The Abdominal Training Frequently Asked Questions list (FAQ) is intended as an introduction to the basic principles of training the abdominal area, sometimes known as the belly or the abs. The creation of this FAQ was motivated by frequent questions on the topic in the newsgroup misc.fitness.

This is version 0.13b, Last modified Wed 10 Jan 1996
Table Of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION AND CAVEATS

II. QUESTIONS
Q1: How do I get abs like giant ravioli?
Q2: Should I do lots of situps to reduce fat around my middle?
Q3: How do I reduce the fat covering my middle?
Q4: How do I exercise the abs?
Q5: What’s wrong with situps?
Q6: What are good ab exercises?
Q7: Is there a specific order I should do exercises in?
Q8: How do I structure an ab routine?
Q9: How often should I train abs?
Q10: Should I do side bends to reduce my love handles?
Q11: Gee, but shouldn’t I balance my abs with my spinal erectors?
Q12: Are there any special abdominal exercises during pregnancy?
Q13: Does the XXX ab machine/gadget work?
III. REFERENCES
IV. CONTRIBUTIONS OR COMMENTS
V. CONTRIBUTORS

I. INTRODUCTION AND CAVEATS
The information in this FAQ is based on
Health For Life’s Legendary Abs booklet
endless threads about abdominal training in misc.fitness and on the weights mailing list and
sundry other sources.
See the references list at the end for how to get hold of these things for yourself.
This FAQ is once again under constant monthly revision. If you are reading a version which has a Last-Modified date which shows it to be more than a month old then you should try to get a more up-to-date copy. New versions of the FAQ are posted every month to misc.fitness and misc.answers.
A hypertext WWW version is available for World Wide Web browsers like Mosaic using the URL: http://www.dstc.edu.au/TU/staff/timbomb/ab/.
The text version is also available via anonymous ftp from the following sites:
rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet-by-group/misc.fitness/The_Abdominal_Training_FAQ
archie.au /usenet/FAQs/misc.fitness/The_Abdominal_Training_FAQ
nctuccca.edu.t /USENET/FAQ/misc/fitness/The_Abdominal_Training_FAQ
Folks who cannot access ftp or the Web can get the FAQ from the Weights Mailing List archive server by sending mail to weights-back-issues@fa.disney.com with the command “abs” in the body.
Finally, if nothing else works, requests for the FAQ may be sent to the FAQ maintainer:
timbomb@timbomb.net

II. QUESTIONS

Q1: How do I get abs like giant ravioli?
Getting visible abdominal muscles or “abs” depends on reducing the amount of fat covering the abs, see Question 3. Getting hard, lumpy abs depends on developing the underlying muscles, for details, read on…

Q2: Should I do lots of situps to reduce fat around my middle?
No. Exercising the area from which you want to lose fat is called “spot reduction”. Spot reduction is now believed to be a myth. Research shows that fat is lost all over your body, not just in the area that you work. Situps are also bad for your lower back (see Question 5).

Q3: How do I reduce the fat covering my middle?
The answer comes in two parts: diet and aerobic exercise.

DIET
This is controversial, but most people agree that eating very little fat and lots of complex carbs (like rice, pasta and potatoes) helps ensure that you don’t add additional fat. Then you have to work at using the fat you already have stored which involves…

EXERCISE
Again a bit controversial, but it’s widely agreed that regular, moderate, aerobic exercise 3-4 times per week works best to burn fat that’s already stored.
“Moderate” because intense exercise burns glycogen not fat, so keep the intensity at about the level where you are beginning to puff a little.
“Aerobic” means (very vaguely) the kind of exercise that requires you to inhale more. Some suggest that building more muscle through weight training helps as well, since muscle burns fat just by being there and moving your body about; so some weight training couldn’t hurt and will probably help.
Many misc.fitness people agree that exercise periods of more than 20 minutes work best. But note that the longer you exercise, the more prone you are to injury since your muscles also begin to weaken. Two things which help prevent injury are:
a good warmup
5-10 minutes of light exercise to warm your muscles, try to break a sweat
stretching
cautious 20-30 sec stretches for every muscle (for an excellent source of information on the topic, see the Stretching FAQ).
For more information on exercise in general consult the misc.fitness FAQ.

Q4: How do I exercise the abs?
The abs are designed to perform one main task, to shorten the distance between your sternum, or breastbone, and your pelvis. The only way to do this is to bend your spine in the lower back region.
In short, any exercise which makes you move your sternum toward your pelvis or your pelvis toward your sternum is good. To do this safely, the lower back should be slightly rounded, not arched.
In general when exercising the abs, try to maintain the natural arch of you lower back. The lower back will round slightly as you perform the exercises. Don’t fret about pressing your back into the ground.

Q5: What’s wrong with situps?
Traditional situps emphasize sitting up rather than merely pulling your sternum down to meet your pelvis. The action of the psoas muscles, which run from the lower back around to the front of the thighs, is to pull the thighs closer to the torso. This action is the major component in sitting up. Because of this, situps primarily engage the psoas making them inefficient at exercising your abs. More importantly, they also grind the vertebrae in your lower back.
They’re inefficient because the psoas work best when the legs are close to straight (as they are when doing situps), so for most of the situp the psoas are doing most of the work and the abs are just stabilising.
Putting the thighs at a right angle to the torso to begin with means that the psoas can’t pull it any further, so all of the stress is placed on the abs.
Situps also grind vertebrae in your lower back. This is because to work the abs effectively you are trying to make the lower back round, but tension in the psoas encourages the lower back move into an exaggerated arch. The result is the infamous “disc pepper grinder” effect that helps give you chronic lower back pain in later life.
There may be a way to do situps safely and thus exercise your psoas muscles. If anyone knows what it is, please let the FAQ maintainer know.

Q6: What are good ab exercises?
We’ve divided the exercises into upper and lower ab exercises. Note that there aren’t two separate muscles that you can truly isolate, so all the exercises stress the whole abdominal wall. However there are “clusters” of muscle separated by connective tissue (these make up the “washboard” or the “six-pack”). You can focus on the upper clusters by moving just the torso and the lower clusters by moving the pelvis.
For the lower abs, in increasing order of difficulty:
lying leg raises
reverse crunches
vertical lying leg thrusts
hanging knee raises
hanging leg raises
For the upper abs:
ab crunches
1/4 crunches
cross-knee crunches
pulldown crunches
Lower Ab Exercises

Lying Leg Raises
Lie on your back with your hands, palms down under your buttocks. Raise your legs about 30cm (12″) off the floor and hold them there. Now trying to use just your lower abs, raise your legs by another 15cm (6″). Do this by tilting the pelvis instead of lifting the legs with the psoas. Make sure your knees are slightly bent.
If you’re big or have long legs or both, you should probably avoid this exercise. For people with legs that are too heavy for their lower abs strength, this exercise pulls the lower back into an exaggerated arch which is bad (and painful). For reasons why it’s bad, see Question 5. If you have this problem you can either try bending your knees slightly and making sure you keep your lower back fairly flat, or just try another exercise.
Reverse Crunch
This exercise can be done on the ground or on an incline situp board. All you need is something behind your head to hold. If you use the incline board, use it with your feet lower than your head.
Lying on your back, hold a weight or a chair leg (if lying on the floor) or the foot bar (if using the situp board). Keep the knees slightly bent.
Pull your pelvis and legs up so that your knees are above your chest and then return to beginning position.
This exercise is very similar to a hanging knee raise, but a little less intense.
Vertical Lying Leg Thrusts
Initial position:
Lie on your back.
Put your fists under your buttocks to form a cradle.
Raise your legs in the air 20-30cm (10-12″) off the ground, knees slightly bent.
If you feel any strain on your lower back, bend your knees a little more.
Raise your head and shoulders off the ground slightly if you can to help keep the abs stressed.
The exercise itself has four phases:
Raise your legs until your feet are above your pelvis; focus on contracting the abs.
Thrust your heels to the ceiling, breathe out, keep contracting the abs raising the pelvis out of the cradle of your fists.
Lower out of the thrust back to your fists, leaving your feet above your pelvis.
Lower your legs back to the initial position.
Legendary Abs II recommends these as safer than Lying Leg Raises.
Hanging Knee Raises
You need a chin-up bar or something you can hang from for this. Grab the bar with both hands with a grip a bit wider than your shoulders, cross your ankles and bring your knees up to your chest (or as close as you can get). Your pelvis should rock slightly forward. Pause at the top of the movement for a second and then slowly lower your knees by relaxing your abs. Don’t lower your legs all the way. Repeat the movement using just your abs to raise your knees.
Make sure that you don’t start swinging. You want your abs to do the work, not momentum. It’s important that you don’t move your legs too far or your psoas muscle will be doing a lot of work and possibly causing back problems as in a situp.
Make sure your pelvis moves, your lower back stays neutral or slightly rounded, not arched, and that your abs are doing the work, not your hips.
Hanging Leg Raises
Just like knee raises except you keep your legs straight. This requires good hamstring and lower back flexibility, see the Stretching FAQ for details.
Although Legendary Abs recommends these, The American Council on Exercise’s Aerobics Instructor book warns that they have the same back problems as conventional situps. This makes sense since, like situps, the legs are kept straight and the hips move. The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) also regards hanging leg raises as dangerous.
For safety you should probably stick to leg thrusts and knee raises.
If you do do hanging leg raises, make sure your lower back stays neutral or rounded.
There is an isometric variant done by gymnasts called the “L-Support”, which basically consists of taking the leg raise position with the legs held straight at a level just above the hips. The position is held for 10 seconds. When you can complete this easily, try a higher position. The same cautions about back position still hold.
Upper Ab Exercises

Ab Crunches
Lying on your back, put your knees up in the air so that your thighs are at a right angle to your torso, with your knees bent. If you like you can rest your feet on something, like a chair. Put your hands either behind your head or gently touching the sides of your head.
Now, slowly raise your shoulders off the ground and try to touch your breastbone to your pelvis, breathing out as you go. If you succeed in touching your breastbone to your pelvis, see a doctor immediately.
Although the actual movement will be very small (your upper torso should move through less than 30 degrees) you should try to go as high as possible. Only your spine should bend, your hips should not move. If the hips move, you are exercising the psoas.
Do these fairly slowly to avoid using momentum to help.
You can increase the difficulty of the exercise by extending your hands out behind your head instead of keeping them at the side. Make sure you don’t jerk your hands forward to help with the crunch, keep them still.
1/4 Crunches
Same as an ab crunch except that you raise your shoulder up, instead of pulling them toward your pelvis. You can do these quickly, in fact it’s hard to do them any other way.
Cross-Knee Crunches
Like ab crunches, take the lying, bent-knee position, but this time crunch diagonally so that you try to touch each shoulder to the opposite hip alternately. At the top position, one shoulder and one hip should be off the ground.
Pulldown Crunches
Drape a towel or rope around the bar of a pulldown machine so that you pull the weight using it instead of the bar. Kneel facing the machine and grab hold of the towel and put your hands against your forehead. Kneel far enough away from the machine so that the cable comes down at a slight angle.
The exercise is the same movement as an ab crunch, but using the weight instead of gravity. The emphasis is still on crunching the abs, pulling the sternum (breastbone) towards the pelvis and making sure you exhale all your air at each contraction.

Q7: Is there a specific order I should do exercises in?
According to Legendary Abs, you should exercise the lower abs before the upper abs and do any twisting upper ab movements before straight upper ab ones. Twisting exercises work the obliques as well as the upper abs.

Q8: How do I structure an ab routine?
According to the guidelines in Legendary Abs:
Try to do sets in the 15-30 rep range.
Follow the ordering rules in Question 7.
Pick easy exercises to start with and when you can happily do about 2 sets in a row of an exercise, try harder ones.
Only rest when you absolutely must, so take a short (10-15sec) rest between two sets of the same exercise, but none between lower and upper abs.
Try to take about 1 second for each rep, except for ab crunches which you do slower (2 secs/rep) for a better contraction and 1/4 crunches which you should do fast (2 reps/sec) because you’re hardly moving.

Q9: How often should I train abs?
Some writers recommend doing abs at every workout. Others recommend doing them however often you do anything else in other words treating them as you would any other body part. Health For Life’s Legendary Abs recommends three or four times a week.
Since most people want good abdominal tone more than freaky abdominal size, it probably makes sense to exercise the abs with lower intensity and more frequently, rather than with high intensity and less frequently.

Q10: Should I do side bends to reduce my love handles?
Nope. Love handles (the pads of fat above the hip bone at the side of the waist) are fat and only shrink with a low fat diet and general aerobic exercise (see Question 3). You can’t just remove the fat from that area on its own. Legendary Abs claims that side bends develop the oblique muscles under the fat and therefore make the fat more prominent, but some people feel that the obliques simply can’t get big enough to be noticeable. If anyone feels they can offer an authoritative answer on this question, please contribute.

Q11: Gee, but shouldn’t I balance my abs with my spinal erectors?
Thanks for asking. If you develop your ab strength without similarly developing your spinal erectors (the muscles that straighten your lower back), you will end up with strange and possibly damaging posture.
Hyperextensions are a good lower back exercise. Deadlifts, both straight and bent-legged give the lower back a lot of exercise, so if you do them you don’t need to add anything else. Make sure you get someone to show you how to do them properly and keep your lower back arched through the whole movement. For more details consult the misc.fitness FAQ which contains extensive descriptions of both sorts of deadlifts and lots more besides.
One other exercise is a gymnast’s basic strength move called a “back lever” which among many other things strengthens your spinal erectors.
Hyperextensions
Hyperextensions are best done on a hyperextension bench, but can be done on a bed or ordinary bench with something (or someone) holding down your ankles.
Lie face down, with your hands touching the sides of your head and your body draped over the edge of the bench. Make sure your hips are supported so your pelvis can’t move. Slowly raise your torso to the horizontal position, but no higher.
Keep your head, shoulders and upper back arched through the whole movement.
Try to do a couple of sets af around 12 reps after each ab routine or after each back routine. Don’t exercise your lower back more than about three times a week. Don’t exercise it if it’s still sore from the previous workout.
The Back Lever
The back lever is a gymnastic strength move, it requires a lot of upper body strength and basic gymnastic conditioning before you even attempt it.
This exercise is dangerous for many people, use caution!
The exercise can be done on still rings, the high bar or a chin bar set a fair way from the ceiling. You hang upside down with an underhand grip. If you’re using a bar, the bar has to be behind you so try hanging with the bar in front of you and walk you legs through.
When you have the position, lower yourself, pivoting at your shoulders until your body is parallel to the ground (or as close as you can safely get) belly facing downwards and hold the position for several seconds. When you can’t hold it anymore bring your self back up to vertical.
Take care as you have to be able to get out of any situation you get into, so don’t go too low on the first try and make sure you only do it over a crash mat or with a couple of helpers to catch you if you have to let go.
If you’re confused about the description, the HTML version of this FAQ available via the World Wide Web, contains pictures which will be below if you’re using a graphical browser like Mosaic.

Many thanks go to Keith Smith for patiently explaining the back lever to me.

Q12: Are there any special abdominal exercises during pregnancy?
The following brief summary of how to modify your routine is from Colleen Porter.
Modifications for Pregnancy and Postpartum
During pregnancy, abdominal exercises can help preserve muscle tone and take strain off the lower back. However, you might need to learn new routines, since most experts have counseled against lying on your back after the fourth month due to pressure on the vena cava, the blood vessel that returns blood from the lower body to the heart. The books “Pregnancy and Exercise” by Raul Artal (currently out of print) and “Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year” by Elizabeth Noble offer many suggestions for safely strengthening the abdominals during pregnancy. One exercise is the Rocking Back Arch: kneel on all fours and count to five as you rock back and forth, then return to the original position and arch your back. Repeat five times, several times a day.
Postpartum moms should check their abdominal muscles for separation before starting any abdominal exercise program, because damage can be exacerbated by exercise if there is separation. Test this by pressing your fingers into the area by your belly button as you attempt to do an abdominal crunch. If you can put more than one or two fingers in between the muscles, they have separated and you will need to modify your crunches. Place your feet the same way, but cross your arms across the abdomen and squeezing the muscles together as you exhale and contract the abdominals, lifting only your head (not the shoulders). You may also use a length of material (such as old sheeting) wrapped around the abdomen and pulled across to achieve the same effect.
The following ab training tip for pregnant women comes from Robin Burton:
Belly Dancing
“My midwife cautioned against crunches after the belly rose above the pubic bone, saying that the stress this caused was a factor in abdominal separation. I found that an excellent way of exercising the abdominals during pregnancy was belly dancing! The dancing strengthens the muscles of the abdomen with very little strain and the movements help during labor, too. Of course it isn’t going to give anybody a washboard stomach, but no pregnant woman is going to have one of those anyway!”

