Q&A for: 6-Apr-08
2628. Q:
Hi mike, just joined your site. I've been on a workout program for the past 3 months, working out 5 days a week 21/2 hours a day. I feel like i need to take a week off but i am afraid it might affect all the work i put in since january. Will taking a week off affect my past work.
A:
Thanks for joining the site! 2.5 hours per day, 5 days a week for 3 months is A TON of work (unless you are including sport-specific training). If those 2.5 hours are weight training + aggressive cardio then I would definitely say you are overdue for a break. Take a week or two off. You'll lose a little bit of strength due to detraining of the nervous system, but that will come back quickly after you restart training. Keep your diet the same during the week(s) off or, if you are really worried about gaining fat, you can very slightly decrease starchy carbs and calories. But bottom line is that you've worked very hard for a long time and are due for a break.
2629. Q:
hey mike im 180 511 and i believe it is time to start cutting for the summer i juss added more cardio / jumprope and ab routines. i gained about 10 pounds of muscle i say over the past 2 months and have seen a decent changed in my body tone. im going to startt your daily nutrition guide for loosing fat in the next week. the problem is that i am not 100% satisfied with my bulk i would like to have gotten a little bigger before summer but i believe now is the time to cut so what should i do sitck with the new cardio and begin cutting if so will that consist of light weight more reps or is there a way for me to get a little bigger n still get cut for the summer thank you
A:
10 pounds of muscle (or mostly muscle) is a great bulk for 2 months. You should be very happy with the results! Nobody gets their goal physique after just one bulk (or one cut) -- it'll take a number of bulks and cuts and bulks again until you get to the point of muscularity and leanness that you are going for.
As far as whether you should start a cut now or continue to bulk a little longer, you are in much better position to decide that than I am. It depends on how much weight/fat you want to lose and by when. Allow roughly 1 week per pound of bodyweight to be lost. So if you are aiming to lose, say, 5 pounds on your cut and want to be ready by mid-May, then it's probably time to start the cut. One the other hand if you only need to lose weight by July, then you have some more time during which to bulk up. You just have to decide based on your timelines. Congrats on your bulk and good luck!
2631. Q:
Hi Mike, Two-part question!! rubbing exercise on the belly - supposed to dislodge the fat underneath the skin hence you can lose fat/weight - how valid is this? (2) ballooning the stomach and sucking it in either rapidly or slowly to the maximum both ways -something relating to yoga, I guess - for fifteen minutes -not crunches where you exercise the muscles- would this have any effect on the belly fat/fat reduction? Great input on the daily intake of proteins on your website! Thanks. KR
A:
1) Rubbing your belly will do absolutely nothing for fat loss :) I suppose you'll burn a few calories and work out your shoulder just moving your arm around, but that's about it. There's absolutely no mechanical aspect of 'dislodging' fat from under the skin -- fat loss is all about forcing your body to burn more and more energy.
2) Sucking in the stomach will work the transversus abdominis muscle which is a deep layer of muscle that's located underneath the main and better known abdominal muscle rectus absominis (aka 'the six-pack'). Transversus abdominis is an important muscle in that it serves to support and stabilize the spine during lifting. The development of transversus abdominis is the reason why most people should NOT use weightlifting belts (unless directed by a medical professional) -- weightlifting belts serve the same stabilization function as transversus abdominis (TA) and if you always lift with the belt, the TA never properly develops which increases your chances of injury later on.
Although TA serves these important functions, it is probably not worth dedicating much time to since it is naturally exercised during everyday activities and is also involved in all the regular abdominal exercises which are primarily targeting the rectus abdominis as well as during core exercises such as squat and deadlift. Furthermore, if you are exercising TA specifically to lose fat, then all you'll get better at is sucking in your stomach but you won't burn much fat. I would simply have a regular heavy whole-body weight training program which includes squats, deadlifts, and lunges and your TA will get plenty of work. Hope that helped!
2633. Q:
Hi, I've been getting help from reading your articles and answers to many questions on your website. First of all, your website and suggestions on working out and nutritions gave me a lot of knowledge and insights on one's well-being. I'd like to talk to you about my personal problem. I'm 19-year-old college guy, about to turn 20 in less than 2 months. I weigh around 155 lbs, about 5' 8'' tall. As you can see, I think I'm pretty much done growing in height. My problem is that I have those unnecessary extra fat on my chest. I think I have that fat on my chest because about 4 years ago, I was overweight. When I was about 15 years old, I weighed around 180-185 lbs, and I was a lot shorter, like 5' 5''? Anyways, I joined the soccer team and ran A LOT during the conditioning season. The problem is that I did not work out duirng that time, so I think I did get rid of excess fat, but not much muscle and even some stretch marks on some parts of my body. Well, I've been working out for a little bit more than a year now. As mentioned above, I weigh around 155 lbs, but I can definitely say that I'm pretty fit now. It's just that I have excess fat on my chest that I can't get rid of. I tried working out my chest a lot, and I could sometimes see improvements such as decent muscles on my chest, but I still have the fat that.. conceals the chest muscles. My diet is.. Since I live on campus, I usually eat the college food such as pizza, omelet, quesadilla, pasta, burger, cereal, bagle, but I also eat Korean food because I'm Korean such as rice with meat. What should the solution to my problem be? 1. Cutting down the body-fat by doing much of aerobic exercise? 2. Cutting down the body-fat by doing much of anaerobic exercise? 3. Or controlling my nutrition diet? 4. All of the above? I appreciate your help, and thanks for the great articles on your website. Thank you
A:
Glad you've found my site useful! Your situation is very common. First thing to realize is that all guys have chest fat -- chest is one of your body's 'preferred' places to store fat, so it's never going to be completely free of fat. The second thing to realize is that for teenage guys this chest fat situation is exacerbated by hormonal changes and although it should subside by age 19, you might still be seeing some extra fat which will disappear later on as your body fully develops. With that out of the way, if you need to lose chest fat, there's no trick to doing it aside from simply losing overall body fat via heavy whole-body weight training, good nutrition, and some cardio as described in my fat loss article.
From what you've described you have the training part pretty well covered now, but your nutrition doesn't sound good at all. Most of the foods you mentioned are junk or borderline junk. Read through my Nutrition article and do your best to get your diet closer to what's described there. If you are on your college food plan, then you are heavily dependent on the quality of food in the cafeteria, but even in that case there are usually good choices to be found. Always check out the salad bar and load up of green veggies AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE -- they are the perfect food, especially if your selection is limited. Look for leaner meat dishes like grilled chicken, fish, or turkey slices. Omelettes can be good as long as they are not made with much oil. Plain hardboiled eggs are good as well. For breakfast look for fresh fruits, low-fat milk, and whole-grain cereals like cheerios or bran. Things like pizza, burgers, pasta, bagels, quesadillas should all be minimized. Don't drink any sodas or juices -- drink plain water or unsweetened tea/coffee instead. If you have to eat bread (in a sandwich, for example) try to get whole-grain wheat and not white. Hope that helps!
2634. Q:
i am 43, female, 143 lbs. 5'2''. i started drinking ALOT of water, walking, exercise, and cutting down on eating. i eat pretty healthy. But, I still have not lost any weight in over a month! I'm very discouraged. HELP ME PLEASE. DEBORAH
A:
It sounds like you are trying to do all the right things, but I can't give you much help unless you give me more detail on your daily diet as well as the exercise routine. It could be that you are still eating too much or perhaps eating the wrong stuff. Maybe your exercise is too limited. If you post back with a detailed breakdown of what and how much you eat and how you exercise I might be of more help.
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