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Strength, Health & Fitness
With Marty Gallagher
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 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, takes your questions about every fitness topic under the sun.
Below is a transcript.
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: Hello everyone,
Hope that everyone made some nice progress this past week. I did. I always seem to be able to get traction once the 'real' fall sets in. Summer is nice but personally, when the weather gets a bit of nip in it, I really seem to get a taste for the iron and the wood walks seem to go further and faster as the foliage turns from uniform green to multi-colored. My appetite picks up and all of a sudden I'm getting larger and leaner. Whoa! I scare myself sometimes!
But enough about me - does anyone have a question about me?
All kidding aside, look for the extensive mail drop at the end of this clam bake - there were a hell-of-a-lot of good questions leftover from last week and those always get answered in exchruciating detail.
College Park, Md.:
HI Marty,
How easy is it for a female, age 33 5"1, 138 lbs. to gain a pound of muscle? The reason I ask is that I have been lifting weights, running, going to yoga classes and watching my diet (for the most part). In the last four -- six weeks, the scale has stayed relatively the same, only two pounds lower, but I do seem to have gained some muscle mass.
Marty Gallagher: I'd have to check you out working out to say for sure but most likely you are not exerting enough 'intensity' in your weight training and cardio.
Intensity trumps everything.
I've seen folks take lousy programs and make amazingly good progress because they're able to generate an ungodly amount of intensity. Conversely, I've seen others take exquisite workout regimens and make zero progress on account of not generating enough exercise intensity.
What is it? The ability to work right up to the edge of momentary capactity. In weight training its having the chutzpah and guts and true grit and tenacity to take that top set right up to the limit in reps or poundage - or ideally a little past current capacity, establishing a new benchmark. In cardio, its going further or faster.
Alexandria, Va.:
Marty,
What's your opinion of using nonfat dry milk powder instead of whey protein for protein supplementation? It's got about 8 grams in 1/3 of a cup, and no fat. Plus, it's cheap (4 pounds for 12 bucks). Any downsides?
Marty Gallagher: The downside is sugar.
On the other hand, ironmen on a budget have used powdered milk for decades to pump up the nutritional value of regular milk. We would dump cups of powerdered milk into regular milk, blend it up and swill this mixture by the quart. We were kids on budgets looking to grow large and strong so we could beat the hell out of the other guy on the ballfield.
The sugar in milk causes an insulin secretion and has fallen into politically correct disfavor. More teenage muscle has been built using barbells and drinking supplemental milk then any other system ever devised.
Arlington, Va.:
Hi! Body mass index deals with total body fat, right? What is a good range or percentage to for which to aim for a 30-year old female about 5'1" in height? My nutritionist says don't go below 18% (because it would be unhealthy) while my trainer says that I should aim for 13% (it depends on my preference). Thanks!
Marty Gallagher: You should have such a problem - look get to 18% and write back.
Chances are, after scapping and clawing to get to 18%, you won't be satisfied. Oh, you'll look better, but you'll have the methodology and the momentum and will most likely want to keep going in order to get that 'knock-em dead look'.
Keep me posted I'd be curious.
Springfield, Va.:
Hey Oh Great Guru of Fitness,
It is your Springfield TKD buddy again. Was suffering painfull shoulders when doing any type of pushing exercise
like pushups, bench, military press etc. So I took your advice and backed off for 3 months. Now I don't hurt but I need
some exercises to strengthen my shoulder area. The squats (450) and other leg exercises have helped me stay in first
place in sparring. I can support my instructor on the small of my back with legs spread doing back stretches
(in standing postion). He was impressed with my lower body strength. Now can you help with the upper body?
Thanks
Marty Gallagher: Hey - thought you fell off the face of the earth.
You need to slow walk the come-back.
I would commence with pushups. Mutiple sets of 10-reps using perfect form. After you can do 10x10, go for 1x50, again using perfect technique (stiff as a board). After securing 1x50 write back and we'll devise a free-weight bench periodization cycle synched-up to your upcomming fight competitions.
