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ASK THE PERSONAL TRAINER! |
| Want to ask Chicago's top Certified Personal Fitness Trainers a question? Email us at: supertrainer@gmail.com You will receive an answer within 24 hours. If you prefer, leave a phone number, and we will have a personal trainer call you for a FREE telephone fitness consultation. You can also call us at (312) 587-1464 Here are some recent questions we have answered: .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: Can you get good results by doing 100% weight training and no cardio? When I look around at my gym, it seems like the people who have the best muscle definition don't do any cardio. It seems that they do their weight training and then leave. Can I get good results by doing no cardio? Another thing, I'm trying to lose another 25 pounds of fat, so cardio is what does that, right? Maybe the ones I'm seeing doing no cardio are just trying to add muscle, not lose fat. |
| Answer: First of all, unless you follow these people around all day, you don't really know if they are doing cardio or not. Maybe they do cardio on days they don't lift. Maybe they do cardio in the morning and lift in the afternoon. Maybe they just don't do cardio at the gym - maybe they run or bike instead. But to answer your question, yes, you can get results without cardio. You can also drive around in a car that's hitting on only three cylinders. It just doesn't work as well. I tell people there are three things to do to lose fat: 1. Resistance exercise 2. Aerobic activity 3. Eat smart 90% of the time Any of the three will help. Doing two of the three is better. Doing all three is the best. |
| Question: I need to lose weight and my hubby wants to gain. Can protein shakes work for both of us?? I keep reading about whey protein, but isn't that strictly for bulking up? If i can find a protein shake that's fit for me and hubby to share that would be great!! |
| Answer: There are two main styles of protein shakes. One type is mostly all protein. The other type adds empty carbs (usually maltodextrin) to make it thick & creamy. I'd stay away from the ones with maltodextrin. It's just extra calories for nothing. Whey is a good protein for both of you. No, it is not only for bulking up. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: What's more effective.... 45 min on a stationary bike or walking as fast as you can for 45 minutes and occasionally jogging? |
| Answer: Neither one is more effective. What's more effective is to do both. Walk/jog one day and bike the next. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, your body quickly becomes accustomed to it. The more different types of stress you show your body, the more it has to keep adapting. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: Should I eat protein bars? Which ones do you think are the best? |
| Answer: Personally, I hate them. I've never found one that tasted good. And most of them are just LOADED with sugar alcohols, so that they can say they only have a couple of IMPACT carbs. I'd rather eat real food. If I'm in a hurry, I'd rather do a protein drink. They can be handy when traveling, but that's all I think of them. If they work for you, that's great, but here are a few suggestions. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: I just had 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese with 1/2 banana cut up about 2 hours before bedtime. Is this a mistake or is okay to do? I've heard you're not supposed to eat 4 hours before bed or something like that, but I was hungry and didn't want to pig out on crap. |
| Answer: I wish I could kill this myth about not eating at night. Your body needs protein all day and all night. If you don't have any in the bloodstream (because you've eaten some in the last couple of hours) then it cannibalizes from the muscles while you sleep. I always take a lean protein snack at night. If I wake up in the middle of the night to pee - I go to the refrigerator and drink a protein drink before I go back to bed. Muscle is constantly being created and destroyed in the body. One very important way to get bigger is to stop the tearing down. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: I was just wondering how often I should measure progress. I don't want to be too discouraged by tracking too often. Pictures? Weight? Measurements? Body fat? |
| Answer: I don't even bother checking weight. I don't care what it is. I measure body fat about 1-2 a month. I use a Tanita bodyfat scale. You can find them for $40. I know some people don't trust them. In my experience, they may not be completely accurate (nothing is), but if I step on it ten times in a row, I get ten measurements that are all within a half of one percent of each other. So the measurements are at least extremely repeatable, so they are useful to me. I know that BIA scales are affected by hydration levels, so I always test under the same conditions - as soon as I wake up in the morning. I know it's not perfect, but it helps me. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: I'm reading Dr. Phil's book and in a short paragraph he discusses body types--apple or pear. I have a pear shape body.. my waist is 35 inches at the the belly button and my hips are 44 at the widest point; he says that a pear shaped body maybe a sign of estrogen imbalance. Should one take supplements depending on their body type? |
Answer: NO! Don't take anything. Don't go to Dr. Phil for physiology info. If you've got too much estrogen, you'd also be sprouting breasts, talking in a high voice, testicles atrophy, etc. If you want to get rid of the pear shape, just lose the fat. What Dr. Phil should be saying is that the pear shape is MORE HEALTHY than the apple shape anyway. Guys tend to get pot bellies (apple shape). The fat is closer to vital organs, and leads to more heart attacks................................................................................................................................................................................... |
| Question: Oats Uggh! How do you eat it? I bought oats two days ago, whole grain crushed or something like that, it is very disgusting to eat, do you eat it raw ? Or do you do something with it? Is oatmeal the same as oats? |
| Answer: In my experience, it rarely pays to try to eat something you hate. If oats are not for you, find something else. Oats aren't magic. The people I've seen do the best are those who find healthy foods that they really like, so they don't feel like they are giving up anything. If you think you can only eat steamed twigs all day, you won't maintain that diet for long. Keep looking and you'll find something healthy that you really enjoy. I put some suggestions on this page Tell me what you think. If you or anyone else has more suggestions, email me and I'll put them up too! .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: How bad is Equal for me?I find that I'm currently using about 4-6 packets of equal a day...I guess you can say I'm just trying to "sweetin" things up....sorry, couldn't resist it . Well anyways, how bad is this stuff for me? The nutrition labels make it seem not bad at all...is this stuff different from splenda or sweet and low at all? Thanks. |
| Answer: If you're not a phenylketonuric, it probably won't hurt you. (You'd know if you were a phenylketonuric). Here's a page you might be interested in. I put all kinds of info about food ingredients/additives there.
