Q&A for: 25-Jul-05
236. Q:
how long does it take to gain a pound of muscle in my buttocks? I have muscular legs but a sagging flat out of shape but. I ride a bike nearly 100 miles three time a week.
A:
Heavy cardio such as biking is not conducive to building muscle that are not directly involved in the movement (in your example, your buttocks, which don't do much while biking compared to quads or calves). And one pound is A LOT for a relatively small muscle group like your buttocks. As usual, the amount of muscle built will depend as much on your diet as on the exercise. Without proper nutrition you will have only small, if any, gains. But if you're interested in what exercises target your glutes specifically, check out the lunges, the squat, and the deadlift in the Essential Exercises section of my site. Note that all 3 of those exercises (especially the lunge and the squat) also will severely stress leg muscles which may interfere with your biking routine. If you had to pick one exercise for your buttocks, I would recommend the lunges. Hope that helps!
237. Q:
Are Odwalla juices good sources of protein? I drink a 450 ml. bottle of Odwalla twice a day (it has 10 grams of protein). I have breakfast, an odwalla shake, lunch, an odwalla shake, and then dinner. Is this ok? Also, before dinner I use the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then spend 10 minutes on my Total gym. Is this ok for FAT loss? Also, what exactly is proper weight training?
A:
No! Things like Odwalla juices (or other juices in general) are one of the last things you want when trying to lose fat. Look at the nutrition label for one serving of it. A 450ml bottle has 60 grams of carbs of which 40 are sugar! You goal is to have as little sugar as possible during the day, instead concentrating on nice fiberous sources of carbs like whole grains, veggies, and some fruits or berries (the latter two do have a lot of sugar -- fructose -- but the also have a lot of fiber which will slow the digestion down. While Odwalla and all other juices simply keep the sugar while throwing away most of the other good stuff).
DO NOT DRINK JUICES. Eat REAL ACTUAL FRUITS instead. Whoever came up with the idea that juices are great for you is a marketing genius, but it doesn't mean you have to fall for it. It's going to be a long long time before the man can top nature in producing nutricious healthy foods. Eat foods in their natural forms as much as possible. For fruits it means eating the actual oranges and apples and bananas and strawberries and NOT eating their sugars squeezed into a bottle. As for that little bit of protein in Odwalla, there's nothing magical about it and you can get it from any number of foods (once again, in a more natural state). In Odwalla's case they use soy protein and if that's what you're after, you can eat some edamame beans! Otherwise you can eat any number of meat, chicken, fish, legumes, etc. and get the same protein. You can also get whey protein powder if you have problems getting enough protein from regular foods.
Please read my nutrition article to see how to eat right for fat loss. I can't comment on your breakfast/lunch/dinner since you didn't specify what you have in those meals, but the two Odwalla shakes definitely need to go.
The second part of your question was about training... 30 minutes a day cardio is too much while 10 minutes of weights is not enough. If your Total Gym is the one advertised by Chuck Norris, then it's a pretty limited machine. It gives you a workout focusing on your arms, shoulders, and chest but ignoring legs and
back which is where most of your muscle mass is. So you have less than half (in fact, probably only around 30% if you're doing the typical exercises on it) of your muscles actively contributing to fat loss. Please check out my bodyweight-only and dumbbell-only programs in the Article section to see how you can improve your workouts with minimal equipment. You can combine some of those suggestions (especially for legs and back) with your Total Gym workout for a much more complete program.
Finally, 'proper' weighttraining is what I describe here :). I can't summarize it in just one sentence, but probably the two most important points are using fairly heavy weights (such that you can't lift it more than 12 times in a row) and exercising as many of your body's muscles as possible! But please read the whole article.
If you post what you eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner, I can probably give you some tips on how to improve those as well. In the meanwhile, please read the nutrition and weighttraining articles I pointed you to and lose those Odwalla shakes! Good luck!
238. Q:
Can weight training cause inflammation of the sciatic nerve^
A:
By themselves resistance exercises performed with the proper form and in moderate volume are unlikely to cause this problem. But some people perform many exercises with anything but good form which can cause this and other injuries, especially on exercises like the squat and the deadlift. Also, if you have an existing condition (perhaps an old injury that never completely healed), weight training can re-aggravate it. For these reasons it is always a very good idea to consult with your doctor and/or physical therapist before starting any kind of exercise program. If you have a history of lower back and/or lower body problems, you absolutely owe it to yourself to have such a consultation before starting an exercise program. And in all cases, you have to be very mindful of the form, especially when performing big compound exercises like the squat or the deadlift.