Big Apple:
I'm trying to figure out how long a shredding phase should be in relation to a bulking phase. After a bulking up for 6 weeks and gaining 6 pounds, is half that fat?Then I'd need to lose 3 pounds which I could do in 3 weeks. So, after 9 weeks I'm lean again with 3 more pounds of muscle. Does that sound right, that every two weeks of adding muscle requires one week to lose the associated fat?
Marty Gallagher: You confuse me Big Apple.
How tall are you? male or female? what do you weigh? are you in shape? what's the goal? I need data.
Six pound swings are insignificant and hardly worth the effort. You're just rearranging deck chairs. You need to add real muscle mass when you bulk and shed lot's of fat when you lean out.
I need more info and don't forget to reference the question.
McLean, Va:
Hi Marty,
I'm female, 5 ft. 2 in. and 105 pounds, but I'm having trouble getting rid of the "pouch" right below my belly. What kind of exercise can I do to flatten this area? Or is it my eating habits that's the problem?
Thanks!
Marty Gallagher: Could I please get some additional information?
I can offer only a prefunctory canned response based on such skimpy detail.
Alexandria, Va.:
Marty,
Do you know of any way to purchase film of
Ed Coan's 1038 pound squat done in Florida
this past summer ?
Thanks
Marty Gallagher: Good question - I'd contact Kiren Kidder's Huge Iron Promotions and inquire.
The Finn who won 275, Arno the Turtle, squatted 1005 benched 600 and pulled 860 barely missing 880. The big showdown will be at the Arnold Classic in March. Gary Frank and Steve Goggins will be side-lined due to bombing out.
Bethesda, Md.:
Marty,
I am a 41-year-old male, 5’8”, 150 lbs, with excellent definition but not enough muscle. Cannot gain weight, although I eat a lot and pretty much everything. I lift 3 times/week, three sets of 8-10 reps. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, with a protein shake (the one you recommended) on days I lift. How can I gain muscle? My routine is: Monday, squats and leg presses; Wednesday, bench and flyes; Friday, curls and shoulder presses. I would love to add 10 lbs. of muscle -- help!
Marty Gallagher: You don't eat enough - pure and simple. It's a math thang!
You need to ingest more then you oxidize each day. You are blessed with a fast metabolism, as evidenced by you 'definition' and in order to gain 10-pound you would need to take in 400-1000 additional calories, consistantly, seven days a week, weeks on end. Optimally, in order to keep weight gains lean, you would want to derive additional calories from 'clean' foods (low in fat and sugar).
I would drink a protein shake immediately upon arising and one before bed in addition to eating slighty more at each of my five meals. Such a problem! Also, drop the reps and start moving some iron!
GRILLMAN:
COACH...
ISN'T IT FUNNY HOW THE CIVILIANS THINK YOUR YANKING THEM WHEN YO SAY THE COOL WEATHER STIRS UP THE GRUBBING MECHANISM AND TURNS YOU INTO A FAT BURNING MUSCLE MAKING MAchine.
I'M TOSSING DOWN 9 EGGS , RICE AND SALSA FOR MEAL# 2.. YUP!
GRILLMAN
Marty Gallagher: What are you on a starvation diet!
If you really wanted to make the gains you visualize in your prehistoric brain, you'd eat the other three eggs in that egg cartoon. Maybe you just don't want it bad enough.
Alexandria, Va.:
What tips or recommendations do you have if one's diet is on for 6 days, off 7, but you have serious cravings say in the middle of one of your 'on' days? I seem to do pretty well most of the time, but some days I just want to eat non-stop carbs, balanced-meals-every-two-hours be damned. I'd really appreciate hearing how you work through the cravings.
Marty Gallagher: Sports nutrition bars are absolute lifesavers come binge time.
When its time to break diet, eat sports nutrition bars. Some of them taste like candy bars; though devoid of sugar. Try a wide variety until you find a brand of bar that tickles your taste buds, then buy a box of those suckers and have them on hand.
Springfield:
Marty: Hey -- thought you fell off the face of the earth.
You need to slow walk the come-back.