Q13: Does the XXX ab machine/gadget work?
There are several types of abdominal machine provided in gyms and many more plastic varieties available in stores and via mail order. These things mostly are not much better than doing the ab exercises listed in this FAQ, many of them are significantly worse.
The more complex ones that you find in gyms have the advantage of progressive resistance, but you can achieve very similar effects by simply holding weight plates during crunches.
To evaluate whether a machine is worth using should be reasonably simple – if it encourages an ab contraction under a load it’s good, if not don’t bother. An ab contraction (as explained in Question 4) is when the sternum is pulled toward the pubic bone or vice versa as the main action.
The fundamental thing is to have good form in ab exercises, no machine can force that. If you have the form, machines are not greatly useful.
Dissenting opinions are welcomed (and will probably be included in the FAQ) as are reviews of popular ab gadgets and machines.

III. REFERENCES
The Complete Book of Abs by Kurt Brungardt, Villard Books, New York, NY 10022, May 1993.
Highly recommended. 245 pages. Illustrations. Shows over one hundred different exercises for the various abdominal muscles plus routines, diet and general advice. Hard to beat.
Legendary Abs and Legendary Abs II are available from:
Health for Life
8033 Sunset Blvd.
Suite 483
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(800)874-5339 (U.S.)
+1 310 306 0777 (International)
+1 310 305 7672 (Fax)
To subscribe to the Weights Mailing List, contact Michael Sullivan at:
weights-request@fa.disney.com
The Stretching FAQ is available in ascii, texinfo, postscript, dvi, and html formats via anonymous ftp from the host `cs.huji.ac.il’. Look under the directory `/pub/doc/faq/rec/martial.arts’. The file name matches the wildcard pattern `stretching.*’. The file suffix indicates the format. For WWW users, the URL is:
http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/papers/rma/stretching_toc.html
The misc.fitness FAQ is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.cray.com in the /pub/misc.fitness directory. It will also be posted monthly to misc.fitness and misc.answers, which makes it available from http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/FAQ-List.html.
Aerobics Instructor (ISBN 096 180 16162) is available from:
The American Council On Exercise
5820 Oberlin Drive, Suite 102
San Diego, CA 92121-3787
The Aerobics and Fitness Assocation of America (AFAA) can be contacted at: Aerobics and Fitness Association of America
15250 Ventura Blvd., Suite 200
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-3297

IV. CONTRIBUTIONS OR COMMENTS
If you disagree with anything from this FAQ either from personal experience, or because you’ve read or learnt otherwise or if you have any tips, information or exercises to add or you notice any typos, please send them to the FAQ maintainer:
The entire FAQ is Copyright 1994 Tim Mansfield, except for the section on exercise during pregnancy which is Copyright 1994 Colleen Porter. Please notify the FAQ maintainer if you intend to distribute this FAQ by any means other than via USENET feed or from an Internet archive site.
There are no problems with making copies for personal use or to share with friends, but please ask before you reprint it in a book or periodical or or dump it onto a CD-ROM or something.

V. CONTRIBUTORS
The following people contributed suggestions or material for this FAQ:
Tim Mansfield < timbomb@cs.uq.oz.au >
Nigel Ward < nigel@cs.uq.oz.au >
Kevin Digweed < ked@mfltd.co.uk >
Steve Cariglia < sjc@cyclops.haystack.edu >
Michael Sullivan < sullivan@fa.disney.com >
David Will < DavidW@ccsdsmtp.columbiasc.NCR.COM >
John Blaska < blas0003@gold.tc.umn.edu >
Patrick Wai < pwai@mv.us.adobe.com >
Keith R Smith < krw@cbnewsk.cb.att.com >
Colleen Porter < SDP@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu >
Ben Mook < c2mxmook@fre.fsu.umd.edu >
Robin L. Burton < Robin_L._Burton@orbit-1.com >
Todd Siechen < tsiechen@sensemedia.net >
Larry DeLuca < henrik@husc.harvard.edu >

MFW-FAQ Section 0

1. Commonly encountered abbreviations
   

   BF - Body Fat

   BP - Bench Press /

   Blood Pressure

   DL - Dead Lift

   DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

   ECA - Ephedrine Caffeine and Aspirin

   GVT - German Volume Training

   HST - Hypertrophy Specific Training

MFW-FAQ Section I
I just began lifting and I wanna get big. How should I start?

Lift big weights (with proper form). Eat big. Avoid overtraining. Short, but intense workouts are probably the best type of workout to stimulate muscle growth while avoiding overtraining. Some people prefer low-volume High Intensity Training (HIT). Some follow a more moderate volume approach. Others prefer high volume lifting (many exercises, many sets etc.). Still another commonly followed method of training is Periodization. Advanced lifters often follow programs that are not suitable for beginners. Don’t follow someone else’s lifting schedule, design your own.

1. Should I work the entire body at every workout?

   Certainly. Entire body workouts usually make the most efficient use of time. Of course, there is no reason you can’t work different muscle groups on different days. However, a beginner is less likely to overtrain any individual body part if they’re working the entire body in one workout.

2. How many exercises should I do per muscle group?

   Some suggest only one exercise per muscle group. Others prefer to do 4 or 5 different exercises for a single muscle group. Keep in mind that too much enthusiasm for the weights will often lead to overtraining, so moderation is key until you discover what works best for your body.

3. How many sets should I do per exercise?

   Some suggest that once the muscles are thoroughly warm (after performing a couple of light-weight warmup sets) you should do one all out set to failure. Others suggest that you should perform 2 to 4 working sets to failure for each exercise.

   Almost everyone can agree that if you end up doing 30 sets for any individual body part, you are definitely overtraining (assuming that you take these sets to failure) or just wasting your time (assuming you don’t take these sets to failure).

4. How many repetitions should I perform?

   When warming up you should be able to complete more than 12 repetitions with ease. On sets that are taken to failure you should fail at some number less than 12 receptions and greater than 5 repetitions. If you can do more than 12 repetitions on your working set, then the weight should be increased. Remember, there are two components to building mass – the load placed on the muscle and the time under tension.

   On the other hand, as Andy Austin used to say, “lots of muscle has been built with singles all the way to 100 rep schemes.”

5. How many times per week should I lift?

   Some beginners make fine progress training the entire body three times a week, a Mon, Wed and Fri routine, for example. Other beginners require more recuperation time and make gains training the entire body only once per week. People differ and so do individual muscle groups. Some muscles can be trained more frequently than others. Find a routine that is comfortable for you and allows you to make progress. If you aren’t making any progress consider the possibility that you are overtraining (quite common) or even undertraining (less common).

6. Should I be concerned about the amount of weight I lift?

   Initially, no. The most important thing for a beginner is to learn proper lifting technique. However, the basic principle of getting larger through weightlifting is progressive overload. You must increase the weight (load) so that the muscle will be forced to adapt to the increase in stress.
   Bouncing and moving the weight too quickly will not stress your muscles into growing and it will likely stress your joints unnecessarily. Remember, that for bodybuilders, the goal is not to lift the weight. Weightlifting, for bodybuilders, is merely a method to stress the muscles. A bodybuilder should work the muscle, or muscle group that the exercise focuses on, not try to heave the weight up by any means possible. There is a difference between lifting a weight and working a muscle, although it basically comes down to using proper form and technique. For example, if your lower back becomes stressed from doing biceps curls, you should consider paying more attention to working the biceps, not trying to get too much weight up by throwing out your back.

   Comparing yourself to other lifters is also unnecessary. Everyone starts at a different level.

7. What are the best exercises for a beginner?

   Squat, Barbell Bench Press, Pull Up, Seated Military Press Dead Lift, Incline Dumbbell Press, Bent Over Barbell Row

   These exercises are considered the best because they are compound movements that involve moving a lot of weight while recruiting many different muscle groups. These are the types of exercises that will make you grow, not concentration movements.

8. What is HIT?

   High Intensity Training. This is a training method which believes in minimizing the sets per exercise. No warm-up sets are done with the belief that the first few reps of the exercise is sufficient. Each set is done at very high intensity to complete failure.

   In a typical HIT workout, 15-20 different single set exercises may be done in the space of 1 hour hitting the entire body with around 2 mins rest between sets. A ‘HIT Jedi’ does not believe in split routines where different bodyparts are trained on different days (which allows more time per bodypart). Amongst other benefits, HIT training is a very time efficient way of training.

   The HIT (High Intensity Training) FAQ 3.0 is available at
   www.cyberpump.com/hitfaq/

9. What is Periodization?

   Periodization is a training method where over a series of weeks the number of reps is dropped and the weights increased. The idea behind this is to shock the muscles into growth by varying the reps & weights.

   Part of the theory of periodization revolves around the idea that a person can’t always train with 100% intensity and that the body may actually need some periods of lighter weight, variable rep training to allow for recuperation. In addition, periodization is based on the idea that not all muscle fiber types can be trained with the same rep schemes. Many powerlifters follow some form of periodization to peak for a competition.

10. What is a ‘Hardgainer’? / What is a Hardgainer routine’?

    A hardgainer (HG) is someone who has a genetic make-up which does not allow him/her to pack on muscle quickly. These type of people typically do not respond large volumes and frequency of training. It has been estimated that 60%-95% of the population are hardgainers.

    HG routines use low volumes and frequencies of training. A HG routine will usually train each bodypart no more than once per week. Compound movements (like squats and deadlifts) are favoured over isolation movements (like leg extensions or hamstring curls). Hardgainers are prone to overtraining when using high volume/frequency workouts, hence the general rule of thumb is ‘less is more’.

    Frank J. Kelly and Craig Sadler’s Hardgainer bodybuilding / weightlifting FAQ (11/29/1999) is available at
    cns-web.bu.edu/pub/kellyfj/hgfaq.txt

11. Where can I read more about lifting routines on the net?

    There are numerous places where you can read more about lifting routines,
    like HIT and Periodization. Check out these sites:

    • The HIT (High Intensity Training) FAQ 3.0
      www.cyberpump.com/hitfaq/ at CyberPump

    • Frank J. Kelly and Craig Sadler’s Hardgainer bodybuilding / weightlifting FAQ (11/29/1999)
      cns-web.bu.edu/pub/kellyfj/hgfaq.txt

    • Mistress Krista’s Women’s Weightlifting Pagewww.stumptuous.com/weights.html

    • CyberPump!
      www.cyberpump.com/

    • Bill Piche’s Powerlifting Competition FAQ v2.2
      www.cyberpump.com/powerfaq/powerfaq22.html

    • Steve Kidwell’s Bodybuilding Competition FAQ v1.0
      nps.ticz.com/bbcfaq.htm

    • Brad Appleton’s Stretching and Flexibility FAQ v1.42 (6/10/1998)
      www.enteract.com/~bradapp/docs/rec/stretching/

    • WeightsNet, a resource for people who workout with weights
      www.weightsnet.com/index.html

    • Fred Hatfield’s (Dr. Squat’s) Home Page
      www.drsquat.com

    (the following links have not yet be checked or updated)

    “Zen and the Art of Weightlifting” It’s at
    http://www.cs.unc.edu/~wilsonk/zen.html

    The misc.fitness FAQ can be found at
    http://www.cs.unc.edu/~wilsonkmf-faq.html

    MM2K bench press routine at
    http://www.users.interport.net/~dl/bench.html

    Psycho Trainer’s Guide to lifting.
    http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~pasko/psycho.html

    To subscribe to the Weights mailing list
    weights-request@fa.disney.com

    The Canadian Powerlifting Union page:
    http://www.tgx.com/cpu/nccp.htm
    has good discussions of squat/deadlift/bench form.

12. Which of the muscle/exercise/health magazines should I believe?
    

    There’s a profusion of muscle/exercise/health magazines out there and they often seem to contradict each other or even themselves from issue to issue. The one thing they do have in common, however, is that they put well-built guys with defined abs on their covers, usually with scantily-clad (though, in most cases, not visibly muscular) women hanging off of them.

    …which should be your first clue that magazines are, first and foremost, in the business of making money, and that means selling issues and supporting their advertisers and owners.

    Just in case you didn’t already know this, many, if not most, muscle/exercise/health magazines are owned by companies that make supplements and often gym apparel and home exercise equipment as well. Even apart from who owns them, the fact is that advertising sales to supplement companies are where most of their revenues come from; the price on the cover that you pay is just an added bonus. That doesn’t mean that what they print iswrong, but it does tell you on what side their bread is buttered. For example:

1. You can expect to find taking (or at least purchasing) supplements given emphasis above and beyond their importance in training, and the coverage in the articles and news briefs is likely to be slanted towards whatever products are in the parent company’s lineup.

   The other notable caveat about training articles is that many of the routines given would push you well beyond overtraining if you followed them. With an article on training your upper body, legs, or a full-body training regimen, that won’t always be the case, but every magazine has to run at least one article every six months on Blasting Your Biceps Beyond Belief and, sad to say, the biceps just aren’t that big, and they get worked in a lot of other exercises already (pulldowns, chinups, rows, as examples).

   But if you’re going to write an article on battering your biceps until they’re begging for mercy, you have to come up with more than a few simple exercises to write about, especially if you want to work in a bunch of cool-looking pics of biceps exercises and poses.

   Think of “muscle magazines” as decent sources of pictures and inspiration, but keep their editorial biases in mind when you read them.

   
   

MFW-FAQ Section II
I want to tone up, but I don’t want to get too big. How can I achieve this?

You should work out exactly as described above with one exception: once your muscles are as toned as you want them, stop increasing the amount of weight. Performing sets of endless repetitions with extremely light weight is a waste of time. It will not make you more toned. There are only two reasons to perform more than 12 repetitions in a set: 1) you really like to warm up thoroughly or 2) you really like the feel of the pump after a high-rep set. High repetitions will not lead to toning, or hypertrophy for that matter.

Getting big is extremely difficult, especially for women. Most men and 99.9% of all women do not have the capacity to get large. If, after two years of lifting weights intensely, you become too large, you are either a genetic freak or on drugs. So many lifters want to be big and so few ever achieve it because it is so difficult. Do not worry about getting too large. Lift weights to strengthen your muscles, this will improve their tone. High repetitions will only increase the amount of time, possibly indefinitely, required to achieve your goal of being toned. Lift hard, and once you are toned, then stop increasing the weights. In addition, fat hides muscle tone. Many people can look toned just by dropping some body fat (see Is weightlifting important to fat loss?). RR

MFW-FAQ Section III
The exercises

1. What is the proper way to squat?

   Squatting is one of the most productive if not the best exercises out there (it’s called the King of Exercises by many). It is one of the most difficult to learn as well. If you are new to this exercise, please take several training sessions practicing with an empty bar or broomstick (you can do some additional work on the leg press if needed). It’s very important to get your technique down cold while the weights are still light. Your small errors with small weights will turn into BIG errors with big weights. Much of the bad press the squat has received in the media is a result of improper technique and not the exercise itself. Red flags you may encounter will be pointed out and hopefully how to avoid them.

   The first thing to discuss is not foot position or width of stance, but proper trunk position. Pretend you are a soldier and the meanest, ugliest sergeant ever just told you “TEN-HUT!” You would automatically straighten up and pull your head and shoulders back. This is the proper position of the spine for the squat. IOW, your head is pulled back; your chest is raised; and you have a slight arch in your lower back. At no time during the squat should you bend over at the low back or look down. Of course you have to bend over at the hip (more on that later). You should not look up either. OK, so you got that down?

   Now, the best way to do squats is in a power rack or cage (a large rectangular rack with cross-drilled holes) so you can adjust the pins where if you have to bale, you can set the bar down without any harm. Set the pins to just below the depth you are going. They also serve as a visual cue for depth and if you go down/up crooked. Place the J hooks or posts that hold the bar for you to get under at the level of your nipple or so. Try to unrack it once to see if it’s at the right height The bar should have a knurled area in the middle (if it doesn’t, find another bar or another gym) so it will not slide down your back. Many people use towels or padding under the bar. Others (including me) feel this leads to some instability because the weight is “teeter tottering” on a small area on your back. If the bar is hurting you either need to add some trapezius mass, place the bar a little further down your back (it should be just above or below the sharp ridge on your scapula (shoulder blade), buy a Manta Ray, or tolerate it because it’s part of the game. The Ray helps to spread the load across the shoulder, but it doesn’t fit everyone well.

   Now step up to the bar. Place your hands about the same width as a bench press (unless you are doing the shoulder breaker wide-grip variety) and make sure you are even on the bar before unracking. Take a deep breath, step under the bar and unrack it Most squat injuries (according to Fred Hatfield) occur during the back up. Only take enough steps that you can clear the j-hooks or posts on the descent. Place your feet shoulder width or slightly farther apart. Think if you suspended a line from the ceiling it would brush against your medial delt and hit you in the ankle. Use the “practice” sessions to get a width that fits you. You might say many powerlifters squat with a wide-stance and they are pretty strong as a group. I’ll agree wholeheartedly, but I’ll also point out that the conventional squat is prob’ly more productive because you are working through a larger Range Of Motion. Learn this way and then learn the variations if you like. After you have the width right, turn your feet out at roughly a 45 degree angle. Adjust the width if need be. Now you are ready to squat.

