Q&A for: 7-Nov-06
1871. Q:
I heard on a tv programme that when you exercise more fat is moved to areas of muscle – so that they can use the fat as a energy source. A by product of this is that the the fat gets spread over the body rather than being concentrated in a few areas. Is all this true?
A:
While muscles do use fat as one of the energy sources and muscle fat storage can increase, as far as I know the migration of fat into muscles is not enough to make a visible difference.
1872. Q:
MIke, i have a question about glycemic index. right now im bulking, and im not sure how this works. From the reading ive done, the way i understood it is that you should have low gi foods pretty much all day, and the exception would be post workout, because you want an insulin spike. i went to a gi website, and looked up thhings such as wheat bread, baked potatos, brown rice, etc and all of them seemed to have a GI of over 55. brown rice was like 70! so, are they still fine to eat? afterall, i thought these were the good carbs to have during the day? also, what do you think about dextrose post workout?
A:
GI index is a good starting point, but not a perfect guide. Dairy, for example, has notoriously low GI values even though it has plenty of simple sugar and does cause insulins spikes. There is another index, called the Insulin Index, which is more meaningful for bodybuilders -- unfortunately it is not well known and only a few foods have been measured.
But in general I would not worry about looking at the indices too much. Just follow the rule of thumb of eating any and all unprocessed or minimally processed healthy foods like whole grains (including brown rice), all veggies (aside maybe from corn and potatoes), and all fruits. In three words: eat what grows. Brown rice grows but bread, for example, does not.
As far as post-workout dextrose shake, I am not a big fan of it. I don't think it's at all necessary to make good progress and it has at least two downsides: it lowers your insulin sensitivity (as any insulin-spiking food does) and it has potential to cause tooth decay due to all the sugar. I prefer simply having a nice big 'regular food' meal rich in healthy carbs and protein as soon as possible after the workout.
1873. Q:
how long will it take to train my cardi 2a high level
A:
That really depends on what you consider a high level and what kind of shape you are starting out in. It's impossible to give a general answer. Running an 10-minute mile should be very doable for a healthy, not obese person within 2-3 months of starting to run.
1874. Q:
Mike, i have 2 questions
1)im getting my wisdom teeth pulled this thursday, what should i eat to maintain weight, or not gain any fat? so far, im thinking oatmeal and some PB for breakfast, and protein shakes frequently thru out the day. also, some apple sauce sometimes too. what else?
2) im on ur 5 day high volume workout right now. this coming week, can i do legs on monday, chest tuesday, and back on WEDNESDAY? instead of thursday, since i wont have time on thurs to get a workout in b4 the surgery. and, i wont get to workout for a week after the surgery.
A:
Good luck with your surgery! I think you have the right idea about what to eat. You can also make fruit smoothies. I know people who swear by whey+fruit+peanut butter smoothies that make a complete meal.
I guess it may be too late to answer your second question (sorry I haven't been able to check in very often -- have been quite busy) but sure, if you want to fit in those three workouts back-to-back before surgery it should be OK. Skip deadlifts on Wednesday if your legs are still sore from Monday. Otherwise you should be fine. Again, good luck with surgery and have a nice rest week next week.
1876. Q:
is it better to work out in the morning rather than the evening
A:
Although some people claim that higher testesterone levels in the morning make it better to work out then there is no evidence to show for that. Work out whenever you feel most energetic and/or whenever it fits your schedule best.
1877. Q:
mike, i want to bring out my shoulders a bit more, but the exercies i'm doing seem to be increasing the size of my biceps and triceps moreso. please could you give me some advice on this (I am following a healthy high protein diet mostly fish). Kim UK
A:
Try dumbbell side raises and wide-grip upright rows to bring out medial (side) delts better. Your front deltoids should already be fine from shoulder presses, but side delts sometimes can get overlooked.
1878. Q:
Hi, Mike
what do you mean by 'short of failure'?
thank you very much
Beth
A:
I use that term to mean that you should stop a set before you reach muscular failure (the point when your muscles physically cannot do another rep without a rest). For example, if I say 'do 6 reps and stop 2 reps short of failure', I mean that you should select a weight that you could potentially lift 8 times, but only do 6 reps with it, so you stop doing the set even though you have 2 more reps in you before you truly reach your strength limit. Not-to-failure training is a very effective form of training and should have its place in everybody's program at least as a way to boost strength (doing a lot of not-to-failure sets is key to improving strength) and allow your nervous system to recover from the stress of to-failure training. If you are uncomfortable with or have health reasons for avoiding to-failure training you can still make great progress by stopping short of failure in all of your sets.
1879. Q:
What can I do to strengthen my back? It went out on me two months ago and hasn't been the same since.
A:
Sorry to hear about your back problem, but if you suffered a back injury, especially one that hasn't healed in two months, you really need to get professional diagnosis from a doctor or a physical therapist. They will prescribe you the correct recovery program for your specific situation. Best of luck!
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