Hey there. So a couple of days ago I asked for your best diet, nutrition, weight loss, weight gain, weight training, muscle building, product, supplement and food questions for the purpose of a little Q&A.

Well, within about 24 hours, 71 questions were asked. At around 25 I remember thinking “Hey, maybe this is a good time to close the comments?” But then I figured, nah, let’s give it a little longer. Then of course I checked back a few hours later and saw the 25 had become 71, at which point I closed the comments on a post faster than any human has ever closed the comments on a blog post in the history of mankind.

In all seriousness, it was pretty fun (in a homework assignment sort of way), and I think we’ll definitely do it again, and then again after that.

As for the questions themselves, I tried to answer as many as I could and ended up definitely answering the majority of them. 99% of ones not answered were skipped because they were either:

• About injuries.
• About pregnant women/kids.
• About something that I never even heard of.
• About something that required too long of an answer.

In most cases that last one was the cause. But, fear not. I’m going to turn a bunch of those answers into full on articles. For example, a ton of people asked about how to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. That will probably be the first full article to come out of our little Q&A game.

Anyway, enough nonsense. Here are a crap load of answers to your crap load of questions…

Fredrick C: When is it a good time to switch a workout routine? Is there a period of time where a workout is effective, and then should be switched up? Your thoughts?

Me: I actually just wrote something last month that answers this very question. Check it out: How Often Should You Change Your Workout

Kay: Growing up, I was always very athletic and trained daily as I was a member of National Karate team. That being said, today at the age of 29, I find that no matter what type of exercise I do (cardio, weight training, circuits) that my legs always bulk up. Although this may sound great (building muscle) as a female, I prefer to have muscular, but toned, thin legs…any ideas what I can do differently to avoid bulking?

Me: Well, “muscular but toned” legs require A) having muscular legs, and B) having a low enough body fat percentage so that the muscle on your legs is more visible, which is what creates “tone.” Since you seem to be lucky enough to have A all set, based on the info given, I can only guess B may be the solution. Most women store most of their fat on their lower body (and lose it from there last), just like most men store most of their fat on their stomach (and lose it there last as well). So, if you don’t want to add any more muscle to you legs, all you really need to do is stop progressing. As in, whatever kind of weights you are lifting on lower body exercises, don’t try to increase them any further (just maintain them as is instead). After that, the only way to create more “tone” is by losing more fat, which is more a matter of diet than types of exercise (although exercise can obviously play a role).

Marie: I’ve read “The Supplements And Products I Use And Recommend” and ordered the Fish Capsules, Whey Protein and Dextrose. My question is how much Dextrose do you add to the Whey Protein Drink? Also, the protein drinks says to add 3 oz water to one scoop. Does it matter if you add more water? THANKS for your time.

Me: The amount of dextrose (or really just carbs in general) needed for your post workout shake depends on a bunch of factors (length of workout, type of workout, your body weight, etc.), and I’ve seen all sorts of different recommendations. Some seem too high, some seem too low, and I’ve never really come across anything that seems just right. I would say, on average, somewhere between 0.3 and 0.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight. So, for a 200lb person, this would be between 60 and 100 grams of carbs in the meal right after their workout. It’s a very broad range, I know. The average person doing an average workout probably doesn’t need to be in the top end of their range and would be just fine somewhere in the middle.

As for how much water to add… add as much water as you want. There is no maximum. If it tastes like it needs more water, add more. If it tastes like it needs less, add less. If you just want more water… go nuts. It’s perfectly fine.

joe: What’s the best way, in terms of diet /exercise, for a 52 year old man to build serious muscle without packing inches on the waistline? I’m in good health, relatively fit and have been lifting for a few years.

Me: Ah yes, the “how do I gain muscle without gaining fat” question. The answer is, you pretty much can’t. It sucks, I agree. But, for anyone who isn’t a complete beginner or using some form of drug assistance, building muscle requires a caloric surplus. These excess calories can then either go towards the building of new muscle or the storing of new fat. Your diet, training and genetics will decide where they go. As long as your diet/training is at least kind of good, some of the calories will go towards creating new muscle tissue. If you have really good genetics (most of us don’t), most of the calories will go this route. However, even if your genetics, diet, and training are all perfectly fine, some calories will still go towards fat. The worse these 3 factors are, the worse your muscle to fat gain ratio will be. The best thing we can do is get somewhat lean, and then go into a muscle building phase. Then, before we gain too much fat, switch to a fat loss phase to lose the extra fat we gained (and keep the new muscle we built), and then go back to a muscle gain phase, then back to fat loss, and so on and so on.

I explain all of this way better (and give all of the specifics of diet and training) in The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle.

Matt: What food consists within your daily diet. I wonder if you could outline a typical day of food for you e.g. Meal 1, Oats, Meal 2 etc..

Me: I’m way ahead of you, Matt. Check out My Diet.

Diana: I would like to know what your opinion is regarding free weights vs Bowflex machines and how they differ as far as muscle building is concerned.

Me: I’ve never actually used a Bowflex before, so I will say up front I have no personal experience with one. However, when it comes to the general free weights VS machines of any kind argument, free weights always win as far as being the better of the two for building muscle. However, machines most definitely can have their place and be of use. As I’ve talked about before, the biggest requirement for building muscle is progressive overload (increasing the demands being placed on your body) and this can be done on a machine the same way it can with free weights. With that being said though… free weights would still be the better choice of the two in most cases.

Barry: Is there any truth in:
Breakfast like a king,
Lunch like a prince,
Dinner like a pauper.

Me: I assume you’re asking this in terms of weight control? If so, then nope, no truth to this at all. The only thing that matters as far as getting your weight to do what you want it to do is calories. Eat more than your body needs and you gain weight. Eat less than it needs and you lose weight. Eat the same amount it needs and your weight stays the same. Whether you eat X amount during breakfast, lunch or dinner won’t play any role whatsoever as long as the totals at the end of the day are the same.

Natalie: I was wondering what you thought about taking Glutamine after a workout or in the a.m. & p.m. for that matter. Do you find this is helpful for your body? Also, how many grams of sugar would be considered “safe” to eat without gaining any weight, fat… per day?

Me: Can glutamine be helpful, sure. Really helpful? Most likely not unless you were taking a whole lot of it (not really needed for the average person). Taking a serving after your workout definitely won’t hurt, though. Some people feel it helps.

As for the sugar part of your question, there is really no such thing as an official “safe” amount of sugar to eat per day without gaining weight. What it will come down to is total calorie intake. If you can eat 2000 calories per day and not gain weight, then getting some of those 2000 calories from sugar won’t really matter weight-wise. Of course, health-wise is another story. So, a little sugary stuff in your diet won’t hurt your weight as long as your total calorie intake is still what it should be. For health purposes though you still want to keep the sugar intake on the low side.

Stephanie: Is it ok to work the abs everyday or should they get a days rest like the rest of the muscles in the body?

Me: Your abs should get rest just like any other muscle. Training them daily is both silly and completely unnecessary. I personally train my abs directly twice per week with days in between each workout (Tuesday and Friday, for example). More than that is rarely ever needed.

Natalie: I’ve heard that if you do more than 55 minutes of cardio at one time you’ll start to lose muscle, is this true?

