Q&A for: 23-Aug-07
2447. Q:
Hi Mike, I'm 17 and currently 190 pounds. Back in February my weight was at 230 pounds. My problem now is that because of summer, I'm pretty much at work 6 days a week, usually 9-9. I really don't have time to continue my exercise routine. It sounds great when I say I've lost 40 pounds, but when I look the mirror I still have a lot of fat. I really don't notice much looking in the mirror. I'm 5'10" so I'm assuming a "good weight" is about 170-180, but I don't know. Losing another 10 or 15 pounds doesn't seem like it would take away the belly fat and fat in the breast area. I'm still not near the stage where I'm comfortable taking my shirt off. How can I progress and continue to lose weight? I was following a variation of your no-equipment program for a while, but then I had to start working and didn't have time. Come September I'll be back in school and have an easier time following the routine again. But I'm wondering if I need more than just excessive cardio. Should I go pick up a pair of 15lb dumb-bells and do your dumbell only program? Would that help me lose the remaining weight? I might try jogging a bit too, maybe in the morning because that's the only time I have time to do that. In your opinion what is more benficial, biking (hilly terrain) or jogging (hilly terrain)? Thanks Mike, Matt.
A:
Congrats on losing those 40 pounds! Even if you have not yet achieved your goal physique, losing those 40 pounds was a very important and necessary part of the journey. What most likely happened is that you lost the weight a bit too fast -- 40 pounds in about 20-25 weeks is about twice as fast as ideal (I recommend losing about 1 pound per week for most people). Whenever you lose weight fast like that you get little additional benefit from that because you end losing more muscle. If you lost the weight mostly by cardio and diet that's also less than ideal since your body had little incentive to burn fat instead of muscle. In addition, you being 5'10 is under 170 pounds, so you still have some room to lose weight and fat.
So going forward, my recommendation for you would definitely be to, yes, try to get dumbbells and do one of my programs to go along with cardio -- that'll allow you to keep and maybe even build muscle and burn only fat. As I said, you have room to keep losing weight safely, so that could be one possible path. You could also try to keep your weight constant and see if you can lose fat and build muscle at the same time by adding weight training.
Finally, as far as choice of cardio, it really doesn't matter too much. Running in hilly terrain will burn more calories than biking in the same amount of time, so if time is an issue you may want to choose running. But if you have a little more time you could certainly bike as well. But in any case, definitely make weight training the main focus of your program to improve muscle mass and fat burning. Again, congrats on great progress thus far and good luck going forward!
2448. Q:
how many calories a day should i eat if i want to get buff? i work out a lot and i am 140 and 6'0 and 14 years old
A:
Fill out my Fitness Guide specifying 'Gain Muscle' as the goal for a sample diet. The key is to eat enough to keep gaining weight -- you'll need to increase calories more and more to keep making progress. So just weigh yourself regularly and if a whole month passes without you gaining weight, then it's time to increase calories.
Another thing to keep in mind is that 14 is still a little too early to build a lot of muscle for most people. An average guy hits prime muscle-building time around 16. So you may also want to be a little patient.
2449. Q:
Hey Mike, I have been working out lately at home and also play football for my high school team, and as bad as i hate to say it... i have man boobs. So i have been doing some bench presses and stuff for my pecs but i can't lose the weight. I can do the little bouncing thing with my muscles but the fat will not get off of them. I don't really diet because i dont know what the best one for me would be. I also have a pretty big belly. So could you help me out? THANKS!! P.S. I'm 15 and weigh 200 lbs.
A:
You didn't mention your height, but 200 pounds is quite a bit, so it's not surprising that you have some extra fat on you (that's all man boobs are -- fat deposits on the chest). The fastest way to lose man boobs or any other extra fat is, of course to lose weight. However, since you play football you may not want to lose weight since it may hurt your strength and power. In addition, fast weight loss can be a bad idea at your age since it may stunt your growth. So I would recommend that instead of actively trying to diet and lose weight, you simply start eating healthy foods (which will limit new fat gains and help burn existing fat) and start on a full-body weight training which will help you not only build muscle and lose fat but also improve your football performance! Over time, as you continue to grow and develop you'll shed the extra fat and replace it with muscle. It'll take a little longer but in a couple years you'll be in great shape all the while improving your football game.