I would commence with pushups. Mutiple sets of 10-reps using perfect form. After you can do 10x10, go for 1x50, again using perfect technique (stiff as a board). After securing 1x50 write back and we'll devise a free-weight bench periodization cycle synched-up to your upcomming fight competitions.
No I have been reading your show stuff religously but had nothing to say. Should I be also synching-up the other lifts for competitions? Like what and when?
Marty Gallagher: You've been lurking.
I would cycle my lifts so that on fight day I would be at my absolute strongest.
The furthest away from the competition, the higher the reps.
The closer the competition the lower the reps.
Also, at the end, weight train only twice a week, using a minimum of compound multi-joint barbell and dumbbell exercises, 3-5 reps.
Washington, D.C.:
Hi! 5'2", 104 female who speed walks an hour every morning. Problem: I need to work on arm strength. I have very little arm strength right now and previously have used only up to 8 lb. weights. I'm going to buy free weights tonight. Any suggestions on a program to start?
Marty Gallagher: Well yeah, it's my business to suggest weight training programs.
Forget about building arms with speed walking. Do curls and tricep pushdowns.
I need to know what equipment you've access to - bench? incline? pushdown/pulldown pulley? etc.,
Also degree of fitness - is this the first time you've ever weight trained?
Washington, D.C.:
No question, just a (slightly) inspirational tale. My girlfriend is quite fit aerobically, but really weak upper body (even for someone who weighs 90 lbs.). But after lifting for just a couple of weeks, she's no longer intimidated by the big muscleheads and is feeling great. So even if you're starting with 3 lb. dumbbells, there's no reason for the women out there to fear the gym.
Marty Gallagher: It's what I call the long slow train of creeping incrementalism.
Or as the Zen Master used to say, 'an inch of meditation is an inch of the Buddha.'
Germantown, Md.:
Here is my problem ... I tried to eat right and did the exercise thing but I can't lose weight. I am 50 pounds overweight.
What do you recommend? I am willing to do anything.
Marty Gallagher: I recommend you give me some details.
Albuquerque, N.M.:
Martyman help me --
After five weeks, I think I've plateaued at my bench routine (not able to add five (no 1.25 plates in my gym) pounds in the past two weeks, clinging to 160x5x2), but I'm still making great gains off my squats and deads (going up 5-10 lbs. a week, most recently ... squatted 220x5x2, dead at 200x5x2 and both times felt I had more). I'm a 5' 9'' man, 183 lbs. eating clean and big with plenty of protein and 2-3 aero sessions per week. Lifting 3x week. I can feel my quads grow while I sleep, but I'm starting a search for a Swedish pec pump. Seriously, do I change my routine for all exercises, or only for the bench or wait until the squat and dead gains stop?
Marty Gallagher: "Never fix that which ain't already broke and never hesitate to fix that that is."
Jewel, in Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying'
Just adjust the bench. Leave the stuff that's moving alone.
You need to drop back and set (or establish) some new 12-rep benchmarks. Warm-up and then do three sets of 12-reps with a static weight (start off moderate, leave your self room to grow) and move this 3x12 weight up 10-pounds each week for 4-6 sucessive weeks - do this and write back.
Ashburn, Va:
Hey Marty,
Last week I asked you about the fact that I am trying to get "cut" instead of bulky, but that no matter what I do I keep getting bigger. In addition to telling me to eat right and do more cardio, you also told me to drop my reps down to 6-10 instead of 9-15. I was wondering if you could clarify this for me because everyone else I have spoken to about this, including "trainers" at my gym, have said to do high reps and low weight, something like 15-12-9. 6-4, 224, Male.
Thanks.
Marty Gallagher: Well, there is no single and exclusive 'right' approach.
The problem with doing high and low reps - and I'm assuming you are exercising with the requisite intensity - is whatever follows suffers.
If you do an all out set of 15 reps followed by an all-out set of 12-reps and and all-out set of 9-reps, the poundage used on the 12 rep set and the 9 rep set will suffer.
I don't recall your original querry but suspect that I was looking to give you a rut-busting change of pace from what it was you were doing.
Was what I recommended a total 180 from what you had been doing?