Me: False. As long as your diet is fairly sane, there is nothing magical that is going to kick in at 56 minutes and cause muscle loss to occur.

Barbeito: No matter which protein shake I take after my work out I get sick to my stomach after drinking it. I burp and almost get to the point where I want to vomit, In my shake I have creatine, L-glutimine, and currently drinking muscle milk….any ideas?

Me: You mentioned you drink a similar shake (without the creatine) later in the day and you feel fine after that. So, my first questions would be, how much creatine are you putting in that shake and are you sure you are measuring it right? If it’s more than 5 grams, this might be the cause. Next question would be, have you ever tried creatine by itself (again, no more than 5 grams) with just water? Did that make you feel the same way? If so, it’s the creatine. Above normal doses of creatine (more than 5g) have been known to cause stomach related problems like what you describe. At the same time, some people have reported stomach issues even with a normal 5g dose. It’s somewhat rare, but some people just get an upset stomach from creatine no matter how much they take.

Ken: I’m very tall, skinny, and underweight. However I have a bit of a belly. How do I get rid of that? I am very active, but I avoid cardio for fear of losing weight all over except my gut. If I eat less, my face looks gaunt.

Me: Welcome to the world of the “skinny-fat.” You have some fat to lose on your stomach, but don’t want to lose any more weight and become skinnier overall. It’s a common problem for people with your body type. Unfortunately, we can’t pick and choose where our bodies lose fat. So, if you really want to lose the fat on your stomach, it’s going to require creating some form of small caloric deficit and losing fat from your body as a whole. You don’t mention if you do any weight training, but I would recommend doing some if you aren’t already. Adding some muscle to your frame will help in many ways, specifically to add some bulk/size to your body and prevent you from looking/being any skinnier while losing the fat from your stomach.

Swayze: How do you feel about HIIT regarding cardio? I have been doing it now for 3 weeks and much prefer it over steady state.

Me: I feel it’s quite good. I actually read a really in-depth comparison of HIIT vs steady state that basically proved they both have their pros and can both be useful. Off the top of my head I can’t remember where the hell I read it. If it comes back to me I’ll definitely pass it along.

Jay: i read a lot of different sites and magazines like this and try out the workouts that are within, but i’m finding most of them are geared towards skinny guys who want to bulk up. if you look for workouts for fat guys who want to slim down, all you ever get is cardio cardio cardio. can you outline a lifting routine for us fat guys who want to get rid of our guts without so much boring, annoying cardio? if not a whole outline, maybe just some tips and tricks to modify our current routines that will help us get the weight off?

Me: Well, the thing is, there really is no such thing as a weight training workout geared towards fat guys looking to lose weight, just as there is really no such thing as a weight training workout geared towards skinny guys looking to gain weight. There are however a lot of people trying to make it appear as though there is for the purpose of selling something. In reality though, we all gain muscle and lose weight the same way.

As far as cardio goes, if you hate it, you really don’t need to do too much. Hell, you don’t need to do any at all. Weight loss can be achieved through diet alone. Obviously some form of exercise (weight training, cardio or both) will help (and the weight training is required if you want to maintain muscle/strength while losing weight), but really, all weight loss actually takes is a small change to your diet. All of the specifics are explained in The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide.

Glenda: Is it better to loose the weight before building muscle. Having lost 20pounds 6 months ago, I have observed a weight gain of 10 pounds recently. My weights at the gym has since increased.

Me: Not at all. Definitely do NOT wait until you lose the weight before trying to build muscle. Definitely include weight training while losing weight. It will only help.

Tonya: What is the best way to build up your endurance? When I go mountain biking I always have to stop and take more breaks than the other people that I go with. I work out with free weights and I do cardio and I do pilates, and I have lost some weight and am much more toned but I still tire quickly.

Me: Assuming your diet is in order (and you’re getting enough sleep/rest/recovery) the best way to improve your endurance, and the only way really, is progression. If you normally need to stop and rest after 5 minutes, try to go 5 minutes and 30 seconds next time before resting. The time after that try to go 6 minutes. Keep gradually progressing like this until your endurance is where you want it to be.

Alma: I am interested in gaining an extra 5 pounds. What health snacks should I chose?

Me: For protein, chicken, turkey, fish, lean cuts of meat, eggs. For carbs, brown rice, beans, oatmeal, whole wheat/whole grain foods. For fat, nuts and seeds (all kinds), olive oil. Basically the same good quality stuff you’d eat if you were just trying to have a healthy diet… only more of it since you’re looking to gain weight.

Jacquie: 1. Do you feel women have to exercise differently than men?
2. What exercises would you suggest for women who are menopausal (metabolism has slowed down) to both tone up & lose weight?
3. I have about 100 lbs. to lose. Along with eating a healthy diet, watching my portions & drinking enough water daily, do you recommend cardio, weights, or a combo of both to get results?

Me: 1. Nope. We all build muscle, lose fat, gain strength and control weight the same way, male or female.
2. Nothing different than I would for non-menopausal women. You’d just need to adjust your diet/exercise to compensate for the changes in your metabolism. Full details are in The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide.
3. One or the other would be good, both would be even better. Check out the weight loss guide. It explains all of this in WAY more detail and will answer every other question you’ll ever have about losing weight.

Bo: I am 64 years old and have tried to stay in shape over the years. I work out pretty heavily 4-6 times a week in my garage gym with mostly free weights. I can’t get rid of the outer layer of body fat. That may be because I have yo-yoed with my weight over the years from 180 (current) to 237. I watch my diet intake, i.e., chicken, fish, oatmeal, lots of veggies and an occasional fat free ice cream or low fat popcorn. I do lots of waist and ab exercises but still have the veil of fat over the distant 4-6 pack.

Me: Well, one thing that’s for sure is that all of the ab stuff you are doing is definitely not the solution. It will help with giving you strong abs, which is a good thing, but the fat covering them won’t be affected. Instead, to lose that layer of fat, you have to do the same thing you’d do if you wanted to lose fat from any other part of your body… create a caloric deficit. The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide explains the details.

Bo: I’m a 64 year old man who once had 18 inch arms and can’t get them back. I work out 4-6 days a week and use two bicep and tricep exercises per week. I pack it on and exhaust myself but the arms aren’t coming back. My diet is about 2300 calories a day of all the good stuff including whey and glutamine. I want my arms (currently about 13.5 inches) back to around 16 or 17.

Me: At this point (age 64), it’s not likely that you are capable of putting on the amount of muscle needed to get back to having arms that size again (it would require about a 15-20 pound weight gain per inch, which makes it nearly impossible for most guys of any age to reach arms that size). That doesn’t mean you still can’t get them to grow though. It’s really just a matter of eating/training properly. Full details are in the The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle, although this would conflict with your above goal of losing that layer of fat.

Casey: How often should I do a leg workout? I am most concerned with the lower half of my body, so would like to do a leg routine as often as possible without overtraining. In other words, what is the smallest amount of time I can safely leave between workouts?

Me: This would depend on many factors, such as the specific amount of volume (how many sets/reps/exercises) and intensity (how heavy/light you are lifting) being used. Generally though, 2 lower body workouts per week (Monday and Thursday, or Tuesday and Friday, etc.) with moderate volume (3-6 sets for quads, 3-6 sets for hams, 3-4 sets for calves each of the 2 workouts), with normal intensity should do just fine.