You asked about Splenda - it IS different, and in my opinion it tastes 100% better. I hat the taste of all of those sweeteners, but with Splenda, I can't even tell the difference between it and real sugar. It tastes exactly the same to me. |
| Question: Which Diet Pills are GOOD? IF ANY? Help..I am not big believer in diet pills but my friend just started taking Stacker 2 ephedra free ...have any of your tried these or any other pills and how effective have they been?..how safe?..they are so many out there today...how do u decide to take something just to help u out...thanks for any advice. |
| Answer: I don't take any pills for dieting. As far as supplementation in general goes, see this page for my opinion. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: I am 25 pounds over weight and would like to start losing weight. I was wondering how many calories is recomended to burn each day? I have several excercise machines that keep track of the calories I burn? |
| Answer: Depends on how many you eat... You should be at a deficit of about 500 calories a day. That means if you eat 1800 calories, you should burn about 2300. That takes into account not only your exercise, but your everday activities. To keep it simple, try to eat 200-300 less calories than you have been, and exercise 200-300 calories a day. That's for starters. Then after you've done it a while, try to get up to 300-500 calories burnes via exercise. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: Are there any diet pills that work without making you feel like you're on speed? Ihave such a big appetite. I'd love to start a diet, but Ineed to break my appetite cravings. I heard that Chitosan worked - is that true? |
| Answer: Sorry to disagree, but Chitosan is BS. Here's a good article from Quackwatch.org It quotes a study that shows even at ten pills a day, it would take more than a year to lose ONE pound. You'd do much better to just lay off the French fries. My opinion is that no pills are good for weight loss. Sorry. What's good is: 1. Eat right 90% of the time. |
| Question: Whenever I try running on the treadmill, I feel off-kilter--the same kind of feeling I get after being on a boat. Why is this, and what should I do? |
| Answer: It may be motion sickness. If you are looking at a mirror, or at anything close as you run, it bobs up and down and throws off your equilibrium. Try looking up at something farther away. Also try adjusting your gait so that you don't bounce up and down so much. People who bounce up and down too much when they run are usually taking too long of a stride. Try shortening your steps a bit. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: Just wondering if you were familiar with the Curves chain of fitness centers, and what your thoughts were on it? Is it a good program? |
| Answer: The Curves workout is largely the same thing every time. So your body becomes accustomed to it very quickly, and it doesn't have to adapt to keep up any more. So it will look like you are getting great results for a few weeks, then - Nothing. You stagnate. If you want your body to keep adapting, you need to constantly show it new stimuli. I wrote a chapter about this in a book called The Power of Champions. You can see it here. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question: What kind of fitness activities would help for strengthening lumbar back muscles? I hurt my back for the first time and NEVER want that to happen again. Is yoga good? I have a very long slim torso and like activities such as swimming and running where you go someplace and don't like specific excercises like working out on the machines at the gym. |
| Answer: Running and swimming do almost nothing for the lower back muscles. Sorry. The best thing is deadlifts. Have a good personal trainer show you how to do it right, because if you do it wrong, you can hurt yourself. Key points are to keep the weights close to your body (NEVER let them get out in front of your feet), and don't round out your back when you do them. Keep your back slightly arched. Ask your Personal Trainer to show you what a "Lordotic Curve" is. You shouldn't go very heavy with this either. Some yoga and pilates exercises help also, such as the shoulder bridge. .................................................................................................................................................................................. |
| Question:Should I hang a speed bag in my apartment? Would it be too noisy? Just think it'll give me less excuses to skip practicing at the gym. |
Answer: You can hear a speedbag a mile away. I recommend getting one of those bags that is suspended in mid air. It will be hanging from a stretchy cable from the ceiling, and another stretchy cable attaches to the floor. So when you hit it, it jumps all around, and you try to hit it again as it moves. It's harder and more fun than a speed bag, it's quiet, and it builds the type of punching skill you can use in real life. Got a question for a Personal Trainer? Email Us, and we'll answer it right away! Supertrainer@gmail.com |