When you lift, lift only what you can in perfect form. If you start feeling any kind of pain or discomfort beyond the regular muscle tiredness/soreness, stop immediately! Never ever try to 'work through' an injury -- it'll only make things worse. Your body is amazingly good at healing itself when it has the time to do so. So take time off from weightlifting and allow at least one full week after the last symptoms are gone before returning. In some cases you may be able to do partial workouts that avoid using the injured body part. In other cases, you'd be best off not doing any weightlifting at all. If you're not sure, take the safest route and, again, consult your doctor and/or physical therapist.
239. Q:
what kinds of meals should a on the go college student like myself eat? i want to lose my gut and 15 lbs. what kind of exercise should i be doing if i want to lose my gut? is the 'no equipment at home' workout plan that you describe really successful? how can it be without any weights. i would rather walk but i guess weight training is better. i don't know.
A:
The fat-burning nutrition plan is going to be the same for everyone, only the portion sizes will change. For you as a college student it may be difficult to get or afford some of these foods as well as find time to schedule all the meals into your day. So you'll have to make some compromises. Start with my fat-burning diet and replace foods and meals in it with ones that have roughly equivalent nutrition, but suit your schedule. For example:
- Get a 'light' wheat bread and make tuna sandwiches with hardboiled eggs or a little mayo. That given you a complete protein-rich meal that can sit in your backpack for a full day and can be eaten in 5 minutes. 2 pieces of light wheat bread, 1 can of tuna, and 2 eggs will give you about 400 calories with 50 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbs, and 10 grams of fat -- a good replacement for just about any meal in the fat-burning diet.
- Same idea, but with a little more preparation: pre-pack a chicken or tuna salad.
- Buy a protein powder and have protein shakes 2-3 times/day when you absolutely cannot get real foods. Just make sure it's a pure protein powder with no added carbs.
- A nasty concoction that nevertheless can be easily taken with you in a bottle is a mix of whey protein, a bit of old-fashioned oats, and a tiny bit of peanut butter. It also makes for a complete meal and tastes surprisingly good. It does look weird and people will be looking funny at you :) 2 scoops of whey, 1/3 cup of raw oates and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter will give you around 600 calories with 50 grams of protein, 50 grams of carbs, and 20 grams of fat.
- Never skip meals in the cafeteria if you're on a dining plan. Even bad cafeterias will have something that'll make a half-decent meal. A chicken salad is always there (go easy on the dressing, use olive oil instead if you can). Eat veggies on your meal plan because you probably won't be getting them in the meals you cook/prepare yourself.
- Pass on (the holiest of college holies) pizza, beer and other junk. If you're absolutely forced into ordering something go for hot wings without sauce/dressing. When going to fast food places, stick to chicken salad choices.
As far exercising, chances are your school has a very good gym ready to be used for free or for a low fee. Do that if you can. The no-equipment plan is good, but it won't give you the same results as the gym full of freeweights of all sizes. If you absolutely cannot use the gym, consider getting a few different pairs of dumbbell and check out my dumbbell-only program. If you can get dumbbells heavy enough you'll be able to do many of those exercises in 6-12 rep range optimal for burning fat and building muscle. Hope that gives you some ideas!
240. Q:
how do i get rid of the fat under my chest as i want it to be flat. i am a teenager
A:
There's no way to lose just the chest fat, but the good news is that you can lose fat over all of your body and thereby lose the chest fat as well. Please read this -- it will introduce you to the program as well as refer you to two other articles that will give you the exact program to follow, one for nutrition, one for exercising. As you read it, please keep in mind that that the nutrition article is targeted more towards adults in suggesting a diet plan. Unless you're very overweight, as a teenager you should not go on a prolonged aggressive diet because it may interfere with your growth. So eat slightly more than the calorie calculator referenced in the article suggests. Aside from that point, the article will tell you exactly what you need to do to lose that extra fat. It's not an easy fix, but if you put your mind to it, you will reap great benefits! Post questions here if you need my to clarify something about the program presented in the article. Best of luck to you!
241. Q:
How much muscle weight can a healthy, relatively lean woman put on through weight training in one month?
A:
An absolute beginner woman can probably put on a 1-2 pounds of muscle per month for the first few months, but the speed of muscle growth will decline quickly. Check out Q&A #94.
243. Q:
how many calories does one push up burn
A:
Not much and even doing 100s of pushups per day won't get you very far in either fat loss or muscle gain. Check out Q&A #191 and Q&A #197.
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