   Take a deep breath, contract your abs and descend. It should feel like you are sitting back on a chair behind you; not going straight down. Keep your knees in line with your feet. DO NOT LET YOUR KNEES BOW IN anytime during the lift! (I have a Grade 1 knee sprain (MCL) from doing just this.) Keep the load light enough so you won’t do this and gradually build up. Many people say to try to keep your shin at a 90 degree angle to the ground. This is impossible with the regular stance squat and is only possible by a few using the wide-stance variety. Try to keep your knees from going out past your toes. Alter the width if need be. Most people can and should descend till their thighs are parallel to the ground. This is actually pretty low. A very small majority of people can’t and may be better stopping just above parallel. Don’t give up on reaching parallel too quick. Also, to go even close to parallel, you have to bend over at the hip (not the spine, of course). However, you should always be more upright than bent over. Two methods of determining your shin/back position and depth is to either have an attentive and adept person monitor you from the side and/or use a video camera placed to the side and close enough to determine all angles. After you have descended to the bottom position, reverse your direction immediately (don’t bounce at the bottom) and drive upwards. Try and pull your back up (hip extension) as hard as possible during the ascent. Brooks Kubik describes this “as if a giant gorilla had a hold of your ass and your shoulder and was trying to straighten you out.” Come back to a standing position, take a breath or two (or many 8^) and descend again. Make each rep it’s own little lift. IOW, make each one count even on your warm-ups. If you maintain good form in your warm-ups, you’ll likely retain it for the work sets.

   Should you wear a belt or knee wraps? The former helps to stabilize the spine by increasing intra-abdominal pressure and the latter is just a way of elevating more weight. Especially if you are getting started with the squat, go without either. Use your abdomen as the brace instead of outside help. The knee wraps serve no use except to the powerlifter who wants a bigger max. They may impede the growth of structures around the knee or even cause some harm if used chronically.

   The main reason the power rack gathers dust while there is a line for the angled leg press is because squats HURT! It doesn’t matter whether it’s the skinny beginner using the “big wheels” on each side for the first time or the bonafide 600+ squatter stepping under an already bending bar. They both feel some pain when doing this exercise. Learn to live with it! The most productive exercises are the most painful. It’s a fact of life. If you squat with proper technique and heavy (for you) poundage, you might grunt, scream, cry, hurl and/or pass out, but you prob’ly won’t be injured and you’ll make terrific headway towards your goals. Learn to be aggressive and focus your complete attention on the task at hand. Good luck and happy training!

   Chuck Clark SPT
   cmclarz1@homer.louisville.edu
   University of Louisville, KY.

   • see also Fred “Dr. Squat” Hatfield’s three-part squat primer athttp://www.drsquat.com/articles/sq.htm

   
   

2. What is the proper way to deadlift?

   One of the most productive, but least seen exercises in the gym is the deadlift. From a technique point of view, it’s a relatively simple one compared to the squat. You just stand up holding a barbell in front of you without humping your back. That’s a brief, but concise explanation. However, most people are scared of the deadlift because they think it will pull, strain, or break their back. When performed in good form, however, the deadlift is one of the best erector (the muscles of the spine) and total body exercises around.

   First, learn to set up your spine and shoulder girdle as described in the “How to Squat” section. Suffice to say, you should pull your shoulders back and keep them there. Additionally, you should NEVER let your back hump over at any time during the lift. Load a barbell on the floor to the desired poundage. Make sure the area around you is free of potential troubles and the floor is not slippery. If you don’t have the required strength to use 45 lb. plates on each side of the barbell, elevate the bar to mimic the height as if you were using the 45s.

   Walk up and place your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width apart with your shin almost brushing the bar. Point your toes out at an angle slightly. Reach down and grasp the bar with an overhand grip just outside your legs. Contract your abs hard, make sure your back is flat (actually with a natural arch), and pull the bar up. Be sure to keep the bar as close to your body as possible as you stand up.

   The angle to which your hip and knee joints go to is an individual matter. Length of bones and your flexibility will determine this. You should always attempt to remain more upright than bent over. When you pull the bar, make sure your hip joint straightens at the same rate as your knee. Don’t straighten your knees and then try to straighten your hips. You’ll hurt yourself. Also, don’t lean back at the top.

   After you’ve stood up with the weight, take a breath, contract your abs and slowly descend in the reverse manner you came up. Do NOT bounce the barbell on the floor. After the plates touch the floor, take a breath (or many!), contract your abs and flatten your back, and pull again. Make each rep its own little lift. Practice the mvmt with light weight till you get it down before moving up in weight.

   The first muscles to usually fatigue during the lift are those associated with gripping the bar which are mostly located in the forearm. Most people will tell you to use an mixed grip (one palm forward, one palm back). This can create some torque imbalances that may give you problems later. Especially when you are starting out, keep to the pronated or hands-over grip and let your grip muscles catch up. If you must use the mixed grip, alternate which palm is forward each set or each session. The least attractive option is to use straps. Straps take the work off of the grip muscles and arguably make the deadlift less productive. Use chalk if it is feasible to help hold the bar.

   As in the squat, some people can’t truly descend to the bottom position in the deadlift safely. Don’t give up very quickly on making this low spot. If you can’t, don’t despair. Place some pins in the power rack to where when you place the barbell on them it’s just above where it would be on the floor. Try out the mvmt. Elevate the pins till it feels right. If this doesn’t help or having to pull the bar that’s out in front of you gives your back fits, you might want to give a Gerard trap bar a try. This is a diamond shaped bar that you stand inside of and deadlift. The line of force is through you instead of out front. This makes for a more safe and therefore productive exercise than the regular version. You can have a look at the Gerard trap bar at .

   As in the squat, the deadlift is a very productive and, hence brutal exercise. Don’t be scared of it, though. Tall and lanky people who usually have great trouble squatting or benching can usually move up quickly in poundages in the deadlift. This exercise is more than just a back exercise or a “thickening” exercise, it’s a total body exercise. Too much in weight training is put into isolation. The big movements ARE the most productive. The deadlift works you from finger to neck to toe. Treat it with respect and it will help you realize your goals quicker than without it. Good luck and happy training!

   cmclarz1@homer.louisville.edu
   University of Louisville, KY.

3. Dumbbell Bench press – getting into position

   From: John M. Williams < jmwilliams@enforcergraphics.f2s.com >
   Subject: Re: dumbbell benchpress – how to get in/out of position?
   Date: Sat Jul 13 22:34:38 MDT 2002

   gwailoh@start.com.au (gwailoh) wrote:
   >
   >i’m finding it awkward to get get in and out of position, unless i
   >just let the DB’s drop to the ground. Makes it hard to take a rest
   >between sets, and feels dangerous.
   >
   >What do you guys do? Is there a sequence of movements that makes it
   >easier to lift & maneouver the weights until you are in position? or
   >what?

   Unless the dumbbells are extremely heavy, start by standing with them resting against the front of your thighs, sit on the bench, then lie down and “kick” them up into position onto your chest. After the last rep, lower them close to your waist and reverse the process.

   If the dumbbells are too heavy for that, there are a couple of other things you can try:

   • http://www.shermworks.com/

   • http://www.adfit.com/detail.asp?product_id=Hooks-1

   
   

4. How do I work my abs?

   Use weight for resistance. 100 reps of any exercise is a waste of time. Crunches are good because they focus on the abs. I view crunches as an isolation movement. Compound movements are usually better, so I actually recommend sit ups (especially incline) with weight held on the chest. Yes, sit ups work the hip flexors and other muscles as well, but these muscles are critical to movements like the squat, deadlift and other serious compound movements. Who wants weak hip flexors anyway?

   The High-Intensity Abdominal Workout:

   For those who are obsessed with their abdominal muscles, are willing to spare no expense to develop them, and want a hard-core, high-intensity, low-repetition abdominal workout, there IS an answer.

   The primary problem with this method is the fact that the required equipment is [a] rather expensive, and [b] since the late 1980s, rather difficult to find. You will need an “inversion table” with “gravity boots.” For those unfamiliar with such devices, a brief explanation is in order. “Gravity boots” are padded, metal collars which are clamped onto your ankles and which have a strong metal hook that protrudes from the front, directly over the foot. An “inversion table” is designed for use with gravity boots. It is like a vertical army cot with two bars spanning the foot end, one below the feet, and one above the feet. It is attached to a stand by a single pivot hinge on each side. After fitting the gravity boots, you step onto the inversion table with your feet on the lowest bar and the hooks of the boots locked beneath the upper bar. Then, you simply throw your weight backwards, causing the table to pivot approximately 180 degrees on its hinges, leaving you suspended by your ankles, completely upside-down. Please note that a good inversion table will pivot beyond perpendicular, breaking contact with all parts of your body other than your ankles; some of them will not reach full perpendicular, leaving you mostly inverted but still laying on the surface of the table. The latter is not well suited to this type of exercise.

   Once inverted, you can perform a normal “crunch” routine. The complete inversion of your body will provide extreme resistance which will result in the much-desired abdominal “burn” long before the number of repetitions required when doing crunches on the floor or on a slant board. However, a few suggestions on technique will be helpful:

   (1) Do NOT hold your hands behind your head; clasp them across your chest. Your neck should be held in a relaxed position, with your head back, “pulling” yourself forward with your shoulders, not your head. When you find yourself able to do more than 20 repetitions, you may clasp a weight plate to your chest to add resistance, increasing the size of the plate each time you can exceed 20 repetitions.

   (2) Although it will be slightly difficult, bending slightly at the knees will decrease stress on your back. However, even with your legs fully extended, you will find that the usual back stress experienced during traditional crunches is almost non-existent when performing “inverted” crunches.

   Aside from the increased resistance in using this abdominal workout, there are a few other advantages:

   (1) No “tailbone rash.” The usual abrasion caused by constant friction on the sacral spine area during traditional crunches no longer exists. Your back does not contact any solid surface; therefore, no friction.

   (2) No “head banging.” There is no solid surface to come into contact with your head, either. That is why you can easily hold your head back during this routine without worrying about striking it on the floor and without the need to support it in any way.

   Abdominal Training FAQ
   http://www.dstc.edu.au/TU/staff/timbomb/ab/
   ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/misc.fitness.weights/

5. How do I get a 6-pack?

   Everyone has a six-pack of abs. The ability to see them is completely dependent upon body fat levels. If you want to show off a washboard stomach, then drop the body fat. Spot reduction is a myth. Hundreds of situps or crunches will not “bring out” the abs if they’re covered in fat.

   If you want to increase the strength of your abdominals (and every lifter should), then perform abdominal exercises with WEIGHT. 100 reps of any exercise is a waste of time.

6. What is the proper way to do shrugs?

   Shrugs should be performed in a straight up and down motion. Keep the head in an upright position, looking straight ahead, not at the floor, not at the ceiling.

   Rolling the shoulders does not stress the traps any better. In fact, it may be harmful. Rowing movements can effectively work the traps when the shoulders are pulled backward. However, rowing movements call for moving the weight perpendicular to the body in order to stress these muscles during this movement. During shrugs the weight is not in a position to provide resistance against a backward movement. Therefore, a shrug should be done straight up and down.

   Barbells or dumbbells can be used, although dumbbells provide for a more natural shrug.

7. Can I change the peak of my bicep?

   In a word, NO! Everyone from Peewee Herman to Ahnuld has their own individual genetic shape. You can’t change it. This extends to the shape of the muscle bellies as well. Some people have very long and flat muscle bellies and some have peaky, short muscles. Most people are somewhere in between. The biceps brachii is a two headed muscle that runs from the shoulder to across the elbow. It functions to supinate and flex the forearm. The 2 heads run parallel to each other and it’s debatable whether one exercise will target one over the other when sufficient weight is used. You can’t preferentially contract one area of a bicep head over the other, either. The innervation of a muscle (or muscle head in this case) is made so that if one motor unit (motor neuron and the muscle fibers it innervates) fires you’ll get a very weak contraction all over the whole muscle. As more motor units are called into play the weak contractions (all over, of course) summate and you get a strong contraction.

   Also, you can’t stretch one part of a muscle over any other part because you either move the muscle attachments closer together or farther apart. So, what do you do? You just merely focus on making your arms larger: increase the size of the muscles. This will give you the illusion of having peakier or longer biceps. Doing the “mass” or big movements will go longer to giving you big arms than endless sets of curls. Also, you’re going to have to increase your bodyweight significantly to make any real gains in bicep mass. It’s much easier to put an inch on your arms when you’ve put on 20 lbs of muscle.

   Chuck Clark SPT
   cmclarz1@homer.louisville.edu
   University of Louisville, KY.

MFW-FAQ Section IV
weightlifting and health

1. Is weightlifting beneficial for my health?

   Yes. Muscle is what moves us and it’s something we all lose as we age. The loss begins about age 25 resulting in about a 10% loss by age 50. Between the ages of 50 and 80, people lose about half their strength and about 40% of their muscle. The exact mechanism causing this change is unknown, but it is thought that it is related to altered interactions between muscle cells and motor nerves.

   Muscle loss leads to a lower metabolic rate and, thus, weight gain unless Calorie intake is reduced (which rarely happens). Age associated muscle wasting can lead to a number of problems where older people may not have the strength to lift loads, rise from a chair, or carry out the daily activities required for independent living.

   Weight lifting or resistance training can actually prevent this muscle loss. So far, strength training is the only method shown effective at slowing this loss of muscle. Aerobic exercise does not stem muscle loss. Physiologists indicate that, ideally, a person would begin weight training before age 50 (those of us at mfw would suggest by age 20). The benefits are not restricted to older members of society. Interestingly, studies have shown that 87 year old men and women experienced a 90% increase in strength over a 10 week period of resistance training. If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart pains or any heart or circulatory condition, it is essential to check with your physician before beginning.

   Strength training has been shown to increase bone-density in post-menopausal women, helping to prevent bone fractures. In addition, weightlifting can improve neural control of muscles which can prevent the types of accidents that often cause bone fractures in the elderly.

   In addition, weightlifting can contribute greatly to the control of body fat. Therefore, weightlifting can be very beneficial for those who have a tendency towards obesity. As more studies are done, more and more beneficial effects of weightlifting are becoming evident.

2. Does weightlifting increase bone density and strength?

   Yes. studies have consistently shown that a weightlifting program will increase bone density and strength, and that training with greater intensity and heavier weights will do so more than training with lower intensity and lighter weights. These benefits have been seen regardless of the ages, sexes, and prior levels of training:

   Bone mineral content of junior competitive weightlifters.
   Virvidakis K, Georgiou E, Korkotsidis A, Ntalles K, Proukakis C.
   Int J Sports Med 1990 Jun;11(3):244-6
   

   On the occasion of a recent Junior World Championship we measured, by single photon absorptiometry, BMC (Bone Mineral Content) in 59 young competitive male athletes (aged 15 to 20 years) from 14 countries. [...] Our results suggest that junior competitive weightlifters have an increased BMC, well above the age-matched controls’ mean. It seems that the vigorous exercise of weightlifters tends to fade out any race or age-related BMC differences.

   The effects of progressive resistance training on bone density: a review.
   Layne JE, Nelson ME.
   Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999 Jan;31(1):25-30
   

   Both aerobic and resistance training exercise can provide weight-bearing stimulus to bone, yet research indicates that resistance training may have a more profound site specific effect than aerobic exercise. Over the past 10 years, nearly two dozen cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown a direct and positive relationship between the effects of resistance training and bone density.

   See also the note on protein consumption and calcium at Is increased protein intake harmful?

3. My liver enzymes are elevated, but I don’t take steroids or drink alcohol. What’s the problem?

   While the aminotransferases are often referred to as liver enzymes, these enzymes are actually found in numerous tissues and their numbers often increase from exercise-induced trauma.

   These numbers are a good marker for people who drink alcohol constantly, or consume oral anabolic steroids. If the numbers are 100 times higher than the normal range in the aforementioned people, there’s a good chance their livers are hurting.

MFW-FAQ Section V
Cardiovascular conditioning and weightlifters

1. How important is cardiovascular conditioning to bodybuilders?

   Very important. First, cardiovascular conditioning is very important for health, but bodybuilders rely on it to help shed fat so they can show off the physiques they have built. Some argue that they burn enough calories from intense weight workouts, making cardio unnecessary. While this may be true for people with fast metabolisms, it is not true for a large percentage of the population. Recent studies have found that long duration, repetitive use of muscles (like biking, rowing, skiing or jogging for 10 minutes or longer) causes changes in gene expression that greatly increase the quantity of certain proteins within these exercised cells (mainly slow twitch fibers). These proteins not only have the potential to lead to better health, but they can greatly enhance the fat burning done by these muscle cells. To turn your body into a blast furnace, do some cardio exercise regularly. In addition, regular cardio work may also provide for better blood flow to muscle cells, which may provide for better lifting in the gym.

2. Powerlifters?

   Powerlifters who are unconcerned with the health benefits of cardiovascular exercise may still need to do some regular cardiovascular exercise. Too much cardio work would be absolutely detrimental to their goal. However, insufficient cardio exercise may limit their potential as a powerlifter.

3. Should I do cardiovascular work before or after the weights?

   Cardiovascular exercise before lifting weights can serve as a very good warmup. Unfortunately, this may leave you too fatigued to give intense effort to the weight workout.

