This week, we had a really wide range of questions, from weight gainer shakes to increasing push up strength. Hopefully these answers will help you glean new insights and give you some new ideas about your fitness routine.

Here’s the short list of questions based on topic:

Question #1 | Are Arms Exercises Necessary?

Question: Do you train arms at all with curls or french presses,or do you stay with multijoint moves that stress arms too? I mean do you have arm training program in “Builtlean”? –Markku Hsu

Answer: Hey Markku, for the last couple years, I haven’t done any arms exercises because I don’t have any desire to get my arms any bigger than they are now. I also believe your arm muscles can get plenty of work from basic compound movements like pull-ups, rows, and bench to name a few. In the BuiltLean Program, arm exercises are listed as optional, but they are included every week. I understand some guys may want to increase the size and strength of their arms and working arms directly certainly can help. In terms of overall body strength and getting lean, arms may be the least important muscles to train directly. If you are going to train arms, french presses and barbell biceps curls are certainly top on the list. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #2 | Fat Loss & Metabolism

Question: Hey Marc, how are you? Marc, quick question. Why are the amount of calories I burn directly related to my weight? Does this mean if I reduce my body fat percentage to 7% (my goal) from 22% (where I started) I will have to eat a lot less calories (than before i started) just to maintain? – Jose

Answer: Jose, Your analysis is correct – as you lose weight your metabolism will decrease, but not by a huge amount, probably like 5-10%. Think about a large truck vs. a small car. More fuel is required to keep the larger truck running. When you have a lot of fat on your body, that extra body mass requires more energy. As you lose your body mass, you don’t need to intake as much energy to support a smaller frame. It sounds bad, but you may notice as your body gets smaller/leaner that your hunger may not be as strong as when you are larger. Also keep in mind over time, the amount of weight you are losing will also decrease. For more information on how to calculate calorie burn, check out this article: Calculate Calorie Burn. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #3 | Weight Gainer Shakes

Question: Marc, what do you think of weight gainer shakes that are high in calories as a supplement to getting 2200-2400 calories per day? Obviously gainers are used to add more muscle but what if I were to use half the quantity, could that be used as a meal supplement when I am at work and need a 10am or 3pm meal? -Eric

Answer: @Eric – 2200-2400 calories isn’t that many calories. If you wanted to eat 4,000 calories in order to build muscle mass, then a weight gainer shake may be necessary. Most weight gainer shakes on the market have a lot of junk in them. I would recommend making your own weight gainer shake with something simple like crushed ice, a couple pieces of fruit, and some fat like peanut or almond butter, and 1-2 scoops of whey protein. The amount of fat you put into it can change the calorie level quite substantially. Shakes can certainly be used as a snack, and in some cases a meal replacement, but ideally, whole foods are superior because they provide better nutrient delivery along with the thermic effect of food (eating foods burns more calories) which is helpful if you are trying to lose fat. If you absolutely can’t make a shake in the morning and carry it to work, or make it at work, then a ready-to-drink shake could work (like by MyoPlex), but again, do think packing a snack, or a meal with whole foods is the ideal option. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #4 | HIIT Training Intervals

Question: I am doing HIIT more recently after completing my first 5k run, I am doing 2.30 mins at level 9 on treadmill and then 30 sec rest at walking speed of 6.5 – completing over a 30 min period…I plan to do this 3 times a week …. do you believe these are reasonable ratios for what I am trying to acheive? – LK

Answer: @LK – those ratios sound very tough to do for 30 minutes. If you can do that workout, then you are in VERY good shape. What you may consider is doing 9 on the treadmill, then hopping off for a minute, then going back on for another minute in a 1 to 1 ratio. Then do that for 5 to 10 rounds (10-20 minutes), whatever feels comfortable for you. As you get in better shape, you can increase the speed, or decrease the rest period, but I wouldn’t go above 10 rounds. As you are resting, you can do additional stretching, or grab some water. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #5 | Increasing Push Up Strength