Angie: I’ve been working out 5 days weight training/6 days cardio 45min per day. Usually after 6-8 weeks I hit a burn out point, were I end up taking a week or so off and then I go back. I usually don’t find myself eating 100% clean either. My question is: Is this good to take time off and am I completing messing everything up I have worked on?

Me: Taking time off every so often is good, but every 6-8 weeks is a bit too often. Instead of taking a week off when you hit this burn out point, take an easy week or two. You can do the same amount of volume but with less intensity (for example, if you always did 3 sets with 50lbs on some exercise, do 3 sets with 35-40lbs) or you can keep the intensity the same, and lower the volume (2 sets instead of 4 sets, 25 minutes of cardio instead of 45). And then after this easy week or two, go back to your normal workout. At the same time, feeling burned out every 6-8 weeks may very well be a sign that you are doing a bit too much.

Hector: Im doing fine with calorie intake and watching what i eat. I need help with the sugar in my diet though. About how many grams of sugar per day is too much or too little? What should I definitely cut out of my diet if Im trying to loose all the fat around my belly so that i can get some great abs?

Me: There really is no such thing as too little sugar in your diet. The less, the better. As for what to cut out of your diet to lose belly fat, it’s all about calories. The only thing that causes fat loss of any kind is creating a caloric deficit. Full details are in the The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide.

Jamie: What do you suggest for the 51 year old menopausal female. I’ve worked out for 15 years - cardio and weight training, but now, the middle is getting thick even though nothing much has changed. Can you comment? You must know some older women..

Me: I think this is the second menopause related question so far. 1 more and I win a prize! Seriously though, there is really nothing different to do when it comes to weight loss. Your calorie requirements may change, but this just means you need to adjust your diet/training to compensate for it. There is only 1 way to lose weight, menopause or not, young or old, male or female. The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide explains it all.

Jose: i been on vacation for 2 weeks, finding it hard to get back TO MY WORK OUT AND CALORIE PLAN. DID NOT GAIN MUCH WEIGHT ON VACATION ABOUT 3 LBS BUT MY MEALS ARE VERY DISTORTED

Me: Not really much of an answer is needed here as your problem is will power/motivation related. So uh… get off your ass and go do what you know you need to do. Not much more else I can say.

Jake: I have been working out my upper body for about two years and want to get into doing leg workouts, but I am totally clueless how to go about it. I have started my mixing machine squats into my arm workout. Should I have one day just dedicated to lower body? What exercises for legs do you recommend? Thanks!

Me: The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle answers this. Check it out.

Joe: I am trying to gain muscle. I work outside, year-round, in a very active job with no guaranteed lunch breaks (don’t ask). Creating a calorie-surplus has proven to be quite a challenge. Any advice?

Me: Quick, easy and convenient calorie dense foods/meals. Nuts, protein bars, and lots of liquid meals. It’s not too uncommon for people to throw all kinds of stuff in a blender with protein powder (everything from oats to olive oil to ice cream) and drink it to get their calories in. If this still doesn’t help, look into intermittent fasting. It’s a way of eating where you fast for about 16 hours of the day (except for like water and coffee and things like that), and then get your full calorie intake in during one 8 hour window. Look into it some more if it sounds like it would be helpful for your situation.

Fauzana: Hi I so want to gain weight but its very hard to can you please tell some ways to do so. I eat normal but my weight just doesn’t go up.

Me: Well, that’s just it. You are eating normal. To gain weight, you have to eat more than normal. Monitor your calorie intake and weigh yourself first thing in the morning once per week. If you aren’t gaining weight, start eating an extra 500 calories per day. If you start to gain weight, good. Keep eating this amount. If you don’t, add another 250-500 calories. Repeat this process until you reach the point where you gain about 1lb per week.

Matty: What are your thoughts on using creatine/pre-workout supps?

Me: All of my thoughts on creatine are in the supplements section of The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle. As for pre-workout supplements, it would depend on which specific ones you are referring to. I personally don’t use any and don’t really recommend any either.

Andy: Sometimes we ALL get caught up in the moment, of work or vacation etc. What are some simple exercises, that we can do to maintain what we have all worked so hard for. I follow the your routine of 2 days on 1 day off 2 days on 2 days off. But sometimes I just get pressed hard at work and find myself with little to no time to hit the gym. Any recommendations?

Me: Tough one. We all know the obvious answer of “do bodyweight exercises like pushups and crunches and squats while holding a gallon of water and pullups on a tree branch” and things like that. But, in all honesty, some body weight squats (even with the “gallon of water”) won’t come close to replacing 225lbs of weight on your back. On the rare occasion where you have to miss a workout, these ideas won’t be so terrible. At the same time, just missing the workout wouldn’t be the end of the world either. The thing however is that, to actually maintain muscle/strength/fitness level, you kind of have to do the things that got you that muscle/strength/fitness level in the first place. Your best bet is to try to shorten your workouts to fit them in better, or cut your 4 day split down to just 2 full body workouts per week.

Teresa: I have been training at home recently as I’m over going to the gym. Would like a good weights workout (free weights) or a good DVD to guide me as I’ve always had someone telling me what to do at the gym.

Me: I know very little about workout DVDs, so I have no real recommendations. Check the best selling stuff at Amazon.com in the fitness/exercise category.

Kristi: I recently discovered Orovo Detox on the internet and would like to know your thoughts. I myself would like to lose a little weight, more for toning, but my sister is very overweight and she also has bad skin conditions including acne, stretch marks and rashes where her skin rubs.

Me: I have no idea what it will do for skin problems (probably not much), but as far as weight loss goes… it’s complete junk.

Jamie: I have been working out for around 6 months and I am not getting the growth results I am after. I work hard in the gym and my strength gains have been great. I just want to get bigger quicker.

I am eating well and taking Whey protein and Creatine. I am pretty strict on when and the amount I take before and after workouts, before bed and when I wake. Do you recommend any other supplements or tricks to start seeing better results?

Me: There are no tricks, and supplements are definitely not the solution. Check out The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle. It explains everything you should be doing to build muscle. If you find something in there you aren’t doing it… start doing it… and the results will come.

Thomas: I am wondering if L-glutamine will help me in keeping most of my muscle and have most of my weight loss due to fat loss, not muscle loss

Me: The single most important thing you can do to maintain muscle while losing weight is work your ass off to maintain your strength on every exercise in the gym. Switching to lighter weights for higher reps, like many people do at this point, is the worst thing you can do. Instead, just try to maintain everything in the gym as is. This will act as the signal to your body that it needs to hang on to your muscle.

ds: In your “The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle” blog, you mentioned in the “Frequency” section that:

“An upper/lower split (upper body on Monday and Thursday, lower body on Tuesday and Friday, for example) where each body part is hit in some form twice per week seems to be the most often recommended training split among the really smart people whose recommendations I value…”

Can you cite who these people are and perhaps some articles/books for reference?

Me: Off the top of my head and in no specific order, Joe Defranco, Eric Cressey, Chad Waterbury, Alwyn Cosgrove, Ian King, Kelly Baggett, Lyle Mcdonald, Christian Thibaudeau, the guys at EliteFTS and Westside Barbell, John Berardi, and virtually every single strength and conditioning coach around.

