Q&A for: 23-Aug-06
1739. Q:
i have man boobs
i hate them but im not fat.....help plz
A:
If you are a teenager, especially between ages 12-17, then some degree of gynecomastia is a normal part of your development and there's no reason to feel bad about it -- it'll go away as your body matures.
Aside from that 'man boobs' usually indicates that you have higher than optimal body fat levels. You may not be outright fat, but it's common for men to have 20% body fat levels even though they don't appear fat at all. If that's the case you can put together a good diet and exercise program for yourself to lose some fat and build some muscle... As you get down to 13-15% body fat levels which is very doable for just about anyone your 'man boobs' will go away. Read my fat loss article to learn how.
But again, if you are a teenager of normal weight, you should NOT try to lose weight in order to lose 'man boobs'. Instead you could and should eat healthy and be physically active more but with the goal of healthy development and maybe putting on some muscle but NOT to lose weight. Teenagers should only try to lose weight when they're truly overweight and even then weight loss should be a slow gradual process.
1740. Q:
Whenever I swim say for about a minute – at a time – when I stop I get out of breath and my muscles seem to tire easier than on land – yet I can run fast for many minutes at a time without getting breathless. Am I unfit or is there something about swimming that causes otherwise fit, active people to struggle in the water, but not on the land? Swimming does seem to make me more tired – not immediately after but later – as my sleep is much deeper than when I lift fairly heavyweights or do intense hiit cardio. I would have thought that the weight lifting would have been the most demanding, because when I do that, I’m breathing heavily almost the whole duration of the sessions and I will feel somewhat tired for hours after. Just as reference I’m the person mentioned in q1708.
A:
Swimming is an excellent whole-body exercise, so it's great that you're doing it. It is quite demanding and you should expect it to tire you out more than jogging for the same amount of time. Aside from that why you get tired quickly while swimming is likely to be caused by one or both of couple reasons:
- You may simply be swimming too fast. Almost any form of physical activity can be performed for a long long time at moderate speed (like, for example, walking) but only for a short time at high speed (like all-out sprinting). What's very likely happening is that you push yourself to start swimming at close to your top speed and simply tire out after a minute. The same would be true if you started out running at near top speed -- you'd only last so long before getting out of breath. Of course the problem with swimming is that in some case swimming slower causes you to sink, so to some degree you are forced into swimming quickly and therefore tiring out.
- You may not have good swimming/breathing technique. Lack of good technique will cause you to tire out very quickly. For example if you're not sure how to breathe properly and end up holding your head above water all the time, that's guaranteed to tire you out. A variation on this is if you don't get enough air while breating.
1741. Q:
Hi mike, I am wondering if the whey protein shakes are making my muscles too big. I really enjoy having them as i dont eat much meat,only at dinnertime. The shakes keep me alert and they keep my appetite down. i am a 38 year old woman trying to loose fat and stay toned.
A:
Of course 'too big' is subjective, but in general whey shakes by themselves are very very unlikely to make you too muscular. It's not easy at all for women to gain muscle in the first place, and it gets even harder as you age. On top of that you're losing weight which 'discourages' your body from building muscle. So most likely you have nothing to worry about.
If you somehow end up gaining weight because you overeat, then yes, there is some chance of building up more muscle then you'd like. But as long as you make sure your weight is going down or at least staying constant you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
There is one small caveat and that is that if you are not very tall then even small muscle buildup would be noticeable -- but that would be the case even without whey shakes. Overall I would not be concerned about it.
1742. Q:
HOw can I lose weight fast?
A:
Please check out my reply to Q&A #717.
1744. Q:
I have some questions:
a)If u do weight training and eat healthy then even if some days u consume some more calories more than u should in order to mainten your current weight then these calories should be made in muscles right?Cause in order to obtain muscles u need to eat more than normal.
b)I have heard that the protein the body can consume in each meal is about 25 grams only.Some medicines many ppl take are supposed to enable them to consume much more protein in every meal than the normal amount it is supposed to do so but these medicines are bad for health.Is that true?If not then how much protein maximum can i consume in each meal?
c)In some questions u talk about protein bars.You seem to consider them not very healthy.Why?