Marty Gallagher: Okay - I gotta go; I will talk with you next week. Let's make some significant physical progress this coming week and look for the subtle yet appropriate responses to last weeks leftover questions. Adios.
10-9-01 Questions
Doc Pinkzilla in Monterey, Calif.: Dear Honorable Coach Gallagher,
It's all good out in Cali. I did some electric talk with my man GRILL-LA-LA-LA-LA over the weekend. I have something to add to GRILLMAN'S observation about the "chihuahua syndrome." Countless times, he has had to explain to pretenders and mullets that it doesn't matter what you feed a chihuahua, doesn't matter how you exercise and groom it, it will still be a chihuahua. Not only that, but a chihuahua cannot do the work of the big working dawgs. Imagine straping a keg around the neck of a chihuahua and sending him up the snow covered mountain slope on a search and rescue mission. The chihuahua is not going to make it. Same thing when a mullet approaches one of the "great ones" wanting to work out. But there is even more to it. I call it "the bonzai tree" training routine. For example, I have a co-worker who used to go to the gym all the time. He has the chihuahua genetics, regardless of how much time he spends in the gym. About a month ago, he had out-patient surgery to re-attach a tendon in his front delt. It wiped the guy out for weeks! He has not been in the gym in over a month, while Doc Pink had a broken back and herniated disk but was back in the steel house exactly two weeks after back surgery. Last week our office had a birthday party thing, with lots o' cake and ice cream. Suddenly, I noticed the chihuahua with the lame shoulder making his way into the room. After greeting him, I suggested that he consume extra amounts of cake and ice cream since his body needs extra calories during the healing process. But since he is on the bonzai tree program, his response was, "No, I can't eat that!" It is amazing that these guys do not understand what was established way back in the day by some of the great ones like Bruce Randall, Pat Casey, Hugh Cassidy, and others. It was even all spelled out in the recent Powerlifting USA piece by Jim Blakely as well. Nevertheless, the majority of the mullet pretenders taking up space and air in the steel house stick with the"bonzai tree" routine. Constant starvation state, doing everything to stay small, subsisting on cans of tuna fish and a rice cake or a cup of outmeal now and then. At the same time, they always got the gear to bind themselves up like a bonzai tree (knee wraps, gloves, and belts always on tight, etc.). Then they primp in front of the mirror with their hair dryers in an attempt to create an illusion that they are lookin' good, kind of like a bonzai tree, but small as hell! One more thing. I was confused last week when I read the exchanges between some guy and GRILL-LA-LA-LA. I didn't know what the hell they were talking about, something about necks. What's a "neck?"
Doc Pink "as seen on TV" Zilla
You say you're confused but nothing in this life confuses you.
What could I possibly add that wouldn't risk diluting the breezy eloquence of this carefree Iron existentialist? Come join Doc Pink, GrillMan and other no-necks of notoriety in our very own electronic version of the Alqonquin Roundtable at Lindy's: I'll be Dorothy Parker. Pink is definitely Oscar Levant.
Rockville, Md.: Sorry, additional information!
Knees are troublesome from years of dancing (ballet) + horses (exercise rider when younger, still messing with horses now). Still looking for good ideas though. Can't do ballet anymore--that will tear me up. No access to gym, something that can be done at home. I will shop around for quality used home equipment if you recommend same. For deep philosophy don't overlook the Walter R. Brooks series of "Freddy the Pig" books.
I appreciate the additional info but what was the question?
Are you looking for a progressive resistance routine that can be done at home? If you want to start lifting weights, you might look through those little Advertiser newspapers they deliver free to your house. If you look under merchandise or exercise equipment, you can usually find a used 110-pound weight set for $20 and good used exercise benches run about the same. Used exercise equipment is plentiful and cheap.
Is this some kid's book? I use a great deal of child psychology when coaching champion athletes.
Rockville, Md.: Hope you can squeeze this in!