   Weightlifting before cardiovascular exercise may help the body go into “fat burning” mode faster because the weightlifting depletes glycogen stores. Unfortunately, after lifting a person may be too tired to have an effective cardiovascular workout.

   The general consensus is that, for general fitness, it doesn’t matter what order you do your exercise. However, strength athletes should prioritize the weightlifting first, performing the cardio later.

   Lyle McDonald and RR

MFW-FAQ Section VI
Strength and size

1. Can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

   This is very difficult. It can be done in some unique circumstances, but for the most part it isn’t possible. For example, novice lifters can sometimes gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Also, people returning from long layoffs can sometimes add muscle and lose fat at the same time. However, experienced lifters who are working out consistently can’t do both at the same time. If you want to do both, you should choose one goal (either fat loss or muscle gain) and work towards that goal for a few months. After some success towards that goal, you should then change over and try to accomplish the other for a few months. Be single-minded in your focus towards that goal. When trying to lose fat, you should be unconcerned if you lose a little muscle as well. Likewise, if you’re trying to add muscle, you should allow the addition of a small amount of fat.

2. Can I lose fat without losing muscle?

   No, this can’t be done. Most dieters will lose 1 pound of muscle for every 3 pounds of fat lost. Steroid-aided athletes can only take this ratio up to about 1:8. Muscle loss when dieting is inevitable. Try to minimize it, but focus on the goal of fat loss.

3. Can I get stronger without gaining more muscle mass?

   Yes, it is possible. Gaining strength without gaining muscle mass is common in novice lifters and people who are returning from long lay-offs. Older lifters can sometimes improve strength through improvements in lifting technique.

   However, once these avenues have been exhausted, the only way to improve strength is through and increase in mass.

4. Can I gain muscle mass without getting stronger?

   No. This is why so many bodybuilders, appropriately, train to get stronger. If you get stronger, you will get larger. This doesn’t automatically mean, that when comparing to different individuals, the larger person is stronger. It simply means that if you take your existing muscle mass and then increase it, it will necessarily be stronger.

   In response to this question, Fred Hatfield once said “just lift the damn weights!”

MFW-FAQ Section VII
What should I eat?

There are some good nutrition and training FAQs located at
http://www2.dgsys.com/~trnutr/index.html
Also there is the Training-Nutrition mailing list – to subscribe
trnutreq@dgs.dgsys.com

1. to gain weight?

   There are three macronutrients (food consumed in large amounts to meet energy and other physiological requirements) that you must consume daily: protein, carbohydrate and fat. Bodybuilders often focus on protein (which is the largest constituent of muscle cells after water) because, after all, “you are what you eat.” However, the most critical factor for weight gain is total Calorie (one Calorie = one kilocalorie) intake.

   1. How many Calories?

      Those attempting to add muscle to their frames should consume at least 15 to 20 times their body weight (in pounds – kg x 2.2) in Calories per day. 25 times your body weight should be the upper limit in Calories consumed for weight gain diets, but these are usually for steroid-assisted athletes.

   2. How much protein?

      Approximately 15 to 20% of those Calories should come from protein. Bodybuilders are rarely deficient in protein. Common sources of protein include milk, eggs, red meat, chicken, beans, rice, pasta and nuts.

   3. How much carbohydrate?

      Approximately 60 to 65% of those Calories should come from carbohydrates. The healthiest diets usually involve a wide variety of carbohydrate sources starting with vegetables and fruits. Other sources of carbs include rice, pasta, baked potatoes, oats and breads. These are common carbohydrates consumed on weight-gain diets.

   4. How much fat?

      Approximately 20% of those Calories should come from fats, preferably vegetable fats, although some animal (saturated) fats will inevitably be consumed by those who regularly eat meat.

2. to lose weight?

   1. How many Calories?

      Someone trying to lose body fat should consume between 10 and 15 times their body weight in Calories per day. A common goal is to consume about 250 Calories fewer than you would normally require, and exercise to burn off an extra 250 Calories. At this Calorie deficit of 500 Calories per day, a person will lose about 1 pound of fat per week. A person should never lose more than 2 pounds per week. The faster the weight is lost, the more likely muscle will be lost instead of fat. Other health problems are also associated with drastic weight loss.

      Another, more precise method:

      1. Estimate your BMR at 11 x bodyweight in pounds

      2. Estimate maintenance Calories by multipling BMR by:

         • 1.2 – for people confined to bed

         • 1.3 – for sedentary people

         • 1.5-1.75 – for normally active people

         • 2.0 – for extremely active people

      3. Consume 10% less Calories than maintenance.

      [ William Lau ]

      When it comes to dividing the calories between protein, carbohydrates, and fats, don’t start by figuring out the precise percentages (unless you’re following the Zone Diet), start with your body’s nutritional requirements:

      Keeping your protein intake at around 1 gram per pound of bodyweight is even more important when dieting, and your caloric deficit should come from reducing carb and/or fat intake, not protein intake. There is no one caloric ratio you have to shoot for.

      [ Bob Tokyo ( robertdorf@japan.com ) ]

      Your body doesn’t know from percentages of anything. Your body knows from requirements in terms of g/unit weight.

      As others said, you need protein at ~1 g/lb lean body mass while dieting (or massing). that’s on an absolute scale, not a percentage scale. whether that makes up 20% or 50% of your total calories will depend on your total calories.

      So protein gets set at that level regardless. Then worry about the other numbers. But just keep in mind that the percentages can be terribly misleading.

      [ Lyle McDonald ( lylemcd@onr.com ) ]

   2. Weight loss and protein

      The daily protein intake necessary to prevent lean tissue losses and (ideally) allow for muscle mass and strength gain is estimated to be about 0.8 grams per kilogram in sedentary individuals and 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram in highly active individuals. Optimal protein intake for maximum growth in non-dieting individuals is likely even higher. [ Lemon PW, "Beyond the zone: protein needs of active individuals." J Am Coll Nutr 2000 Oct;19(5 Suppl):513S-521S ]

      The protein requirements of dieters are certainly not less, owing to their increased tendency to burn both dietary and tissue protein for fuel.

   3. Weight loss and carbohydrates

      Carbohydrates are starches and sugars such as those found in bread, pasta, rice, vegetables, fruits, non-diet soda pop, Twinkies, crackers, and breakfast cereals. The traditional division between “simple” and “complex” carbohydrates is largely meaningless and often misleading when compared to the body’s own responses to different kinds of foods. The Glycemic Index of foods is a far more useful measure of their real-world effects.

      1. What is the Glycemic Index?

         Glycemic Index (GI) is a rating system for carbohydrates based on how quickly the sugar enters the blood stream and the degree of insulin response induced. GIs were initially established to help diabetics regulate insulin levels following meals. Carbohydrate sources with low GIs generally enter the blood stream slower or cause a smaller insulin response. This can be beneficial for those trying to lose fat as well as those who are diabetic.

         Note that the Glycemic Index is measured for a standardized 100 gram sample of a carbohydrate-rich food eaten in isolation and on an empty stomach. Consumption of any carbohydrate-rich food along with proteins and/or fats will reduce its effective Glycemic Index and any insulin “spike” induced.

         Rick Mendosa maintains an extensive list of the glycemic indices of foods at http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

      Unfortunately, though the names have been changed, the foods that you’d always thought were bad for your diet still are. Foods rich in sugars are particularly to be avoided, with non-diet sodas and fruit juices sharing a particular talent for sneaking loads of calories past the lips of the unwary dieter.

      It is likely beneficial to consume multiple meals per day, like six, instead of just three. One reason is that multiple meals will reduce the amount of carbohydrate eaten at any one time, causing a smaller insulin response at each meal and maintaining a more constant insulin level throughout the day. Much evidence indicates that high insulin levels encourages the storage of fat.

   4. Weight loss and fat

      A dieter should consume about 20% of their Calories from fat. The primary source of fat should be vegetable sources while minimizing the intake of saturated fats from animal sources. There are essential fatty acids. Linoleic acid is obtained from just about every source of vegetable fat. Linolenic acid, and other omega-3 fatty acids, are more difficult to obtain, but they are found in walnuts, flax seed, borage seed and some fish oils.

3. Is weightlifting important to fat loss?

   Yes. As outlined above, a loss of muscle mass causes a decrease in metabolic rate and subsequent weight (fat) gain. Inevitably, dieters undergoing Calorie restriction will lose some of their muscle mass. This loss of muscle will slow down the metabolic rate causing them to resort to further Calorie decreases (or increases in physical activity) in order to continue losing weight.

   Weightlifting can actually prevent some of this muscle loss, and if new muscle is added to your frame, you will actually burn more Calories when you aren’t even exercising (the other 23 hours in the day). Successful weight loss requires permanent dietary and exercise changes, but the goal of fat loss is more likely to be successful when weightlifting is combined with proper diet and aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise.

4. What about those weight loss centers?

   Weight loss centers are usually viewed as a temporary fix and they rarely contribute to long-term management of body fat. People will usually visit the center for a while where their meals are controlled and they are regularly weighed and measured for body fat. However, once the person stops visiting the center, their eating patterns do not resemble the meals of the controlled environments and people often lose motivation without the regular weigh-ins to monitor their progress.

   Successful elimination of body fat comes about through long-term changes in diet (decrease Calorie intake, eat healthier foods) and a long-term commitment to exercise.

5. What is the Isometric diet?

   Some people find other types of diets useful. The isometric diet, by Dan Duchaine, involves eating 1/3 of Calories from protein, 1/3 from fat and 1/3 from carbohydrates. On this diet, Dan also encourages the consumption of low to moderate GI carbs.

6. What is the Anabolic diet?

   The AD is a cyclical ketogenic diet which provides a way to gain muscle whilst losing fat, sometimes at an astonishing rate. During the week no carbs are ingested (less than 30g per day), fat and protein make up the daily calories. On the weekends the diet switches over to a normal low fat and very high carb regime.

   The diet works in the following manner. In the absence of carbs (during the week), the body switches to ketone bodies (from fat breakdown) for an energy source – this is ketosis. Ketones have been shown to be protein sparing. The high levels of ingested fats also trick the body into a faster metabolic rate. On the weekends when huge amounts of insulin spiking carbs are ingested, the body is put into a highly anabolic state. Fat spillover is minimised due to the carb depleted muscles absorbing most of the excess blood sugar. Hence, fat loss is maximised during the week with minimal muscle loss and conversely on weekends muscle gain is maximised and any fat spillover is minimised.

   Weekday food choices include bacon and eggs, steak, salmon, full fat mayo, cream, butter, sausages – you get the picture. A 1:2 protein to fat ratio is recommended, hence the high fat content.

   See the following site by Jeff Krabbe for more info.
   http://www.best.com/~pdornier/ad2.htm

7. What is Bodyopus?

   Bodyopus is very similar to the anabolic diet except that it focuses on losing bodyfat quickly while minimizing lean tissue losses and includes the use of various pharmacological agents.

   Mysteriously, Bodyopus was published without an index, but Robert Ames was kind enough to write one. A plain-text version is available athttp://www.solid.net/lowcarb/bodyopus/bindex.txt and an HTML version is located at http://www.solid.net/lowcarb/bodyopus/bindex.htm

8. What is the Zone diet?

   The zone diet, by Barry Sears, is an extremely Calorie restrictive diet that involves maintaining a protein to carbohydrate ratio of 0.75 and encourages the consumption of low glycemic index carbohydrates. In theory, this type of diet should reduce the insulin response after meals containing high-glycemic foods. Subsequently, Sears believes that this lower insulin response should help reduce body fat.

   A recent study found that after long-term (30 day) consumption of low-glycemic foods, the body can alter insulin secretion to reflect values similar to those observed following the consumption of high glycemic foods.

   In addition, another study found that, despite decreased insulin secretion, there was no significant fat loss above that observed in a high insulin secretion group. There are problems with both of these studies, but they do raise serious questions that have yet to be answered with respect to the zone diet.

   First, almost all studies examining the glycemic index of food have followed the subjects for only a number of hours after the meal, or for only a few days. Insulin responses have not been examined after long-duration consumption of low glycemic index foods. This leaves the question, will the body adapt, in the long run, to low glycemic diets by secreting some predetermined genetic quantity of insulin?

   Second, while insulin certainly encourages the storage of fat, one obvious question remains. Can reducing insulin levels by changing to a low glycemic index diet actually result in fat loss, independent of further Calorie restriction?

   In addition, weightlifters usually have some of the best glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity around, raising another question. Will this type of diet be beneficial for weightlifting, or any, athletes? Due to the extremely Calorie restrictive nature of this diet, I (RR) do not recommend it for weightlifters trying to gain lean mass.

   Those trying to lose fat may find the recommendations of the zone diet to be very beneficial for fat loss. The basics of the diet revolve around low-glycemic vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans and dairy products as food sources containing the ideal carbohydrates. While all the claims have not yet been born out by research, the Zone diet is a sound approach to nutrition. RR

   The Zone diet is from the book “The Zone” by Barry Sears. It is a low Calorie, low saturated fat, moderate carbohydrate, moderate protein diet, with 40% of the Calories from carbohydrates, 30% from (mainly mono-unsaturated) fats, and 30% from protein. It is similar to Dan Duchaine’s IsoMetric Diet. Most people who have tried it report good results at losing fat while preserving lean mass. People trying to gain lean muscle have had more mixed results. Further information can be obtained by going to http://www.cs.umass.edu/~swanzone.html and following the links from there.

   For weightlifters, 3 effects on the Zone diet are generally reported. 1) You can’t get a pump. 2) It takes a lot longer to recover between sets. 3) You’re a lot less sore the day after a workout.

   [ Russell Swan ]

   See also The Zone page
   http://www.cs.umass.edu/~swan/zone.html

9. Dietary Protein Requirements of the Athlete

   Common wisdom is that the dietary protein requirements of athletes exceed that of sedentary individuals, but this topic remains a contentious one with a very wide range of recommendations and a few outspoken individuals even going so far as to deny that athletes have any greater requirement at all or that increased protein consumption is harmful (see the following section, Is increased protein intake harmful? ). One of the best-known researchers on the subject is Peter Lemon, who writes:

   Protein and amino acid needs of the strength athlete.
   Lemon PW, Applied Physiology Research Laboratory, Kent State University, OH 44242 (Int J Sport Nutr 1991 Jun;1(2):127-45)
   

   The debate regarding optimal protein/amino acid needs of strength athletes is an old one. Recent evidence indicates that actual requirements are higher than those of more sedentary individuals, although this is not widely recognized. Some data even suggest that high protein/amino acid diets can enhance the development of muscle mass and strength when combined with heavy resistance exercise training. Novices may have higher needs than experienced strength athletes, and substantial interindividual variability exists. Perhaps the most important single factor determining absolute protein/amino acid need is the adequacy of energy intake. Present data indicate that strength athletes should consume approximately 12-15% of their daily total energy intake as protein, or about 1.5-2.0 g protein/kg.d-1 (approximately 188-250% of the U.S. recommended dietary allowance). Although routinely consumed by many strength athletes, higher protein intakes have not been shown to be consistently effective and may even be associated with some health risks.

10. Is increased protein intake harmful?

    In a word, no. Several studies have indeed shown that reduced protein intake is beneficial for individuals suffering from kidney disorders, but this does not imply that a diet high in protein is harmful for individuals with healthy, functioning kidneys.

    Increased protein intake does, however, also increase calcium excretion; this is not generally a problem, because it can be compensated for by increased calcium intake, either from food or from supplements. Many high-protein foods, including milk and cheese, contain more than enough calcium to compensate for any increase in calcium excretion due to their protein content. Even if your diet is high in protein but not high in calcium-rich foods, calcium supplements are widely and cheaply available in pill form.

11. Carbohydrate Loading

    Carbohydrate loading is the technique of depleting muscle glycogen stores, usually through a combination of diet and exercise, followed by a period of consuming a diet rich in high glycemic index carbohydrates. Muscle cells with depleted glycogen stores will take up and store carbohydrates from the bloodstream much more rapidly than undepleted cells and if glycogen stores are refilled rapidly, this “window” of increased uptake will last slightly longer than it takes to return glycogen stores to baseline levels, leading to more glycogen being stored in muscle tissue than would ordinarily. How much? according to one study:

    Persistence of supercompensated muscle glycogen in trained subjects after carbohydrate loading.
    Goforth HW Jr, Arnall DA, Bennett BL, Law PG (J Appl Physiol 1997 Jan;82(1):342-7)
    

    Human Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California 92186-5122, USA. Several carbohydrate (CHO)-loading protocols have been used to achieve muscle glycogen supercompensation and prolong endurance performance. This study assessed the persistence of muscle glycogen supercompensation over the 3 days after the supercompensation protocol. Trained male athletes completed a 6-day CHO-loading protocol that included cycle ergometer exercise and dietary manipulations. The 3-day depletion phase began with 115 min of cycling at 75% peak oxygen uptake followed by 3 x 60-s sprints and included the subjects consuming a low-CHO/high-protein/high-fat (10:41:49%) diet. Subjects cycled 40 min at the same intensity for the next 2 days. During the 3-day repletion phase, subjects rested and consumed a high-CHO/low-protein/low-fat (85:08:07%) diet, including a glucose-polymer beverage. A 3-day postloading phase followed, which involved a moderately high CHO diet (60%) and no exercise. Glycogen values for vastus lateralis biopsies at baseline and postloading days 1-3 were 408 +/- 168 (SD), 729 +/- 222, 648 +/- 186, and 714 +/- 196 mmol/kg dry wt, respectively. The CHO-loading protocol increased muscle glycogen by 1.79 times baseline, and muscle glycogen remained near this level during the 3-day postloading period. Results indicate that supercompensated muscle glycogen levels can be maintained for at least 3 days in a resting athlete when a moderate-CHO diet is consumed.

