Q&A for: 8-Oct-05
659. Q:
hey Mike, i have a quick question. Im fasting during ramadaan and i bodybuild, its the 4th day and im feeling that im losingmy bulk already, what do i do to prevent from losing any muslces. I usually eat very often after i break my fast. should i consume more foods like whole milk, beef, chicken, protein shakes, rice and many more, shuld i lift weights during this month or not ?
A:
The apparent loss of muscle mass you're seeing now, on just the fourth day, is almost certainly due to the lack of muscle glycogen and water (which glycogen draws into the muscles), and not actual muscle mass loss. You're eating fewer carbs than you normally would so your overall glucose levels and muscle glycogen levels in particular are lower. If you started eating normally right now you'd see your muscles swell back up to normal within a day or two.
However a whole month of daytime fast can certainly cause muscle loss. To minimize it what you'll need to do is to eat literally as much as you can during the times that you're allowed to eat. Make sure you eat at least once both in the morning and in the evening and make those meals BIG! If it's just 2 meals a day, you'll want them to be at least 1000 calories each. Eat all the foods you mentioned as well as other carb sources (oatmeal, other whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils) and healthy fats (olive oil, flax seed, nuts).
For example. for breakfast you might eat 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese, 0.5 cup (before cooking) oats, 2 bananas, 1 cup strawberries, and 4 tablespoons of flax sprinkled into oats. That is around 1000 calories with 75 grams of protein or so. For supper/dinner you may have a lean 8-ounce lean fillet steak, 2 medium sweet potatoes, a large greens salad with two tablespoons of olive oil. That's also around 1000 calories with 80 grams of protein.
Continue lifting weights, but cut down on both duration and intensity of your sessions. Lift 2-3 times/week for 30-45 minutes each time. Don't go to failure as much as used to -- your body will likely not have sufficient nutrients that it normally would to repair all the muscle damage you inflict on the gym. I would also cut out all cardio till after the fast.
660. Q:
hey mike, im im 16 5 feet & 5 inches, im 135 puonds and i workout does it sound lke im bulky
A:
Your weight is perfectly normal for your height, so there's no reason to suspect that you're bulky.
661. Q:
how do bodybuilder's get their bodyfat so low and maintain such beautiful bodies? this whole ramadan thing has me worried about losing what little i've gained lately, but my bodyfat is still way too high. i don't know what to do. should i lose the fat first, get the muscle first? or can i do both? what should i do this month
A:
You definitely need to choose one goal -- either lose fat or build muscle -- and focus on that. Fasting is definitely not conducive to building muscle, so it makes sense to aim for losing fat and just preserving the existing muscle for this month. Once you can eat normally again, you'll need to decide which goal is more important to you and plan your diet accordingly (your training need not change). If you're overweight and really want to see the extra fat gone, I would recommend staying on the fat-loss track. If you're average or even lean, then it may make sense to try and bulk up first before tackling the fat. If you're a beginner you might be able to accomplish both goals for a few months, but you should still pick one as your primary goal and structure your diet accordingly.
As far as how the bodybuilders you see in competitions do it, it's a combination of things. First and most important one is years and years of diligent training and disciplined diet! Physiques like theirs do not happen overnight or even in one or two years. Other, uglier, secret of it is steroid abuse -- all pro bodybuilders use them, whether they admit it or not, and many amateurs do too, including some guys you see every day in your gym. The extent of steroid abuse is rivaled only by that of marijuana abuse as far as controlled substances go.
Because of these two facts, you should not look up to competition bodybuilders for anything more than inspiration. They do not have any special training or nutrition secrets -- they have simply put in their many years of hard work to get to this stage and, some or many of them have turned to steroids for extra help.
662. Q:
I want to do exersizes to make my butt bigger
A:
Try squats and lunges. You can find info for them in the Legs sections of the Exercises page.
663. Q:
I have a problem I dont knOw if i have extra fat on my chest or its just extra skin. Im 5' 11 and im 15 years old. I weigh 160 lbs. I used to weigh 189 but lost about 30 lbs in a 3 months period. Is it extra skin or do I still have fat in my chest?
A:
It's quite likely to be fat. You lost a lot of weight in a short time which is never a good idea, especially at your age. The result of it was that the weight your lost was a mix of muscle and fat with the end result being that you haven't lost as much fat as you could have if you took things slower.
I would not recommend actively trying to lose more weight now, since it's neither healthy at your age, nor is it likely to get rid of that last stubborn fat (the more weight you lose quickly, the more of it is muscle loss -- and the more muscle you lose, the harder it is to lose fat!) Instead you should focus on cleaning up your diet and increasing your physical activity -- especially taking up weighttraining if you haven't already. If you don't want to weight train, that's OK too, but you have to be physically active. Good healthy diet + physical exercise + your natural growth and maturation will take care of that extra chest fat.
Read my Nutrition article to learn how to eat healthy and read my Weight training article if you're interested -- weight training is the most efficient way to burn fat. Good luck!
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