Gino: Would you say the the best way to gain muscle mass would be to completely not worry about fat gain? I ask because I’m not making the type of gains I would like, prolly cause I’m struggling to maintain a caloric surplus due to working outside. Anyways, I’m doing your suggested workout. Is it an OK idea to just eat everything in site and worry about it next Feb?

Me: A huge NO. I recommend following the type of diet I explain in The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle, whose goal is to allow muscle gain while limiting fat gain to a minimum. Gaining a bunch of extra fat will do nothing to help muscle gains, and only hurt your ability to maintain muscle when you have to lose all of that extra fat… because you will have so much extra fat to lose and will need to diet for so much longer. In the end you’ll most likely end up right back where you started.

Greg: pros and cons hvt vs hit weight lifting . is one better than another ?

Me: Hard to give pros and cons on two types of training that I really don’t like at all. High volume training and high intensity training both represent 2 extremes, neither of which works very well for the average, drug free person. I think the better way is somewhere directly in the middle of the two. Moderate volume, intensity, frequency and rest.

Alicia: I’ve been going to the gym for three months now: 6 days a week and do cardio (30 minutes each time) and lift a different muscle group each day (shoulders, back one day arms, chest next day..etc) I lost 30 pounds in 2 months and have been at a stand still for 1 month. I still have a long way to go…about 80 more pounds. I’m pretty regimented/balanced about my diet (in a healthy way). I’m wondering what I need to do to get back to losing weight…I’m wondering if more cardio and less weights might be the answer?

Me: The problem here is most likely that you have reached the point where you are no longer in a caloric deficit and are instead at your maintenance level. This is perfectly normally and just means you need to adjust your diet a bit. The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide contains the full details. And, definitely keep the weight training. It’s only helping.

arp: i want to know that if i want to start with creatine what should i do coz iv got my self one of ON should i load it or 5gms every day which one will show me results quickly iv been asking my trainers about dis but each has a different story some say u should load it some say 5gms per day and some say u should take it post workout some say pre workout and with what should i take it with grape juice or glucose

Me: No need to load it, and I don’t recommend loading it. Everything else you need to know about creatine is in the supplements section of The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle.

Nick: i’ve been trying to get ripped in my mid section but its proving a major task. i’d even tried cutting down my sugar intake…please advice

Me: Reducing sugar is definitely a good idea, but it’s not directly what causes fat loss. What does is a caloric deficit, which is explained in full detail in The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide.

Krouse: At 5′8 and 145lbs (give or take) I’m looking to gain weight. I’m exercising 6 times a week now and need to eat more to keep up with my workout program, but I just can’t seem to eat enough. Any suggestions on what I can buy from the store to help with proper weight gain?

Me: I am not a fan of weight gainers as most of them are just sugary junk. I’d much rather see you throw some raw oats, olive oil, protein powder, and some type of fruit or Gatorade powder or something for flavor into a blender and drink that. Other than that, stick to calorie dense foods (like nuts, for example) so you get more out of what you do have time to eat. There’s really no tip for weight gain other than just… eat more.

Blake: I want to design weight traning program that has me working out 4 days/week. I was looking to stick to ur upper/lower split with ON, ON, OFF, ON, ON, OFF, OFF layout through the week.

Question: wouldn’t the legs get more training than the upper body using this layout? eg:
Day1. chest/triceps
Day2. legs
Day3. off
Day4. back/biceps/shoulders
Day5. legs
Day6/7. off
As you can see the legs get worked twice throughout the week where as the upper muscle groups only get worked once. Also this layout forces me to have a day where i have to work 3 upper muscle groups (back/biceps/shoulders) and a day where i only work 2 (chest/triceps).

My concern is with working the legs too much and the upper body not enough. And also working 2 upper muscels one day and 3 the next. Are any of these things bad??? should i be worrying???

Also I came up with a workout plan to try and avoid the concerns i have-
Day1. chest/triceps
Day2. legs
Day3. off
Day4. back/biceps
Day5. legs/shoulders
Day6/7. off
would this qualify as a “non-idiotic” weight training program?

Me: Well yeah, with these training programs you have come up with you would be hitting your legs twice per week and everything else once. So yeah, it’s kind of idiotic. In all seriousness though, why not just go with the program I recommended in The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle? It condenses everything down fairly well with every muscle getting hit twice per week, no more no less.

Jamie: I need some guidelines to help lose weight. I am 5′6? and 240 lbs I am woman, I have been working out for 5 years now and just in the last 2 months I have been working out EVERY MORNING a mix of cardio and weights for about 1/2 an hour to 45 min for cardio and 1/2 an hour for weights, but I keep gaining weight!!!! what should I be eating? NOT EATING? I really need to lose at least 50 lbs (more obviously but 50 seems like an attainable goal) what can I do to CONTROL appetite? PLEASE HELP. I feel out of control.

Me: Relax. Read The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide. It will clearly explain every single thing you need to do to lose weight.

Houeida: I have followed the advice you provided in the Ultimate Weight Loss Guide, and it has worked great for me. I focused on calorie-in Vs calorie out ratio to lose weight and I have lost 1Kg per week for six weeks on a row, then without changing anything, I have experienced a plateau. It’s two weeks now that I am stagnating @68 Kg.

My question is: Is it possible that our body adapts to lower calorie input? and if so, Is there a way to break this plateau and go back to loosing weight.

Me: The answers to your questions are yes and yes. As long as you are sure you have gone a few weeks with no weight loss at all, and you aren’t eating less than 1200 calories per day (as a female), all you need to do is make a small calorie reduction (about 250-500 calories should do) to your daily intake. So, if you are currently maintaining your weight eating 2500 calories per day, start eating about 2000-2250 calories per day for now on and see what your weight does then. Chances are it starts gradually decreasing again.

The end. Again, if I skipped your question it’s not because it was a stupid question or because I don’t like you. Ok, it probably was. Nah, It wasn’t. I swear. I’d say there is a 75% chance that if I didn’t answer your question here, it’s because I’m planning on writing a full article about it in the near future.

Later.

Something big is coming to a Calorie Counter pretty soon. And yeah, you’re going to like it… a lot.

Until it’s all ready to go though, I came up with a fun little idea. See, I get a bunch of emails daily from people asking me a variety of stuff. I then try to answer as many of those people as I can. While doing this I always kind of think “hey, I bet other people would like to know the answer to this question too.”

That’s right, I begin all of my thoughts with the word “hey.”

So, I figured now would be the perfect time to try out the first ever round of a Calorie Counter’s Question And Answer Blog Post o’ Fun!

…or something like that.

Think up your best diet, nutrition, weight loss, weight gain, weight training, muscle building, product, supplement, food or aCalorieCounter.com related questions… and uhhhh… ask me them in the comments below.

I’ll then answer as many of them as I can in either one giant post or possibly separate posts if my answers are too long.

Feel free to ask more than one question. If you do though, just remember to do it in separate comments.

So um, get on your mark, get set, ask stuff.

**EDIT** Wow, ok… 71 questions have now been asked. I think that’s enough to keep me busy for a little while. Comments are now closed. Answers are coming soon.

After looking through a whole lot of ingredients, I have put together a list of 10 very common foods that all contain trans fat even though their labels say they don’t.