    Carbohydrate loading is potentially valuable to both the bodybuilder and endurance athlete, by increasing muscle size and fullness and by increasing intramuscular energy stores to be used in a subsequent athletic event. Because glycogen storage requires the simultaneous uptake of water by muscle cells, carbohydrate loading also has the potential for drawing in any excess extracellular water, which makes the skin appear thinner and brings out muscular detail. Care must be taken to drink sufficient fluids at any time when glycogen stores are being replenished, because if too much water is taken up without adequate intake, electrolyte imbalances and cramping may result.

MFW-FAQ Section VIII
Supplements

See separate document, MFW FAQ, Section VIII. Supplements

MFW-FAQ Section IX
Are there any natural ways of increasing testosterone levels?

Unfortunately, even if there are natural ways to increase testosterone, the body tends to adapt to that change. It is unlikely that natural supplements can actually result in observable benefits.

1. Homeopathic testosterone and other homeopathic preparations

   You may be wondering how one can legally sell testosterone and how homeopathic “testosterone” might be effective when taken orally, like testosterone isn’t. The secret lies in the basic principle of homeopathy, which claims that the “essence” of a substance remains even when it is diluted to the point that none of the substance in question actually remains in the solution. As such, these are basically just particularly expensive vials of distilled water and will do everything for you that drinking a tiny vial of water would, thus getting around the legal and biochemical limitations of actual testosterone.

2. Do squats and deadlifts increase testosterone production?

   I suspect it’s much simpler. If you do exercises, with really heavy weights, that stress the entire body, then the entire body grows to adapt to that stress. You can do isolation/concentration movements ’til you’re blue in the face, but once you place a bar on your back (with some really heavy weight on it) and squat down using every muscle in your body to support that weight, then your body has a serious stress to adapt to. RR

   I’m going to back this statement. This is the main reason any power lifter does overloads. My PR in the squat is 525, so I put 600 on the bar and simply hold it. In laymen’s term’s it’s simply getting used to the weight. That is my advice for powerlifters. For any other athlete, this advice may be different. Train for what you do! Not for what increases limit strength.

   Frederick C. Hatfield II, MS,SSC1

3. What about sex and/or masturbation?

   Neither masturbation or sexual intercourse is likely to worsen your athletic performance and recovery or lower testosterone levels. Engaging is sex or masturbation *during* a lift could potentially be dangerous and, in any case, you should always observe good gym etiquette and clean up any equipment afterwards. If you do have sex in the gym, be aware that other gym members may complain if you haven’t brought enough to share with them too.

   J Endocrinol 1976 Sep;70(3):439-44 Endocrine effects of masturbation in men.Purvis K, Landgren BM, Cekan Z, Diczfalusy E
   The levels of pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), androstenedione, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), oestrone, oestradiol, cortisol and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured in the peripheral plasma of a group of young, apparently healthy males before and after masturbation. The same steroids were also determined in a control study, in which the psychological antipation of masturbation was encouraged, but the physical act was not carried out. The plasma levels of all steroids were significantly increased after masturbation, whereas steroid levels remained unchanged in the control study. The most marked changes after masturbation were observed in pregnenolone and DHA levels. No alterations were observed in the plasma levels of LH. Both before and after masturbation plasma levels of testosterone were significantly correlated to those of DHT and oestradiol, but not to those of the other steroids studied. On the other hand, cortisol levels were significantly correlated to those of pregnenolone, DHA, androstenedione and oestrone. In the same subjects, the levels of pregnenolone, DHA, androstenedione, testosterone and DHT in seminal plasma were also estimated; they were all significantly correlated to the levels of the corresponding steroid in the systemic blood withdrawn both before and after masturbation.

   Psychosom Med 1999 May-Jun;61(3):280-9 Cardiovascular and endocrine alterations after masturbation-induced orgasm in women. Exton MS, Bindert A, Kruger T, Scheller F, Hartmann U, Schedlowski M, Department of Medical Psychology, University Clinic Essen, Germany.
   The present study investigated the cardiovascular, genital, and endocrine changes in women after masturbation-induced orgasm. Healthy women (N = 10) completed an experimental session, in which a documentary film was observed for 20 minutes, followed by a pornographic film for 20 minutes, and another documentary for an additional 20 minutes. Subjects also participated in a control session, in which participants watched a documentary film for 60 minutes. After subjects had watched the pornographic film for 10 minutes in the experimental session, they were asked to masturbate until orgasm. Cardiovascular (heart rate and blood pressure) and genital (vaginal pulse amplitude) parameters were monitored continuously throughout testing. Furthermore, blood was drawn continuously for analysis of plasma concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol, prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH), beta-endorphin, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone, progesterone, and estradiol. RESULTS: Orgasm induced elevations in cardiovascular parameters and levels of plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline. Plasma prolactin substantially increased after orgasm, remained elevated over the remainder of the session, and was still raised 60 minutes after sexual arousal. In addition, sexual arousal also produced small increases in plasma LH and testosterone concentrations. In contrast, plasma concentrations of cortisol, FSH, beta-endorphin, progesterone, and estradiol were unaffected by orgasm. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual arousal and orgasm produce a distinct pattern of neuroendocrine alterations in women, primarily inducing a long-lasting elevation in plasma prolactin concentrations. These results concur with those observed in men, suggesting that prolactin is an endocrine marker of sexual arousal and orgasm.

MFW-FAQ Section X
Anabolic steroids

(please note that this section is included in it’s original form and may only be used for knowledge, usage of anabolic steroids is strongly NOT RECOMMENDED)

Steroids are a very large class of compounds which occur in all animals. The steroids used by athletes are mostly androgenic steroids: steroids which act like testosterone. The steroids used to treat inflammatory disorders (e.g. prednisolone, cortisone, beclomethasone, budesonide, dexamethasone and dozens of others) are corticosteroids and do not have anabolic effects.

Testosterone in the male is produced mainly in the testis, a small amount being produced in the adrenal. It is synthesized from cholesterol. The regulation of its production may be simplified thus: the hypothalamus (part of the brain) produces gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) which acts on the anterior pituitary to increase the production of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). LH acts on the Leydig cells in the testis, causing them to produce testosterone. FSH, together with testosterone act on the Sertoli cells in the testis to regulate the production and maturation of spermatozoa. Testosterone in turn acts on the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary to suppress the production of GnRH, FSH and LH, producing a negative-feedback mechanism which keeps everything well-regulated. The small amount produced in the adrenal (in both sexes) is regulated by secretion of adrenal corticotrophic hormone (ACTH), also secreted by the pituitary.

Testosterone, and its metabolites such as dihydrotestosterone, act in many parts of the body, producing the secondary sexual characteristics of the male: balding, facial and body hair, deep voice, greater muscle bulk, thicker skin, and genital maturity. At puberty it produces acne, the growth spurt and the enlargement of the penis and testes as well as causing the fusion of the epiphyses (through its conversion to estrogen), bringing growth in height to an end. It plays some role in maintaining the sexual organs in the adult, but only a low concentration is required for this.

The normal production of testosterone in the adult male is 4 to 9mg per day. The normal plasma concentration is 22.5nmol/l, of which 97% is protein bound. Most is excreted in the urine as 17-ketosteroids, but a small amount is converted to oestrogens.

Various analogs of testosterone are used in medical treatment of testicular failure, hereditary angioedema, anemia, severe endometriosis and a few other conditions. Testosterone itself is given by injection. Oral preparations such as methyltestosterone, fluoxymesterone, mesterolone and stanolone are sometimes used, but they cause substantially more liver damage than injectable or rectally administered preparations because they are absorbed from the gut and transported first to the liver (like most things taken by mouth), where they reach quite high concentrations and are extensively metabolized before circulating to the rest of the body.

Many other analogs have been developed with more anabolic effect than testosterone. These include such famous names as stanozolol, nandrolone, ethyloestrenol and oxymetholone. They all have substantially the same effects as testosterone: retention of sodium, potassium, water, calcium, sulfate, and phosphate, increased muscle synthesis in response to exercise and possible increases in aggression and or libido.

They act on the hypothalamus and pituitary to suppress the production of GnRH, FSH and LH, causing a virtual cessation in the production of natural testosterone in the testes and also reducing or stopping the production of spermatozoa. This effect does not always reverse when the artificial androgens are stopped.

Cancers of the prostate are frequently dependent on testosterone (hence their treatment by castration) and they may progress very rapidly in the presence of high level of androgens.

A percentage of testosterone is converted to estrogen and some artificial androgens have some estrogen effect as well, causing enlargement of the breast tissue behind the nipple (gynaecomastia). This is occasionally seen naturally in pubescent boys and a small percentage of the adult male population. This effect may be reduced by drugs which inhibit the binding of estrogen to its receptors: e.g. clomiphene, cyclofenil and tamoxifen or drugs that block the enzyme, aromatase, that converts testosterone to estrogen.

So are they safe? The approval and use of any drug is a matter of deciding whether the therapeutic benefits from its use are worth the adverse effects. No drug is safe; acetaminophen (paracetamol) causes some very nasty fatal poisonings, aspirin causes rare cases of devastating skin reactions. Problems occur with every pharmaceutical and it is usually dose dependent. However, the concensus is that they save enough lives and alleviate enough problems to more than compensate for the bad effects. In therapeutic doses, steroids result in few side effects.

Androgenic steroids have a fairly limited use in medicine. They are effective in males with testicular failure and are occasionally used in osteoporosis and as an appetite stimulant in severely wasted patients. In the past they were also used to treat anemia, however, more effective treatements now exist for this disease. In these cases the benefits clearly outweigh the risks for the patient. Using them for essentially cosmetic or frivolous reasons doesn’t produce much of value to compensate for the risks associated with their abuse.

Using drugs under medical supervision doesn’t make the drugs any safer, it just gives a greater chance that the adverse effects may be picked up sooner, and it decreases the chances that an abusive quantity will be used.

James Mitchell (with modifications by Rifle River)
http://netspace.net.au./~jam/

See also The Anabolic Steriod FAQ
http://www.cyberiron.com/asfaq.html

1. What Side effects are commonly seen with steroid use?

   First, there are many different anabolic steroids and based on how the body handles them, they have very different side effects. Some steroids have virtually no side effects and to lump all anabolic steroids into one category (in terms of benefit or harm) shows a lack of understanding with respect to their pharmacological action.

   In therapeutic doses, 100 mg deca-durabolin per week for example, very few side effects are observed. Unfortunately, most athletes will not restrict their use to therapeutic doses.

   What happens when athletes take some of the harsher anabolic steroids in abusive dosages? Numerous side effects can result while on steroids including acne, increased sex drive, impotence, liver problems, aggression and psychological dependence. Other side effects, including gynecomastia (bitch tits), high blood pressure, other cardiovascular diseases, baldness, stunted growth in adolescents, and enlargement of preexisting prostate tumors can persist even after steroid use has stopped. Female steroid users, in addition to the problems listed above, can have virilizing (masculinizing) symptoms when using the harsher, androgenic compounds, including amenorrhea (which is reversible), clitoral hypertrophy, deeper voice, excessive growth of body hair, loss of scalp hair and alterations in skin texture (which frequently aren’t reversible). Not all of these conditions are caused by all anabolic steroids. Some of the harsher anabolic steroids will only cause these problems for a certain percentage of the users, above certain dosages. Some of the milder anabolic steroids cause almost none of these side effects. Therefore, it is a mistake to state that all steroid users will come down with these side effects. Any such silly statements will be readily flamed on m.f.w. Most of the side effects of steroid use result from the conversion of testosterone to estrogen or dihydrotestosterone. Some anabolic steroids do not undergo this conversion. These steroids will have fewer side effects.

   Commonly, guys will post a question to the group asking if they should be concerned about side effects, like gyno, when taking 200 mg/week of deca-durabolin. This demonstrates a lack of understanding with respect to the side effects of anabolic steroids. This person should do more reading on the subject before proceeding because deca undergoes very little aromatization to estrogen, making the chances of gyno quite small, especially at such a low dose.

   A more valid question that is often asked is will 250 mg/week of testosterone make nolvadex necessary during a cycle to prevent gyno. Testosterone will convert to estrogen readily. However, gyno and many of the side effects of testosterone, don’t show up at such low doses. In fact, testosterone has been shown to be relatively safe up to 600 mg/week FOR SHORT DURATION USE! Those interested in this should read the July 4. 1996 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the harmful and beneficial effects of testosterone.

   For more information on specific steroids, their effects and side effects, such books as the World Anabolic Review (800-294-6181) or the Anabolic Reference Guide (800-615-8500) should be consulted.

   1. Is Lyle Alzado a good example of how steroids are harmful?

      No, anecdotal information is inadequate for drawing conclusions (see question on scientific research). In addition, Lyle died of a rare form of brain cancer that is only seen in patients with immunodeficiencies. This does not indicate that Lyle was HIV positive. There are many causes of immunodeficiencies. However, no other steroid user, who is immunocompetent, has died from this same form of brain cancer, casting doubt on the hypothesis that Lyle’s steroid use caused his cancer or his death.

2. Should I start my first cycle?

   If you are under the age of 20 you shouldn’t even consider the possibility. Teenagers are already experiencing an anabolic spurt and the risks far outweigh the benefit. Many anabolic steroids have the potential to stunt your growth, so that is something every teenager should consider if they have any expectation of becoming a professional athlete where short people have a much lower probability of success.

   If you live in the US, Canada or other countries where steroids are strictly regulated, you should consider the consequences of breaking the law.

   If you have only been lifting weights for a few years, you should consider that inexperienced weightlifters rarely show benefits from the use of steroids.

   If you think that you will only use the milder anabolic steroids, you should consider that just about everyone who uses the more dangerous steroids started out that way. Cycles of deca and primo turn into cycles of anadrol and testosterone. These compounds can be psychologically addictive, and the desire for more is a dangerous game.

   If you think that you are capable of self-administering these compounds, you should consider how much you really know about human physiology and pharmacology. What would you do if you hit a nerve with your needle? What would you do if you get an abscess or infection? How would you know if your liver or kidneys were suffering? Is there a doctor around who can run blood tests to monitor your health?

   If you think that you can handle these drugs, you should really think about what it will mean to come off cycle. How will you taper or ween yourself off? The desire to stay on these compounds can be overwhelming. I know guys who go on and never come off. The potential for damage from this practice is astounding.

   If you think that you want to start a cycle, you should consider what exactly is your goal. At age 25 you may want to look better, but at age 35 or later you’ll begin to become concerned about your health. Is the risk of problems, such as cardiovascular disease, which take some time to develop worth the risk, when your looks can improve dramatically through weightlifting without anabolic steroids?

   If you think you’re ready, you should consider that many guys use steroids and make very few muscle gains because the potential for using them incorrectly is enormous. These people are increasing their chance of suffering the side effects and they aren’t even achieving the main effect (putative benefit) because they don’t know how to use them properly, workout properly and eat properly. The potential errors that can be made are extensive. See lists in the World Anabolic Review and the Anabolic Reference Guide for common errors.

   Once you have thought about all this and have extensive knowledge in this area wait another year before beginning. This will allow you plenty of time for more thought and it will demonstrate your dedication to the iron. Decisions of this magnitude should not be made quickly. As I always tell a pushy salesman, “if I have to decide today, the answer is no.”

3. I’m going to start my first cycle. What are the safest steroids and inwhat doses should they be used??

   Self-administered steroids are rarely ever safe. In addition, black market steroids can contain virtually any substance – it’s like playing Russian roulette. And, if you don’t know which ones are safer than others, this indicates you don’t have enough information to begin a steroid cycle. You must be well-educated in this area before you begin. Otherwise, it will be very easy to make mistakes. Always consult your physician before adding any drug to your system. Make sure that your physician monitors you while you are on that drug.

   Injectable steroids are far easier on the liver in general than oral preparations. Of course, sterile technique and clean (new) needles and syringes should be used for injection. Any injection carries the potential risk of bacterial infection. Sharing needles can increase the risk of spreading viruses including HIV, Hepatitis C and others. Fake steroids often result in infection because the products are often made in a non-sterile environment. It is also possible to cause an embolism from inadvertent intravenous injection. In addition, it is possible to impale the sciatic nerve during a gluteal injection which can be extremely painful.