Question: Can you dramatically increase your push up amount by just doing pushups, or do you have to do harder variations like diamond and wide grip or elevated. someone said trying to do just higher amount of pushups will just build ur endurance? – john

Answer: That’s a great question. Certainly exercises like bench press etc. can help increase your overall strength, which can help you do more push ups. Also, if you decrease body fat without losing muscle, that can help too. With that said, I do believe you can increase both strength and endurance by simply doing more and more push ups. Doing a higher amount of push ups does start to work your endurance more than you strength, which is why harder variations can be helpful to get you to the next level. Hope that’s not too confusing and answers your question! – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

You are making awesome changes in your body when suddenly your progress grinds to a screeching halt. Those pounds of fat that were once falling off effortlessly are now clinging to your body for dear life.

No matter what you do, nothing is working. Maybe it’s been a week, or two, or even a few months, but your weight is not budging. You are ready to shrug your shoulders, throw your hands in the air and say “I quit”.

Why can’t you lose any more weight? What are some solutions to break through your stubborn weight loss plateau?

This article will delve into the dynamics of a weight loss plateau and offer you solutions to overcome it.

Weight Loss Plateau Vs. Fat Loss Plateau

A weight loss plateau is a period of time during which your body weight remains at the same level. So if your weight doesn’t change for 2 weeks, does that mean your results have stalled?

Absolutely not!

The word “weight loss” does not differentiate between changes in fat, muscle, and water.

The primary purpose of tracking your body weight is (1) for accountability and (2) as a proxy for measuring fat loss. When you get on the scale and the reading goes down 1lb, the hope is that 1lb represents pure fat – not muscle, or water.

If you are weighing yourself every day, or multiple times per day, you probably notice your weight can fluctuate substantially by 3-5lb. Most of this weight fluctuation is due to changes in water retention.

For example, if you eat a lot of sodium, carbohydrates, and drink little water, you will retain a ton of water, which will increase your body weight. If on the other you drink plenty of water, moderate carbs and low sodium and you just finished an intense workout where you sweat buckets, your weight can decrease by several pounds. It may seem counterintuitive, but the more water your drink, the less you retain it.

The unpredictability of water retention is one reason to weigh yourself only once per week with Monday Morning Weigh-Ins, unless you find weigh ins every morning keeps you more accountable. Weighing yourself multiple times per day, or at different times each day is the fastest way to kill your confidence and mess with your head.

A weight loss plateau and more specifically a fat loss plateau should be defined as no change in body weight for 3 weeks. The first week may be because of water retention, along with the second week, but the third week indicates that maybe your body is not changing as you have hoped despite your best efforts.

Weight Loss Plateau Facts To Keep In Mind

Before delving into some solutions to help you break your weight loss plateau, here are some important facts that you should know:

1) Weight Loss Plateaus are VERY common

If you do not experience a weight loss plateau as you approach your ideal body weight, consider yourself very, very lucky. Weight loss plateaus are to be expected as you are losing weight. Our bodies are resistant to change. A large chunk of people who reach their ideal weight have experienced as many as 2-3 plateaus lasting several weeks. Remember that if changing our bodies was easy, then everyone would be walking around with a six-pack.

2) The More Weight You Lose, The More Weight Loss Slows

This comes down to simple mathematics. Take a guy Mike who is at 230lb and loses 1% of his body weight in fat per week (0.5%-1% is a solid pace of fat loss). Mike would then lose roughly 2.3lb of fat per week. Now if he gets down to 200lb, losing 1% of fat is now 2lb, or 15% less than 2.3lb. As Mike’s weight decreases further, less weight would be lost as a percentage of his total bodyweight so weight loss inherently slows down the leaner you become.

