Ask The Brofessor

It'll be a good thread for discussion and collaboration on information fitness and nutrition related. It seems many people have the desire or intention to be more fit or change their body, but just don't have the knowledge. Knowledge is key, and making the effort incorrectly may just get people further from their goal, in the form of injuries and discouragement.

Only small amount of broscience, promis.


Topic #1: weight loss - cutting

This is a common interest in guys and girls alike, of all ages. There are countless fad diets, supplements and extreme methods out there. Contrary to popular beliefs, starving is not an ideal way to lose weight. Health effects aside, human body will adjust to the lack of calories and decrease metabolism as a method of survival. It will enter starvation mode to conserve energy, and that's why many people lose a few lbs to start on their diet, stalls then give up. To lose weight and keep it off, it must be done with small calorie deficits so that the weight comes off more slowly (0.5% to 1% of body weight a week), and the metabolism does not crash. Even then, metabolism will slow down to accommodate, and should be restimulated with regular refeed or "cheat days".

Getting lean and staying lean is a science and at the highest level, bodybuilding, it requires manipulation of calorie intakes and macro nutrient composition. For average people, the general idea of ballpark small caloric deficit with added excercise and consistency/dedication will lead them to most of their fitness goal.

To be continued...

Topic #2: Food

There are three macro nutrients the body needs, carbohydrates (carbs), protein and fat.

Carbs:

A good indicator of “goodness” of carbs is the Glycemic Index. The higher the index, the more effect the food will have on your blood sugar, and greater effect the food will have on your pancreas releasing insulin, which triggers fat storage. Same calories of carbs with lower GI will be absorbed slower by your body, make you feel full for longer, and give you a more balanced blood sugar level. The GI of each food can be easily found online. Low GI is considered 55-60 and below. Most low GI carbs also happen to be better for you in other nutritional factors. Here are some good carbs:

Whole grain and multigrain products – brown rice, whole wheat bread, and etc

Fruits and veggies – can be considered complex carbs with the rest being fiber. Most common fruits and veggies have a low GI. Broccoli family, green beans, dark leafy greens.

Protein:

Lean meat – chicken, fish (salmon, sardine and rainbow trout being the top 3 most healthy, but others are fine too as long as their mercury levels aren’t high or were raised responsibly), lean beef, shrimps and other seafood. Red meat isn’t bad in moderation, but eating too often can be bad for health. Red meat raised organically and grass fed also has better nutritional profile than the grain fed commercial red meat.

Eggs – each yolk has pretty high cholesterol level. But since your body adjust its cholesterol production according to cholesterol level in your diet, yolks in moderation are fine. I limit my yolk to two a day to be on the safe side, since I’ve yet to find a clear conscience on this. Go nuts on egg whites, they’re basically all protein.

Dairy – Whey/casein powder, Greek yogurt and just plain fat free milk.

Fat:

Fat is essential to the body. The polyunsaturated (omega 3) and monounsaturated fat are the good fat and are heart-healthy. Food or fat sources with high % of these fats are very important.

Oil – Olive and canola oil are two of the healthiest oils. They’re high in monounsaturated fat. Cooking wise, canola works better than just pure olive oil due to higher smoking point. Olive oil is most beneficial with little processing or heating and consumed as topping/dressing. Fish oil is good too.

Others – Avocado, peanut butter, and nuts in general.

These food have been consistently linked to good health and longer lives. The Mediterranean diet, which is high in Olive oil and fish, is in line with this.

A great website for healthy food information is www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

Brofessor,

Should I lift angry, or should I have happy music so it may uplift my spirits during workouts? Also is it better to workout to exhaustion, or should I leave some gas in the tank?

rads1 wrote: Brofessor,

Should I lift angry, or should I have happy music so it may uplift my spirits during workouts? Also is it better to workout to exhaustion, or should I leave some gas in the tank?

Lift angry and make sure the whole gym knows that.

More seriously, both can be answered by aiming for the most volume. Whichever way that allows you to lift more weight and/or reps. By exhaustion I assume you mean taking it to failure. It varies depends on your goal.

Power lifters who train more for strength will train at a higher intensity (larger percent of their 1 rep max) and more often to failure. Because strength is part muscle size but also part neurological recruitment pattern. Training to or close to failure let power lifters train their central nervous system.

If the goal is hypertrophy, going to failure isn't always necessary as long as the reps are done at high enough intensity (65% to 85% of 1rm) to stimulate growth. Going to failure on the last set could be useful but not necessary on every set. Whichever that allows you to lift the most. For example, using your 10 rep max (a weight that you can lift for just 10 times), and you do 8, 9 and 10 reps, that's 27 reps total. If you were to go all out on every set, you may end up not able to do more reps on later sets and get 11, 8, 6 for 25 reps. That would be less ideal. A good aporach is to go to failure on last set. A lot of good training program either have you do as many rep as you can on the last set, or have it so that as soon as you are able to complete the last set the weight goes up next time to ensure that you never finish your last set.

Brofessor,
Are protein shakes really worth the investment? i feel like it does more for my anal sphincter than it does to my body.

estuary wrote: Brofessor,
Are protein shakes really worth the investment? i feel like it does more for my anal sphincter than it does to my body.

Protein shakes are more of a convenience than necessity. Most of your protein would be better off coming from solid whole foods. Despite what marketing and labels say, protein shakes make negligible difference in terms of muscle growth compare to say a chicken breast. Protein shake is almost pure protein, so people often use it to fit in their meal plan to meet their daily macro of protein without increasing fat or carbs. It's also good for that meal of the day where bringing solid food is too much hassle.

As for digestion problem, you could try out a few different kinds of shake if you find them to be necessity to your routine. Some could have less bloating effects than others ranging from person to person.

I dropped my phone at work and now it's broken. I already cried earlier, but should I cry some more or pull heavy things around?! Please advise.

rads1 wrote: Brofessor,

Should I lift angry, or should I have happy music so it may uplift my spirits during workouts? Also is it better to workout to exhaustion, or should I leave some gas in the tank?

whatever keeps you motivated.

and you should follow the prescribed repetitions and percentages specified within your program. if you don't have 1, Starting Strength, 5x5, Bigger Faster Stronger, 531, are some common programs beginners start with.

if your program tells you 5+ or AMRAP (as many repetitions as possible), that is what you should be aiming for. i know 5-3-1 consists of the like on the last set. other programs will keep you within a set/rep = total rep scheme based on your 1RM.

is there a particular reason why you're wanting a comparison between lifting to the point of exhaustion vs. saving some in the tank? i would still recommend you follow the program, but i am interested in the thought process behind the question. also, i do not know your reasons for picking up a barbell... but be mindful of how often you lift, intake, rest/recovery.

Does sexercise count for cardio?

nanox wrote: Does sexercise count for cardio?

Always.

nanox wrote: Does sexercise count for cardio?

yes... but moreso no...

if you can keep your heart rate within the ranges of the chart below, then sure. from what i remember, you're hardly above 130bpm during intercourse. since i have a maximum heart rate of 200-ish i would need to be bumping for 40 minutes @ 130bpm to benefit from any physiological adaptations.

this chart is just a rough representation. i wouldn't take it for the gospel. but it is fairly accurate...