   Some of the milder anabolic steroids include deca-durabolin, equipoise, primobolan and oxandrolone. Some of the harsher anabolic steroids that result in more harmful effects include testosterone esters, anadrol and dianabol.

   When considering dosage, most lifters base their dose on total mg/week. Whether it is deca or test, the most important consideration is the total mg/week. The question these users have to address is how much risk are they willing to take? Obviously, the higher the dosage, the greater the risk they’re tkaing. In addition, these users often decrease their risk of harmful effects by using a higher percentage of the milder anabolic steroids listed above. Those users who choose to take a greater risk will use a higher percentage of the harsher steroids listed above. For example, some guys might choose to do 800 mg/week. If all of that 800 mg is test, the risk of harmful effects is much greater than if these guys used 250 mg test in conjunction with 550 mg of deca (which is a safer anabolic steroid).

   What dosage a user chooses is completely up to that individual and the risk they’re willing to take. However, they should recognize the risks associated with various dosage levels. Many first time users try 200 mg/week. Many experienced users push 2000 mg/week (10 times more). Some bodybuilders have been known to use 5000 mg/week, although this is certainly a waste of the pharmaceuticals. Many first time users will notice good gains between 200 and 400 mg/week. Experienced users often get good gains between 600 and 800 mg/week. Unfortunately, harmful effects, such as gyno, often show up when users take 750 mg/week or more (this does not mean gyno will not show up at lower doses, just that it occurs with low frequency at lower doses). So, many guys build great physiques, never exceeding 700 mg/week. Of course, Dan Duchaine once said “you give a guy 2 grams of anything a week and he’s going to grow.”

   For those who would like to understand more about steroids they should read the following books: World Anabolic Review (800-294-6181) and Anabolic Reference Guide (800-615-8500).

4. Where can I get steroids?

   If you are looking to use steroids for athletic or aesthetic purposes, doctors can not, and will not, prescribe them for you in the United States, Canada and several other countries. 95% of the items on the black market are fakes. Attempting to obtain steroids from someone you met on the net is STUPID. They could be law enforcement looking to make a bust, or they will simply take your money – they won’t even waste time with a fake product.

   People often obtain the drugs in countries where the regulations are not as strict while visiting or through mail order. Others obtain them from veterinary supply houses. Or they are obtained from that really big guy in the gym. :->

5. Are my steroids real?

   Make sure that the substance in question doesn’t have a picture in the World Anabolic Review or the Anabolic Reference Guide. No serious steroid user should be without at least one of these manuals. They provide pictures of various real and fake steroids. If a picture of your steroid is in this book, people will be frustrated with the question. In addition, these books give several guidelines for determining if it’s real. If it is not in this book, you may ask the group. However, it is very difficult to answer these types of questions without actually seeing the product and usually people will only answer with the standard guidelines.

6. What is the proper way to taper off cycle?

   Do not use anabolics that aromatize or suppress endogenous testosterone for a taper. Any substance that suppresses endogenous test production will be very harsh for coming off cycle. A proper taper can help avoid psychological addiction. Substances like deca-durabolin, equipoise, laurabolin, primobolan and proviron are commonly used for tapering. The two best compounds for tapering are probably primobolan and proviron.

   Here is one way that people taper: After all testosterones, dbols, anadrols and other harsh androgens clear out their system, usually three or four weeks is sufficient – shorter time periods are fine if the substance has a shorter half-life, begin HCG for one or two weeks. They then follow the HCG with clomid (never the reverse) for one or two weeks. The next week they begin use of primobolan (which doesn’t suppress the axis). After a couple weeks they drop the primo and use clenbuterol for two weeks. Throughout the duration of the taper, proviron is sometimes used because it is an anti-aromatase, an androgen, and it doesn’t suppress the axis. For more information see the World Anabolic Review (800-294-6181) and Anabolic Reference Guide (800-615-8500).

7. Is bridging between cycles beneficial?

   No, it is very dangerous. When you decide to use small quantities of steroids between cycles, you must recognize that you are not between cycles. You have gone on steroids permanently. This is a very drastic move and one that should not be contemplated lightly. Many pro bodybuilders go on and stay on. Consider the serious health ramifications of this decision.

   But, you say, you’ll only do 50 or 100 mg of deca a week to bridge. This is a mistake and a waste of juice and androgen receptors. This won’t have too many harmful effects associated, but this will prevent androgen receptors from ever returning to normal levels. So, when a person decides to go back “on-cycle”, they get few benefits from the higher dose steroids because their receptors are still down-graded. At this point the person begins to question if the steroids are real because they aren’t seeing an effect. Bridging is a demonstration of how steroids can be psychologically addictive. Guys say they’re off cycle, guys say they aren’t psychologically dependent, but they still have to take a shot every week.

   Some of the guys who get the best gains from their cycles are the ones who only do one 10 week cycle a year. The entire rest of the year their training is causing an increase in androgen receptors. When they finally hit these receptors with juice, they are primed for action.

   Bridging is a mistake. It is far more detrimental to progress than people believe. If a person decides that they are going to go on without coming off, they will not get any benefit from bridging with small quantities. Pros that go on and don’t come off use serious quantities year round. Don’t risk your health by going on permanently. Some would argue that it is worth the risk if the person could earn millions of dollars as a result of the steroid use. These people are definitely not choosing bodybuilding as their sport.

8. Are steroids morally wrong?

   Moral arguments against the use of steroids usually fail miserably. One assumption made in this argument is that everyone has a common morality which is certainly false. Second, people often forget that even over-the-counter drugs have harmful effects and that legal status is often determined by political ideology, not by the safety of a drug. For example, alcohol and nicotine both have inherent side effects, but their overwhelming demand, and other historical reasons, have led to their legality in a democratic society, not their relative safety.

MFW-FAQ Section XI
Other drugs

Caution is always advised. Use any drug under the care of a qualified physician. Advice on the net may come from an actual MD or a 13 year old kid posing as a MD. Their writing can look quite similar when they both use Times Roman, size 12, fonts.

1. Clenbuterol and Albuterol (salbutamol)

   Clen and Al are beta-adrenergic agonists, like ephedrine, used for the treatment of asthma. However, they do not activate beta1 receptors which are found on the heart. This alleviates the potential for rapid heart beats and arrhythmia associated with ephedrine. Although many people report rapid heart beats in the first couple of days of use.

   On the other hand, both clen and al will activate beta2 receptors more strongly than ephedrine resulting in more side effects and a greater desensitization of receptors. In addition, the half-lives of these two compounds are longer than ephedrine, especially clen which has a half-life between 48 and 60 hours.

   These beta agonists can aid in fat loss, however, there use should be kept very short. In addition, these compounds are often used 2 days on, 2 days off for a 2 week period followed by at least two weeks off the substance. Clen is commonly taken between 60 and 120 mcgs in divided doses per day. The potential for side effects is quite large. The side effects include headaches, dizziness, tremors, nausea and insomnia. Long term use of these substances could potentially result in chronic thyroid insufficiency. Clen is not available in the US and albuterol is prescription only. And, no, your albuterol INHALER will NOT help you lose fat. This is because the inhaled drug will not act systemically. Albuterol does come in tabs, but the inhaler version is much more common. Yes, clen comes in tablet, liquid and powder forms.
   

   ---

   About the newsgroup Misc.Fitness.Weights

   The misc.fitness.weights FAQ Table of Contents

   ---

   This is the misc.fitness.weights FAQ. If at any point you do not understand the terms used in this FAQ, they can be looked up in the bodybuilding and weightlifting dictionary

   This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the author/maintainer/contributors assume(s) no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

   Comments about the content of this FAQ should be directed to the newsgroup misc.fitness.weights.

   This FAQ is available at http://www.trygve.com/mfw_faq.html
   

   1. About the group Misc.Fitness.Weights

      1. Can I advertise in misc.fitness.weights?

      2. Commonly encountered abbreviations

   2. I just began working out and I wanna get big. How should I start?

      1. Should I work the entire body at every workout?

      2. How many exercises should I do per muscle group?

      3. How many sets should I do per exercise?

      4. How many repetitions should I perform?

      5. How many times per week should I lift?

      6. Should I be concerned about the amount of weight I lift?

      7. What are the best exercises for a beginner?

      8. What is HIT?

      9. What is Periodization?

      10. What is a hardgainer?

      11. Where can I read more about lifting routines on the net?

      12. Which of the muscle/exercise/health magazines should I believe?

   3. I want to tone up, but I don’t want to get too big. How can I achieve this?

   4. The Exercises

      1. What is the proper way to squat?

      2. What is the proper way to deadlift?

      3. Dumbbell Bench press – getting into position

      4. How do I work my abs?

      5. How do I get a 6-pack?

      6. What is the proper way to do shrugs?

      7. Can I change the peak of my bicep?

   5. Weightlifting and health?

      1. Is weightlifting beneficial for my health?

      2. Does weightlifting increase bone density and strength?

      3. My liver enzymes are elevated, but I don’t take steroids or drink alcohol. What’s the problem?

   6. Weightlifting and cardiovascular conditioning

      1. How important is cardiovascular conditioning to Bodybuilders?

      2. How important is cardiovascular conditioning to Powerlifters?

      3. Should I do cardiovascular work before or after the weights?

   7. Muscle strength versus size

      1. Can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

      2. Can I lose fat without losing muscle?

      3. Can I get stronger without gaining more muscle mass?

      4. Can I gain muscle mass without getting stronger?

   8. What should I eat?

      1. to gain weight?

         1. How many Calories?

         2. How much protein?

         3. How much carbohydrate?

         4. How much fat?

      2. to lose weight?

         1. How many Calories?

         2. Weight loss and protein?

         3. Weight loss and carbohydrates

            1. What is the Glycemic Index?

         4. Weight loss and fats

      3. Is weightlifting important to fat loss?

      4. What about those weight loss centers?

      5. What is the Isometric diet?

      6. What is the Anabolic diet?

      7. What is Bodyopus?

      8. What is the Zone diet?

      9. Dietary Protein Requirements of the Athlete

      10. Is increased protein intake harmful?

      11. Carbohydrate loading

   9. Supplements

      1. Protein powders

      2. Meal Replacement Powders

      3. Weight gainers / “mega-mass 9 billion”

      4. Proteabolic

      5. Amino acids

         1. supplemental branched chain amino acids

         2. l-carnitine

         3. GABA

         4. Glutamine

         5. HMB

         6. KIC

         7. phosphatidyl serine

         8. tryptophan

         9. tyrosine

         10. Can amino acids cause an increase in GH secretion (ROK)

      6. Colostrum

      7. Sports bars

      8. CLA

      9. DMSO

      10. Flax seed oil

      11. Lecithin

      12. Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT oil)

      13. Omega-3 fatty acids

      14. vitamin and mineral supplementation

          1. B vitamins

          2. Boron

          3. Chromium

          4. CoQ10

          5. Dibencozide

          6. vanadium

          7. zinc

      15. Creatine

      16. Hydroxy-citric acid (HCA)

      17. Glucosamine Sulphate

      18. Inosine

      19. Prohormones

          1. pregnenolone

          2. DHEA

          3. androstenedione

          4. androdiol

          5. 5-androstenediol

          6. norandrostenedione, norandrodiol

          7. cyclodiol

      20. Melatonin

      21. Tribulus Terrestris ( Endo-Pro, Tribestrone )

      22. “Super Blue-Green Algae”

      23. Shark cartilage/bovine cartilage

      24. Random vaguely Russian-sounding “supplements” from Atletika

      25. Herbs

          1. Avena Sativa

          2. Borage

          3. Capsicum

          4. Ephedrine, ECA stack

          5. Evening Primrose

          6. Gamma Oryzanol

          7. Ginseng

          8. Cordyceps (Dong Chong)

          9. Milk Thistle

          10. Saw Palmetto

          11. Smilax

          12. Yohimbe

   10. Are there any natural ways of increasing testosterone levels?

       1. Homeopathic testosterone and other homeopathic preparations

       2. Do squats and deadlifts increase testosterone production?

       3. What about sex and/or masturbation?

   11. What are anabolic steroids?

       1. What Side effects are commonly seen with steroid use?

          1. Is Lyle Alzado a good example of how steroids are harmful?

       2. Should I start my first cycle?

       3. I’m going to start my first cycle. What are the safest steroids?

       4. Where can I get steroids?

       5. Are my steroids real?

       6. What is the proper way to taper off cycle?

       7. Is bridging between cycles beneficial?

       8. Are steroids morally wrong?

   12. What about other drugs?

       1. Clenbuterol

       2. Clomid / Cyclofenil

       3. Cytomel

       4. Cytadren

       5. DNP

       6. Diuretics

       7. Growth Hormone

       8. HCG

       9. Insulin

       10. Insulin-like Growth Factor 1

       11. Nolvadex

       12. Viagra

   13. Personal Grooming

       1. Removing body hair

       2. Dealing with Chafing / Calluses

   14. Miscellany

       1. How can I get BRAWN or Hardgainer?

       2. How can I subscribe to Peak training journal?

       3. Why do so many people in m.f.w hate MM2K and Phillips?

       4. Why is everyone so hung up on scientific evidence and research studies?

   15. Document History

   16. Works In Progress — topics requested but not yet completed

   17. Authors and credits

   
   This FAQ was originally compiled and edited by Rifle River
   ( jstream@girch1.med.uth.tmc.edu ).
   Subsequent updates and maintenance by Trygve Lode ( trygve@trygve.com ).

   ---

   1. Can I advertise in Misc.fitness.weights?

      Seriously, commercial ads are strongly discouraged on misc.fitness.weights; ads for weights-related items may be placed freely on alt.fitness.marketplace, however. Generally, the contents of a .signature appended to your articles on the group may contain whatever you wish to put there and that may include pointers to a commercial website or mention of your products or services–however, this exception is only applicable if you’re actually posting an article that is otherwise appropriate for the group.

      Noncommercial ads for personal items appropriate to the group, such as one for your old MogoFlex Ergobench 2000 are grudgingly permitted, however, note that newsgroups such as misc.fitness.weights are propagated worldwide, so consider limiting the distribution of any ads of this type to just your local area and absolutely be certain that you mention your approximate location. It does no good to list your pre-owned 600-pound aerobic kickboxing simulator if a potentially interested reader has no way of knowing whether you are in the South Bronx or South Africa.

Misc.fitness.aerobic, was formed in June 1995 for those
interested in discussing or questioning various aspects of
a total aerobic fitness program. Topics welcome for
discussion include any aerobic activity such as aerobic dance,
step training, use of aerobic machines (e.g.stairclimbers,
NordicTrak, rowing machines, etc.), jazzercise, walking,
jogging, running or any other activity pursued for the purpose
of increasing aerobic fitness.

The group will also address other aspects of a good
aerobic program such as proper nutrition, muscle training,
aerobic exercise for weight loss, flexibility, aerobic
exercise videos, tapes, literature and aerobic instructor
certification procedures and certifying organizations.

1. ORIGIN OF FAQ

The misc.fitness.aerobic FAQ is being maintained by the
group’s founder, Bobbie Rivere. It has been formulated by
using the most frequently asked questions from the people
who read misc.fitness.aerobic. Any suggestions or revisions
should be sent to bobbie@panix.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

2. DISCLAIMER

The questions and answers below represent our best
effort to provide general information. They are not to be
read as gospel. Individual people have different needs and
abilities, and all exercise routines suggested should be
adjusted to suit the specific situation. It is best to
consult a doctor before beginning any lifestyle change
involving exercise, particularly if you have been sedentary,
are very overweight or overfat, or have or suspect any sort
of medical condition which might be exacerbated by exercise.

3. RELEVANT FAQS

alt.food.fat-free FAQ
alt.food.low-fat FAQ
alt.support.diet FAQ
misc.fitness FAQ
Stretching and Flexibility FAQ
The Abdominal Training FAQ

4. AEROBIC EXERCISE

4.1 What is aerobic exercise?

The word aerobic literally means “with oxygen” or “in the
presence of oxygen.” Aerobic exercise is any activity that
uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously for
a long period of time and is rhythmic in nature. Aerobic activity
trains the heart, lungs and cardiovascular system to process and
deliver oxygen more quickly and efficiently to every part of the
body. As the heart muscle becomes stronger and more efficient, a
larger amount of blood can be pumped with each stroke.
Fewer strokes are then required to rapidly transport oxygen
to all parts of the body. An aerobically fit individual can
work longer, more vigorously and achieve a quicker recovery
at the end of the aerobic session.

4.2 What are some examples of aerobic activity? (Some
of these activities can be anaerobic if you are not
moving continuously)

(from Ron Hogan < ronh@lion.sr.hp.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >)

Aerobic dance, aerobic machines, backpacking, ballroom
dance, basketball, belly dancing, boxing, broomball,
calisthenics, canoeing, cycling, fencing, frisbee, golf,
gymnastics, handball, hiking, hockey, ice skating,
jazzercise, jogging, judo, jumping rope, karate,
kayaking, mountaineering, racquetball, rock climbing,
roller skating, rope climbing, rowing, running,
skateboarding, skiing, skin diving, spelunking, square
dancing, squash, step aerobics, swimming, walking, water
skiing or any other activity that meets the criteria in
section 4.1.

