Q&A for: 23-Apr-07
2180. Q:
Q 2173:I tried once to consume excess calories to get muscle but the only thing I gained was fat and zero muscle.I have never gained muscle weight training.I tried working on machines for 3 months with no results.But I have gained muscle playing hockey and doing cardio.
A:
I can't tell you exactly what went wrong in your case, but there's no question that heavy whole-body weight training combined with caloric excess is the easiest way to gain new muscle. See if what I say below fits your scenario...
If you overeat by a lot of calories or if your food choices weren't good (for example, lots of processed foods or not enough protein or too much fat or sugary carbs) then that certainly explains why you gained a lot of fat. A quality muscle-building diet consists of nutritious natural foods, is balanced in protein, carbs, and fats, and has only few excess calories so the weight gain is slow (no faster than 1 pound every 2 weeks). Failure to have a good bulking diet would lead to poor results, such as the ones you've seen.
Your weight training program also has to be good, in order to see good results. You must exercise all your major muscle groups -- legs, lower back, upper back, chest, shoulders, and finally arms and abdominals. A common beginner mistake is to only do arms and maybe abs exercises while both of those muscle groups are quite small and have very limited potential.
Other common mistakes may be choosing weights that are too light (a good weight for a given exercise is such that you reach muscular failure lifting it in somewhere between 6 and 12 repetitions), and possibly doing too little or possibly too much weight training. Machines are also not the best choice for building muscles -- free weights are much better. But even with machines, with a well-rounded program (including legs, back, and chest) and 3 months of a good diet and workout you should have gained some muscle. It's possible that a subpar diet led you to gain so much new fat at the same time that new muscle is not noticeable under the new fat.
As far as hockey and cardio, they too can certainly build muscle -- especially hockey which provides great whole-body workouts, especially if you play full contact. Even plain running has potential to build up thigh and calf muscles (this can vary from person to person). But overall, weight training would typically still lead to superior muscle-building results when done right. If you structure your diets and workouts as I describe in my nutrition and weight training articles, I am sure you will get great results building muscle.
2182. Q:
I am 17 and weigh about 150 pounds. I am doing 100 push-ups a day to gain muscle, but how much do you think I will gain in about 5-7 weeks?
A:
Check out my response to Q&A #2173. While pushups are a great exercise, by themselves they won't gain you a lot of new muscle.
2183. Q:
besides push ups, what other bodyweight exercises are best for building muscle strength?
A:
I have a whole complete program consisting only of bodyweight exercises. If you have dumbbells, then you can also check out my dumbbell-only program. My personal favorite bodyweight exercise is definitely the pullup -- it exercises as much or more muscles as the pushups but it does so at very high intensity (meaning that you can only do relatively few pullups before becoming completely exhausted -- while it's common to be able to do dozens and dozens of pushups in a row). High intensity is key both for fat burning and muscle building! In fact, even if you have access to every type of equipment and weights in the world, I would still recommend including pullups in your program!
2189. Q:
How many calories do you burn while doing pushups?
A:
Check out my response in Q&A #191 -- the same response applies to pushups as it does to situps. Doing hundreds of pushups to lose weight is not going to be very productive, even though it will make you very good at pushups.
2190. Q:
mike i need help i am over weaight and hav a loose belly the only thing tat bothers me is tat there is fat on my chest and it makes it look like a boob my question to u is tat is this fat reduseable ?am going to a gmy now to loose some weaight but this thing maakes me worry a lot please help
A:
Yes, you can most definitely lose a lot of that unwanted extra fat! Please read my fat loss article -- the same advice applies to any situation where you have too much fat, whether it is belly fat or chest fat or anything else. Good luck!
2191. Q:
Is it ill advised to work out multiple times a day, say - running a few miles in the morning, an ab class in the afternoon and a spinning class in the evening?
A:
It depends... It is definitely going to be putting a lot of stress on your body, especially if done every day. A routine like this can lead to recurring joint or lower back injuries -- if that does happen to you make sure to take a break from exercising till they heal. Besides injuries, if your diet is not up to par while on this routine you risk losing too much weight too fast and running your metabolism into the ground, preventing further fat loss. So make sure you eat enough to keep your weight constant or lose it only very slowly. Finally, make sure that your diet is nutritious enough to provide all the vitamins, minirals, and calories your body needs to recover between workouts. If you do all of that, you should be OK.
2192. Q:
Hi Mike, I'm a 44 years old male. I had been obese in most of my adult life, felt so sick and tried of it and started to dieting and exercising 7 years ago. I managed to loose 40lbs in a year. I’m 5'9' and my weight has been fluctuated between 160 to 170 lbs with (21-23% BF) for the past few years. For some reason, I can clearly see the first upper pair of my abs, and part of the second set. But I thought to be able to see my abs, I must have 15% or less BF. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a thick layer of fat around my love handles and lower back, which I have not been able to loose for years. The question I’m trying to ask is, most of the body fat calculation formulas factor in age, the older the person gets the higher the percentage is. I’m starting to question the accuracy of such methods. For example, a 40 years old man has 30lbs body fat, according to most formulas (including most bioelectric impedance scales, and most Calipers measuring methods) he may have 20% body fat, but with the same amount of fat in a 30 years old man, the result may be 15%? But one would think one pound of butter would still look like one pound of butter, either on a 30 or a 40 years old man’s body, right?