Read my Nutrition article to see what foods are healthy. Focus not on HOW MUCH you eat, but on WHAT you eat. Make sure you eat good stuff and your body and your training will make sure that those calories do you good. For weight training, you may want to talk to your coach to see if he can recommend a program for you. If not, then feel free to choose from any of the programs in my Weight Training article. Note that you want to exercise your whole body -- not just chest. The more muscles you exercise the more fat you'll burn. Not to mention that football requires lower body power at least as much as chest. Hope that gets you going!
2450. Q:
Hi Mike Great Site! I have been training for approx. 2 years doing weight training, and a bit of runnning and cycling 4 times a week. I eat averagely, but not bad (take-out about once a week). Should I be taking a break from training every once in a while? If so how often, and for how long? Another question is: Is there a specific food you recommend before weight training, or doing aerobic excercise? I have been eating candy beforehand to boost my energy levels, but I don't think its the best thing to be eating before excercising. Many thanks - keep up the great work Michael Shuttleworth - Johannesburg, South Africa
A:
Thanks, Michael! As far as breaks, yes they are definitely a very good idea. I typically recommend taking one week off after every 2 months of training and also taking at least one longer break (as long as one month or even longer) every year. This allows your body to recover from any nagging injuries and prevents overtraining.
As far as what to eat, before weight training I would recommend a meal rich in complex carbohydrates and protein 60-90 minutes before training (to allow time for food to settle down). For example: a filet of salmon with some sweet potatoes. This is a healthy meal and fiberous slow-digesting carb will provide energy throughout the workout as opposed to a quick sugar rush of candy (which is bad for your teeth anyway). Eating before cardio is a little trickier -- some people get sick if they eat too much before cardio. If possible, I would recommend at least having a whey protein shake before cardio. If you do cardio in the morning or if it's a very long cardio session I would try to have some carb source as well.
2452. Q:
HI Mike, I weighed about 165 with quite a bit of fat composition before I got back to lifting weights again after a couple of years, now I weight 5 lbs more but seem like lost some 'fat' - is it possible to lose 'fat' gain muscle which can add to weight gain? I want to build muscle without gaining weight and of course, lose as much fat as possible - is there a way to accomplish this, also your thoughts on 'interval exercise' would this be the best way to lose the fat? Much appreciated, Mike. Kumorr
A:
Congratulations! You've accomplished exactly what you wanted: gain muscle while losing fat! Yes it is definitely possible, especially when you are just starting out from average or below average shape. However the better shape you are in, the harder it will be to keep making such progress. At some point you will likely have to choose whether you want to first focus on gaining muscle (with weight gain) or losing fat (with weight loss). By alternating bulking phases (weight and muscle gain) with cutting phases (weight and fat loss) you will over time continue to gain muscle and lose fat.
I am not quite sure what you mean by 'interval training' since there're a few different programs that go by that name. If you are referring to High Intensity Interval Training -- a way to do cardio in very short intense sessions alternating maximum effort with light effort intervals -- then type in HIIT in site search box in the upper right corner of the screen and hit 'Search Site' -- you'll see a number of Q&A on it. In a nutshell, yes, it is a very effective way to do cardio. Hope that helps!
2454. Q:
How do you know how many grams of carb I have to eat a day? How do I measure my body's fat?
A:
Check out my Nutrition article to see what kinds of foods to eat (which is at least as important as how much you eat) and then Fitness Guide to get a sample diet to see how many carbs are appropriate for you.
As far as measuring body fat, your best bet would be to ask a trainer in the gym to do it for you. Electronic devices you can buy that claim to measure body fat are very unreliable and inaccurate. If you or somebody you know has experience in using body fat calipers you can also take the measures yourself and plug in the values into the body fat calculator I have here (click on 'Find Your Body Fat Percentage' link). But again, your best bet is to ask somebody in the gym to measure it. If you don't have membership, come in and ask for orientation and a measure of body fat -- most gyms will do it for free in hopes that you join.
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