How is that possible, you ask? Well, as I’ve mention before (and mention again in the intro of this list), the FDA’s trans fat labeling guidelines are… idiotic. Seriously. That’s how it’s possible for a food to contain trans fat despite the fact that its label says it doesn’t.

To learn the full details of these guidelines and see which foods make the list, check out…

10 Surprising Foods That Contain Trans Fat

Know of any similar foods? Let me know in the comments and I’ll gladly add them to this list.

So, how often do you change your workout? Or, even better, how often are you supposed to change your workout?

I ask this question because, more often than not, the answer most people will give is wrong. In a lot of those cases, it’s also quite dumb.

For example, have you ever heard something along the lines of “you should change your workout every 6 weeks to shock your body.” Feel free to replace “6 weeks” with 2 weeks, or 4 weeks, or 8 weeks, or 10 weeks or your own favorite set time frame.

Either way, it’s all still wrong and quite dumb.

That whole idea of having to change your workout every X amount of days, weeks or months to “shock your body” is complete BS.

As I’ve mentioned before, the #1 thing you need to do to get anything resembling good results from any form of exercise is consistently force your body to improve. It’s the progressive overload principle. If you want to increase muscle, strength, flexibility, speed, explosiveness, endurance or just your overall fitness level, you must work to increase the demands you are placing on your body.

For example, if you can only jog for 5 minutes before having to stop to walk, the only way you will ever be able to jog more than 5 minutes is by gradually forcing your body to try to jog more than 5 minutes. Try 5 minutes and 20 seconds next time. Then 5 minutes and 40 seconds the time after that.

If you can currently lift 50lbs for 8 reps, the only way you will ever increase muscle or strength is by working to lift 50lbs 9 times, or 10 times, or 55lbs 8 times, or something similar.

The point I’m getting at here is that the only thing that makes your body improve is gradual progression. Changing your workout every X weeks to “shock” your body is just nonsense that, if anything, is only counterproductive to what you actually need to do.

Think about it. How can you progress at something if you are constantly changing what it is you are doing? Your goal with exercise (assuming you’re not a fan of crappy results) is to do something consistently, and then progress at it as often as you can. If you keep changing it, all you really end up doing it stopping yourself from progressing.

Progression is the one and only type of change that your body requires.

So, does that mean your workout should stay exactly the same for the next 50 years? Not exactly. There are 2 reasons you SHOULD change your workout. They are:

1. When progress stops.
   If what you’re doing is working, keep doing it until it stops working. It seems like a pretty simple concept, but apparently it isn’t. One of the dumbest things I hear/see people do all the time is find something that works, and then change it solely because it’s been “6 weeks and it’s time to change it.” That’s just silly.

   If you’re doing something that is working well, don’t stop doing it. Whether it works for 6 months, a year, 5 years, 10 years or 50 years, as long as it’s working and progression is still happening at an acceptable rate, there is absolutely no reason to change it. No matter what some bad source of information tells you (bodybuilding magazine, some dumb personal trainer at the gym, some idiot on a fitness related forum, etc.), your workout doesn’t need to be changed, and your body doesn’t need to be shocked. It just needs to progress, and as long as you’re doing that… that’s all that really matters.

2. When boredom starts.
   There is however one other reason that I feel would warrant a change to your workout… boredom. Now, hear me out. If you’re getting bored with your workout every other week, you really just need to suck it up and stop being such a baby. Seriously. However, if after a somewhat longer period of time (where there was at least some sane amount of consistency) you become bored with what you’re doing to the point where it may hinder your progress… you should probably change something.
   What that means is, if you become so bored and/or uninterested with your workout that it’s preventing you from working hard and putting in a good amount of effort, or even causing you to miss or think about missing some workouts, you should change something. Even if what you’re doing is working, make a change. Because, while the short term progress may be good, if it’s going to cause long term problems (like you quitting because you’ve lost interest) then this is the one time when change should be made even though what you’re doing is working.

Now, the next question you may have is, if one of the above reasons presents itself, what type of change should you make to your workout? Something big? Something small? Well, this one is entirely up to you.

For a cardio example, if you’re currently jogging on a treadmill, you could make a change as small as jogging somewhere else (outside, around a track, etc.). You could also make a change as big as riding a bike or swimming.

For weight training the number of options become even larger. If you currently work certain muscles on certain days, you could keep everything in the workout the same and just change the days. You could change exercises. You could switch a machine exercise to a barbell exercise, or a barbell exercise to a dumbbell exercise. If you rest 2 minutes between sets, you can rest a minute and 30 seconds between sets. If you do 3 sets of 10 reps, you can do 4 sets of 6 reps, or 5 sets of 5, or 3 sets of 12, or 4 sets of 8, or 8 sets of 3, and so on. If you normally do exercise A and then exercise B, you can do exercise B first and then exercise A.

There’s literally dozens of changes you can make, some big, some small. I personally make fairly small changes when it comes time to make a change. For example, I’ve been using the same

Monday: Upper body
Tuesday: Lower body
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Upper body
Friday: Lower body
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

split for years now and see no reason to change that simple template. What I will change are things like set/rep ranges like in the examples I mentioned before. An exercise I’m doing 3 sets of 8-10 with may become 4 sets of 6-8 or the other way around. Or, I’ll switch from lunges to split squats, or pull ups with an overhand grip to pull ups with an underhand grip. Back squats to front squats. Standing overhead presses to seated overhead presses. Barbell rows to dumbbell rows. I’m sure you get the picture.

In case you’re wondering, these changes do NOT happen daily, or weekly, or even monthly. They happen only when one of the 2 reasons mentioned above happen. Otherwise, I’m not “shocking” a damn thing.

And, if you would like to get good results from your workout, adopting this common sense concept is probably a pretty good idea.

Here’s my attempt to kill two birds with one stone. Or, at the very least, injure both of them slightly.

1. The first bird I plan to harm today is supplements and products. When it comes anything diet and fitness related, people seem to be obsessed with buying stuff and learning about stuff they can buy. It’s strange, especially when you understand that it’s a proper diet and/or workout that will allow people to accomplish whatever their goal is (weight loss, increased muscle, improved overall health, etc.), not something that you can buy and “use.” With that being said, there are some useful supplements and products in the world, and this post will act as my official rundown of the supplements and products I use and recommend.
2. Bird #2 is trust. See, I read a lot of sites/blogs about all sorts of stuff. From time to time, a specific product or brand is recommended. I don’t know about you, but when I see this, I always wonder if the person doing the recommending honestly uses this product/brand like they claim, or, if they are just recommending this product/brand because it will in some way make them some money. Now, I don’t care if it makes them some money. That’s actually perfectly fine by me. A site needs to support itself somehow. However, it’s when the money is the sole reason for the recommendation (and NOT that they actually use it) that I start to have a problem. What I’m saying is, if I were you, I’d probably be wondering if I was being completely truthful whenever I claimed to “use and recommend” a specific product or supplement.

So, I figured the best way to do something very bad to these poor birds is with a little show and tell.

This is a picture of my living room floor along with pretty much even single supplement or product I’ve ever claimed to “use and recommend” on this site, or will ever claim to “use and recommend.”