5. AEROBIC TRAINING

5.1 What factors affect aerobic training?

Frequency, duration and intensity. Frequency refers to
how often you perform aerobic activity, duration refers to
the time spent at each session, and intensity refers to the
percentage of your maximum heartrate or heartate reserve at
which you work.

5.2 How often should I train? How hard? For how long?

Most experts believe that 3-5 times per week for a
duration of 20-60 minutes at 60-90% of age-specific maximal
heartrate or 50-85% of VO2max (heart rate reserve).

6. WORKOUT INTENSITY

6.1 How do I determine my target heartrate?

The general formula for the average person is 220-agex60%
andx90% of HRmax. For example, a 30-year old would calculate
his target zone using the above formula: 220-30=190.
190x.60=114 and 190x.90=171. This individual would try to
keep his heartrate between 114 (low end) and 171 (high end)
beats per minute.

(from Evelyn Mitchell < efm@tummy.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >)

The Karvonen Formula calculates your heartrate reserve
range. To calculate it, take your pulse for one minute on
three successive mornings upon waking up. (We will be using
the case of a 30-year old male whose resting pulse was 69,70
and 71 for an average of 70 over the 3 days.)
Calculate target heartrate by subtracting your age from
220 (220-30=190).
Subtract your average resting heart rate from target
heartrate (190-70=120).
The lower boundary of the percentage range is 50% of this
plus your resting heart rate [(120 x .5) + 70 = 130]. The
higher boundary is 85% plus your RHR [(120 x .85) + 70
=178]. Using the Karvonen Formula for percentage of heartrate
reserve, this 30-year old man should be working between 130
and 178 BPM.
Like the maximum heartrate formula, the Karvonen formula
can vary from individual to individual. Not every
individual is “average”, and there can be large differences
among people. Therefore heartrate alone may not be the best
indicator of how hard or how well you are working.

It is important to note that the deviation in both the
age-specific formula and the Karvonen formula is due to the
estimation of HRmax. If you have an actual HRmax from a
graded exercise test, it will be more accurate. ACSM lists
two formulas for estimating HRmax, each one with
a standard deviation of +/- 10-12 BPM:

HRmax = 220 – age (low estimate)
HRmax = 210 – (0.5 * age) (high estimate)

HR = exercise intensity * HRmax * 1.15

Source, ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and
Prescription, 5th Edition, p. 274, Williams and Wilkins
(publishers)

6.2 What are some other methods for judging my workout
intensity?

The Borg scale of perceived exertion is another way of
determining how hard you are working. Using your own
subjective Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) on a scale of
6-20 or a scale of O-10, you determine how hard you *feel*
you are working. A rating of 12-16 (”somewhat hard” to
“hard” on the 12-20 scale) or a rating of 4-6 (”somewhat
strong” to “very strong”) on the 0-10 scale
reflects a heartrate of 60-90% of maximum and should be the
target area for which to strive.

Original Scale Revised Scale

6 0 Nothing at all
7 Very, very light 0.5 Very, very weak
8 1 Very weak
9 Very light 2 Weak
10 3 Moderate
11 Fairly light 4 Somewhat strong
12 5 Strong
13 Somewhat hard 6
14 7 Very strong
15 Hard 8
16 9
17 Very hard 10 Very, very strong
18 * Maximal
19 Very, very hard
20

Source: ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and
Prescription, 5th Edition, p. 68, Williams and Wilkins
(publishers).

The talk test is another measure of intensity. You
should be able to talk without gasping for air
while working at optimal intensity. If you cannot, you
should scale down. On the other hand, if you can sing an
aria from Madame Butterfly, then you need to work harder.

7. SPOT REDUCTION

7.1 I do lots of outer thigh (tummy, buns, etc.) work.
Will that part of my body slim down first?

No. When we’re working a muscle or group of muscles to
burn fat, we have no control over what part of the body we
burn fat from. There is no such thing as “spot reducing”.
Fat generally is used up in pretty much the reverse order
it was put on, (LIFO – Last In First Out). When you are
exercising, the blood is carrying fat from all over the body
to provide the energy. The muscles which are being worked
will improve, of course, so when the layers of fat finally
do get worked off, you’ll have some nice lean tissue to show
for all your efforts.

(from Michael G. Kurilla < mkg2r@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >)

Another aspect to this question is the fact that muscle
growth underneath a fat deposit can give the appearance of
spot reduction. This is because the overlying fat is stretched
over a greater surface and appears thinner, although the total
amount of fat is the same. A good analogy is with a balloon.
As the air is increased, the skin on the balloon gets thinner,
but the amount of balloon material stays the same. I think that
this may be how the spot reduction myth originated. By working
the muscles below the fat, people think they are actually making
the fat go away.

8. FAT BURNING

8.1 How do I know when I’m exercising hard enough to
burn fat?

Actually, you’re *almost* always burning fat at one rate
or another, but you burn most when your body is in its aerobic
range. A good rule of thumb is that after 20 minutes in your
aerobic zone, you will be burning more fat than carbos. Covert
Bailey, in “Smart Exercise”, states that you will be burning
fat after only twelve minutes of aerobic exercise. If you
can increase your aerobic activity to 30 minutes or longer,
you will be burning a larger percentage of calories from fat.
There is still some disagreement as to which is better – longer
duration at lower intensity, or shorter duration at higher
intensity. If you are limited in time, then the higher intensity
will maximize your aerobic benefits in a shorter amount of time.
If you can work for a longer duration at a lower intensity, you
will decrease your chance of injury. The object is to burn more
calories than you take in. 3,500 calories equals l pound of fat.
Your muscles will continue to burn fat after both aerobic and
anaerobic (muscle training) exercise.

(from Michael G. Korilla [mgk2r@uva.pcmail. virginia.edu])

This is perhaps the most common question raised by individuals
exercising for the purpose of either weight loss or simply
weight control. This stems from the recognition that aerobic
exercise is a significant adjunct to any weight loss program,
that is diet plus aerobic exercise produces more weight loss
than diet alone. In addition, the weight lost with exercise
tends to be a higher percentage of fat.

Exercise can be grouped into three broad levels of intensity,
mild, moderate, and high. Mild intensity is a comfortable walking
pace and can be sustained almost indefinitely, moderate intensity
is equal to an average cardiovascular conditioning workout (able
to talk, but not sing) and can be sustained (in a trained individual)
for upwards of 3 – 4 hours, and high intensity is not
able to talk and can only be sustained for 30 – 45 minutes.

Based on recent and very detailed research studies, in terms of
absolute fat burning, a moderate intensity workout burns the most
fat. At a heart rate equal to about 75% of max, fat burning will
approach 0.5 grams – 1.0 grams of fat per minute. There is a weight
dependence with the lower end referring to a 100 pound individual
and the upper end to a 200 pound person. As the durationa continues
(greater than 1 hour), fat burning can increase slightly (another
10%).

At a mild intensity, the majority of calories expended (85 – 90%)
are fat calories, but the absolute level is only about 60% of the
moderate intensity. At high intensity levels, fat burning declines
to a level of about 65% of the moderate pace, as sugar burning
supplies the rest. The high rate of sugar burning exhausts the
limited sugar supply in muscles and causes muscular failure.

The only caveats for the above burn rates are that these numbers
are derived from individuals who were already aerobically trained
and were conducted in the AM before breakfast. Less fit individuals
are known to burn less fat and more sugar (part of aerobic conditioning
is greater reliance on fat burningfor energy). Exercising after a
meal will tend to promote more sugar burning. Consumption of sugar
during an exercise session will also tend to retard fat burning in
favor of the sugar. These numbers were derived from cycling and so
the absolute numbers can be increased if exercises that involve more
muscle groups are utilized (running, rowing, etc.). From peak energy
production rates for various exercises, rowers might reach about 40%
higher.

9. EXERCISE DURATION

9.1 Is it better to break my exercise sessions up, or
exercise for a longer period?

(from Ken Raich < raichk@ix.netcom.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >)

There are TWO distinct thoughts on this issue: Both
present fairly reasonable arguments.

First, It takes 15-20 minutes to get your metabolism into
the fat burning zone many people desire for an aerobic
workout. Once you havereached this level, your body tends to
obtain more of its energy from fat than carbohydrates. Using
this argument, a single 90-minute workout will allow you to
exercise in this “fat burning” zone for at least 70 minutes
while two 45-minute sessions would allow you to be in this
zone for at least 50 minutes (2 x 25). This logic supports
a single, longer workout.

Second, For 6 or so hours after a workout your body
remains in “afterburn” mode, burning more calories at rest
than it would have if you had not worked out. Using this
logic, two sessions would produce two afterburn periods and
result in more fat being burned than would be
for a single workout session.

The real bottom line is that if you exercise for 90
minutes a day,you’re interested in more than just
fitness(don’t get me wrong, this is perfectly OK). To stay
in reasonable cardio-vascular shape, you need to perform
aerobically for 20-30 minutes at least 3 times a week. If
you wish to be in better than “the minimum acceptable”
shape, remember that the returns are not geometric (you
won’t be in twice as good shape if you workout for twice as
long). Therefore, if you’re going to workout for 90 minutes
a day, splitting the time between one or two sessions
probably doesn’t make a significant fitness-level
difference.

10. WEIGHT AND BODYFAT PERCENTAGE

10.1 How much should I weigh?

What you weigh is not as important as the percentage of bodyfat to lean
tissue. You can be overweight without being overfat and vice versa. Since
muscle weighs more than fat, and you want to have firm muscles throughout
your body, you may weigh more than you thought was average for your height
and build. There is still much controversy over what is “ideal”
bodyweight. While some body fat is essential to sustain life, it is
generally thought that a healthy bodyfat percentage for males is 8-20% and
for females is 13-25%.

Source: ACE Instructor Manual, 1993, p.178

10.2 What’s the best way to determine Body Fat
Percentage?

(from <chuckg@arnet.comSun>)

Weighing in water (hydrostatic) is generally considered
the best method.But, the real answer is that a single
measurement, no matter how accurate, doesn’t tell you much.
What’s really important is, are you gaining or losing fat?
The best way to answer this question is to take a reading
every few weeks and graph the results. The absolute
accuracy of these readings isn’t really important as long as
you use consistent technique so that the error is about the
same every time. The two methods that work best for
at-home measurements are skin-fold calipers and bicep IR
units. Treat the numbers not as “body fat percentage” but
as a “body fat index.” If, after several readings, your
body fat index is clearly trending up, you may want to
reconsider your diet and exercise programs. It’s like the
gas gauge in your car – it doesn’t tell you how many gallons
you have, but it gives you a relative indication.

11. MUSCLE TRAINING

11.1 Should I train my muscles as well as do aerobic activity?

Definitely. Muscle training is an integral part of any
aerobic program. After muscle training, our bodies continue
to burn fat for many hours. The combination of aerobic
exercise, muscle training, proper diet and stretching is an
excellent program for getting fit and staying healthy.

11.2 Which is better for muscle training: Weights or
ExerTube (DynaBand)?

Neither is actually “better”. All exercise accessories
have their uses. Weights require more muscles in use to
maintain proper form, while the bands and tubes are easier
to use in targetting specific muscles. Bands and tubes also
have the advantage of being somewhat adjustable in
resistance just by changing length. To change weights in
dumbbells, you either need another set of dumbbells, or extra
plates for those which use plates. Dumbbells, however, do offer
a much greater range of available weights, particularly at the high
end, making them more useful in strength training. Bands
and tubes are generally used in resistance training exercises.

12. WARM-UP AND COOL-DOWN

12.1 What is a warm-up, and how important is it in
aerobic activity?

A warm-up helps your body prepare itself for exercise and
reduces the chance of injury. The warm-up should be a
combination of rhythmic exercise which begins to raise the
heartrate and raise muscle temperature, and static
stretching through a full range of motion. The rhythmic
exercise may be a slower version of the aerobic activity to
come. For example, you might want to walk before you jog,
or do some aerobic dance movements before an aerobic
or step class. The stretches in the warm-up should be
non-ballistic and cover all of the major muscle groups.
Always stretch the lower back before doing any lateral
movement of the upper torso such as side bends.

12.2 What is a cool-down, and how important is it in
aerobic activity?

After any aerobic activity, the blood is pooled in the
extremities, and the heartrate is elevated. The purpose of
the cool-down is to bring the heartrate down to near-normal
and to get the blood circulating freely back to the heart.
Stopping abruptly could result in fainting or place undue
stress on the heart. The cool-down should also include
stretching to help relax the muscles which worked so hard
during the activity. The cool-down stretches also increase
flexibility, and might help to prevent DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle
Soreness) although this has not been proven.

13. HEAT AFTER WORKOUT

13.1 Should I use a steam, sauna or hot tub right after
a workout?

Since the blood tends to pool in your extremities after
a vigorous workout, and steams, saunas, hot tubs and even
hot showers tend to dilate your blood vessels, it is really
not the best thing to do as it will be more difficult for
the blood to reach the heart and brain. However, if you’ve
done a thorough aerobic cool-down, and you wait a reasonable
amount of time to return to almost normal, you might go into
one of these “fun” things. But if you feel any sign of
weakness or dizziness, get out immediately.

14. HOW TO BEGIN AN EXERCISE PROGRAM

14.1 I have never exercised before. Where do I begin?

It is a good idea to start slowly and build up to a full
program. Walking is the easiest way to begin a program.
Start with a stroll for a mile or so and build up to walking
3-4 miles per hour. As you become proficient at walking,
you might want to try another activity such as jogging,
running or even aerobic or step classes. The best aerobic
program is the one you enjoy and will stick to. Remember,
the journey of 1000 miles begins with but a single step.

15. STEP AEROBICS

15.1. What is step aerobics?

Step aerobics is a form of aerobic activity which is
performed on a platform that usually ranges from 4″ to 10″
in height. Step training was developed to provide a low-impact
activity that is both challenging and interesting. People who
may not like certain aspects of aerobic dance find that step is
a very good alternative. Each participant works within his or her
own space. There is no traveling across a room. When done properly,
step training is an efficient means of improving aerobic fitness.

15.2 What is proper stepping technique?

Your body should remain in good alignment. Your head should be
up, shoulders down and back, chest up, abdominals and buttocks tight.
When stepping up, lean from the ankles and not the waist to avoid
placing excessive stress on the lumbar spine. Contact the platform
with the entire foot. To avoid Achilles tendon injury, make sure
your heel is down, and your foot is in the center of the platform.
When stepping down, step close to the platform and allow the heels
to contact the floor to help absorb the shock. (toe, ball, heel).
When doing lunges or repeater steps, however, the heel should be
up, and the weight should be on the forefoot of the working leg.
You should not use hand or leg weights when you are stepping as the
risk of injury outweighs any added benefit you might get from using
weights. It is important to note, that anyone with a history of knee
problems should consult a physician before beginning step training.

15.3 How high should my step be?

Step height depends on several things – fitness level, current
stepping skill, and the degree of knee flexion when the knee is
fully loaded while stepping up. At no time should the knee joint of
the first leg to step up flex beyond a 90% angle. Reebok is now saying
that 60% is even better. Deconditioned individuals or beginners
should begin on a 4″ platform. As you improve, you may add risers
to increase the step height making sure not to exceed the 90 degrees
of knee flexion. The most popular step heights are 6″ and 8″.

15.4 How can I increase intensity.

There are several ways to increase intensity. Increase your step
height, use longer lever arms or add propulsion moves (where both
feet are off the step at the same time). If you are going to add
propulsion, or power as it is known today, make sure not to do these
moves for more than one minute at a time as these moves result in
higher vertical impact. All power moves should be done as you go
up onto the platform. Always step down without power. Power moves
are considered advanced, and should not be attempted by beginners.

15.5 How fast should the music be?

According to Step Reebok guidelines, music should be played at
a speed of 118-122 BPM. Technique and safety are seriously compromised
when the music is too fast. It is also impossible to get the full
range of motion that can be achieved at slower tempos.

16. EXERCISE GADGETS

16.1 How good is (insert your favorite exer-gadget shown on TV)?

The fitness industry changes all the time, and along with these
changes come trends and fads in the types of exercise people prefer
to do and the machines and equipment they use to do it. Some of
these items are good, and some are junk.

As pointed out by Ken < soulhuntre@pobox.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), nobody
is able to test every piece of equipment on the market. Before
you buy any new gadget, ask the experienced fitness folks in the
misc.fitness.aerobic newsgroup for their opinions, and also ask
yourself the following questions.

- What does the device claim to do?

- How will it accomplish the goal?

- If the device claims to train specific muscles,
does it use motions similar to those I might use without
the device such as gravity or other less expensive forms
of resistance.

- Does the device encourage me to train my other muscles as
well? Does the device provide a balanced program for
training my other muscles?

- Is this device putting other parts of me at risk (such as my
low back or joints)?

- Does the device make claims that it can produce seemingly
impossible results in very short periods of time?

If you are still convinced that the device is for you, and you
buy it, please write a review in misc.fitness.aerobic so others can
learn from your experience.