3) Losing Weight Becomes Harder The Closer You Get To Your Ideal Weight

Not only does the pace of weight loss slow down, but your body will work harder to hold on to your fat stores the leaner you become. We are left with a sobering fact – the ability to lose more fat decreases and it becomes even harder to do so. The most common plateaus I see for guys is first around 20-22% body fat, then around 12% body fat (for those guys looking to break into single digits).

3 Steps To Break Your Weight Loss Plateau

Now that you understand the difference between weight loss plateaus and fat loss plateaus along with the basic dynamics of weight loss, here are some tips to follow to help break through the toughest plateau.

Weight Loss Plateau Step #1: Re-evaluate Your Calorie Intake

As you lose weight, not only does it become harder to lose, but your metabolism decreases. Now don’t go searching for those “how to boost your metabolism” articles – your metabolism is supposed to decrease as you lose weight.

Going back to our friend Mike, if he continues the same workout regimen at 200lb as he did when he weighed 230lb, his metabolism will be roughly 15% lower at 200lb vs. 230lb. Why you ask? He has less body mass, which means his body does not require as much energy to support a smaller frame.

That’s why every 10-15lb you lose (if you have a lot of weight to lose), you can reevaluate your calorie intake to ensure you are eating less calories than you are burning. For more, check out How Many Calories Should You Eat to Lose Weight?

Weight Loss Plateau Step #2: Control the “Calorie Creep”

My estimate is 90% of all weight loss plateaus are related to “calorie creep”, or more generally, eating more calories than you think you are eating. Combined with a decrease in metabolism from weight loss, plateaus are almost a certainty.

The calorie creep can come from mindless eating, eating out at restaurants that serve huge portions, or simply condiments like dressings, spreads, and sauces. Maybe you don’t realize that small 100 calorie bag of “healthy” chips is really 400 calories because there are 4 servings in each bag. Alcohol also goes on the calorie creep list.

The best place to start is to track your food intake if you are not already doing so. There are many great reasons to keep a food journal, so tracking your nutrition intake (even for a few days) is possibly the smartest and most important step you take to improve your nutrition.

Weight Loss Plateau Step #3: Progress Your Body, Don’t Confuse it

While nutrition is likely the culprit for the stall in your weight, making sure you are progressing the intensity of your workouts can only help improve your results.

There is a lot of hype about “muscle confusion” because of a certain exercise program that has sold over 20 million copies through infomercials. In the extreme case, choosing a different workout every time you hit the gym is not confusing your body as much as you think, but it’s definitely curtailing your results. If you want to maintain the results you have, changing things up is awesome, but not if you want to maximize your results in a muscle building, or fat loss program.

Continuity in your exercise program is more important than switching things up all the time. Without continuity, you will not be able to track improvements and make the workouts harder, which is the goal. In my BuiltLean Program, even though I switch up the workouts every couple of weeks, I keep several of the exercises and the structure of the workouts the same so that you can track changes in your strength and fitness levels.

What happens if you still can’t break your weight loss plateau?

The chances are very likely if you follow the preceding 3 steps, you will be able to break your plateau. Again, 90% of the time it’s a matter of not balancing calorie intake with calorie burn. But for those in the 10% category, here are some issues/solutions to consider:

1) Starvation Mode – The opposite of the calorie creep is not eating enough calories to help sustain your body. While your metabolism will not drop if you skip a meal, or even a few, it will drop with chronic calorie deprivation. If you are a 180lb guy eating less than 1,000 calories per day for let’s say 3 weeks, you can bet your bank account your metabolism will take a nose dive. Some studies have shown metabolism can drop by as much as 40-50%. There are a host of other negative issues with extreme starvation diets (lack of proper nutrients being one of them). If you are chronically in starvation mode, it’s advisable to up your calorie intake.

2) Calorie Cycling – If you are in starvation mode, or have just been dieting for more than a month, or two, your metabolism can and will likely slow down above and beyond the range if you were eating more calories. There is no scientific evidence supporting calorie cycling as a superior way to lose fat, but I must mention it given the large number of respected experts who support it. Furthermore, science is not exactly ahead of the curve. Alternating low calorie with high calorie days MAY prevent this starvation response from occurring (i.e. 3 days low, 1 day high).

