Q&A for: 2-Aug-05
284. Q:
how do i reduce wrinkles from my face thru eating properly and weight training? also, is too much cardio ever bad?
A:
The question about wrinkles would certainly be much better answered by a dermatologist or a cosmetologist. I do have a little bit on input on it though... There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the general clarity and appearence of your skin is very related to the quality of the foods that you eat. If you eat a ton of processed stuff stuffed with sugar and who knows what else, you can expect the results of that to appear on your skin as well as on your waistline. On the other hand, eat fresh raw veggies and fruits (organic if you can afford them) and see your skin clear up in addition to all the other health and looks benefits.
As to the other question, yes too much cardio can actually be bad or at least undesirable. The first reason for that is simple overuse of your muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints, etc. If you pound them day in and day out with a lot of cardio, things will eventually give. Knee, ankle, and lower back problems are all common for those who overdo cardio. Unfortunately there's no simple definition of 'overdo', but my advice would be to keep it under 5-7 hours per week if you don't do any other exercise (keep reading for when you do do other exercise). Some people can handle much more cardio without problems -- like I said, it's not a universal rule. A better advice may be to be on a lookout for early signs of overtraining and to cut back when they occur: miscellaneous aches and pains (other than the plain muscle soreness), insomnia, irritability, lack of appetite, lack of interest in exercising.
The second reason why too much cardio may be bad has to do with your body composition and the most effective way to lose fat and/or build muscle. If either losing fat or building muscle is your goal, then you should be focusing on having a good diet and a good weight training program and limiting cardio to just 1-2 hours per week. Please read this article for an explanation of why that is the case.
285. Q:
Hello.Its something that seems really strange to me.Most guys i see that are totally lean still have some belly fat while they are lean overall(iam like them)while some others dont have belly fat at all but they are too skinny.So,from what i see either u can be too skinny and have no belly fat or be just lean overall but still have some fat in your belly.The really annoying thing is that if ure overweighted and follow some good diet/cardio/weight training plan u ll get lean but u ll still have some belly fat!Isnt there a way for this fat to go off supposing u are already lean in general and cant afford to lose more kgs?
A:
Yup. What you've noticed is, of course, extremely common especially for younger guys (as men get into their late 20s and beyond, staying lean ANYWHERE becomes more and more difficult :). This is just the way our bodies are -- they have absolutely no interest in being buff and would rather have some fat instead. And the favorite place to keep that fat is (for men) around the stomach, lower back, and chest areas. So the natural state of being for most young guys who maintain a half-way decent diet is to either be lean/skinny all over or to have some muscle but also some stomach fat.
Good news is that for many young guys it IS possible to have a six-pack and some solid muscle mass. It does take a good diet, good exercise program, and a lot of dedication to get to that point. This site provides the first two and dedication you'll have to find in yourself :) Note that as you get older, getting to that 'six-pack with mucles' state will become more and more difficult. Also if you were significantly overweight as a child or a teenager, it will be more difficult to get down to the six-pack level as well. But if you, as you say, just have a little belly fat but are still in your late teens or early 20s, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to lose that extra belly fat while maintaining a good amount of muscle. Read this article for a detailed plan on how to do it.
286. Q:
Could u help me with this?I do hiit cardio and weight training 6 days a week separately(3 times hiit and 3 times weight training on different days).One hour before hiit i take some protein supplement and eat a fruit or a fruit juice only so as to get some energy for doing it after.I ve heard its better doing it on an empty stomach.When i finish it i take protein asap and after one hour i have my meal to recover(i ve heard hiit continues to burn calories after one hour of being done).Is it ok? Also,i dont know how many hour after weight training i should eat and if is it ok to eat a large or a small meal.What u would suggest? Thanks in advance.
A:
Sounds like you have a very good program going already! Great job! My advice would be as follows... To me HIIT is really no different from weight training. It may look like cardio, but if you think about it it resembles weight training much more. Each HIIT 'set' is 30 seconds long or so, just like in weight training. You push yourself nearly to failure in both HIIT and weights. Both HIIT and weights stress the anaerobic metabolic pathways much more than aerobic (which is stressed by regular cardio). Finally, with each one you take a break (though a fairly short one with HIIT) before continuing with the next set. So my advice on nutrition both before and after HIIT is identical to the nutrition advice before and after weights. That advice is:
- 30-60 minutes before HIIT or weights, have a meal with relatively fast-digesting protein (whey protein powder, for example) and a good amount of nice complex carbs (oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes). I would not go with stuff like fruits or juice at this time. Complex carbs will provide you with an energy source for the duration of your HIIT or weights workout. Time this meal so that you can hit the gym as soon as you don't feel weighed down by the food. Depending on you and the foods you choose, it'll usually be between 30 and 60 minutes or sometimes longer.
- HIIT will in general be a shorter and somewhat less stressful workout than a full-blown weights workout, so the pre-HIIT meal would correspondingly be smaller than a pre-weights one.
