Q&A for: 7-Jul-06
1656. Q:
How Do I Gain More Muscle?
A:
In just a few words: lift heavy weights and eat enough to gain weight!
Putting together a good program for yourself to make sure you gain as much muscle as little fat as possible is a little more involved -- you'll want to read my weight training article and my nutrition article to learn how to properly weight train and eat. Then you can fill out my fitness guide specifying 'Gain Muscle' as your goal to get a complete starter training and nutrition program.
1657. Q:
How can I gain more muscle? Im 15 and im kinda skinny, I want to gain more of a look to my body, What Should I do?
A:
Check out what I said right before in Q&A #1656. It comes down to having a good weight training program and a good healthy diet which provides enough calories for you to slowly gain weight. At 15 you're about to enter your prime muscle-building age, but your body is still growing so you need to be doubly careful about not injuring yourself -- a serious injury can stunt your growth. So start your weight training with adult supervision and don't use heavy weights until after you spend a month or two learning how to properly and safely perform the exercises.
1658. Q:
Will eating several courses at one meal – like Mediterranean people(e.g Italians) cause you to put on weight? I’ve heard that eating a lot at one time is not good as it causes you to put on weight or fat . Of course, I know that athlete’s like cyclists will have a large high carb meal (normally pasta) after a long stage race (like on the Tour de France) and distance runners before a marathon will carb loading – basically eating a lot of carbs over a few days before race day.
A:
It depends on just how much you're eating. In general a person would be able to eat more calories without putting on weight if the same food is split over multiple small meals rather than a couple big meals. For example: you may be able to eat six 500-calorie meals (for 3000 calories total) without gaining weight, but if you eat three 1000-calories meals (the same 3000 calories) made of the same foods you may start gaining weight. In this example, it may be that if you only have three meals, then the most your body can handle without gaining weight is 2700 calories (or three 900-calorie meals). This is just an example, of course, the numbers will be different for every person.
Eating small multiple meals is also better when you're trying to lose weight as well when trying to gain musle without much new fat. But if these big meals you're eating are not causing you to gain weight, then you don't need to worry. As long as you are eating mostly healthy foods and your weight is staying constant, then even eating just one huge meal per day will not cause you to gain new fat.
1659. Q:
I have a bmr of 2350 and I eat only around 2200 calories a day yet I'm not losing weight,how come?.About 20% of the 2200 calories comes from chocolat bars.
A:
There're two problems... First problem is that any BMR measure that anyone can give you is just an educated guess that will virtually never be exactly right. Your BMR is not a fixed number, it's constantly changing and it depends on the kinds of food you eat, how much of them you eat, when you eat them, as well as of course on the duration and the type of physical activity. The fact that you're not losing weight at 2200 calories means that your BMR right now is in fact no more than 2200 calories.
The second problem is those 20% of calories coming from chocolate. Eating that much chocolate is sabotaging your efforts to lose weight and more importantly to lose FAT. Not all calories are the same as far as your body is concerned and eating sweets and junk food are the BAD kind of calories. If the other 80% of your calories come from super-healthy foods like green veggies, whole grains, and very lean meats then it might be OK, but chances are those other 80% are only average health-wise and in that case you really should not eat so much chocolate if you're serious about losing fat.
I'll be happy to give you pointers on improving your diet and the exercise program if you're interested -- just post what you are eating and doing now.
1660. Q:
Hi I am a 14 year old boy looking to lose weight and gain muscle quickly. I dont have access to a gym often the only equipment in my house is 2 8 pound dumbless and an exercize bike. I just wanted to know if you could tell me which one of your sample programs to follow and if you have any other tips or tricks. I really want to lose my tummy weight and unfortunately i have a really big buble butt and some man boobs. So can you just please help me figure out what to do?
A:
First, you need to realize that you can't lose weight and gain muscle very quickly -- you didn't get to be this way in just a couple of months so it's unrealistic to expect to rebuild your body completely in a couple of months. So be patient and don't give up too quickly. Second, know that what and how much you eat will be even more important than any exercise program in losing fat and building muscle, so be prepared to make some major changes to your diet and swear off junk food, sweets, and sodas. Finally, some small 'man boobs' may be a perfectly natural part of growing up for you, so they may not disappear completely for a couple of years.
Now the good news... :) Between now and when you are 18 or so you have the opportunity to reshape your body in any way you like. It will be easier for you now to lose weight and gain muscle than at any other point in your life, so good job deciding to make the changes for the better now!
Because you are still growing you do NOT want to lose a lot weight -- that may stunt your growth. Good news is that you should be able to lose a lot of fat and build muscle at the same time with only small or no weight loss, as long as you have a good diet and are physically active. As I said before, your diet is going to be the most important thing, so you need to learn how to have a healthy diet -- read my nutrition article and structure your diet according to its recommendations. You can use my fitness guide to give you a starting point for your diet. You won't have the exact perfect diet of course, but it should be significantly different from and better than what you have now. From then on, be disciplined and stick closely to your diet plan. Monitor your weight and make sure your weight does NOT decrease by more than a couple pounds per month at most. If you find that your weight is dropping too quickly you'll need to slightly increase portion sizes in your meals.
As far as exercise, at 14 your primary goal is to just be as physically active as possible in general. It could be using your exercise bike, running, swimming, playing basketball, mowing lawn, or doing just about anything else that keeps you moving. The main thing is to be physically active. I do not recommend starting heavy weight training until you are at least 15, but for now your dumbbells are perfect to get started on my dumbbell exercise program. After a while you'll find that the 8-pound dumbbells are way too light for many exercises and will want to buy a heavier set. In a year or so you'll be ready to really start on heavy weight training and doing this dumbbell program with light weight will prepare you perfectly for that by teaching your the proper exercise form.
To review: read my nutrition article and structure your diet accordingly, be as physically active as you can, start the dumbbell exercise program, monitor your weight and make sure it does not drop any faster than two pounds per month at most -- preferably it'll stay about constant. And be patient -- you should start seeing first progress after just a few weeks but all the changes you want will take months and probably over a year. Slow steady progress is the best kind, so just stick with it for the long haul. Good luck!
|