3) Hormones – There is a large contingent of nutrition experts who describe a stall in fat loss not as a calorie in/out issue, but as a “defect in fat metabolism”. Think about an overfat woman in a developing country who barely eats any food. How can this be? There are several theories, but they most likely have to do with a hormonal imbalance that affects fat loss metabolism along with calorie burn. Hormonal issues related to weight loss are more common with women than men. What’s the solution? Unfortunately, a simple answer is not possible, other than to seek medical assistance and test your hormone levels such as adrenal, testosterone etc.

As you continue on your journey to reach your ideal weight, keep in mind that changing your body is a marathon, not a sprint (See: body change vs. maintenance). The sooner you can appreciate this, the better off you will be in the short and long term.

I hope this was a helpful overview of the true dynamics of weight loss and how to break a stubborn weight loss plateau.

Have you ever experienced a weight loss plateau? What did you do to break it?

This week, there were A LOT of questions related to body composition and more specifically fat loss. Given the summer is fast approaching, I guess it’s not too surprising.

Here’s the short list of questions based on topic:

We also instituted a new format this week from our inaugural Q&A Weekly Roundup last week. I hope you like it!

Question #1 | Beginner Exercise Routine

Question: I’m just getting started, is it ok for me to do interval training sprint workouts for fat loss in the morning and 20 minute full body circuit training workouts in the evening everyday? FYI, I just want to have the body of an athlete. –Muhammad Zulhariz

Answer: Hey Muhammad – given you are just getting started, I would consider splitting up your workouts. Working out 2x per day is an advanced exercise strategy not for beginners. Try doing 2 full body workouts per week and 2-3 interval training sprint workouts (may even want to start out with fast jogs), but be very careful you are not too sore and take it easy with the intervals until you get in better shape. Eventually, you can work up to 3 full body workouts per week with 3 sprints per week, but I wouldn’t do much more than that in terms of the high intensity training. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #2 | Drinking Water For Building Muscle

Question: Is water important building up muscle? If yes then how much water should you drink in a day? – Raman Katoch

Answer: Hey Raman, water is very important for building muscle for a few reasons (1) your muscle is around 75% water, (2) getting dehydrated can affect your strength levels substantially – 3% drop in dehydration can decrease strength easily by 15%, and (3) water can help improve digestion so those nutrients can be used by your body to help it get bigger. In terms of the amount, I think when building muscle the more the better – that’s why you see bodybuilders carrying around gallons of water – but I think half your body weight in ounces is a good starting point. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #3 | Losing Fat While Keeping Muscle

Question: Hey Marc, I just got done with my twelve week bulking phase. During that time I was consuming around 4412 calories, 508 grams of carbs, 379 grams of protein, 105 grams of fat, 64 grams of fiber, and 122 oz. of water per day, all consumed within six meals. I am now on to my cutting phase and have a great workout, but I need some direction on how to change my diet. I want to make sure I am comsuming the proper amount so I can get max. results, as i have come to find out the nutritional side of building a better body is key to your success. Any advice? -Jordan