17. EXERCISE INJURIES, REACTIONS AND ENVIRONMENT

17.0.0 The following section describes a number of injuries
and syndromes that can befall the exerciser. While
this information can be useful in determining appropriate
first aid or symptomatic relief methods, it is important
to be aware of the distinction between first aid and
relief of symptoms vs. diagnosis and treatment.

As will become evident in the sections ahead, a single
symptom (such as knee pain) can have a variety of causes,
many of which are not immediately obvious and require
the diagnosis of a physician, who can prescribe treatment.

Individuals are strongly encouraged not to use the information
below to “self-diagnose”, but merely as guidelines for
appropriate first aid/symptomatic relief and when to see
a physician.

17.0.1 Legal Issues for the Exercise Professional

Exercise professionals are *strongly* encouraged to refrain
from the process of diagnosis and/or prescription of treatment
or rehabilitative exercise. Our scope of practice is limited
to encouraging rest, RICE, and a visit to the doctor.

Statements such as “that sounds like chondromalacia – why don’t
you try and strengthen the medial quad to help out” or “you’ve got
low back syndrome” involve a judgement by the exercise professional
that can be construed in a court of law as a diagnosis and/or
prescription of rehabilitative exercise.

If such advice causes the individual to sue at a later date,
the charges can be much more serious than mere negligence – the
exercise professional can find themselves in the position of
being charged with practicing medicine without a license.

Exercise professionals are best advised to speak in general
terms without reference to an individual’s condition, to focus
on general preventive behavior, and to refer individuals
to a physician when a diagnosis needs to be made or an
injury does not respond to first aid/symptomatic relief (such as RICE).

An appropriate example: “well, there are a number of causes
for the shin pain you’re experiencing. You can apply RICE
to relieve the symptoms, but if it doesn’t feel better within
a day or two you should consult with your physician.” Here we
sidestep the issue of diagnosis, stress sympomatic relief, and
incorporate a physician referral in one sentence.

Or: “Now we’re going to do some exercises for the back. It is
believed that strengthening the low back can help prevent low back
pain.” In this case, only a general discussion on preventive
(not rehabilitative) exercise is provided.

17.1 What should I do for an acute injury?

If you feel that you have “pulled a muscle” or have an
inexplicable pain after exercising, the *immediate*
treatment is RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation).
Icing for 48 hours, every 2 hours for about 10-15 minutes,
*should* help the injured area. However, if you’ve got an
injury that doesn’t respond to RICE in a
couple of days, you should see your physician.

17.2 What should I do for a chronic injury?

It is important to remember that the people here on
misc.fitness.aerobic have varied backgrounds, but are
primarily fitness professionals. As such, we’re really not
qualified to give out rehabilitative exercise. You must see
your physician or other qualified person to find out what
you should do if an injury persists.

17.3 What are some common exercise injuries?

17.3.1 Overuse Injuries

The heading of overuse injuries is a broad one, into which
the vast majority of exercise-related injuries fall. Generally
overuse injuries are chronic ones, meaning that no single event
causes them (as with a sprained ankle or a broken leg), but a long
series of events over weeks, months, or years of training gradually
weaken or irritate the area in question until exercise
becomes difficult or impossible, or other symptoms appear.

The vast majority of overuse injuries can be avoided by proper
attention to form and technique, appropriate rest, proper equipment
(especially footwear), and gradual increase of exercise frequency,
intensity, or duration.

The best cures for an overuse injury are rest followed by a
gradual returnto activity coupled with an awareness of the problem
activity, and appropriate corrective measures (be they more gradual
return to exercise, appropriate strengthening, or avoidance of
certain forms of activity).

17.3.2 Patellofemoral Syndrome (”Runner’s Knee”) / Chondromalacia

Chondromalacia literally refers to the wearing away of the
cartilage on the back surface of the kneecap, which might be
first exhibited as a “clicking” or “grating” sound, and knee
pain under the patella (kneecap).

Chondromalacia refers to the condition, and not a specific
disease state, as a great many possible causes exists for
damage to the cartilage.

Patellofemoral syndrome, likewise, refers to generalized
knee pain, often associated with runners, but not limited to
runners alone. In this context, the cause is usually improper
running mechanics over a period of time, though in many cases
the cause is unknown.

Once chondromalacia has occurred, the process is irreversible,
and attention is paid to achieving the maximal amount of pain-free
activity, and avoiding activities which will cause further damage
to the joint.

Note that patellofemoral pain is of a more general nature,
and may or may not be due to the pathological condition of
chondromalacia.

It is best to consult a physician or a physical therapist
when any sort of knee pain is encountered.

17.3.3 Plantar Fasciitis and Neuromas

Plantar fasciitis is literally an inflammation of the
plantar fascia, a web of tough, fibrous connective tissue on
the bottom of the foot. Neuromas are irritated nerve endings,
but can cause pain in the foot (or other places, depending on
the nerve in question).

Either condition should be examined by a physician. While
both are commonly caused by overuse, the question of whether
the condition is due to poor technique, simple overuse, or an
orthopedic problem should be explored.

In the case of the latter, orthotics (inserts for shoes designed
to help maintain proper impact cushioning and support for the foot)
can play a major role in the prevention of future episodes.

17.3.4 Lateral Epicondylitis (”Tennis elbow”) and the
More general Tendonitis/Arthritis/Bursitis

Any “-itis” condition refers to inflammation or irritation.
In the cases of tendonitis, arthritis, and bursitis, the sites of
inflammation are the tendons, joints, and bursae (fluid-filled
sacs provided cushioning between tendons and bones), respectively.

Again, any of these conditions should involve a physician
referral. Tendonitis and bursitis are common overuse injuries,
and rehabilitation will generally involve rest, and enhancing
flexibility and strength of all muscles surrounding the joints
near the area in question.

Arthritis can be caused by two distinct disease processes -
osteoarthritis is essentially “wear and tear” on joints, in which
the cartilege covering the articulating surfaces of the bones
becomes worn, and the joint reacts, often by swelling and
filling with fluid. It can become quite tender, and
motion can become difficult.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder in which the
body launches an attack on its own joint tissues. While much
less common than osteoarthritis, it can be severely dehabilitating.

Rehabilitation for arthritis generally involves activities
that are low-impact in nature, and strengthening exercises.
Activities are carried out through a “pain-free range of motion”
(ROM limited by the onset of discomfort), and no activity is
recommended during periods of active inflammation.

17.3.5 Shin Splints and Compartment Syndromes

Shin splints are a common name for pain felt in the anterior
portion of the calf, which can be due to a variety of causes, from
muscle imbalances to something as serious as a compartment syndrome.

Generally, treatment for shin splints involves RICE, strengthening
exercises for all of the muscles surrounding the ankle joint, and
flexibility exercises.

Compartment syndromes are a much less common, but more serious
problem, where one of the compartments between muscles which
contains blood vessels and/or nerves becomes swollen, compressing
the blood vessels and/or nerves. This can lead to pain, swelling,
and discomfort, and in severe situations can be an emergency
situation requiring surgical intervention.

17.4 What are some common exercise reactions?

Some number of people experience reactions to exercise,
ranging from uticaria, a harmless red blotchiness on the neck,
face, or arms, to exercise induced asthma or bronchospasm,
to anaphylaxis.

Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is most likely to strike
individuals exercising in cold, dusty, or excessively humid
environments, and can range in severity from mild coughing to
severe discomfort. Individuals who suspect that they
have exercise-induced asthma are encouraged to seek medical
attention to rule out other possibilities, and to ensure the
best possible treatment for their condition.

General recommendations for persons with EIA include an extended
warm-up, avoidance of cold, dusty, or extremely humid environments
for exercise, pursed-lip breathing, and keeping an inhaler handy
for use during exercise (if recommended by physician).

While very rare, it is possible for someone to have an allergic
reaction to exercise, called exercise-induced anaphylaxis. This is
a life-threatening situation, and requires immediate medical
attention. People prone to EIA can, at the advice of their
physician, carry a bee-sting kit to use in such situations.
Any person suspecting that they are prone to EIA should consult
with their physician before resuming exercise.

17.5 What are some common environmental concerns?

Extremes of temperature and humidity pose special problems
for the exerciser. In hot weather, care must be taken to wear
clothing that is light, breathes well, and allows for the
evaporation of sweat.

“Sauna suits”, “tummy wraps”, and other products designed
to encourage quick weight loss through sweat are particularly
dangerous – the body can reach dangerous (or even fatal) core
temperatures in very short periods of time. Weight lost by
these methods will be regained as soon as water is ingested
again, and so the risk does not outweigh the “benefit”.

On extremely humid days care must be taken to exercise at
an appropriately lowered intensity, out of the high heat/humidity,
or even to postpone exercise until the heat/humidity diminish.
As exercise intensity increases and more heat must be dissipated,
evaporation of sweat becomes the principal means by which cooling
occurs. In a high-humidity environment, evaporation
becomes less effective at cooling, and the risk of heat-related
injury is greater.

Adequate hydration is also key to safe exercise in the heat,
as the body will produce large quantities of sweat. 1-2 cups
of water before exercise and 1/2-1 cup of water during exercise
are recommended, though more can be ingested.

It is important to remember that the thirst mechanism lags
behind the body’s need for fluid – by the time one is thirsty
one is already substantially dehydrated. Even small amounts of
dehydration can affect performance, and severe dehydration can be
life-threatening.

Contrary to popular belief, water consumed during exercise will
not contribute to cramping, so “swish and spit” should be avoided in
favor of consuming small amounts of water steadily during the exercise
session, especially during periods of prolonged exercise.

In the cold, care must be taken as well. It is best to dress in
layers that will wick sweat away from the body – many of the “high-tech”
fabrics that are now available will do this admirably. Outer
layers can be used to keep the body warm during warm-up, and
removed as exercise progresses to allow the body to cool itself,
and then be replaced during the cool-down to avoid an excessive chill.

Garments made of fabrics like wool, which will insulate even
when wet, are superior to garments made of materials like cotton,
which will contain sweat and can contribute to heat lost by evaporation
and conduction as the activity level decreases.

17.5.1 Heat-Related Problems and Inuries

(from Jennifer Robles (Neefer) < oaktree@aimnet.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .>)

17.5.1.1 Who is at risk for heat-related illness?

People at risk for heat-related illnesses include those who
work or exercise outdoors, elderly people, young children, and
people with health problems. Also at risk are thos who have
had a heat-related illness in the past, those with medical
conditions that cause poor blood circulation, and those who take
medications to get rid of water (diuretics).

People usually try to get out of extreme heat before they begin
to feel ill. However, some people do not or cannot. Athletes
and those who work outdoors often keep working even after they begin
to feel ill. Those living in poorly ventilated or poorly insulated
or poorly heated buildings are at risk of heat emergencies Many
times, they might not even recognize that they are in danger of
becoming ill.

17.5.1.2 What are heat related illnesses?

Heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke are conditions caused
by overexposure to heat. Heat cramps are the least severe, and
often are the first signals that the body is having trouble with the
heat. Heat cramps are painful muscle spasms. The usually occur in
the legs and abdomen. Think of them as a warning of a possible heat-
related emergency.

HEAT EXHAUSTION is a more severe condition than heat cramps. It
often affects athletes, fire fighters, construction workers, and
factory workers, as well as those who wear heavy clothing in hot,
humid environments. Its signals include cool, moist, pale or flushed
skin, headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, and exhaustion.

HEAT STROKE is the least common but most severe heat emergency. It
most often occurs wehn people ignore the signals of heat exhaustion.
HEAT STROKE develops when the body systems are overwhelmed by heat
and begin to stop functioning. HEAT STROKE is a SERIOUS medical
emergency. The signals of heat strok include red, hot, dry skin;
changes in consciousness; rapid, weak pulse; and rapid, shallow
breathing.

17.5.1.3 How do you treat heat cramps?

To care for HEAT CRAMPS, have the victim rest in a cool place.
Give them cool water or a commercial sports drink. Usually, rest and
fluids are all the person needs to recover. Lightly stretch and gently
massage the area. The victim should NOT take salt tablets or salt
water. The can make the situation worse.

When the cramps stop, the person can usually start activity again
if there are no other signals of illness. She should keep drinking
plenty of fluids. Watch the victim carefully for futher signals of
heat-related illness.

17.5.1.4 How do you treat other heat-related illnesses ?

When you recognize heat-related illness in its early stages,
you can usually reverse it. Get the victim out of the heat. Loosen
any tight clothing and apply cool, wet cloths. If the victim is
conscious, give cool water to drink.

Do NOT let the conscious victim drink too quickly. Give about one
glass (4 ounces) of water every 15 minutes. Let the victim rest in a
comfortable position and watch carefully for changes in her condition.
The victim should not resume normal activities the same day.

17.5.1.5 When do you call 911?

Refusing water, vomiting, and changes in consciousness mean that the
victim’s condition is getting worse. Call 911 (or emergency services).
If the victim vomits, stop giving fluids and position the victim on
the side. Watch for signals of breathing problems. Keep the vitim
lying down and continue to cool the body any way you can. If you have
ice packs or cold packs, place them on each of the victim’s wrists,
ankles, groin, armpit, and neck (aka pulse points). Do NOT apply
rubbing (isopropyl alcohol).

17.5.1.6 At what temperatures and humidity are heat-related illesses likely?

These curves approximate the figure in the 1993 American Red Cross
Standard First Aid manual.

HOT: {93F (34 C), 20% humidity}, {87 F(31 C), 50%}, {82 F(28 C),100%}
Sunstroke, heat cramps, or heat exhaustion possible with prolonged
exposure/exercise

VERY HOT: {105F(41C), 20%}, {92F(34C), 60%}, {87F(31C), 100%}
Heat cramps or heat exhaustion likely

EXTERMELY HOT: {120F (49C), 20%}, {108F(43C), 40%}, {91F(33C), 100%}
Heat Stroke or sun stroke immminent

Reference, 1993 American Red Cross Standard First Aid Manual

17.5.2 Specific Cold-Related Injuries – Hypotermia and Frostbite

Frostbite involves the freezing of tissue, and can range from
mild to fairly severe. The skin will generally look yellowish, and
will be cold to the touch. First aid generally involves warming the
affected area using moderately warm water – remember that sensation
will be reduced in the area, and the temperature of the water
should be verified by running it on unaffected skin! Do *not*
rub the area, as this can cause further tissue damage.

Frostbite should be examined by a physician to assess the extent
of the damage. It is best prevented by proper clothing and limited
exposure to cold.

Hypothermia is a life-threatening condition wherein the core body
temperature has become dangerously low. Many of the same symptoms
as heat exhaustion, including dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite,
vision problems, etc., may be present. In the case of hypothermia
it is important to call 911 immediately, and use any means present
to warm the victim, such as removing excess clothing and putting
them in a sleeping bag with an unaffected person who
can provide body warmth until help arrives.

18. EXERCISE AND EATING

18.1 How long should I wait after eating to start
exercising?

If you ate something fairly light, you probably don’t
need to wait very long. However, since people are
different, it is difficult to say what the optimum waiting
period is for everyone.

18.2 What should I eat as my meal before an aerobic
workout?

Consider that you will probably burn between 300 and 450
kCal in an aerobics class. Keep the caloric content of the
meal below that if you’re intending to lose weight. That
pretty much lets out any sort of “heavy” meal. The average
American’s diet is very high in protein, and relatively low
in complex carbohydrates, so complex carbs before an aerobic
workout are probably better. Keep the total calories from fat to
25% or lower, in general.

18.3 How soon and how much should I eat after an aerobic
workout?

If you feel like eating immediately after a workout, be
sure that it’s high in carbohydrates, lower in protein, and
either very low or no fat content. The carbs should be
mostly complex. Durum or semolina pasta, fat-free granola
bars, and some of the lower-sugar fig or other fruit bars are fine.
Try to take in as few kCals as you can – just take the “edge” off.
Munching out on broccoli or cauliflower florets with just a touch
of fat-free Ranch is good.

If the workout was pretty intense, I’d recommend about an
hour’s wait afterward before eating a full meal. Most
people aren’t really ready to eat when they’re majorly
sweaty and still breathing heavily, anyhow. Cool down, then grab a
nice refreshing shower, and mellow out with a big glass of ice water.
Next, find some candles, and sit down to a nice plate of rigatoni with
tomato sauce with basil, green peppers, and little bits of chopped
mushroom. Brush your whole wheat toast with a film of olive oil,
sprinkle on some freshly-chopped garlic, …you get the picture.

19. BEST TIME TO EXERCISE

19.1 What is the best time of day to exercise?

As a general rule, if your habits are diurnal, exercise
in the early evening, when your metabolism is at its peak,
is more efficient. This varies widely, however, and you
really need to exercise at the time which “feels” best for
you. The best time to work out is when you *want* to, so
pick a time of day at which you find exercise enjoyable.

20. Major conributors to Part I are:
Bobbie Rivere < bobbie@panix.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Larry DeLuca < henrik@husc.harvard.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Bill Whedon < whedon@netcom.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >