Mike's Fitness

Q: what are the best sources of protein to build muscle?

A: Best sources of protein are all sorts of animal products: lean meats, poultry, fish, milk, cottage cheese, and eggs. Beans, lentils, soy products, and nuts contain fair amount of protein and should become especially significant sources of protein for vegans and vegetarians. If you are having difficulty getting enough protein from "normal" foods, then you could consider supplementing with whey protein powder (which is derived from milk).

Q: i need to lose my belly fat before the summer starts. what exercises should i do?

A: To lose belly fat you need to do two things: eat a healthy nutritious diet and follow an exercise program. Even if you do the best exercises, you won't get very good results if you continue to eat poorly. Both parts are equally important. Start by reading http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/how-to-lose-fat , http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/nutrition , and http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/weight-training . Make sure you really understand these articles.

Q: Hi Mike, we just found your site, it's very helpful. We are husband and wife and we are both overweight and want to start losing weight. What is a good target weight for us? I am 6'2" 243 and she is 5'7" 194. We are both in mid-30s and working desk jobs. Thank you! Joe and Jessi

A: For the husband the upper limit of healthy weight is considered to be 195 pounds and for the wife it is 160 pounds. I would try to make those weights your targets and allow yourself at least 6 months or even more to get there. Don't try to lose all that weight in a month or two -- it will only backfire and the fat will come right back. Lose at a steady pace of 1-2 pounds per week and you are much more likely to hit your target weight and, most importantly, stay there or continue even lower!

Q: I have been chubby all my life and gettin sick of it! I cant afford the gym so what is the best exercise to do at home to get in shape?

A: There are two exercises that you can do at home that provide a very, very good workout. In fact, they may be as good as anything you can do at the gym! I wrote about them in some earlier Q&As, but they are so good that it's well worth repeating again.

The two exercises for a complete at-home workout are burpees and pullups. Burpees don't require any equipment at all -- just your own body weight! Pullups do require a pullup bar, but these are very cheap -- $20 or less -- and can easily be mounted in most door frames. For example: http://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Health-Fitness-Door-Chin/dp/B0016BNDXI/ref=s...

There are many variations of burpees. All of them are good but here's my favorite, that hits the most possible muscles (which is what you want in any workout -- the more muscles are worked out the more fat you will burn):

1. Start by standing straight up with plenty of empty space around you -- you need at least 8 feet of empty space to do a burpee.