Answer: @Jordan – Congrats on your success during your bulking phase. Bulking is way harder than cutting, that’s for sure. I did a Q&A with Men’s fitness the other day and someone asked me about how not to lose muscle when doing a bunch of cardio. Check it out: Question: At what point am I potentially in jeopardy of losing muscle instead of body fat? My Answer: “The answer depends on a number of factors including your (1) macronutrient intake – amount of protein, carbs, and fat, (2) total calorie intake, (3) total calorie burn, and (4) your genetics. From my experience, I’ve never had a client lose muscle as long as he ate roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, created less than a 35% calorie deficit of his estimated calorie burn, did not eat under 100 grams of carbs and strength trained. If any of those four conditions are not met, there is a possibility you will lose muscle. It’s tough to find specific research because genetics play an important role. For example, some people can do very well on low carb diets, whereas others may lose hard-earned muscle. Regarding the total calorie burn level, ideally use the Katch & McArdle method, or the shorthand method of 14 x your body weight, which assumes you are exercising moderately 3x per week and you have a sedentary job.” I think if you follow the advice in the preceding paragraph, you’ll get to where you want to be without losing any muscle. If you want an entire nutrition program, you can check out my BuiltLean Program which has tons of meal and snack ideas and pre-made menus. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #4 | How Lean is Too Lean?

Question: Marc, Had a quick question for you. I want to know what you do to lean up for the summer and shed 1-2% bf? I am weighing about 165lbs @6% bf right now and want to be a little more lean and shredded. Any tips? -Daniel O’Donnal

Answer: Hey Dan, Great to hear from you! 6% is very, very lean. You are at the level where losing any more body fat can actually be a bad thing. What I mean is that your face can become gaunt and unhealthy looking and you can feel like you are starving. It’s a very fine line between being super lean, and then getting so lean it’s not possible to sustain and then you start losing muscle. Basically, in order to get any leaner from where you are now, you essentially have to starve your body even more (lower calorie intake) while lifting hard and hope you don’t lose any muscle. It’s very difficult. Furthermore as I mentioned, it’s not sustainable. There aren’t many people walking around with 5% body fat year round. With that said, there are little tricks to make you look leaner without losing fat. For example, water, carb, and sodium intake can make a huge difference between looking bloated, or looking shredded. It’s something you can play with. Take it easy with the starchy carbs (don’t eat too little carbs, or then your muscles look “flat”), drink a lot of water, and avoid high sodium foods. You can keep your calorie level the same where it is now. See what happens. Your vascularity may noticeably improve. Some days I look in the mirror and I’m really happy with my physique and then others I feel like I have an extra layer of flab even though I don’t, but it comes down to carbs, sodium and water – or water retention. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #5 | “Toning” Flabby Arms

Question: I have flabby arms and I want to tone them. Could you suggest how to choose the right dumbbells? -Sakshi

Answer: @Sakshi – Unfortunately, doing arm exercises will have absolutely no impact on whether or not you lose fat on your arms. Losing fat is a process where fat is broken down in the body because of a calorie deficit, meaning you need to eat less calories than you burn to lose fat. Furthermore, where the fat comes off from is genetically predetermined and you cannot control it. The solution? Lose fat without losing muscle! If you want to get your arm muscles bigger, then I would shoot for heavier weights. You can check out my free Get Lean Guide for more info. – Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

While there are many hotly debated nutrition topics, few evoke as much passion and interest as carbohydrates (aka carbs). Popular low-carb diets like Zone, Atkins, South Beach, and Paleo limit the intake of carbs, while others like the Ornish diet call for high carbs as the path to optimal health.

Who is right? Are carbs evil? What are carbohydrates anyways?

While carbohydrates can be a very confusing subject, the following will break down all the important concepts, definitions, and topics related to carbohydrates to turn a complex subject into a simple one. Future articles will expand and explore each concept in more detail.

What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are found in foods including fruits, vegetables, grains, potatoes, pastries, and candy and are considered the bodies preferred energy source. More specifically, carbs are sugar molecules that are a union of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO). Think of carbs as one, or more sugar molecules that are binded together and broken down by the body to be used as fuel.

Here’s a quick list of carbohydrates for your reference:

Types of Carbohydrates

Carbohydates are classified in many different ways:

No wonder people get so confused!

Remember, carbohydrates are just sugar molecules, all of which are broken down by the body into glucose. Glucose is a single sugar molecule that is used as fuel by the cells in your body from your brain to your muscles.