With the exception of a couple of items (which I’ll explain later), a gym membership, and a bunch of quality food… this is it. This is a picture of the only diet and fitness related stuff I’ve ever spent a cent on or will ever recommend you spend a cent on. I’ll even go as far as to say that, aside from the stuff mentioned in this post, 99% of all other diet and fitness related products/supplements are complete and utter junk.

With the showing now out of the way, here comes the telling.

On the bottom left, that little roundish white thing is my digital food scale.

• Specific Brand: Salter 2001 5-Pound Microtronic Kitchen Scale
• What Does It Do: Uh, you push the “on” button, put your food on it, and it will tell you how much it weighs in either grams or ounces (this scale does both). The point of figuring out your food’s weight is so you can figure out the exact nutrition facts (calories, protein, carbs, fat, etc.) of your exact serving of a food. Doing so will allow you to know exactly what you are eating, and knowing exactly what you are eating is not only the key to weight loss, weight gain and weight maintenance, but it’s also the key to ensuring that you have an overall healthy diet that doesn’t lack the things your body needs, and doesn’t contain too much of the things it doesn’t.
• Why This Specific Brand: It was the best reviewed/best selling digital food scale around when I was looking to buy a new one (September 2006), and as of right now (April 2008), it still is. I’ve had no problems with it at all and I only had to change the battery once so far. It’s small and pretty cheap… currently $29.99 on Amazon.com.
• Who I Think Should Use It: Anyone who cares about their diet, which should be pretty much everyone. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, a food scale makes the life of a person who gives a crap about what they are putting into their body so much easier. Since a Calorie Counter allows you to search for a food and then enter in your own specific serving size (in grams or ounces), it kind of seems silly not to have one.

On the top left, those 3 little blue and white bottles… that’s fish oil.

• Specific Brand: Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega
• What Does It Do: At this point the question isn’t what DOES fish oil do, it’s what DOESN’T fish oil do (I said that in my best Ferris Bueller voice, by the way). Writing a full article about it is definitely on my to-do list, but for now I’ll keep it short and simple. Fish oil (more specifically the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA that it contains) improves your body’s ability to do damn near everything. Yes, seriously. And no, this isn’t some wacky herbal remedy nonsense… this is scientifically researched and proven stuff. Fish oil is one of the few things nearly every doctor, nutritionist, strength coach, and diet/fitness expert will agree on. From the American Heart Association on down… you’re honestly not going to find any remotely knowledgeable source that won’t recommend fish oil.
• Why This Specific Brand: Two reasons. First, when it comes to the stuff I put into my body, I’m a big fan of quality. And, this brand is one of (if not the most) high quality fish oil supplement around. I base that statement on the 2 separate consumer reports I saw which tested a variety of fish oil supplements for purity and other stuff (accurate amounts of EPA and DHA) and it ranked as highly as possible on both. Also, the few times I’ve seen an expert recommend a specific brand, Nordic Naturals was that brand. It’s kind of regarded as one of the top fish oil brands there is (along with Carlson’s, which is another brand I like, but don’t actually use). The second reason… it contains a higher than average amount of EPA and DHA per capsule. What this means is that while many brands will require you to take anywhere from 6-10 capsules per day to reach a good amount of EPA and DHA, Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega would require half as many to reach the same amounts of EPA and DHA.
• Who I Think Should Use It: Everyone. Yup, everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to lose weight, build muscle, or just be healthy in general. In fact, it doesn’t matter if you pay any attention to your diet or have ever worked out in your life. If you are human, fish oil is for you. While fish oil is completely safe (it’s just like eating fish), you should obviously double check with your doctor if you have any health issues or are pregnant. In the case of pregnancy, chances are your doctor has already recommended that you take a fish oil supplement (numerous studies show it is beneficial to the brain development of the baby). And, in the case of health issues, chances are there is a study out there proving that fish oil will in some way help it, no matter what it is. You may think I’m exaggerating, which is fine. Whenever I get around to writing that full article on fish oil, you’ll see I’m not.

To the right of the fish oil, in the white and pink container… that’s whey protein powder.

• Specific Brand: Designer Whey Protein Powder
• What Does It Do: Technically, it doesn’t really “do” anything. It’s just protein, so it’s kind of like claiming chicken “does” something. Obviously a sufficient protein intake is pretty important, and a protein supplement such as this one is a very simple and convenient (and low calorie) source of protein. And, while this is part of the reason I use a whey protein supplement, there’s another reason. That reason is that whey is the “fast” protein. Meaning, out of all of the forms protein, whey is digested and absorbed by the body the quickest. This makes whey protein powder the ideal and most often expert-recommended source of protein for the meal immediately following your workout.
• Why This Specific Brand: When it comes to protein powder, there’s really only 3 things to consider. Taste, mixability, and price. You can definitely find whey protein powders that cost less than Designer, however, you won’t find many that taste as good and mix as easily. I personally don’t mind spending a little bit more to avoid having to force myself to drink something that tastes like… well… crap. I’ve tried a couple of flavors of Designer’s whey powder, and they all taste fine. I’m mostly a fan of the strawberry flavor (as shown on my living room floor). As far as mixing goes, this brand takes literally 10 seconds to mix with nothing more than a spoon, and maybe 5 seconds with the use of a shaker bottle (which is another product I use and recommend and will mention later).
• Who I Think Should Use It: Anyone who is consistently performing at least somewhat intense exercise and wants to maximize their post workout nutrition. And, anyone lacking a sufficient protein intake who for one reason or another would rather drink a shake than eat a food that’s high in protein. Speaking of which, now is probably a good time to mention that while getting some of your daily protein intake from a supplement is perfectly fine, the majority of it should still come from actual foods (chicken, turkey, fish, lean meat, eggs, etc.).

Right below the protein powder, sort of leaning on it, is a note that says “aCalorieCounter.com” and another sentence that is most likely too small for most people to read. It says “Yup, I really do use the stuff I recommend.”

Well, either that or I just borrowed all of this stuff from someone so I could take a picture and claim it’s mine. But, I’d never do such a thing.

Or would I? MuHaHaHa.

Alright, seriously, I know a picture of stuff on my floor doesn’t completely prove anything, but I am willing to pinky swear that it’s all mine and I really do use every single thing I claim to use (and recommend), and I’ve been using most of it for quite a while. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find my receipt so I can return this stuff to the store that was kind enough to let me rent it all for 20 minutes.

To the right of the protein powder, in the black and green container… that’s creatine.

• Specific Brand: Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Powder
• What Does It Do: The shortest, simplest explanation of what creatine does is, it increases the amount of energy your muscles have, which makes it beneficial to those doing intense weight training on a regular basis. The difference definitely isn’t huge or amazing, but it can still be quite useful. I explain pretty much everything else you need to know about creatine in The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle. (I mention all of the creatine stuff towards the bottom of “Requirement #4″)
• Why This Specific Brand: Five reasons. First, it’s made with Creapure, which is the creatine monohydrate powder widely regarded as the highest quality stuff around. Second, it’s micronized, which means it will mix a bit easier. Third, I like Optimum Nutrition as a brand. Fourth, it’s super cheap. The bottle shown in the picture contains 2000 grams, and it cost me $37.95 at the link above. At 5 grams a day (the most often recommended amount), this one bottle works out to be over a 1 year supply for under 40 bucks. Fifth, black and green are pretty colors. Alright, so I guess I only had 4 reasons.
• Who I Think Should Use It: Not everyone. Instead, creatine is really only for those with the primary goal of building muscle. Meaning, if you aren’t eating correctly and training seriously with the intent to build muscle (and doing both very consistently), then you definitely don’t need creatine. And even if you are, it’s definitely not a requirement. You’ll build muscle just fine without it. I’m even going to go extra nuts and recommend that you do both of these things consistently for 6 months to a year before bothering with creatine. So many people join a gym on Monday and start taking creatine on Tuesday. They don’t even know what it is or what it does. They just know they need it, which is both stupid and funny at the same time.

