Q&A for: 31-Jan-10
2927. Q:
mike can you still lose weight, if you only weight train, and dont include no cardio.
A:
Yes, you can definitely lose weight and fat very effectively without doing any cardio, if you have a good whole-body weight training program and a good nutrition plan.
Cardio is great for your overall health, but it is limited as far as its fat-burning potential. It certainly burns calories while you exercise -- typically 600 calories or so per hour or running. That means you need to run for 6 hours to burn 1 pound of fat. More importantly, running does not boost your metabolism once you're in decent shape (it definitely does boost your metabolism if you start in really poor shape). This means you don't get any 'bonus' calorie burning after you finish running while your body recovers. In fact, if you run too much, and especially if you eat little, there's a good chance a lot of running will actually depress your metabolism which means your body gains new fat easier than before.
This is very different from heavy whole-body weight training. Weight training also burns some calories during the exercise itself. But that's not its main fat-burning benefit. What happens during heavy weight training is your muscles sustain significant physical damage that your body then needs to repair. This kicks off a flurry of processes in your body all of which burn calories after the exercise and raise your metabolism. This means the fat-burning continues for days after you are done exercising and your body becomes resistant to building new fat. The net effect is that with less time spent your body burns more fat and becomes resistant to new fat. The keys here are to lift heavy (heavy for you, not for somebody else) and to focus on big compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, pullups/pulldowns, and presses -- you won't burn much fat doing endless bicep curls. Read my Weight Training article to learn how to weight train effectively.
Your diet is very important too, of course. You need to eat enough to support muscle repair and not cause your body to start burning muscle instead of fat for energy which you body can do if you are eating too little. You also can't eat too much or else extra calories start going into new fat. And not all calories are created equal, of course. You need a balance of lean protein, slow-digesting carbs, and healthy fats. Fortunately it sounds more complicated than it really is -- just read my Nutrition article.
So while most people will derive benefits from at least some cardio, it is definitely not necessary if you have a good weight training program and eat right.
2928. Q:
Why is it when I did one whole body weight training once a week I struggled. As soon as I added one extra session in I got my strength back that I had lost and no longer struggled to lift the weights. I know you reccommend at least two hours a week - but if someone cannot do that surely something is better than nothing. I have a program of Hiit and weight trining that I do from Friday to Sunday - ie when I do not have to work or rush and it really works for me. Thanks in advance - good to see your site back
A:
Yes, what you experienced is not uncommon. Much of our strength lies not in our muscles but in our nervous system. The truth is we all have far more muscle potential than we ever realize. The reason is that what we think of as one muscle such as a bicep or a quadricep is actually tens of thousands of individual muscle fibers, each of which is activated by its own nerve connection. The only way we can get maximal power out of one muscle is if all of its individual fibers are activated simultaneously by the nervous system -- except nobody's nervous system is capable of firing off all those fibers at exactly the same time. What we can do however is train our nervous system to fire off fibers more in unison -- this is where frequent training comes in. Optimizing nervous system training is a tricky subject but in virtually all cases best results come from training more than once a week. So the strength loss you are experiencing when training only once a week is your nervous system 'forgetting' how to do -- called 'detraining' -- that exercise.
That doesn't mean that training just once a week is useless, of course. It's still far better than not exercising at all and you'll still be able to burn fat, build muscle, and increase strength. It's just that your progress won't be as fast as if you could put in 2 or more sessions per week.
2929. Q:
how can i lose 50 pounds in 4 months. Im 243 pounds and my height is 5'11.
A:
4 months to lose those 50 pounds is a little faster than what I would normally recommend, but you are quite a bit overweight so you might be able to pull it off. Certainly you should be able to reach your goal within one year, if not four months. Start by reading my articles: How To Lose Fat, Nutrition, and Weight Training to build a knowledge base of how to best lose fat and keep it off. Then you can use Fitness Guide to get a starter program for yourself, but instead of specifying 243 pounds as your weight, put 190 or so to get a more aggressive diet program. It will give you a starter program which you can then customize to fir your tastes and schedule -- probably start by consolidating all the meals into 5-6 per day -- just keep the overall calories and protein/carbs/fats about what the program suggests. Then get eating right, get exercising, and keep track of your weight and aim to lose 2-3 pounds weekly. If you are not losing those 2-3 pounds per week you'll need to decrease calories slightly. You may want to register for my site and start your Fitness Blog so I can monitor your progress and suggest changes if needed (it's all free, of course).
2930. Q:
Hi mike, sometimes i have shin splints when i jog, what should i do to prevent this?
A:
Shin splints are very common, but unfortunately there is no perfect solution for it. It usually comes down to one or more of the following... Running less -- shin splints is an overuse injury so the more you run the worse they'll get -- and considering other forms of cardio like elliptical or stair-climbing machines, biking, swimming, etc. Adopting a running stride that does not land on the heel as heavily -- often this means shortening your stride. Getting better cushioned running shoes. Strengthening your tibialis anterior muscle by exercises like this. Good luck!
2931. Q:
mike i have a question, i find it really hard to lose a pound a week, becuase i tend to lose more than a pound, and how can i increase my chances of it being fat, becuase i am trying to lose weight. Should i not eat carbs after 6, when im less productive, and concetrate on more on proteins
A:
Don't worry if you end up losing two pounds per week instead of just one. One pound per week is just a target and nobody can realistically maintain such exact control over diet and training to steadily and smoothly lose exactly one pound per week. This is especially true if you are quite a bit overweight -- the higher your bodyfat percentage is, the more likely your weight loss will come primarily from fat, so you can afford to lose weight faster. As long as you are eating right and exercising you will most likely be fine. If you are still worried, post back with more detailed information about yourself (age, sex, weight, height) and your diet and exercise program and I'll tell you if you are on track. But as I said, if you are seeing progress and not losing too much weight compared to your bodyfat level, you are probably doing well.
2932. Q:
my AMR is 2197, how many calories should i eat to lose weight?
A:
Try my Fitness Guide to get a starter diet and exercise program.
2933. Q:
Mike I run about 60 to 70 k per week, one day is a 20k run. I try to do weights 2 x's a week, work the main muscles eat about 1980 calaries per day and I am still sitting at the weight of 133 lbs. I am a female and very frustrated. How can I get myself down to 125 lbs or so?????
A:
You didn't mention your height, but assuming you are 5 foot 4 inches or taller you are already in very good shape, so first thing to realize is the better shape you are in, the harder it is to keep improving. You might need to try a lot of different approaches before making a breakthrough. With that in mind, lets continue... First off, good job eating as much as you do -- too many women cut their calories way down and kill their metabolism. Second, you are running a lot more than I would recommend for most people. If you are training for marathons or other endurance events, that makes sense. But if you are running only so you can lose weight, I would recommend cutting down on the volume of running and instead upping your weight training. Too much cardio becomes destructive for your metabolism, just like too few calories. I would decrease running to no more than maybe 20k total per week and incerase the weights to 4x week. You didn't go in detail on your weight program, but hopefully it focuses on big compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, presses, rows, pulldowns/pullups as well as core work. Don't spend too much (or even any) time on isolation exercises like bicep curls or tricep kickbacks.
You may want to review my Nutrition and Weight Training articles to make sure your weight training and diet programs are as good as they can be. If you want, you can post back with a lot more detail about your diet and weight training program and I'll look over it and suggest any changes. Or you could register for my site and start your own Fitness Blog so I can answer your questions right there (again, it's all free). Hope that helps and good luck!
2934. Q:
how many calories a man shoud eat a day to loose weight?
A:
As above, if you are not sure how much to eat, use my Fitness Guide to get a starter program.
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