Q&A for: 21-Oct-05
780. Q:
hello i would like to know how can a man get rid of unwanted muscle mass
A:
That's very easy to do -- simply lose weight with minimal or no exercise by undereating. I do want to caution you however that in virtually all cases where either men or women blame extra muscle for undesirable appearence or unwanted bulk, the actual culprit is FAT and not muscle. The only bodypart that relatively often gets excessively muscular for an average person is their calves -- especially for runners. But unless you have been training for years in strength and power sports or weight lifting, it's very unlikely that you have excessive muscle in places other than calves and VERY likely that instead you have extra fat.
If it's really extra muscle that's causing the problem, then you should have good definition overall, have a hard body, be unable to pinch more than a fingerwidth of skin on your legs or abdomen or chest, be able to see blood vessels and individual muscle strands under your skin in the shoulder area, etc. If it's extra fat, then you should have a soft body and be able to pinch a good chunk of skin on your abdomen or other body parts.
I literally never seen a case when somebody who thought that their extra bulk was caused by muscle was correct, besides the calves situation I described above. In all other cases the person was convinced they had too much muscle when in reality it was too much fat. So be very very very sure that you really want to lose muscle because losing it is unlikely to improve your appearence AND will also make you much more vulnerable to new fat gains. If you're certain that that's what you want however, all you need to do is stop all exercising and eat quite little to lose weight.
781. Q:
how many miles are in 10 k
A:
There 6.2 miles in 10 kilometers
782. Q:
Is seet potatoes good for you?
A:
Yes, sweet potatoes are an excellent food choice! They are the best starchy veggie (ahead of carrots and regular potatoes).
783. Q:
From question 772:
Alright I checked that bar out, but it sais weight limit 200lbs. I weigh 230 lbs. Are there any that you are SURE can hold at least 250 (I'de rather feel safe)?
A:
Check out the pullup bar in my recommendations near the top of the page -- it'll support up to 250 pounds.
785. Q:
I'm obese, and I decided to try one of your programs in an attempt to get fit again. After I did it my legs were weak, as were my arms, and somehow I got a bruise on my forearm. Is this a good or bad thing? Today I'm still a little stiff, but not too bad at all compared to what it felt like last night. Is being stiff and sore normal for someone like me who is overweight and hasn't exercised? I was also wondering what some good stretches are. There was one more thing...right - what's the differance between elevated feet pushups and normal pushups? Thanks again.
A:
The bruise on the forearm is unnecessary, but everything else sounds exactly like it should be -- good job!! The weakness right after the workout indicates that you pushed yourself hard which is good and the soreness the following day is a very common phenomenon when you're just starting an exercise program (or even when you're coming back to exercising after a break). It typically sets in 24 hours after the workout and can last a day or three :) It's uncomfortable, but it does no lasting damage. The extent of soreness will get better and better with each workout and may disappear entirely with time (it's OK if it disappears -- you can make perfectly good progress without any soreness afterwards).
Elevated pushups are when you put your feet up on a chair or a sofa instead of on the floor. They put more emphasis on your shoulders (the higher your feet are, the more the shoulders work) and are harder than regular pushups. If you find regular pushups challenging enough, then you don't need to worry about elevated pushups yet.
Finally, stretches are a little difficult to describe in words and I don't (yet) have a good section on my site for them. Check out this page and click on various muscle groups on the righthand side ('shoulder', 'thigh', etc.) For each one you'll see a screen and on that screen you'll have stretches for that muscle on the righthand side. Do most of you stretching immediately after the exercise and on following days. You should stretch lightly before the exercise and then perform the exercise with light or no weight for a few reps before doing your main set of the exercise.
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