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Strength, Health & Fitness
With Marty Gallagher
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, June 12, 2001; Noon EDT
Are you trying to lose weight, build muscle, get stronger or excel in a given sport? Maybe you're just hoping to slow the aging process, which exercise and good health habits can surely help accomplish. But male or female, young or old -- where do you start and what do you do? And if you're already an experienced exerciser or athlete, how do you fight your way off a plateau or avoid going stale?
Start by asking Marty Gallagher!
Over the past 20 years, Gallagher has written more than 200 articles for such magazines as "Muscle and Fitness," "Flex" and "Powerlifting USA." He has interviewed hundreds of the world's top athletes, quizzing them on the training tactics they used to succeed.
Gallagher, a World Powerlifting Champion and fitness expert, is taking your questions about every fitness topic under the sun.
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Marty Gallagher: How is everyone doing today?
I will be out of town for the next two weekends; first at the York barbell annual strongman fest and the following week coaching Ed Coan at the Mountainer Cup. I heard that Mike Menzter died of causes unknown yesterday. I knew Mentzer from 20-years ago when he was stationed at Andrews Air Base. Sorry for his early demise but not totally unexpected. Looking forward to seeing my old training partner Kenny Fantano this weekend. Ken benched 640 without a bench shirt a decade ago (plus he could squat 940 super deep). He used to routinely handle 220-pound dumbbells (total 440) in the strict incline press for five reps.
I spent quite a bit of time answering the leftover questions from last week so take a minute to look these over. I think one advantage we offer is by looking at all the various aspects of strength and fitness from a multitude of angles you get a truer sense of the complexity that surrounds a serious get-in-shape effort. Anyway, take a read and see if anything is applicable to your particular situation.
All right, whose up to bat?
Springfield, Va.:
I tore my ACL and had a reconstructive surgery on it about three or four months ago. I used to do hang cleans twice a week, but was just curious if the sudden jerk is bad for the knees if done properly? Also should squats be done on a leg press machine or by using a barbell?
Marty Gallagher: I think the shock of stopping a dead-hang power clean would be real bad for knees on the heal.
In a proper dead-hang clean the bar is explosively ripped from the floor and caught on the clavicles. The knee stress occurs when you catch the falling barbell and have to screech on the brakes to break the downward momentum. Very hard on the knees under good circumstances.
I would do slow motion leg exercises with pee-wee poundage paying special attention to making the turnaround as much of a non-event as possible.
Washington, D.C.:
Hello Marty
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions every week.
I have been working out consistently for about 10 months. I have had some pretty good results. I have cleaned up my diet and gone to six small meals a day. I currenly workout 4-5 times a week. I do 30 mins. of cardio (elliptical machine) and 30 mins. of weights during each workout session. When lifing I do one body part per day (so I have a chest day, arms day, shoulders day, back day, and leg day). I have gone from 158 w/ 19% body fat to 139 w/ 8% body fat. I am male and 5 foot 6 inches. My question is what can I do to make sure I do not regain any of the fat I lost and put on another 2-5 pounds of muscle? Thanks in advance.
Marty Gallagher: Damned good job!
Add back in some additional clean calories but slow walk it.
Shoot for a 1-pound weekly weight gain for four straight weeks. Any more will likely contain a goodly percentage of body fat and any less is hardly worth the effort.
Start by adding in an additional 500-calories per day, 3500 per week cumulative. See if this budges the scale a pound upward. If it cuases you to gain 1.5-2 pounds, cut back. If 500-per day is not enough and you fall short, jump to 600-per day additional the following week.
20001:
Why do you say that Mike Mentzer's demise was not totally unexpected? Just curious.
Marty Gallagher: It was said that he had some lifestyle habits that were interfering with his health. It was said he imbibed to many cocktails.
Reading, Pa.:
Coach: I've seen in past discussions how you dissuade people from using weight belts unless they're hoisting massive poundage. Related to that, are the back support belts used by people in industry i.e. Home Depot, other places where people lift heavy objects, really worth anything? Do they have any real value, or are they just another way for OSHA to get their mitts into the workplace?
Thanks
Marty Gallagher: Bogus reasoning that has caused poor working people to be made to wear those awful, worthless devices.
Somewhere along the line someone convinced the insurance industy that wearing these belts would reduce the incidence of back injuries. Offered lower rates, the companies mandated these devices but the historical data since then has shown that these back supports are worthless.
Arlington:
Hi! I am overweight and need help with my stomach. I have had liver problems and I don't want to cause any more problems with situps/crunches. What is the best way to help shrink my stomach without hurting anything? Thanks!
Marty Gallagher: Go on a strict diet.