My knees are killing me! My lower back is occasionally giving me fits (I'll be seeking chiropractic again -- never should've stopped -- ($$ though, for my scoliosis) -- makes moving very difficult. Sleeping on a pillow on all fours helps with pain, but not with sleep! I desperately want to get working out again, particularly my lower abdominals and legs in general (hamstrings in particular).
Stats:
33-y.o. female, size 8, careful eater (clean plate club, but I prefer vegetables and fruit, yogurt, honestly!). I mess with horses so I tote quite a lot of hay, grain, etc., but of course I should be doing some free weight upper body too.
Help!?
What's with all the horses? My wife is a horse nut and rides under the tutledge of top pros at an equestrian college twice a week. She competes and does quite well.
Help? What can I do, realistically?
I have no clue as to the level of pain you're experiencing. I never advise over-ridding pain while exercising, that's a quick ticket to early retirement. Discomfort is different. I over-ride discomfort all the time but I'm a pro and know the difference. I can tell you this, if I had knees that prevented me from doing lower body exercises I would have one hell of an upper body on account of all the extra benching and seated curling and overhead tri-extensions and DB presses I'd be doing. I know a lot of great wheelchair athletes, like Daryl Banks, guys that overcame a mountain of adversity and look like Hercules and can bench press a house.
So, in the end, it's up to you.
Maryland: Marty,
My Plan:I may be doing this in a different order because I want to lose the weight first (20 lbs.) and then tone/build muscle after, since it is impossible for the mere mortal such as myself to build mucle and lose weight at the same time. Sooooooo I am cleaning the diet up and cutting back on calories and doing aerobics, stretching and calisthenics. And then when the weight is off I will continue the above and add light weight training. Will it work? Also, will the calistenics tone my muscles? What are the best for the thighs? (45-y.o. mom)
Look - your reasoning is flawed: lift weights and do it now.
Divide available training time equally between cardio and progressive resistance. Not either or - both! If, for example, you have an hour for fitness on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday then do 30-minutes of lifting and 30-minuites of cardio. There is a synergistic effect that occurs when you combine lifting/cardio/diet. Gains occur way faster when you balance all three tripod elements rather then doing 'just' cardio or lifting.
Arlington, Va.: Need your help! Used to work out regulary (5 times a week) and getting back into it. Can you suggest a schedule? Here's what I used to follow:
Day 1 - Chest, Back
Day 2 - Biceps, Triceps
Day 3 - Shoulders, forearms, legs
Day 4- rest
Repeat
Thanks so much for your advice!
I think this is way too much way too soon!
Relax; ease back into this thing. If you start blasting away at this pace you'll end up crippled by the end of the first week. Lift weights two days a week for about 30-minutes. Take a brisk walk for 30-40 minutes 3-5 times a week. Add more sessions after 30-days, not before. Make this fun!
Sterling, Va.: Marty,
My question is related to the upcoming N.Y.C. Marathon. I have been training for this for a while now and am trying to decide when it would be best for my final "long' run." This past weekend I did a three hour run and felt pretty good. I am now trying to decide when to do my last long run, which will be three and 1/2 to 4 hours. I can either do this run this coming up weekend and have a three week taper -- or -- I can do a two hour run this weekend and do the long one on the next weekend. I am leaning to a 2 hour run this weekend and doing the long one next weekend. My main question is, do you think a 2 week taper is long enough before the marathon?
"A man's gotta know his limitations." Who said that? I am not qualified to offer advice on the subtle preparations necessary before a competitive running event.
I can however speak to the broader issue of rest and recuperation.
Between your last serious training session and race day there needs to be enough time for the human body to recover fully and completely from the effects of the accumulated training sessions. Some athletes are so compulsive, or under-confident, or ill informed (likely a combination of all three) that they don't allow the body enough time to recover from the cumulative effects of the last weeks of training. The final sessions are always numerous and intense and your race day performance will suffer badly if you do not allow your battered body to recover fully and completely.
Extra sleep and extra calories help recovery. Try and not burnout psychologically pondering how you're going to do in the upcoming event. Some athletes dwell so much on the upcoming competition that it is detrimental to performance and by kick-off they just want to lay down and take a nap. Nerves are shot and jangling so badly that they shake.
