Q&A for: 25-Nov-07
2501. Q:
i ride my stationary bike for an hour and then do weight trainin..is that good?
A:
Certainly, that's perfectly fine. If you do heavy weight training (12 reps or fewer per set before muscular failure sets in), then all other things being equal I would recommend doing weight training separately from cardio or at least do weights before cardio. However if your schedule doesn't allow that or if you simply prefer to do cardio first, then that's fine too -- you'll still get very good results.
You didn't specify what kind of weight training you do, so in case you'd like some suggestions on weight training, please read my Weight Training article. Similarly, if you'd like some ideas on improving your diets, make sure to check out my Diet article.
2502. Q:
What percentage of muscle do you lose by starving yourself
A:
There's no way to give a simple answer to this since it depends on so many variables -- physical activity level, exact diet, current body fat levels, metabolism, health, age, etc. But all you really need to know is that unless you have a good medical reason to lose weight very quickly and/or to eat very very few calories, you'll get far better results in the long run by eating enough to lose weight slowly. It'll take a little longer but you'll be actually losing fat AND keeping it off afterwards.
2503. Q:
I’m not advocating the following but I would like your opinion. If someone is active lifting heavy weights and doing a moderate amount of intense cardio, but eating lots of red meat, drinking lots of alcohol and smoking how will it affect their health exactly. Lots of young people can get away with eating whatever, drinking too much and even smoking(up to a certain age) without putting on weight and other health problems etc. I was watching a programme and it had an athlete, he was told that as he was very active and used a lot of oxygen he gad to eat more fruit and vegetables than the average person to offset the damage done by free radicals. In other words – he had to eat better etc than a non-active person or risk damaging his body more than a person who eat the same way but was not active. A lot of people including this athlete thought that as long as they do not put on weight their diet and lifestyle (alcohol etc) did not matter so much. I notice that you advise people not only to do cardio, lift weights, eat well , but also avoid alcohol, smoking etc. How important is the lifestyle you have outside the gym?
A:
Like everything else it's all a matter of degree, of course. An occasional drink is certainly very unlikely to hurt your health or to interfere with either muscle gain or fat loss to any significant degree. But you can be sure that having a few beers every night will hurt you in both respects. The same goes for smoking as well. And yes, young people can 'get away' with more than older people. My responsibility is simply give you the most effective fitness advice and for the vast majority of people, so I advise staying away from alcohol and smoking. Even if you are young, it's a good idea to start building positive habits that will continue benefitting you for decades to come.
2504. Q:
how many calories do you burn doing jumping jacks? for 15 mins
A:
Doing jumping jacks for 15 minutes would burn around 150 calories or so. However I would advise NOT counting calories if you are looking to lose fat and weight, but instead following a complete weight-training, nutrition, and cardio program that will not only burn calories through exercises but also boost your metabolism to make sure you burn more fat around the clock just by going through your everyday routine. Please read my weight loss article to learn how.
2506. Q:
This is a long question but please bare with me. I am 15 years old, weigh about 132 pounds and am 5 ft9. I weight train 4 days a week and do some other fitness activities. Mon + Wed I do arms, back, abs + shoulders and on Tue and Thur I do mainly Chest (bench press) along with shoulders, legs and abs .I used to be overweight and am not sure that if I go back to 2000+ calories a day wheather I will start adding fat again insted of muscle (I know that I probly won't because of the amount of exercise I am doing but something keeps telling me it may be a bad idea. I am extremely lean at the moment because I have being doing various different workout plans for about a year now and can see almost every muscle in my body (apart from my bottom abs which are just about visible). I tend to eat very healthy at the moment, Lots of fruit, veg. Have not eaten sweets, chocolate, crisps anything like that in the last year or so. My calorie intake is about 1500 this includes 100-150g of protien, 170 g of carbs and 30g of fat (the rest I pick up in fruit and veg mainly). I am aiming to gain a reasonable ammount of muscle but within the last few months my muscles are only growing very slowly. But mainly they are just becoming more visable. Is there any advice that you may be able to educate me with please because I am in quite a sticky situation at the moment?
A:
It sounds like you are already doing just about everything right. The only thing is that you should NOT be afraid to eat more as long as you eat all the good foods (read my Diet article if you're not sure what's 'good'). I'm very sure that your body can support 2000 and more calories daily with your training regimen with no additional fat gain, but faster muscle gain. 1500 calories with that activity level is really next to starving yourself, especially since you are not yet done growing.
Start by increasing your daily calories to 1700-1800, stay there for a few weeks and then increase again to at least 2000. Get those new calories evenly from protein, carbs, and fats. If your schedule allows it, add a new meal to your daily diet -- if not, just increase the size of your current meals. One way or another you should work your way up to 2000 daily calories over a month's time. Once there you can decide whether you want to eat more (I'm pretty certain you can afford to eat a lot more than that). Make sure that your calories come from healthy nutritious foods (as described in my article) and spread it over at least 4 (preferably more) meals per day and you'll be in great shape and will gain muscle with next to no fat. Good luck!
2507. Q:
i am 14 and want to replace my fat with muscle how do i do it?
A:
At your age it's actually quite easy to do as long as you have a little patience and discipline. Your body naturally 'wants' to be quite lean during teen years -- plenty of muscle and little fat. So as long as you work with your body and not against it, losing fat and gaining muscle is quite easy.
What it will take however is eating right (this is BY FAR the most important thing at your age), allowing a year or two for the transformation, and staying reasonably active in the meanwhile.
Eating right means eating as I describe in my Nutrition article. Please read that article carefully a couple of times to really get all of its points down. Do NOT worry about how much you eat -- at your age it's not crucial, just eat plenty in 3-4 meals daily -- but do pay attention to WHAT you eat. It's all described in the article I linked. Small changes in your diet make a huge difference over time. Eating a pop-tart and a lean pocket make for a horrible breakfast, while a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal, strawberries, and cottage cheese make for a great one! A big bowl of green salad is awesome but if you dump half a cup of salad dressing on it it becomes next to junk food. So please make sure you learn what foods are good for you and eat only them!
Diet aside, simply stay active -- play sports, do pushups, pullups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, run, jog, ski, bike, swim, shovel snow, mow lawns, even clean around the house. If you like you can start on weight training with adult supervision but it's not absolutely necessary. That's it! Now you just need to stay patient and allow your body to do its thing. It won't be particularly fast but in 1-2 years you'll find yourself completely transformed. Just don't give up too early and be patient and disciplined. This 1-2 years of effort will pay huge dvidends the rest of your life. Good luck!
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