Springfield, Va.:
When is the optimal time to do cardio excercise: in the morning before work or school, before late afternoon weight training, or after afternoon weight training?
Thanks.
Marty Gallagher: Physiologicallyin the morning before breakfast.
Glycogen is carbohydrate broken down and the human body's prefered fuel source. After the food-free sleep period, glycogen stores are at their lowest. Cardio done in this glycogen-depleted state has been shown to oxidize body fat at a far faster, more efficient and accelerated pace then if glycogen is present.
Early, pre0-breakfast cardio is standard operating procedure amongst IFBB pro bodybuilders, the world's greatest dieters.
Annandale, Va.:
Hey Marty --
I seemed to have stressed my left shoulder with the result that chest exercises like flyes, cable flyes and the pec-dec machine are very painful. The pain only happens when I extend my left arm out under load, so I am able to bench press without pain. Shoulder presses (DB and bar) and upright rows are okay, but front raises are also painful with more than 20 pounds. I probably need to see my doctor, but in the meantime, what additional chest and shoulder exercises can I do?
Carl
Marty Gallagher: Carl drop all these second tier pip-squeak exercises that are causing you pain immediately. Drop to your knees and kiss the ground in gratitude that you can bench without pain.
Flat bench with different width grips. Learn to pause reps before firing them to arms length.
Include incline benches at various angle using a slow contolled release and an explosive push.
Avoid any and all exercises that cause pain and be aware that you can build a total and complete (and superior) chest building routine using just benches and inclines of different shades, varieties and flavors.
Potomac River Dweller:
I dunno. I come from hardy grandparents who immigrated from Hungary and Italy, drank, smoked stogies, worked in coal mines, and still lived into their 90s without debilitating diseases. Sometimes it's as much heredity as lifestyle. Sad news though.
What's your favorite way to cook catfish? (I'm eating lots of fish lately, unfortunately I don't catch it myself.)
Splitting the weight routine to spend more time outside. How's it look? 2 sets each, all dumbbells.
Day 1
squats
military press
calf raise
abs (leg raises, cycles)
hypers
Day 2
deadlifts
bench press
pullovers
triceps press
hammer curls
Marty Gallagher: Catfish?
1. Marinate in lemon overnight, cook over a low heat in a teflon pan with garlic, onions and bell peppers. Turn carefully and seldom.
2. Dip fish in water, dredge it in Italian breadcrumbs and cook in MCT oil in a pan. Crispy as fish & chips.
3. Marinate in vinegar-based BBQ sauce overnight and grill on the weber over a low flame.
The routine looks fine.
Hey, I don't know exactly how Mentzer died - it just happened - all I know is his brother Ray found him dead in his appartment. Mike also had a history of mental problems.
Herndon, Va.:
Do you know of any exercises with weights that will help strengthen the muscles around my knees? After prolonged aerobic exercise, they tend to hurt a little. I don't have any cartilege or ligament damage.
Marty Gallagher: High rep no-weight squats done slow (no bouncing) and methodically.
Slow dip to a good, deep depth - thighs at or slightly below parallel - hold the bottom position for a full second (or two) before arising. Work up to 50 perfect reps and then write back. Also leg curls: 3 sets 15 reps, progresive. Slow motion - no momentum - particualrly on the start of the rep where the leveage is optimal.
Worcester, Mass.:
Good Afternoon Marty,
I always seem to get injured just when I am making some serious progress in the weight room. Twice in the last 6 months I have hurt my shoulder, once per side, which required 2-3 weeks off from upper body exercises.
So I brought a book this weekend on Periodization, Tudor Bompa’s "SERIOUS STRENGTH TRAINING".
After reading this book, it seems as if I am increasing my weight / reps way too frequently. Bompa appears to recommend much lower weights for an extended time, 6-12 weeks at 40% of 1RM! / 15 reps / 3 sets for beginners.
Can you please comment on Bompa’s recommendation for beginner’s vs. your suggestion that we go to failure using a single working set of 5 reps max.
To be honest, I have cherry picked ideas from your suggestions but I always follow your recommendation to do the 2 warm-up sets at 50% and 75% of the working set weight.
Thanks.
Marty Gallagher: You are attempting to pigeon hole me and its inaccurate.
I recommend different things at different times to different people given different circumstances.
I don't say people should go to faliure on a 5-rep set. I say if the circumstance indicate that that might be one potential route of progress - then try it!
I think 5-rep sets is the best balance between high and low reps for building tissue and strength.
I think that you need to work near your limit to trigger hypertrophy.
As Krishnamurti says, "Truth is a pathless land" and so it is in the wonderful world of physical renovation. Every individual is unique and their situation different from the next person.