- Immediately after the HIIT or weights, you will have another meal very similar to the pre-workout one. Many bodybuilders recommend to force an insulin spike here with a lot of simple sugars + whey protein. I don't think that makes much of a difference and it may create some possible health concerns in the long-term -- you can read my thoughts about that in the Protein Supp article. I think it's also OK to have protein other than whey at this point, though whey is fine as well. The key though is to have this meal pretty soon after your workout, whether HIIT or weights.
- Once again, because HIIT tends to be a shorter and an overall less stressful workout than weights, the post-HIIT meal is smaller than a post-weights one.
- Finally, to address your note that HIIT burns fat one hour past the end of the workout... I've seen many people say that and I don't like it for the simple reason that if you do HIIT to failure or to near-failure (as you should), the main fat burning will happen in the following 24-48 hours as your muscles recover. This is identical to how weight training burns fat. I would provide your body nourishment immediately after workouts to stimulate early muscle recovery and then let it do its job over the next 24-48 hours in burning the fat as the muscles recover.
Of course, these pre- and post-workout meals are part of your overall diet, not some extra additions to it. So if you use the calorie calculator in my Nutrition article, the resulting calories include these meals already.
As I said, it sounds like you already have a pretty good program going (hopefully you're not neglecting good nutrition) so th advice above should be considered fine-tuning. These adjustments may only make a small difference in your results, but every little bit helps :)
287. Q:
How can u decrease ur bodyfat percentance ?Iam at 11% but i wanna to decrease it even more.
A:
You certainly can decrease your BF%, that's what this site is all about! Being at 11% BF you're already very lean and should be able to see your abdominal six-pack (or be very close to seeing it at least). Good job on that! Because you are so lean already, it may not be easy to shed the remaining fat. You have two choices of how to proceed...
Choice 1 is to try and lower your BF% more through solid diet and exercise leading to weight loss. This is perfectly reasonable as long as you're not too young (I wouldn't recommend anyone in their teens with 11% body fat to try and lose more weight). If this is your choice, read and follow this. Just remember to that fat loss will not be easy when you're already so lean so be patient and take it slow.
Choice 2 is to actually bulk up and gain some muscle. Depending on how much muscle you have now, you may like the way you look better with more muscle as opposed to with less fat. If you do not have much muscle on you now and you try to lose more weight trying to lower your BF%, the end-result may not be what you wanted at all. In the process of losing weight and fat you will almost inevitably lose some muscle as well because you are so lean. The alternative is not to try to lose fat, but try to keep it under control while eating and lifting to build up more muscle. This may be an especially good option for you if you are between 16 and 25 or so -- those are the best time for guys to try and gain muscle. If you follow this path and are diligent about good nutrition and training, you may be able to increase your muscle mass significantly over time while keeping your fat around 11% or slightly higher. If done right, you will look pretty buff at 12% BF or so after 8-12 months. This path will require you to overeat slightly to gain weight and, of course, to weight train. Read the Weighttraining article to learn how to weight train properly and read the Nutrition article to learn how to eat right for slow and steady muscle gain.
Remember that with either approach, you will have to be patient and either lose weight or gain weight very slowly. If you lose weight too fast, you'll lose too much of your muscle and if you gain weight too fast, you'll gain too much new fat. So be patient and steady with either approach. Good luck!
288. Q:
Cause of an allergy i have i cant afford to eat or drink milk products and eggs.I miss the protein from these 2 but as far as i know i need it in a good weight training program.For that reason i took a special supplement that gives me the protein i cant get.I eat tuna fish and meat but this isnt enough.Is it ok and does supplements have any negative effects to body so far?
A:
You most definitely do NOT need to eat eggs or dairy to put on muscle (or burn fat) effectively. There's plenty of other perfectly good protein sources such as fish, lean meats and poultry. It sounds like you are already eating them, so just keep doing that and more :) Not to mention lentils and beans, which also have a lot of protein in them.
Almost all protein supplements that you can buy come from either milk or eggs. These include whey protein and casein (both byproducts of milk). The only non-milk/egg protein supplement I'm aware of is soy protein powder and you really don't need it as long as you eat the fish/meal/poultry I mentioned above.
Some people are allergic to protein powders and I would imagine you would be especially vulnerable if you already have milk and egg allergies. So double-check the ingredient list in the protein supp that you got -- more than likely it has whey protein which comes from milk, I already mentioned. If it is whey or casein or egg protein, you probably want to stay away from it due to your allergies. And if it is soy protein, then you could use it, but really it's no better than 'regular' protein-rich foods that I already mentioned.
You may also be interested in checking out my Protein Supp article. Finally, remember that getting enough protein is only part of the nutrition equation when working to put on muscle -- the rest of your diet has to be right or no amount of protein will help. Check out my Nutrition article. Good luck!