A:
Congrats on your recent weight and fat loss! You are completely right that a pound of fat is a pound of fat, whether you are 20 or 40 or 80. The reason most body fat formulas include the age factor is because they are based on quantative data -- it is well known that an average 40-year old 180-pound man has more body fat than an average20-year old 180-pound man due to natural age-related body changes. So the formulas are tuned to 'know' that the same skinfold measures for an older man imply higher body fat percentage. The key thing to realize is that the formulas are meant as an average case only and it may be that they do not accurately apply to you.
Another reason to not put too much faith into body fat percentage numbers is that the measurements are usually even more questionable than formulas. Handheld devices are often completely unreliable and even the caliper measures can be inaccurate if done by different people or at different times of the day. The only two truly reliable methods of measuring body fat are dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and hydrostatic testing -- both of which are very involved and usually well out of reach of an average person.
As to your specific case, with seeing the upper 1 or 2 abs it does sound like your body fat is below 20% and probably around 15%. But my recommendation is to not worry about the exact numbers -- as I mentioned above, accurate body fat measurement is next to impossible -- but to simply judge progress by the way you look in the mirror, how loose or tight your clothes feel, and maybe by the weight scale if you are trying to lose more weight.
2196. Q:
How to get my back define and also to get a v-cut in my arm
A:
Muscle definition, whether in back or arms or abs or anywhere else is a result of two things: large muscle mass and low body-fat. To achieve both of those things takes a long time, typically involving multiple bulk-but cycles (bulk is when you gain weight trying to increase muscle mass and cut is when you lose weight trying to reduce body fat -- all while weight training, of course). Read my nutrition and weight training articles to learn how to bulk and cut. For arm definition, specifically, you will want to build up your biceps and triceps (obviously), but also your shoulders, including side deltoid by doing side raises -- see my Exercises page. But above all else, remember that good muscle definition takes a long time to achieve and will likely require both increasing your muscle size (bulking) and lowering body fat (cutting).
2197. Q:
how many grams of protein should a women have a day
A:
Basic nutritional guidelines call for a minimum of 60 grams of protein daily. If you are physically active (you work out or run/jog/swim/bike/etc or play sports) you will benefit from as much as 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. Finally if you are actively trying to change your body composition (losing fat or building muscle) you will benefit from even more -- up to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. If you do consume a lot of protein make sure to drink a lot of water to help your body flush protein metabolism wastes as needed.
2198. Q:
how many calories will i burn doing badmington
A:
Around 300 calories/hour for casual play, 400 or more for competitive.
2199. Q:
I would like to know a few good exercises for my lower abdominal muscals ?
A:
Regular crunches will work the lower abdominals as well, but if you want to target them more, try various hanging leg raises -- both straight leg and bent at the knee.
2201. Q:
mike. im bulking right now. is 20 minutes of cardio twice a week too much? what kind of cardio should it be, HIIT, regular?
A:
That should be OK, just make sure your calories are up to continue to gain weight. I would recommend HIIT if that's an option for you. HIIT is a hybrid of resistance training and traditional cardio and will provide an excellent bonus workout for your lower body.
2202. Q:
Hi, responding from question 2172:
Alright, so I laid out a new plan that doesn't involve working out my arms, because I'd rather just give it time without stressing it so it will heal. You said to do more exercises for lower body, any examples? Tonight I did this just because I wasn't sure what else to do, so in the meantime until I get a response I'll just keep doing this:
Stretch,
50 Jumping Jacks,
Rest,
50 Jumping Jacks,
Rest,
30-40 Seconds of running on the spot but lifting knees up high? Not sure what it's called.,
Rest,
30-40 Seconds of running on the spot but lifting knees up high? Not sure what it's called.,
Rest,
Up/Down 12 Stair Flight of Stairs 10 Times (Up and Down = 1 Time),
Rest,
20 Squats,
Rest,
20 Squats,
Rest,
20 Lunges,
Rest,
20 Lunges,
Rest,
30 Crunches,
Rest,
20 Crunches,
Stretch,
I really am sorry if that's very messy, but if you can decipher it, is that a good way to go about exercising until my arm is better. If you can think of anything else or any other lower body exercises I can do please let me know. Thanks.
A:
That's a great program you came up with for yourself! It should carry you over great while your arm heals!
2203. Q:
Hey, this isn't really about fitness, but more about muscle tension after exercising. I've heard a couple people say something along the lines that if you take a warm shower, for example, it could tense your muscles up more than, say, a cold shower. I'm not sure which was which, but I was wondering if that has anything to do with muscle tension. Basically what I'm asking is, does the temperature of water of the shower after exercising can affect the muscle tension. Thanks.