Don't look for commandments handed down from on high - if I've learned anything in the last 40+ years it's that there is no single "one way" that trumps all others. I tailor my advice to the individual.
GRILLMAN, WOODSHEDDIN,AZ:
GOOD MORNING COACH GALLAGHER,
TOO BAD ABOUT MENTZER, QUITE THE PHYSIQUE BACK IN THE DAY.
I'M CHILLIN IN THE WOODSHED AND PUMPIN OUT SEAT AS THE FURNACE IS STOKED, I LOVE IT!
DROP YOU A NOTE AFTER SAT.
LATER
GRILLMAN
Marty Gallagher: Grillman has 715x3 on tap for his Sunday deadlift workout. Grillman has a fantastic opportunity to crack the top ten in the nation in the deadlift. Not bad for a drug-free old timer who didn't even try powerlifting until he was on the wrong side of 30.
Mentzer was a pedantic thinker who was such a severe idealouge that it made it tough for anyone to converes with him. He made it impossible to disgree agreeably.
Dan:
Marty-
You are saying he used Roids
Marty Gallagher: He would have told you that himself - hell when we were coming up (he was about my age) steroid possesion was a misdemeanor. Did it contribute to his demise? I have no idea and I sort of doubt it. By the look of him, he hadn't taken anything in decades.
Doc Pinkzilla in Monterey:
Dear Coach Gallagher,
I got the Powerlifting USA mag last week. Often, I'm not impressed, but this issue had one of the most motivational pieces I have ever read. The piece by J. M. Blakley, "Tricks of the Trade: The Big Boys Menu Plan" sounds like it is straight from the Cassidy-Gallagher-PieBully-GRILLMAN School of eating to swell. Me and my man Grill discussed it a couple of days ago, and we was all down with it ... it is "The Evander" except for all the sodas and sugar becuz of the insulin spikes. With all the talk of sets, reps, supplements and pharmaceuticals, most people lose sight of the food intake requirements.
Doc Pinkzilla
Marty Gallagher: Hey Doc-s-ter
I loved that article!
I was gonna write him a note saying how compared to all the other vanilla stuff, his piece stood out like Keith Richards at a boy scout jamboree.
"To beat the man, you must out eat the man."
"Carry food with you at all times. Carry pop tarts, slim jims, candy bars, anything handy that travels well and needs no special preperation. Never get caught away from food. Put it in your desk, locker, gym bag, brief case, carry it around in your pockets."
Classic power stuff - anabolism rules and pursuit of positive nitrogen balance has no limits amongst the onsessed. Danny Wolheber ate 26 big macs a day bulking up back in 1978.
WDC:
No question but thanks for answering EVERY question. Yes, we do read ALL of your answers.
Marty Gallagher: That's what keeps me going 'cause they pay me the same if I stop at 1pm and don't lift a finger 'till the next week or if suck it up and do my homework. I always liked Springsteen's work ethic back in 1978 and figure I'll try and go for the James Brown, "hardest working man in show business" award.
I gotta go fishing with a 1:30 so I'm gonna sign off now - anyone who's submitted a question can get their answer at the end of next week's show. Thanks.
6-5-01 Questions
What is the best way to get rid of excess fat rolls at the base of the back of my neck. I have resorted to letting my hair grow long to cover the fat deposits. I am in relatively good shape everywhere else.
Dan C.
This sounds suspiciously like a wise guy. Be thankful that you are not a woman with this condition. Have you considered a Beatle wig?
State of Pain: Hi Marty:
I hit the weights again today after a 10-day layoff (traveling). Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch. And that was with lighter weights than usual. Yesterday a bike ride that I wouldn't have noticed two weeks ago left me grovelling up the last hill in my easiest gear. I think I was passed by an elderly man with a walker. How long will it take me to get back to where I was?
You have done a smart thing and have set yourself up for better gains then had you gone straight through.
You've de-conditioned muscles and given overworked nerve synapses a rest. All are good things. John McCallum used to call it "softening up for gains." True, the lactic acid is intense when you commence training again to be sure, but rest assured that the inactivity has set you up for significant future gains. A planned layoff allows the body to recover fully and completely. We heal it up totally and then blast the hell out of it. Muscles can and will adapt to the most brutal regimen and after a period of time, lose their inroad sensitivity. By taking a layoff you trick the body into lowering its guard.
Thank goodness you had the sense to go light on the first day back! The return to normalcy varies individual to individual. Remember that old lifting cliché "no pain no gain"? It doesn't just refer strictly and exclusively to the immediacy of pump it also relates to the intense soreness that often accompanies high intensity weight training.