To the right of the creatine, in the yellow/orange/white bag… that’s dextrose.

• Specific Brand: NOW Dextrose
• What Does It Do: It does amazing things. In fact, it will change your life! Okay, now for the serious explanation… it does nothing. Dextrose is just a type of sugar commonly used in many candy type products and most sports drinks. While it’s really not even a supplement (again, it’s just corn sugar), the reason I’m including it here and in the picture is because I use it as my post workout carb source. Remember when I mentioned that whey was the “fast” protein, which makes it ideal for the meal right after your workout? Well, dextrose is the ideal/most often recommended “fast” carb. Therefore, whey protein powder + dextrose + water = the ideal post workout meal. You wouldn’t want to “use” dextrose any time other than this post workout meal, by the way. It’s sugar, remember?
• Why This Specific Brand: Because it’s the only brand of dextrose I can ever find. I know, not much of a reason, but it’s the truth. I’ve heard some people say they can find it in their local supermarket, but I never can. So, the only place I can ever find it is online, and NOW seems to be the online leader in dextrose sales. NOW also happens to be a quality brand that I’ve known of for quite a while, so there’s another reason for ya. Happy? Oh, and it’s also quite cheap. A 2lb bag is like $4 and change.
• Who I Think Should Use It: Anyone who is consistently performing at least somewhat intense exercise and wants to maximize their post workout nutrition.

To the right of the dextrose, that weird looking black belt with the chain attached to it… that’s a pull up/dip belt.

• Specific Brand: Grizzly Leather Pull Up/Dip Belt (It’s currently sold out on Amazon, which is where I got it. You might be able to find it somewhere else, though. Otherwise, any similar belt will be just fine.)
• What Does It Do: It allows you to add weight to pull ups/chins ups and dips. When you get strong enough on a certain barbell or dumbbell or even machine exercise, you progress by increasing the weight you are lifting. Add 5lbs to the bar, go to the next heaviest set of dumbbells, or put the little pin in the next heaviest plate on the machine. Simple, right? But, what if you are doing an exercise where there is no barbell, or dumbbell, or machine? Specifically, how do you progress at pull ups and dips? Sure, at first you just try to do more of them. If you did 7 pull ups this time, try to do 8 the next time. But, at some point you need to increase the load being lifted rather than the number of times it is being lifted for. Enter this belt. It works like this… you put it on with the black leather part on your lower back/hip area like a normal weightlifting belt, and then, rather then being able to close it in the front, there is a somewhat long chain attached to one side with a little clip on the end of it. You take this chain and loop it through the hole in the middle of a weight (the same weight you’d put on a barbell), and then clip the end of the chain to the other side of the belt. You will have now added weight to yourself, thus allowing you to progress at body weight exercises like pull ups/chin ups and dips.
• Why This Specific Brand: When I researched these belts to buy one for my own use, this was one of the ones I saw a lot of people using/recommending. I researched it a little more and found out that they make both a leather and nylon version of these belts. I’m sure both are fine, but I decided to go with the leather because it seemed like it would be a bit more durable. Grizzly is also a quality brand that I’ve actually heard of, so, I went with it. I’ve been using this belt for a couple of years with absolutely no problems. I’m currently doing sets of pull ups with about 50lbs of weight on the belt, and it’s holding up just fine. As mentioned above, this belt is currently unavailable where I bought it (Amazon), so you can either look for it somewhere else, or just get some other similar belt.
• Who I Think Should Use It: Anyone looking to build muscle, increase strength, or just improve their overall fitness level and athletic ability. I’m really a huge fan of this belt, and I think it’s hilarious when people reach a point where they can do X number of pull ups or dips and then they just ride that number of reps out from that point on with zero progression. And then they wonder why they aren’t getting stronger or gaining any more muscle. Duh, because you stopped progressing. As for when to start adding weight to your pull ups/chin ups or dips, I’d say when you can do 3-4 sets of 8 or more reps with just your body weight. At that point… add some weight. Start with just 5lbs and gradually go from there. I’ll also mention that if you enjoy having people stare at you while you work out, this belt is pretty good for that. Nothing I do in the gym gets as many stares as when I do pull ups with 50lbs hanging off of me. (I’m not bragging or anything, I’m just making an observation.)

As I mentioned back at the beginning, there are a few other things that I use and recommend that are not in the picture. Here now are those things.

• Multivitamin
  A multivitamin is similar in use to fish oil, as they are both for pretty much everyone regardless of anything like their goal or body type. The reason it’s not in the picture with the rest of the stuff is because I have no specific brand recommendation. Whenever I mention a multivitamin on this site, I usually say something along the lines of “whatever is on sale is probably just fine, especially if it’s a quality brand.” I still stand by that.
• Shaker Bottle
  A shaker bottle is ideal for anyone planning on drinking any kind of shake or mixing any form of liquid. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically just a big plastic cup with a little plastic “mixing” piece inside. You throw in whatever you’re adding to the shake (like protein powder, for example), add a liquid (water, for example), and then shake it for a few seconds. And, just like that, everything in the cup is perfectly mixed. I put all of the contents of my post workout shake in the bottle and leave it in my locker at the gym or in my car. Then, I just add water after my workout, shake, and drink. I use the bottle for all non-post workout shakes as well. It’s extremely simple and convenient, and only costs a couple of dollars at most. It’s not included above with the other stuff because I have no specific brand recommendation. I think I’m currently using one from GNC, which would make it one of the last things I ever bought from a GNC. Their prices are horrible.
• Body Weight Scale
  Do I really need to explain what a body weight scale is? Okay… you stand on it, and it tells you how much you weigh. Amazing, right? Anyway, this is actually something I would have included in the picture, but I didn’t even think of it. I mean, I’m walking around my house trying to gather anything diet/fitness related… who’d think to check the bathroom? Anyway, I’m a big fan of digital scales that have at least 0.5lb increments. My scale is from the brand Tanita, which is one of the bigger scale brands. I’ve had my current one for about 4 years with no problems. I’d definitely recommend a scale from this brand.
• Tape Measure
  The purpose: to measure your body (waist, arms, etc.) for tracking progress. Again, no specific brand recommendations.
• iPod Shuffle (2nd generation)
  Alright, now I’m pushing it. But, I have to mention this thing because it’s so perfect for gym/workout use. If you’ve never seen it, this is the iPod that’s literally the size of a matchbook. It’s down to just $49 as of today (it was $69 when I bought it the month it came out). Anyway, if you like music when you work out (weight training, cardio, whatever), this is as close to perfect as it gets.

