Q&A for: 9-Feb-08
2569. Q:
Hi Mike.As a lot of people i also aim to lose body fat after a long bulk period.Summer is on its way and many guys at gym wanna get leaner to look better out there(me also).I see lately a confusion about the cardio we should do to lose fat and when we should do it.Let me tell u my opinion and if aim wrong plz correct me. 1)First of all iam confused about cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach which is supposed to burn more fat..and (also,in my opinion)some muscles as well.When u wake up after 6-9 hours of sleep ur body need to fuel it.If u make that period longer by doing some cardio wont this lead to some muscle loss also? 2)Many say you shouldnt ever do your cardio immediately after your weight traning cause this will interfere with the muscle recovery while others claim that this time is good for cardio because you wont have any carbs to burn after lifting weights and so u can burn only fat.At either case and if u want to lose fat and keep ur muscles i do this: I complete my weight training(takes me an hour max,never more).After this and before i start my cardio i drink my protein shake(around 28 g of protein)then i do cardio at moderate pace-fast walking for only 20-30 minutes max(and no more).Then i go home and have a big carb meal to recover.Is it ok in your opinion?The protein i get is supposed to keep my muscles from burning in cardio while enables my body to lose only fat cause i dont eat any carbs at that time. 3)Hiit vs moderate intensity cardio.I think hiit is for people who want to lose fat faster.I prefer to lose fat slowly,really slowly.This way i preserve my precious muscles.I also believe that you should do hiit only in your non-training days.I think a good choise is to either only do moderate intensity cardio for slow fat loss and leave hiit for when u see u cant lose the last bit of fat or either mix them.This means u can do some moderate intensity cardio after 2 of your weighttraining for no more of 30 mins max and 20 minimum and 2 rest days hiit.One of my friends does only hiit 2 days a week in his rest days and nothing more for fat loss cause he doesnt wanna try cardio after weight training and doesnt have any other hours free during whole day to do it.I think this is also ok.What do u think?
A:
Let me go through your questions one by one...
1) I agree with you -- you should have a breakfast before working out, whether cardio or weights. At the very least have a protein shake. You can read my explanation why here
2) That should be fine. Ideally you would do cardio separate from weights, but obviously time and convenience is a factor for all of us, so doing cardio after weights is fine. What you do, drinking protein before cardio, makes it even better.
3) I think that HIIT should have a place in everyone's program. It is really a hybrid of resistance training and cardio and is LESS likely to burn muscle than regular steady-pace cardio (for the same reason as weight training is less likely to burn muscle than cardio). So I would not hesitate to actually start HIIT first and 'save' regular cardio for the last push. However what you describe -- doing 2 sessions of regular cardio and 2 sessions of HIIT weekly is perfectly fine as well. Hope that helps!
2570. Q:
Hi there. I was watching a program on tv and it revealed using something similiar to a cat scan that even people who look very slim and not overweight or fat can still have a lot of body fat around their vital organs which is not healthy. Is this the reason why you say the right diet is as important as the amount of food that you eat? A lot of people who are active and do not overeat and burn off any junk food they eat think that as long as the burn off calories they will be fine - this does not seem to be the case.
A:
I wouldn't say that visceral fat specifically is the reason for eating good stuff, but rather that over time any number of health problems can and will take place if you consistently eat junk food, even if your overall calories are so low that you don't gain weight. Our bodies are amazing machines that can take A LOT of abuse and keep on going but if we consistently keep putting garbage and little or nothing good in them they will start breaking down. There are dozens of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, enzymes, fiber, and probably other things for which we don't even have names that are found in natural unprocessed or minimally processed foods. No single one of them is so crucial that we need it daily to live. But continually denying our bodies any of these things will eventually cause problems. Vitamin supplements might help, but I strongly believe that they should only be treated as that -- supplements -- and not as primary source of nutrients.
Besides all the nutrients a junk food diet would be missing it would also carry a lot of stuff that's harmful to our bodies -- sugars and simple processed carbs, hydrogenated and trans fats, and alcohol. It's certainly possible to eat few enough calories of such junk to not gain weight, but common sense tells us that a diet of, say, a milk shake and half a dozen beers a day and nothing else will be very rough on the body even though it may not result in any weight gain.
2571. Q:
Hi mike, its me again the 6ft 13st 19yr old, ive got 2 questions 2 ask, 1) how much protein can the body consume in one meal? 2) how much protein should i take if i want to cut back, if there any diferance with how much protein u should take in, with eiher bulk or cut. or should it be the same for both training, thanks
A:
Shoot for 30-40 grams of protein in any one meal and try to get at least 2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight daily. In your case, 13 stones is about 82 kilos so you should aim for around 160-170 grams of protein daily. There's a good chance your body can benefit from even more than that, but make at least 160 grams your goal. Remeber that this includes protein from all food sources -- grains, legumes, nuts, and vegetables can all have quite a bit of protein.
The amount of protein does not need to change from bulk to cut -- the main change should be in the amount of carbs. You can play with the Fitness Guide specifying alternatively 'Lose Fat' and 'Gain Muscle' as goals to see the differences in suggested diets.
2572. Q:
what can I eat after I have done alot of exercise to maintain a good figure
A:
Please check out my Diet article.
2573. Q:
what should I eat to maintain muscle and burn fat
A:
Please check out my Diet article.
2574. Q:
Hi man,nice site u have here.I would like ask u some things a)When i do strong chest workouts after them my triceps hurt a lot.Is this cause they are used a lot to most chest exercises?My chest doesnt hurt like my triceps do the training day but the after day do.Are these normal? b)In a superset i do first set 8-9 reps the i lower the weight and immediately do another 5-6 reps.Should i lower th weight more so i could get more reps after? c)In bulk up and fat loss training is there any difference? Thanks in advance.
A:
a) Yes, triceps (as well as shoulders) are heavily used in pressing/pushing motions such as all variations of bench presses. Don't worry about where you do and don't get muscle soreness (aka DOMS). DOMS is not actually an indicator of either progress or good workouts. Some people never get sore and still get great results. So don't read too much into it.
b) Your superset sounds fine. Remember that there is no one 'perfect' program or way to lift. Best results come from variety, ideally periodizing your program throughout the year. You should not train to failure all the time, for example -- in fact if you train specifically for strength you hardly ever need or should go to failure. Check out my Weight Training articles for some different programs.
c) weight training does not need to change from bulk to cut, only diet and cardio training change. The only difference is that you'll probably be a little weaker during the cut so you may need to lower the weight. But the program itself need not change.
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