There are 3 types of carbohydrates that are defined by the number of sugar molecules they contain:

1) Monosaccharide - one sugar molecule, examples include glucose, galactose (in milk), and fructose (in fruit)

2) Disaccharide – two sugar molecules, examples include sucrose (table sugar), lactose (in milk), and maltose (in beer).

3) Polysaccharide – several sugar molecules, examples include starchy foods like pasta, or potatoes, and fiber, which is the indigestible part of a plant that aids in digestion.

When a carbohydrate is “simple” it refers to mono & disaccharides that are easily absorbed into the bloodstream because of their simple molecular structure. Think milk, fruit, and table sugar. “Complex” carbs on the other hand are polysaccharides and because of their more complex molecular structure can take longer for the body to break down into sugar. Think grains, vegetables, and potatoes.

You may be thinking, “Ok, so simple carbs are bad and complex carbs are good, right?” The answer is not that simple as you’ll learn in a moment.

Function of Carbohydrates

Before digging deeper to understand what carbs to eat, we need to understand how carbohydrates are used and stored in the body.

As carbohydrates are broken down and enter the bloodstream, they increase the amount of sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. The level of sugar in the bloodstream is called your blood sugar level. As you eat carbs, your blood sugar level rises, which activates the hormone insulin to suck the excess sugar out of the bloodstream and into your muscles (which can absorb about 300-400 grams) and your liver (which can absorb 100 grams).

What happens if your sugar storage tanks (muscle & liver) are full and you keep on eating carbs? Any excess glucose that is not used by the body for energy will be stored as fat. The more “insulin sensitive” your muscles are, the more readily they will suck in sugar instead of having that sugar get converted to fat. And what’s a great way to make your muscles more insulin sensitive? Strength training of course!

Good Vs. Bad Carbohydrates

Many nutritionists do not use the word “bad” when describing food because as the saying goes, “there are no good, or bad foods, only good, or bad diets”. With that said, carbohydrates that cause your blood sugar level to rise rapidly are generally considered bad, or unhealthy carbs whereas those that are absorbed slowly and have little effect on blood sugar levels are considered good, or healthy carbs.

The Glycemic Index was created to measure the speed with which carbohydrates are converted to glucose. Foods that digest quickly are high on the index, which ranges from 0 to 100, and foods that digest slowly are lower on the index.

Here’s a short list of some high and low glycemic carbohydrate foods:

While the Glycemic Index can be helpful, it’s not perfect. For example, some ice cream can show up as 30 on the glycemic index, along with some other carbohydrate sources like spaghetti that are nutritionally anemic and provide substantial calories in small servings. In addition, foods like watermelon that are high on the Glycemic Index impact blood sugar levels far less when adjusted on a per serving basis (watermelon is mostly water, hence the name). This concept is referred to as the Glycemic Load. Lastly, when combining the carbohydrates with different foods like dietary fat, the pace of digestion can slow down.

Confused? Don’t be. If you are eating whole, natural, unprocessed carbohydrates, you can consider them a good carb, but if the carb was made in a lab, or has been processed such as soda, candy, or white bread, it’s a “bad” carb, or better yet – not ideal. I don’t like using the bad word unless describing High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is a chemically altered sugar found in tons of foods we eat every day. More on HFCS another time!

Do Bad Carbs Make You Fat?

I wish I could answer this question easily, but even an experienced researcher with a PHD would cringe at the thought of a proper answer.

There are two primary camps that attempt to describe how we gain and lose fat:

1) Energy Balance Theory – If you eat more calories than you burn, and you gain weight and if you eat less calories than you burn, you lose weight. This theory is based on the law of thermodynamics where energy can neither be created nor destroyed. You can eat as many carbs as you like and as long as you eat less total calories than you burn, you will lose weight. Harvard Medical School, The Institute of Medicine, along with most large and reputable organizations support this theory.

