickness slightly if you have too much muscle there?
A:
To some degree it's actually true -- your obliques (muscles along the front sides of your lower torso) can actually grow in size relatively easily and even make your love handles look bigger. It's not really the case with rectus abdominis -- the front of your lower torso. Rectus abdominis is a flat tape-like muscle that will only bulge out significantly when flexed.
Your abdominals will also be developed to some degree if you do big lower-body exercises like squats, deadlifts, and lunges (which you should!). Finally, you need to keep in mind that if you do not traing your abdominals you're making yourself vulnerable to lower back injuries and pain.
So after all this, my advice to you would be to continue training your abs, but only use light weights/high reps for obliques (or even drop specific oblique training altogether and rely on squats/lunges/deadlifts to keep them strong). You do not need to do a lot of ab training, but a few sets a week is a good idea.
530. Q:
How often would you suggest supersetting?
A:
Supersetting is a very useful technique for both increasing intensity and saving time. It also means different things to different people. For example, I call back-to-back sets of the same exercise with different weights either drop-sets or pyramid-sets while many people call them supersets. I usually call supersets back-to-back sets of different exercises for the same muscle or different exercises for opposing muscles (like biceps and triceps).
For example, you can have fast combined back-and-chest or bicep-and-tricep workouts through supersetting: dumbbell row supersetted with dumbbell press or bicep curl supersetting with overhead extension. As with anything else, variety is important. It's not a good idea to always superset some muscle group with another, or to always do one exercise supersetted after another, or to always only do supersets and nothing else. I am reluctant to put a number on it, but as long as you introduce variety into your training, you can do almost as much supersetting as you want.
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