A:
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by muscle tension, but a warm/hot shower after a workout is not a bad idea -- in addition to obvious cleaning benefits, it helps stimulate blood flow speeding recovery. Some people also say that it reduces muscle soreness, though I have not observed that myself.
2204. Q:
everyday i do push-ups, and i wanna know how many pounds of muscle can i get in time, if i keep doing them?
A:
Check out my response to Q&A #2173. While pushups are a great exercise, by themselves they won't gain you a lot of new muscle. The key to muscle gain is slight caloric excess to allow for weight gain in parallel with a whole-body weight training program. So even if you only do pushups, your muscle gains will depend on your diet at least as much as on your pushups.
2205. Q:
how much should a female 5'9 weigh?
A:
Anywhere between 130 and 170 pounds would be considered healthy weight.
2206. Q:
how can i loose fat from by bum area
A:
Just with any other excess fat, you can only lose it through losing overall body fat as described here.
2208. Q:
can you gain muscle while losing body fat, or have you got to lose all your body fat first then gain mucsle mass
A:
If you are relatively overweight and beginner to weight training, then for some time you'll be able to gain muscle while losing fat and weight. However as your physical condition improves that progress will become slower and slower. At that point you'll well advised to choose one or the other -- lose fat or gain muscle -- and structure your diet accordingly.
2209. Q:
What exactly is the difference between running and jogging?
A:
Jogging is simply a slow run. It is a good transitional stage for people for whom walking is easy but 'regular' running is still too hard.
2210. Q:
Do you know any good books on bodyweight exercises? The only one I know is the push up
A:
I have a whole complete program consisting only of bodyweight exercises. You can search for these exercises on the web if you are not sure how to perform some of them.
2211. Q:
Hi mike, I've got a 2 parter here for you. 1- Is it better to do cardio in the morning, then weight training in the evening (because I can never seem to do them well too near each other) or vice-versa? secondly, I've heard loads of people rave on about the alkaline diet, what do you think about it? thanks!!!
A:
1) In my opinion it does not matter when you do cardio -- just pick what fits your schedule fits and/or when you feel most in the mood.
2) I've heard of the alkaline diet but have not had any direct experience with it, so I can't really comment on it. From what I understand alkaline diet still allows you to select foods from the same categories as I recommend for losing fat or building muscle -- you just have to be more selective about specific foods. As with most other ideas, it's worth trying for yourself -- try it for a month or two and see if you like the results.
2212. Q:
HI MIKE, how many calories in a small bowl of cooked (boiled rice)? white by the way (tilda basmati). It would be really helpful, as rice is a big staple of my cultural diet. Parumal
A:
Depending on size of the bowl, it's probably 200-300 calories. White rice is not the best carb to have, but a small portion like that will not hurt your progress.
2213. Q:
Hi, what do you think of the cereal All Bran? it's meant to be 45% of your daily fibre needs, and has no added sugar. is this a good choice for cereal/snack?
A:
Among cold cereals, All Bran is probably one of the best choices. I would probably still prefer plain old-fashioned oatmeal to it, but you can do a lot worse. 1-2 servings of All Bran a day combined with a nutritious diverse diet the rest of the day should be fine.
2214. Q:
Hi my son is 16 years old and has been drinking 'MUSCLE MILK' before and after his
workout. He recently just ordered something called Explode , or something like that
that i don't know too much about. He goes to the gym and weight lifts about 3 or 4 times
a week. He is approx. 5' 6 and weighs about 145. He looks very lean and defined from the gym. I was just concerned about the recent supplements he has been adding to his
diet. Any suggestions for me.
Thank you
A:
Muscle Milk is a popular supplement and it's been around for a relatively long time. It contains whey protein, some plant-based oils for fats, and sugars for carbs along with a bunch of minerals and vitamins. It also contains some chemicals intended to increase body's natural creatine.
I am not sure what is the second supplement you mentioned... There is a supplement called 'NO-xplode' which contains nitric oxide along with a lot of other ingredients meant (or at least rumored) to stimulate creatine retention and muscle growth.
Of these two supps, NO-xplode is definitely more 'aggressive' and tries to pack more stuff in. Nitric oxide can be dangerous to people with certain medical conditions, though it's unlikely that your son would be among them (you may however want to talk to your family doctor about it).
Personally, I do not like the vast majority of supplements because most of them undergo next to no safety testing and are hugely overhyped. There's a very good chance your son could achieve the same results simply by having a good balanced diet of 'regular' foods. At the same time, Muscle Milk is most likely a harmless supp because it's been around for a long time with no known negative side-effects. NO-xplode I would less sure of -- as I said, you may want to talk to a doctor about it.
In my opinion the greatest danger in nutrional supplements often lies not in the supp itself but in the mindset their continuous use can build. It is common for a trainee to focus more and more on finding the 'best' and most effective supp. Unfortunately that search for better supplement sometimes leads to steroid abuse. I can't give you advice on how (or whether) to talk about this with your son, of course, but his pre-occupation with supps is something I think you are right to keep in your mind.
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