Q&A for: 4-Apr-06
1488. Q:
mike, thank you for telling us all to take a week off once in a while. I've taken 10 days after 3 months of 6 day a week training, and I'm really feeling up for another 3 months now. I agree with mike that we all need a little holiday from the gym. thank you for such a good website
A:
You're welcome, glad I could help. Regularly taking time off (at least 1 week off for every 2 months of training is my usual recommendation) will help you prevent new injuries, heal old ones, and avoid overtraining which all allows you to keep making progress. It's a very good habit to pick up.
1489. Q:
hi mike, great site, could you give me some calf excercises please, I want to be able to safely get to lifting 200kg on my calves, I'm only on 150 :(
A:
If you just want to do standing calf raises with 200kg, then that's the exercise you need to perform. I don't think there're any established calf raise-specific strength programs, but the general strength training principles should apply... You need to do calf-raises with heavy weights (80-90% of your max), you should NOT reach failure on any set (this is key and may be counter-intuitive to you) -- instead stop all sets 2-3 reps short of failure, you should allow 3+ minute rest after each set, and you should do calf raises 3 times/week 3-4 sets each time.
This program should increase your strength nicely (though the jump from 150 to 200 is a lot and I can't promise that much improvement quickly). As your strength improves, raise the weight while staying in 80-90% weight range and 2-3 reps short of failure on each set.
If you want to increase the power of your calves for dynamic movements such as high jump, then the program you should follow needs to incorporate plyometrics. Unfortunately plyometrics is a fairly complex exercise topic for which I don't (yet) have a section on this site. For very very basic intro to plyometrics check out middle part of my answer to Q&A #1307. You can hopefully find some more info on plyometrics by searching the web. In general, remember that plyometrics are quite stressful on your body and its better to do less of them than more.
1490. Q:
Hi mike im 14 and my height is 173cm and my weight is 55kg , and my daily activites incuding going to the gym everyday doing light wholebody workout from top to toe and i play street soccer for 1 hour sometimes and i have soccer training that last around 2hours on wednesday and for sat and sunday i usually wold cycle for 3 hrs covering the whole park and swimming and mike sometimes i eat more during dinner is that good or bad and i eat 3 meals per day as im not going to bulk up or lose fat
A:
Sure, at your age and activity level you can afford to eat pretty much as much as you like. Since you're not trying to actively change your body composition eating 3 times/day is perfectly fine. Just try to eat more healthy foods and definitely don't worry about eating too much. Great job being so physically active!
1491. Q:
mike sometimes i cook my food using sunflower oil firstly are they healthy , i dont use much maybe 1 or 2 teaspoon and after i fry my dish i usually would place a paper towel so that it drains the oil is that a way to get rid some of the oil you used for cooking
A:
Sunflower oil is quite healthy but cooking with it (or any other plant-based polyunsaturated oil) is not the best idea. What happens to polyunsaturated oils at high temperature (such as during cooking) is turn into those evil trans fats that you probably heard of. A somewhat better choice for cooking is olive oil which is monounsaturated and tends to oxidize somewhat less at high temperatures. A still better choice for cooking, in my opinion, is plain old natural butter! It is mainly saturated fats which tend to oxidize still less.
In any case using napkin like you do will help eliminate a bit of the unwanted oil. Other things you can do is fry at as low temperature as possible and, of course, use as little oil as possible.
1492. Q:
Is it better to work out in the morning rather than in the evening? I have heard that working out in the morning burns more calories as it raises your metabolism all day rather than just a few hours at night. Can you shed some light on this. thank you!
A:
You should work out at the time when you feel most energy and which fits best into your schedule. For some people its the morning, for some the evening. But there's definitely no reason to force yourself to work out in the morning if you'd rather do it in the evening. If you do work out early in the morning I recommend you eat (and eat well) before -- my reasons for that are outlined in Q&A #159.
1494. Q:
Person from 1484. Q I actually went running today, can't believe I did, but I had a problem. I ran pretty long at leat 5 minutes. When I stopped to catch my breath, I tried to run again but I got REALLY painful cramps. I tried to run with them but the pain was too great. I waited an hour after I at Sloppy Joe(meat with wheat bread and tomato sauce). Any idea why I got major cramps? I for some reason am willing to go running tomorrow again but not looking forward to major cramps. Thanx
A:
Good job running! Cramps like that are to be expected when you're starting out. To some degree they're a rite of passage, but you can reduce them significantly by doing only what your body is ready for. Start with fast walk or light jog that you can maintain for at least 20 minutes and do that for a week. Then increase the speed somewhat and stick with that pace for a week. Then increase the pace slightly again. In a month or two you'll be at the pace your tried today only your body will be ready for it and you'll be able to maintain it for 20-30 minutes without bad cramps.
Another important thing to develop when you jog or run is regular breathing. Try to exhale every two or four steps when your left foot hits the ground. Also stay hydrated -- drink a lot of plain water throughout the day. When you get cramps stretch by bending your body to one side, then another.
Finally, and you probably know it yourself, that Sloppy Joe meal was not the healthiest choice. Meat is fine (as long as it's lean) but neither white bread nor tomato sauce are all that great. Brown rice would be a great choice here instead of bread and some spices along with veggies would be tons better than tomato sauce. Once in awhile meals like that are fine, but try to make most of your meals better. Once again, good job starting on your program!
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