289. Q:
I once read in a book about one type of cardio exercise called 'the aerobic solution'In this cardio u do the following:
You start at stage 5(out of 10 overall)for 2 mins.Stage 5 is different for each person.For me it can be a brisk walking for other jogging or running.After u go in stage 6 for 1 min.After in stage 7,8,9 and u remain in each for one min.You repeat this process for 4 times but in the last try after 9 u go in stage 10 for one min.After this u go to stage 5 for one min so u can cooldown.Is this considered to be a hiit cardio?Is it effective as the classic hiit cardio?The book claims this is very good and should be performed 3 times a week only in different sessions between weight training.
A:
It sounds like one of many variations on classic HIIT prescription (30-second alternating intervals of all-out running and walking. Or biking or whatever other form of cardio you do). It's easier than HIIT since 10 is obviously your maximum but you only hit it once and spend most of your time at relatively tame stages 5, 6, and 7. I am sure it will give you some results, but I see no reason why it would be superior to classic HIIT in any way (besides being easier to do :)
290. Q:
Is coffee good for losing fat?Also i ve heard some ppl drinlk water with lemon in it cause it burns the fat!Is it true and how much does it help really?
A:
Drinking coffee will have minimal impact on your metabolism and fat loss. I wouldn't rely on coffee for anything other than the usual boost it provides for everyone. You could try coffee before workouts as long as it doesn't hit you too hard. Don't overdo it, of course -- no more than 2-3 cups per day. And no coffee at all if you have high blood pressure!
Lemon water is a GREAT drink to have, especially when you eat out, but not because it'll burn fat more but simply because almost all other drinks are just plain bad for you (and cost money! :) It'll also help you get a lot of water in you throughout the day which is also very good (if you don't like lemon, then drink plain water instead). But beyond that it has absolutely no fat-burning qualities.
291. Q:
how can i lose my manboobs in 2 days
A:
Sorry, there's absolutely nothing in this world, other than surgery, that can do that for you. They didn't grow in just 2 days, so how can you expect them to disappear in just 2 days?! Instead of looking for a quick fix, do the right thing, clean up your diet, take up weight training, and watch as those man boobs dissappear over a few months' time. Read this article to learn how. Good luck!
292. Q:
Hypothetically speaking, if I swim 25 laps (up and down counting as 1 lap), approximately how many calories would I have burned?
A:
It'll depend on your size and technique but very roughly it'll be 300-400 calories total. Swimming is actually an excellent form of cardio that works your whole body, not just your lower body. I highly recommend it as an alternative to running, especially if you've had knee, ankle, or lower back problems in the past.
One thing to keep in mind though is that swimming, like other forms of cardio, will not necessarily get all of its calories by burning fat but may also burn some of your muscle for energy, ESPECIALLY when you're losing weight. So while it can make an excellent part of your overall exercise program, I would not recommend only swimming for exercise but rather combine swimming and muscle-preserving weight training as described here. But if you absolutely cannot or do not want to do weights, swimming is probably the single best form of cardio to stack your fat loss on due to the way it works your entire body.
293. Q:
Why is it bad if you exercise for a long time, and then immediately stop when you're done, instead of walking around for a few minutes?
A:
Cooling down (along with stretching) after exercising is useful in preventing or reducing the eventual muscle soreness. It also helps flush the blood carrying lactic acid (which is a byproduct of muscles doing work at high intensity) along with any other byproducts of muscle metabolism out of your muscles allowing them to start recovery.
294. Q:
why are you so against cardio? every doctor i've ever consulted emphasizes cardio, not weight training for losing fat. some of us just want to lose fat, not gain muscles or become bulky. a lot of the advice you give is biased and/or wrong.
A:
I am NOT against cardio. I have said it numerous times that cardio is great for you healthwise and is certainly far far better than sitting on your sofa all day. Having said that, relying just on cardio is not the most optimal to lose fat (there can be a very big difference between losing FAT and losing WEIGHT). My reasons for giving this advice are all over this site, but check out Q&A #271 and Q&A #58 specifically.
Nobody ever has become overly muscular while weight training and losing weight. It is possible to gain a little bit of muscle during this time (as many male beginners do), but you will certainly not get bulky from that. Women should worry about that even less -- they will NOT become muscular from weight training as long as they're losing weight. Becoming muscular bulky takes years of dedicated diet, gaining weight, and heavy workouts. It certainly doesn't happen while losing weight.
Finally, a note about doctors recommending how to lose weight... I have the utmost respect for the medical profession but that's kinda like asking a personal trainer to perform appendectomy. Going to a doctor may make sense for an overly obese person, but for an average man or woman looking to lose some weight a personal trainer would be a lot more appropriate and the trainer's advice will more than likely to give better results. You should go to a doctor to get checked up and cleared to start an exercise regimen and let your personal trainer take over from there. As far as the whole universe of personal trainers goes, I probably do recommend less cardio than average but that's because I've seen this work so many times. If you want to, do more cardio. Just don't ignore weight training if you want to lose the most FAT (not just weight) in the shortest time AND keep it off afterwards.
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