Clarksville, Md.: Hey Marty. I'm a 39-year-old male and I just started working out about 14 months ago. I'm at the gym five days a week, run 45 minutes, weight training for about the same amount of time. Although I've dropped about 30 pounds in the past year, I've hit a plateau and am still about seven pounds shy of my target weight. How best to push beyond the wall I've seem to hit?
You need a totally new approach to lifting and cardio. I would keep the frequency and duration of your exercise sessions intact but I would change the content. Devise a new lifting program. You could try radically raising or lowering the reps for a 4-6 week period, or you could replace the current menu of exercises with new and different ones. Or you could do both. Same applies to your cardio; change the mode, do what you are doing differently. Make it fresh, new, exciting. In keeping with the previous questioner, perhaps you might consider a layoff beforehand.
Washington, D.C.: Ever since I started working out I have heard that aerobics alone is not enough, that you need to work out with weights and that working out with weights will build muscle and that you may weight the same but will look better because of that. I also added an ab workout to the weight workout. And after about a year of this? Well, I can feel myself getting stronger and being able to lift more weight, and can feel some muscles. However, despite the fact that I weigh about the same or maybe a couple pounds less, I look no better (have lost no inches off my hips and theighs) and my tummy is larger than ever - even five years ago when I weighed at least 10 pounds more than I do now. I know I don't eat great, and truthfully (really) I just do not have the time to do so, but I eat better than most and yet I still look worse. I just don't understand how all that hard work cannot be paying off - and if I can feel I am building muscle yet I still weigh the same, how cannot I not look better as the conventional wisdom holds? I am 31 and female. I have heard metabolism slows and your body starts changing after 30. Is this the reason? Am I fighting a losing battle here?
You are fighting a losing battle as long as you continue to undo you exercise efforts with crummy eating habits.
If you overwhelm the body with calories the excess will be stored as body fat. You have most likely gone through a metabolic slowdown, a dreadful inevitability that comes with age. The body learns how to meet its day-to-day energy expenditures using fewer calories. The human organism becomes more efficient with age and that is bad news. Suddenly your 'normal' eating results in inexplicable body weight gain.
"I know I don't eat great and truly don't have the time."
Try pre-preparing your meals. I cook on Sunday afternoon while watching football or sports. Often I lift in the garage out back of the Mountain Compound and walk into the kitchen between sets to tend to my chuck wagon duties. Here is what I cooked up (git it!) last Sunday.
1. Two pounds of flank steak covered with red, yellow and green peppers, raw garlic, fresh green beans, baby carrots and tiny local potatoes. Add one cup of water and one bottle of Vidalia Onion BBQ sauce. I put the in the crockpot for four hours on high four hours on low.
2. Four pounds of thin sliced chicken breasts - I use a sharp knife and slice skinless, boneless chicken breasts razor thin. I marinate them in Peck Whickers vinegar-based BBQ sauce overnight (or longer) and grill these on my Weber on the deck.
3. Chicken thighs - left whole and marinated. Cook on a low flame for 30-40 minutes, basting the upside with a BBQ sauce. As a BBQ conisouer, I prefer sauce from Corky's of Memphis. Robert Moye, chief pit-master at Corky's is a legend. This is fall off-the-bone stuff.
4. Spinach, Basamati rice, local corn and broccolli all get the steam treatment in my $15 tabletop steamer.
5. 3-pounds of catfish. Marinarte in lemon overnight. Cook on the gas grill in ten minutes. I will often fry fish or chicken on the stove in MCT oil along with peppers and onions.
6. I usually have a rib-eye or two dry-aging in the 'frig treated with Montreal steak seasoning and ready to go at a moments notice. Lately, I've been coating them with Chef Paul Prudomme's blackend steak seasoning and searing them in a white hot teflon pan on the stove. Cooks up in 5-minutes flat. 300-pound powerlifters have been known to sheds tears (just like on the TV commercial) and go into ecstatic trances as they consume this beef Nirvana.
I store all this food in the frig along with bags of pre-papared salad and lots of taty dressings. It takes 5-minutes assemble and micro a meal containing 4-5 different food. Stacy loads 3-4 mini-meals into tupperware containers and takes them to work. Pre-planning and preparation is the key.
D.C.:
What exercises are good to help target the upper chest and shoulders? Are there any that don't involve weights (can only go to the gym once a week).
Thanks.
How about this;
Incline bench press
Incline fly
Seated shoulder press
Lateral raises
I can't really think of any upper pec exercises that can be done without weights - shoulders? Equally tough - lift paint cans mimicking lateral raises? Nothing really springs to mind insofar as targeting these two muscles minus equipment.
Re: too much weight lifting: I asked for your comment on the program I was using, lifting 6 days a week... Springfield, Va.
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