D.C.: Hi Marty!
Hope you can answer this. I've been running since March (5-6 days a week alternating run/walk to preserve my "trouble" knees), eating well (veggies, protein, lots of water, etc.) and watching the portions and have lost 25 pounds (from 154) since then. A miracle really, I've never felt so good. I'm 39-y.o. female, 5'6". I'm pretty happy with the way I am now, but I can't seem to get rid that extra stuff around the thighs that just won't firm up. My body shape has changed considerably (for the better) and I'm pretty happy with it now, but can't seem to loose the flab in that area. Don't want to lose more weight because my face is getting quite thin, what kind of work out or exercizes can I do (outside of a gym), or is it just a matter of age and not having a very exercize-oriented childhood? Thanks !
You need a total change of pace and direction, a new and vibrant approach to both diet and exercise. You can make astounding progress but you've got to ditch the stale approach you're using. It served you well but its effectiveness has long gone. Shake it up.
5'3, 109lbs in Washington, D.C.: I'd like to maintain my weight. I've heard different suggestions for the amount I should work out. Some folks say 45-60 minutes 4-5 days a week, others say 6-7 days a week.
What do you suggest?
Thanks
There is no one answer. Find a frequency sequence that melds and blends with your lifestyle. Periodically, mix it up. Sameness is the enemy of physical progress.
Arlington, Va.: I've been on a real weight and fitness roller coaster for the past 10 years. I was a very good athlete coming out of high school, but decided not to accept any scholarship offers, and just played intramural sports in college. Ever since then, I slowly started to gain weight. I didn't change my eating habits, as I never had a weight problem because I was so active. Over the past 10 years, I've had various spurts of exercising and correcting my eating habits. While I've had success, none have lasted longer than 3 months. My doctor tells me that some people have a fear of success--they see the weight coming off and improved fitness, and instead of motivating them to continue, they simply fall back into their old habits. I think that's a bit of a cop-out, but I guess I do see a nuggest of truth in it. I'm not looking for a magic cure. I know it's going to take me at least a full year to lose the weight (about 80 pounds) and gain the level of fitness I would like to be able to compete again athletically. Any advice on how to finally get myself back on the fitness path, and how to stay on longer than 3 months?
Well yeah, I have lots of ideas.
First; most likely, as you've aged your body has undergone a metabolic slowdown and whereas 10-years ago 4,000 calories (to pick an arbitrary number) was your caloric breakeven point, now, those same 4,000 calories causes you to gain a pound a week of fat; 80-weeks later . . .
All is not lost; you need the Fitness Triad: lifting, cardio, diet. Bip, bang, dadabing!
Lift weights 3-4 times a week for 30-60 minutes.
Do some form of cardio 3-6 times a week for 30-minutes (or more). Can you do cardio first thing in the AM, before eating? Fat oxidation is dramatically accelerated.
Get a grip on eating. Eat 5-7 times a day, small balanced meals, maybe 250-600 calories each.
Nail it down tight and you should see some significant gains in 2-3 weeks. In six months you'll be transformed.
Washington, D.C.: How many days of cardio should I be doing? I'm 6' 175, and skinny stature. I do not want to lose any muscle and become too skinny. I weight train five days a wee
Hard to say.
In a gross generalization, if you are overweight and seeking to lean out, do extra cardio. Lean and looking to add muscle mass, do less cardio. There are exceptions to each. What's the goal, past "I don't want to lose any muscle"?
Arlington, Va.: Marty, I'm glad to have you online. Working out has really been a great way to work/pound away stress of late. A while back, you said something along the lines of "there aren't that many people who can walk into a gym and rip off x number of pull-ups." This has stuck with me. Just wondering what you think should be a minimum level of fitness that the average Joe or Jody simply isn't reaching. Number of crunches, percentage of body weight pressed, etc. Not to revisit those awful high school phys ed requirements, but this really has stuck with me, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks!
Hard and heavy exercise is a stress-buster without peer.