2) Carbohydrate Hypothesis - Carbs, not calories make you fat is the summation of the carbohydrate hypothesis. Proponents include Dr. Robert Atkins, Dr. Michael Eades, and other medical and nutrition experts who view carbs as the root cause of the obesity epidemic. As long as you sufficiently decrease your carb intake, you will lose weight.

Who’s right? Well that’s worthy of a separate blog post for sure, maybe even a book, but my best guess is the truth lies somewhere in the middle; eating less calories helps you lose weight, but eating too many carbs and not enough protein may have you gaining fat, and possibly even losing muscle. Furthermore, genetics, hormones, and activity level play a huge role in how easily carbs are stored, used as energy, or converted into fat.

Eating some candy, or cookies here and there will not make you fat, but eating a lot of fast digesting carbs combined with excess calories and no exercise is a great strategy for adding a bunch of body fat.

So How Many Carbs Should You Eat?

This question will also be explored in more detail in a separate post, but here’s the short scoop:

The amount of carbohydrates you should eat depends primarily on your genetics, body size, and activity level. If you are a 180lb sedentary guy who wants to maintain weight with a few workouts per week, a good benchmark for carb intake is around 200 grams of carbs. The more active you are, the more carbs you can add. Endurance athletes can and should eat around 300-400 grams per day to help fuel their workouts. The minimum RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for carbs is 130 grams, with 55% of total calories coming from carbs as the general recommendation.

From an evolutionary standpoint, carbohydrates are not essential, which means we do not need to consume carbs in order to function. In fact, if you eat no carbs at all, your body will break down body fat into small molecules called ketones. Ketosis is this process of creating ketones when our body uses primarily fat for energy, which is associated with a carb intake of under 25 grams (under 100 grams is when ketones are first present in the bloodstream and urine). Our bodies not only use fat for energy during ketosis, but may also convert protein (both dietary and muscle) into carbs to be used as fuel.

You may be thinking – “I need to get into a state of ketosis immediately” given the apparent fat burning potential. While ketosis is a cool adaptation, it may leave you with low energy levels, really bad breath, inability to concentrate as effectively, along with serious vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Furthermore, research studies do not show fat loss is any greater during ketosis versus a diet of equal calories with a lot more carbs. Why be miserable and have the same pace of fat loss?

When it comes to carbs, use your common sense – a few servings of fruit, plenty of veggies (which provide few calories but tons of nutrients), some starch/grains (or a lot if you are very active) each day should help fuel your body and provide the essential nutrients it needs to function optimally.

Reference of Carbohydrate Terms

Carbohydrate – sugar molecules that are a union of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO) and are broken down by the body to be used as fuel. One sugar molecule is a monosaccharide, two is a disaccharide, and more than 10 is a polysaccharide.

Glucose – A monosaccharide found in plant and animal tissues, which is transported by the blood to all the cells of the body to be used for energy.

Glycogen – A polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals and occurs mainly in liver and muscle tissue; it is readily converted to glucose and glucose is converted into glycogen.

Glycemic Index – an index ranging from 0 to 100 indicating the effects of various foods on blood sugar. Fast-releasing foods that raise blood sugar levels quickly are high on the index, while slow-releasing foods, at the bottom of the index, give a slow but sustained release of sugar

Gylcemic Load – an index indicating the amount of carbohydrate contained in a specified serving of a particular food. It is calculated by multiplying the food’s glycemic index by its carbohydrate content in grams and then dividing by 100.

Blood Sugar Level – The concentration of glucose in the blood, measured in milligrams of glucose per 100 milliliters of blood. The normal fasting value is between 3.9 and 5.6 mmol/l.

Ketosis – the abnormal accumulation of ketones in the body as a result of excessive breakdown of fats caused by a deficiency, or inadequate use of carbohydrates

Insulin – A hormone secreted by the pancreas in response to high blood sugar levels. Insulin regulates the body’s use of glucose and the levels of glucose in the blood by acting to open the cells so that they can intake glucose

Glucagon – a hormone secreted by the pancreas that acts in opposition to insulin (raises concentration of sugar) in the regulation of blood glucose levels.

