Q&A for: 5-Jun-06
1592. Q:
In reply to 1590. The person who told me to try this approach is a proffesional bodybuilder.I asked him what would be the result if i just continued my heavy weight training and reduced in time my carbs while doing also some cardio and he told me that i would lose fat indeed but the result wouldnt be so good as it will be after with my current method of training except if i use other things which arent good.He told me he has trained many persons and all of them used this training i told u about and that this way the calories i burn are a lot more overall than a heavy weight training.The key here is the combination of the high intense with the really small breaks between the sets that keep the muscles warm up the whole time.What is your opinion?Iam interested mainly in losing the last bit of fat from my stomach cause iam pretty ok looking overall except from there only.My diet is excellent i take protein and i eat every 3 hours.
A:
Well, the only way to know for sure is to go ahead and follow this new program. It sounds like a very high-volume whole-body HIIT sessions. I think HIIT is a great tool, but not optimal to form your entire program. It's also extremely stressful on your body and can lead to overtraining if done too much for too long.
But I would encourage to give this new program a chance, at least for a month. At the very least you'll learn whether it works for you. Everyone's a little different and learning what works best and what doesn't work for you is very important for anyone who's serious about training. I would be interested in hearing your experience as well. Good luck!
1593. Q:
how to get rid of man boobs
A:
Please read this article. All the answers are there.
1594. Q:
Hi Mike! I have been working out for almost a year now and really need to change my routine. I am starting your 4 day push pull program this week. I was wondering is this a long term program? Or something one would do like four to six weeks. I did notice that abs and calves are not included. I know that standing calve raises would be a push excercise, but would abs go on push or pull days? Also would this be considered a light or heavy routine? i have been following a pretty heavy routine for almost the entire time I have been working out. So I am thinking that it may be time to try something lighter.
A:
Abs would be a 'pull' exercise.
I recommend not following any program for more than about two months. This push/pull program is no exception -- you'd do it for a couple of months and then take a week's break and change to a new one.
In your case, after a year of heavy lifting, you're completely correct to look for something lighter. I would classify the push/pull routine as medium-to-heavy -- most sets are meant to be taken to (or at least close to) failure and it adds up to about 80 total sets/week. If your old program was significantly higher volume, then even this change may be good enough. Or, you could take a look at my low-volume routines: this, this, or this bodybuilding/strength mix or this strength routine (highly recommended if you've never done strength-specific training before).
Overall I would recommend periodizing your program throughout the year like this:
- 2 months high volume with low-to-moderate intensity (over 100 sets/week total, reps in 10-15 range, stopping couple reps short of failure)
- a week's break
- 2 months moderate volume with moderate intensity (60-100 sets/week total, reps in 8-12 range, some sets to failure, most sets 1 rep short of failure)
- a week's break
- 2 months low volume with high intensity (40-80 sets/week total, 6-10 rep range, all sets to failure)
- a week's break
- 2 months strength-specific training
- a week's break
- optional 2 months power training, if you are familiar how to do Olympic power exercises (or have a trainer who is)
Obviously this is just a sample sequence, but you can see the progress throughout the year from doing lots of sets (high volume) at low intensity to doing fewer sets but really pushing your limits with going to failure, increasing strength and power. Even those mainly interested in bodybuilding would benefit in the long term from this sort of periodization.
1595. Q:
If you stop working out, how long does it take to start loosing muscle mass?
A:
It will greatly depend on your diet and whether you lose weight or not. If you eat enough, with good amount of protein and don't lose weight, then you will lose little muscle mass even over long period of time like a year. You will lose some strength, but both the strength and whatever little muscle mass you lost would come back within a month of restarting training.
If you stop training and lose weight, then you'll start losing muscle mass much more. So the key is to eat well and not lose weight if you want to hang on to your muscle mass.
In all cases, it will be easier to regain the lost muscle mass than it was to build up in the first place.
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