Q&A for: 9-Aug-05
320. Q:
You're awesomo. Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. :D
A:
Thank you! Very glad I was able to help you :)
321. Q:
can a male shrik their boobs
A:
Yes, absolutely you can. Please read this.
322. Q:
Why warm up before weight training is so important?
A:
A good pre-workout warm-up will serve to prevent injury and improve performance. I recommend going through a light overall warm-up (fast walking or jogging) as well as a light muscle-specific warm-up (light stretching of the muscles about to be worked and performing the exercises for a few reps at a very light weight). Together these will prepare your central nervous system for intense physical activity, increase the temperature of your joints increasing their range of motion and making them less susceptible to injury and also do the same for the muscles, the tendons and the ligaments.
323. Q:
Many claim that u shouldnt eat much bread cause it has many fat on it while others say that its not the bread that makes u fat but the combination of much bread with other foods.What is real and how much bread should a healthy diet include each day?
A:
Bread is a so-so food if you are trying to lose fat. Bread does not have much fat in it, but it does have a lot of fairly-quickly digestible carbs. What this means is that your body is able to convert the carbs in bread into glucose very quickly and your body is essentially rushed with a wave of glucose in your blood that it has no immediate use for. Therefore much of that glucose gets converted to and stored as fat. Your goal when trying to lose fat is to eat slow-digesting carbs that provide a steady energy source for your body over a long time instead of a quick rush of energy. Green veggies just happen to be the perfect slow-digesting foods that are full of vitamins and minerals as well -- that's why I always say to eat your veggies :)
Some breads are better and some are worse. White bread should have no place in your diet at all, while whole-grain (not just 'whole-wheat') breads are much better. But on the whole, if you have a choice, I recommend skipping the bread and eating a ton of green non-starchy vegetables and true unprocessed whole grains like plain old-fashioned oatmeal instead. If for whatever reason you can't or don't want to give up bread, find whole-grain breads, breads with a lot of fiber and with low calorie content.
324. Q:
Iam skinny and i wanna and some kgs.What i should do?
A:
In three words: EAT AND LIFT! You are actually in a perfect position to start putting on muscle because you have room to grow and can afford to gain some fat that will inevitably come along with the new muscle. Read my Weighttraining and Nutrition articles and understand them thoroughly. The Weighttraining article presents several weight routines -- pick any one you like that uses gym equipment (I recommend starting with the split ones). The Nutrition article has a calorie calculator which you can use to see how much you should be eating to gain muscle and then a couple of muscle-building diets that you can use as starting point (adjust calories by reducing or increasing portion sizes to match what the calorie calculator suggested). Aim to gain 1-2 pounds every month or even more if you are not worried about extra fat. If you're not gaining fast enough, eat more! Also check out Q&A #94 to see how much muscle you can expect to gain. Good luck!
325. Q:
323 Q: It depends on the kind of bread. German black bread or brown bread actually has much more calories per/gram than most breads but is better for you.
A:
You are correct that black breads like that are better, but you still should try and not make it a major part of your diet. If you need to eat, say, 200 calories of carbs in a meal, the better choice would be 2 slices of 'light' bread for 100 calories + another 100 calories of broccoli rather than 200 calories worth of German black bread.
326. Q:
I have a question concerning the terminology 'body fat' that we use. Say that a woman weighs 100 pounds (for the sake of an easy number) and she is 20% body fat. That means that she has 20 pounds of body fat on her...what about the other 80%? Also, is there a way to show you how much muscle one has??
A:
The other 80% is bones, muscles, organs, water, blood and other fluids, tendons, ligaments, etc. etc. There's no precise way to know how much actual muscle mass one has, so what people usually do is talk in terms of body fat (the 20% in your example) and lean body mass (the other 80%). Sometimes the mistake is made in assuming that all of the other 80% is muscle, which of course is not true.
We do know that the majority of long-term weight loss or gain is a mix of lost or added fat and muscle (water weight changes are only short-term and changes in bone and organ weight is relatively minor compared to fat + muscle) which allows us to be able to judge how successful one's weight loss or weight gain is by comparing the changes in fat and muscle mass.