A:
a) Yes, slight overeating of healthy foods while weight training will mostly result in muscle gain. In fact that is exactly what is called 'bulking' -- the process by which you intentionally overeat and train to build muscle. One caveat is that the more you overeat the more you're likely to gain fat rather than muscle -- try not to gain more than a pound every two weeks and slower is better. The second cavear is that most likely you'll end up gaining some fat along with muscle in any case, but the amount of fat should be relatively small compare to the amount of muscle provided you gained the weight slowly.
b) The amount of protein your body can absorb is definitely very individual. It's only logical that a 300-pound man's body can digest more than a 100-pound woman's. I am not willing to put an exact number on it, but I've certainly seen people gain muscle on diets with 40-50 grams of protein per meal. The general rule of thumb when trying to gain muscle is to get around 1.0-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. The more meals you can spread those grams over the better but realistically most people can only afford to spend time on maybe 6 meals per day so if you need 240 grams of protein but only 6 meals, then each meal will have 40 grams of protein. Just remember that protein alone won't make you gain much muscle -- you need healthy carbs and fats as well.
c) Yes, I'm not a fan of protein bars. I outline my reasons in my protein supplements article. It basically comes down to the fact that often protein used is of inferior quality (whey is good but they usually mix in collagen and/or soy protein as well) and carbs are even worse with lots of sugars (often hidden sugars not declared on the label). On top of that the bars are packed with preservatives which I feel should be kept to the minimum in any diet. If you absolutely cannot have a 'real meal' then protein bars are reasonable but even a simple tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread (going easy on mayo) is in my opinion superior to pretty much any protein bar.
1745. Q:
Hi mike, i'm 15 this year and my height is 174cm and my weight is 60kg. I play street soccer everyday for at least 1 hour and have soccer training on wednesday for at least 2-3 hours. I workout in the gym 4 times a week and i do light wholebody workout 2 sets of 10 reps, i'm not too sure what the machine names are but its consist of my leg, chest, shoulder and arm.
I would like to tell you my Diet, i have 4 meals daily.
1st meal: 2 slices of wholemeal bread with 45g of white meat tuna in water
2nd meal: 1 cup of white rice, with vegetables and 2 pieces of OTAH ( this is a seafood dish from my country )
3rd meal:100 plus energy drink
4th meal: 200g of grilled chicken breast and vegetables
is it okay to add another 1 cup of white rice to my 4th meal?
I want to know if i'm living a healthy life.
A:
Great job being so physically active! You are most definitely living a very healthy life. You can certainly afford to add another cup of rice for dinner like you're planning and chances are you can actually afford to eat a lot more food overall and not gain any extra new fat.
If you are looking for ways to improve your diet even more I would suggest replacing the energy drink (if possible) with a real meal like one of your other meals and maybe adding some more healthy fats like olive oil, eggs, dry roasted nuts or fatty fish to your diet. Overall though, your physical regimen and your diet are already very very good, especially for your age. Great job!
1746. Q:
Type your question here and click Submit. when should whey protein be taken before or after a work out?
A:
Let me take a step back before I answer your question... The role of protein in your diet (as far as fitness is concerned anyway -- protein has other uses too) is to allow your body to repair existing damaged muscles as well as build new ones. This repair and building process happens to be very energy-intensive and burn fat as a bonus. This process also happens around the clock. So your goal should be to keep your body supplied with protein all day long, not just around the workout time. There's nothing magical about whey protein compared to other protein you find in meats or fish or eggs, so just use it whenever you are eating a meal that's otherwise lacking in protein or when you just don't have time to eat a complete meal. It's also OK to use it both before and after the workout, though I recommend having complete meals in both cases if possible.
1747. Q:
can black beans be a part of a healthy diet? Also I am really trying to limit my sugar intake, but I have noticed I get about 50 grams of sugars a day. Is this a good number or should I try to go lower? These sugars are comming from things like oats and green beans and whole fruits. Thanks for you help.
A:
Black beans, just like all legumes, are certainly a perfectly healthy food -- just make sure you prepare them yourself and not buy canned. Those 50 grams of sugar a day you mentioned must come from whole fruits (since neither oats not green beans have any appreciable amount of sugars but only complex carbs) and that's perfectly fine. You are eating all the right foods -- great job! The only concern I would have if I were you is if you were a diabetic because in that case even whole fruits may be off-limits. But for general fitness it sounds like you have a great diet already.
1748. Q:
how to get rid of man boobs
A:
Please read my fat loss article
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