Honestly, I don't think much about fitness standards for 'average' people, mainly on account of the fact that there is no such thing as average. I prefer to look at folks one at a time and take into account all the little idiosyncrasies that make us unique and special - which is the opposite of musing about abstract blended averages.
Mark In Washington, D.C.: Hi Coach,
Question for ya: More reps for hypertrophy, more intensity for recruitment? Do I have this right? I'm doing 15 rep sets now on chest, legs and lats.
Not really.
1. High reps are associated with size gains while low reps are associated with strength maximums (one builds size, one builds strength) but this is a fake-out.
2. The first monkey wrench in the pudding: degree of intensity. You touched on this. What if you generate great intensity using high reps but are unable to generate the same level of intensity on low reps, for whatever reasons? The high reps will provide bountiful gains and the low reps will be dismissed as ineffectual. At different phases of my Methuselah-like I have made great strength gains and added very little if anything in the way of size using high reps. On the other hand, I have made great size gains on a steady diet of low reps. The question of reps is not black and white, cut and dry.
3. Diet: if I'm in a calorie-plus situation, eating more then I burn on a daily basis, size and strength gains come easily regardless of rep range. On the other hand, if I'm leaning out, dieting down and staying right at or slightly below my caloric break even, I'm not going to make any size gains, regardless of how high or intense my reps and my exercise poundage will assuredly suffer.
Alexandria, Va.: Is there a difference in building bulk and body building? For instance, if someone is looking to gain maximum strength possible is it true that a refined chiseled look of body builders is not the way to go, but to look sort of like those guys on "World's Strongest Man" competitions which I think most people wouldn't want. It does seem that the strongest of them have very large bellies which is not anyone's goal. It seems that the two goals of looking one's best and being as strong as possible are somewhat incompatible.
It's like the hall-of-fame pitcher said when the mother of two kids who idolized him caught him at a bar with a boiler-maker (shot and a beer for you youngsters) smoking a Marlboro, three-quarters drunk,
Mom: "You should be ashamed of yourself! You call yourself and athlete?"
Hall of famer: "Awww Lady cut me some slack; I ain't no athlete lady I'm a ballplayer."
Relax; you have about as much chance of transforming yourself into a world's strongest man look-a-like or Mr. Olympia as you do of being hit by lightning. Strive to get bigger, stronger and leaner.
Sterling, Va.: Marty - I have recently been following this column and think it offers a good place to get fitness advice. I have kind of a specific question related to running. I realize that running is not your chosen athletic hobby, but maybe you could provide me a bit of advice. I am getting ready for the NYC marathon. I am hoping to get a new PR in this one (I am not all that fast so my PR is not going to be a shocker I am looking to get around 3:40). My question is related to my last long training run. I ran a 3 hour run this past weekend and it felt pretty good. Do you think it would be better to run a 3.5-4 hour run this weekend and then taper off for the marathon (the marathon is Nov 4) -or- do you think I would be okay to run an easy 2 hour run this weekend follow up with a 3.5-4 hour run next weekend and then just have a 2 week taper?? I am leaning toward the 2 hour this weekend and the longer one next weekend but am not sure if the 2 week taper will be enough time to get ready for the marathon. Any insight is appreciated. By the way, I have always active in strength training with weights and continue to use weights. I just have backed off a little bit for the running.
I think it's smart to back off on the weight training as competition draws close; you can maintain 90% of your strength with a single, whole-body workout done just once each week.
I can't really speak to the tactical subtleties - just make sure that your body is 100% rested and ready on race day. The classic rookie mistake is to do too much right before competing; usually on account of under-confidence or as part of some ill-conceived, last-minute, hasty catch up effort.
Washington, D.C.: Hello Marty,
How does one find out one's caloric breakeven point -- the cutoff point for ingesting calories to pursue a strategy for weight/fat loss?
Thanks.
It is a shifting number that changes day to day, week to week. Think of the caloric breakeven as a range, not a specific number.