And there you have it, all of the supplements and products that I honestly use and recommend, complete with links to the places that I honestly bought/buy them from. Aside from the aforementioned fish oil article, from this point on, I think the mentions of any of this stuff or any other supplements/products again are going to be pretty rare. There’s just nothing left to say. So, if you read a Calorie Counter for it’s super terrific information about stuff you can buy… you’re out of luck. On the bright side, there is certainly no shortage of diet/fitness sites that would love to sell you something.

Take that, birds!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one… you do a back exercise. Maybe barbell rows, or dumbbell rows, or seated cable rows, or t-bar rows, or some sort of chest supported machine row, or pull ups, or chin ups, or lat pull downs. And then, after the set, or even after all of the sets, your back doesn’t actually feel as though it did much, or even anything at all. Instead, your biceps feel like they did something, possibly even everything.

If the above situation sounds a bit familiar, don’t feel too bad. It’s an extremely common problem that many people have when doing back exercises, and I can tell you this both from first hand experience, and from watching it happen daily in my gym.

The way I see it, there are usually 3 causes for this:

1. Too much weight is being used (mostly a guy thing).
2. Your back is, well, in back of you, and this prevents you from being able to see the back muscles working or even really visualize the back muscles working.
3. You just don’t know how to properly activate your back in the first place.

Whatever the cause, I’m going to tell you the solution that originally helped me fix my problem with back exercises. Chances are it will help you too.

This is what makes the biceps do all of the work instead of the back. You don’t want to pull the weight to you. Most people do back exercises by trying to pull the weight (barbell or dumbbell or some kind of handle) towards them. Or, in the case of pull ups and chin ups, pull themselves towards the bar. This is the wrong way to think about it, and is what leads to the biceps taking over the movement. Instead…

Instead of thinking in terms of pulling the weight to you, think in terms of trying to pull your elbows behind you. This is really the key trick to using less biceps and more back. Imagine that your hands and forearms are nothing but hooks attached to your elbows. These “hooks” are doing nothing more than connecting your elbows to the barbell/dumbbell/handle or whatever it is you are going to be pulling. Now, once “connected,” just focus on pulling your elbows back as though you are trying to hit someone who is standing directly behind you. In the case of vertical movements like pull ups, chin ups and lat pull downs, you’d imagine you are trying to pull your elbows down and slightly back.

This may take a small bit of practice for some people, but it’s worth it. Once you can teach yourself to pull through your elbows rather than your hands, you’ll notice a very big difference in what body part (back or biceps) is doing the majority of the work during back exercises.

Once you reach the point of each rep when your elbows are pulled either back (if it’s a horizontal back movement like a row) or down (if it’s a vertical back movement like pull ups or lat pull downs), hold that position for 1 second and squeeze as though you are trying to make your elbows touch each other behind your back. Doing so will not only help get you to use your back even more, but it will also ensure that you aren’t using more weight than you should be. If you are, you’ll find it pretty tough/impossible to hold each rep for 1 second. If this is the case, just lower the weight a bit until you can do this correctly.

It’s pretty much impossible to do any sort of pulling exercise without the biceps being used at least a little, just like it’s impossible to do a pushing exercise (bench press, overhead press, etc.) without using the triceps. What I’m trying to say is, if you’re doing some back stuff, and you feel like your biceps did something, it’s perfectly normal and really unavoidable. In fact, it’s good. Heavy pulling (and heavy pushing) is what will add the most muscle/strength to your arms, not direct arm work. However, it’s when it’s mostly biceps that are doing the work during back exercises that it becomes a problem… and the above tips will definitely help you prevent that from happening.

So today I was watching the Live With Regis Lee and Kelly Ripa Lee and Kathy Lee Ripa show.

It’s apparently fitness week or fitness month or something like that over there. I know this because they seem to be having some sort of staff fitness challenge going on where something like a dozen Live With Regis Lee And Kelly Lee Ripa staff members are taking part in a bunch of different types of exercise in an attempt to lose the most weight by a certain point (I think that point is 6 days away).

Today, and I assume every day throughout this weight loss challenge thing, they set aside a certain amount of time during the show to share with us, the viewers, some of these wonderful exercise methods and other super fantastic diet and fitness tips.

On today’s show, all of the these staff members were lined up in 2 rows with Kelly Ripa in the front row leading them through a variety of exercises. She would basically demonstrate each exercise, and then explain what that exercise “does.”

I honestly wasn’t paying much attention until they reached one specific exercise. In fact, it was right before that point, actually. Kelly Ripa, in all of her fitness instructor glory, says something along the lines of…

“This next one is great for trimming your love handles.”

As she says that, a little caption appears on the screen confirming that the following exercises are indeed for “trimming your love handles.”

Did you hear that, viewers? Kelly Ripa is apparently about to prove that spot reduction, which is nothing more than a silly fitness myth (or in some cases a lie told to help sell useless products), is in fact possible.

Holy crap, let me set my DVR!

I mean, if she is really going to show us an exercise that will “trim our love handles,” it can only mean that spot reduction, the idea that you can target specific areas of fat on your body, is actually possible. This would be a major scientific breakthrough, and amazingly, it’s not happening in some lab or even some fitness facility. No, it’s all happening live right here on the Regis Lee and Kelly Lee Ripa show. Boy am I lucky I tuned in today!

What she proceeded to do was some kind of leg lift/ab/oblique exercise, which may very well work the abdominal muscles hidden under your love handles, but won’t do a thing about your love handles themselves. See, exercises work muscles. That’s it. Exercises will make muscles stronger/bigger. Specific muscles can be targeted just fine. Fat is another story… a completely opposite story. Specific areas of fat (such as your love handles) can not be targeted by certain exercises. Exercises for a specific body part will do absolutely nothing to the fat that is on that body part.

So then, how do you “trim your love handles?” By losing fat, period. I already explain how to do that in The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide. As your body gradually loses fat, it will eventually start to come from the area you want it to the most, such as your love handles. At this point, you will officially be “trimming your love handles” the only way it is actually possible to do so.

Spot reduction, no matter what Kelly Ripa tells you, is still not possible and it never will be. Unfortunately though, everyone watching this nonsense now thinks it is.

Which means that instead of creating a caloric deficit (as outlined in The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide), these people think all they really need to do to “trim their love handles” are some ab exercises. After all, that’s what Kelly Ripa told them, and Kelly Ripa is on TV, and you’d think it would be impossible for horrible information to make it onto TV, right?

Which brings me to my 2 conclusions:

1. The Live With Kathy Lee And Kelly Lee And Regis Lee Show should be added to your increasingly long list of places to NOT get your diet and fitness information from. I’m sure it’s a fine place to get your celebrity interviews, though. Diet and fitness info… not so much.
2. Kelly Ripa… you’re an idiot.

Looking to build some muscle? If so, consider today your luckiest day in the history of lucky days.

A couple of months ago I brought you The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide. Today, I am bringing an equally comprehensive guide into the world.

I’m calling it: The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle

For those who can’t tell exactly what this is just by its self explanatory title, let its first paragraph serve as your description:

This is it, folks. This is the first, last and only article you will EVER need to read about building muscle. Only, this is much more than an article. This, my friends, is a guide. In fact, it’s the ultimate guide to building muscle. It’s a collection of every single thing you will ever need to know. Every helpful tip, every useful fact… it’s all here, compiled in one place, just for you.

If you have any interest in building muscle, this is literally EVERYTHING you could possibly need to know.

Enjoy…