For example, suppose a man starts at 240 lbs and 25% body fat (60 pounds of fat total), loses weight, and ends up 180 lbs and 20% body fat (36 pounds of fat total). His total fat loss is then 60 - 36 = 24 pounds. But he lost 60 total pounds of weight, which means that he lost 60 - 24 = 36 pounds of muscle (roughly, of course. This discounts changes in bone, organ, etc. weights). I would consider this weight loss to be not very successful since he lost more muscle than fat. For somebody overweight like this man was, he should be able to have 70% or more of lost weight being fat.
I do want to reiterate that all these measurements are quite imprecise. The golden standard of body fat measurement, the underwater weighing, has 1% statistical error. The caliper measurements can easily be off by 2-3% even when done by a pro and various bioimpedance devices (scales and handhelds) are almost a complete crapshoot. Water weight can also vary GREATLY in short-term -- hence all the 'miracle diets' which 'lose' 10 pounds in a week. Those, by the way, are just about the worst thing you can do to yourself. So one must keep all these facts in mind when talking about body fat measures.
327. Q:
I once saw in a book some examples of people who had a lot of belly and body fat in general before and after 3 months they get not only thin but they have some muscles and six pack abs as well.Is it possible to achieve such a goal in 3 months only provived that u dont use drugs or steroids but only natural things or ways?I believe that is hard to be true.In the gym they told me that such change is not possible in so little time.What is your opinion?
A:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is :) As you suspected, all those magical transformation involve a heavy dose of lying, steroids, airbrushing or outright photo doctoring. You should certainly notice good results after 3 months, but nothing like the magazine or TV ads.
328. Q:
I ve heard that in order to lose body fat its necessery to do both cardio and weight training.Iam bored to do weight training but i wanna lose some fat.What will happen if i do only cardio and avoid the weight training at all?Which is more important in order to lose more fat?
A:
If you only select one thing as your aid to lose fat, I would certainly recommend choosing weights over cardio. My reasons for this are all over this site, but specifically check out my Fat-Loss article and Q&A #318. If you absolutely cannot stand weights, then I recommend to at least do HIIT in addition to or instead of regular cardio. HIIT is described in the above article as well.
329. Q:
I ve heard that fruits are better than juices and should be preferred in a healthy diet.I buy only juices that dont have any preservatives or sugar.Are these ok?I work many hours and i cant get fruits with me all the time so i buy juices like these i mentioned before.In the label some mention that one drink of this juice is like drinking a glass of milk!What is your opinion?
A:
No, juices are no substitute for real fruits and should especially be limited if you're trying to lose fat. You lose much of the vitamins and minerals and all of the fiber of the fruit by drinking juice. Instead you get synthetic surrogates for minerals (like that claim you mentioned about calcium and milk) and a sugar rush which is the last thing you want when trying to cut fat.
Real fruits are usually very easy and quick to eat. Eating a mix of strawberries, blueberries, oranges, and bananas for example is both delicious and much much better than drinking the equivalent amount of juice. A fruit-heavy diet is far from ideal when trying to lose fat too, of course, but it's still way better than a juice-heavy diet.
330. Q:
I'm 25 (male) and I'm 5'2, is there anything I can do to grow taller besides surgery. how about all the hgh growth pills that they sell on-line, do they help at all?
A:
Sorry, there isn't much that can be done to help you as far as I know and I would certainly stay far away from HGH pills. The supplement industry is barely regulated which allows them to make all sorts of outrageous claims and sell products of questionable safety. Your best bet is to discuss your condition with your doctor.
331. Q:
Can women perk up their breasts by working their pectorals?
A:
I don't think the effect would be noticeable for the vast majority of women. Men can achieve significant muscle growth, including in the chest area, which can significantly alter the look of their chests. Most women, however, would not be able to achieve enough pec development for that.
If a woman loses significant amount of fat (through weight training or otherwise), her breasts will typically get smaller which may give more of the effect you're looking for as compared to working pectorals to raise the chest.
332. Q:
Does muscle that has been built up ONLY burn overall fat? Does it hit the fat that is on top of it at all?
A:
The overall fat includes the fat that's 'on top' :) In fact, most of your fat is what's called subcutaneous (meaning 'under the skin') fat which covers your whole body. Working your muscles will hit that fat along with the deep inter-organ fat.
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