Weigh yourself first thing every morning. Pay attention to what you eat (not change it, just be aware of it). If you intake another 500-1000 calories, over a normal days eating, does it bump the scale weight up a pound or two the next morning? If you subtract the 500-1000 calories the following day will you drop that extra pound? If so, you now know your caloric breakeven. Professional bodybuilders and strength athletes will seek to eat enough to gain body weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds weekly. If they are seeking to lean out and get rock hard they'll subtract enough calories to cause them to lose body weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week. This way, gains are mostly muscle and weight loss is primarily body fat, sparing hard won muscle mass.
Arlington, Va.: The new food pyramid that some wise nutritional expert has published advises swearing off rice, potatoes, and pasta because they "spike sugar levels," whatever that means. I know that you often recommend rice, potatoes, and pasta, so I was wondering if you are not aware of this theory or if you disagree with it.
Actually Arlington, if you'd given my scribbling a careful reading, you see the first thing I recommend jettisoning is starchy carbs, rice and potatoes.
I love the hell out of them but if I'm looking to shed fat I have to get rid of the starch. The theory is no theory; it's a reality confirmed time and again by pro bodybuilders over the past decade.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Marty,
I'm submitting early while I remember to ... I'm in very good shape, about 5'6" 130, was a well-trained collegiate athlete in an endurance sport, female, 25. My problem is my butt. No matter how toned the rest of my body is, I can't seem to get rid of some extra fat in that region. I'm not really complaining about the fat, realize that's just a function of diet and more exercise ... but was wondering if you can suggest any exercises to give me better shape?? I do tons of squats, stairs, lunges, etc., ... but I always come away feeling like my quads give out before I really work my derriere. That is, my butt is never sore, whereas my quads and hamstrings are always full of lactic acid. Please help! Thanks.
Your hamstrings and quads are doing 80% of the work. You need to consiously concentrate on flexing the buttock checks on the ascent of every single squat rep. This is an exercise in concentration and muscle control. Left to the involuntary recruitment, you quads, calves and hamstrings are quite content to do all the work. Excess fat on the butt, as the Lady's Man might say, is a problem solved not by exercise but by diet.
Baltimore, Md.: Marty,
My mother, 64-years old, very healthy and very active (she bikes, snow skis, water skis, and golfs), asked her doctor about resistance training and he told her that her wasn't too crazy about the idea. She said he told her he didn't want her to over exert herself. Do you know of any good books I could recommend to her? Obviously, she is not looking to win any bodybuilding championship but I don't want to scare her into thinking it is physically beyond her to do this. Oesteoperosis runs in her family and I've told her that this is good way to build up bone density and muscle mass. Any good advice that I could tell her?
Oh what can I say? It puts me in mind of that old adage; "a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."
What could I possibly say, in 50-words or less, that would change the mind of a woman whose medical doctor is saying about lifting weights, "forgetaboutit!"
Cliffside Park, N.J.: You have mentioned that you had Captain Kirk on an upper body specialization
program for two years to bring up his chest, shoulders and tries to match his wheels. Could you list what that routine was?
As a matter of fact, I hung out with Kirk over at Nacho Del Grande's luxury apartment overlooking the golf course this past weekend.
He's still massive and had squatted 670x8 in shorts and a tee shirt the previous week. He also pulled 765 in the deadlift, "just to see where I was at." We laughed until we ached. Went to a famous Baltimore Diner, sat at the counter and ran up a $67 food tab. Nacho is 270 and bulking while K2 tipped the beam at 5-8 and 265. The superb Diner food was ravenously consumed, I must admit I became a party in this gluttonous feeding frenzy.
Oh let's see; Da Kaptain would always start with competitive bench press and work up to a set of 8 or 5 or 3 or 2, whatever the rep range called for in the pre-ordained cycle. Then onto strict barbell inclines with 400 or so. Triceps pushdowns followed by strict curls. I remember walking into the DB room at MAC (Maryland Athletic Club) and having Karwoski look up in mid-curl and go; "Hey! What's up?" He kept on curling, "Cool, let me finish this set!" He was using 185 pounds for 10 strict reps while carrying on an unrelated conversation. His specialization was not so much what he did as how he did it. He totally changed his bench press technique: rebuilt it from the ground up and went from 440 to 600 in the process.
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