Fiber – a type of carbohydrate that is coarse, indigestible plant matter that when eaten can help improve digestion.

I must admit I made a VERY big mistake the last couple of years.

Since launching BuiltLean.com in March 2010, I and our growing team of contributors have answered literally thousands of comments and questions across our website and social media platforms including Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter.

The problem is that I’ve never shared, or featured any of these questions and answers that could have been beneficial for you.

Well fortunately, we’re going to change that starting this week!

We are launching a “Q&A Weekly Roundup” series to highlight a handful of the many questions we get each week that can help you gain more insights into improving your health and well-being.

I have to thank someone a lot smarter than I am – our new Associate Editor Amanda Reck for coming up with this brilliant idea.

As always, if you have questions, or comments, it’s easy to reach us!

Question #1 | Rep Ranges for Getting Lean

Question: In short, if I want to be thin but muscular, what should I do? Light weights with 50 reps OR heavy weights with 15 reps? – Jonny

Answer: The number of reps you lift does not necessarily have any impact on how much muscle or fat you will gain/lose. For example, you can lift very heavy weights all the time and never gain a pound of muscle if you don’t eat sufficient calories and protein. My favorite rep range is around 8-12 for training with weights, and around 10-20 reps with body weight exercises, which can adequately stimulate muscle fibers and promote strength benefits without a high risk of injury.

I suggest you check out my free Get Lean Guide. That should help you. By focusing on losing fat without losing muscle, everything will take care of itself. You should be able to get that thin, but muscular build you want!

– Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #2 | Cardio After Weights & Muscle Gain

Question: If my goal is to gain muscle, will doing HIIT type cardio after my weight training 3 times a week make me lose muscle? Ideally I would like to perform HIIT on my off days, but my schedule doesn’t allow it, therefore I prefer after my weights.

Also, I was wondering, would walking on a treadmill, at a speed of 5, with an incline of 11 for 30-45 minutes be good for shedding fat but without losing muscle? -Peter

Answer: Here are my answers to your questions:

If my goal is to gain muscle, will doing HIIT type cardio AFTER my weight training, 3 times a week, make me LOSE muscle?

It depends on if you are eating enough food and strength training properly. If you are eating enough calories/protein, no amount of cardio should make you lose muscle (except extreme marathon training). With that said, while High Intensity Interval Training can be anabolic and promote muscle growth, you just want to be careful not to do too much. The more cardio you do, the harder it is to eat enough calories and protein to spur muscle growth.

Also, I was wondering, would walking on a treadmill, at a speed of 5, with an incline of 11 for 30-45 minutes be good for shedding fat but without losing muscle?

I think it’s very important to realize if you are trying to build muscle, the primary goal is to build muscle. If you put on some fat, so be it. I would hate for you to spin your wheels and not gain any muscle because you are trying to walk a tight rope. Losing fat is “easy” compared to adding muscle. It may take a year to put on 5-10lb of muscle, but it only takes 1-2 months to lose 5-10lb of fat.

I understand you want to stay lean, so instead of “shedding fat” I would say cardio can help you “minimize fat gain”. It’s very, very difficult to minimize fat gain in a muscle building program, but it can be done primarily through nailing the calorie level and protein intake, and using those big compound lifts. The cardio is A LOT less important than the aforementioned, but it can still help you minimize fat gain. Weigh yourself every Monday and take you body fat every 2-4 weeks. That’s the only way you can validate your exercise/nutrition program. In addition, unless you are under 12% body fat, I would not advise on going on a muscle building program. Good luck!

– Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #3 | Exercise Motivation & Results

Question: I know my problem is that I don’t see results soon enough and I lose motivation. What is one way to deal with this? – Eddie

Answer: The lack of motivation you experience when you don’t “see” any results is very, very common, if not the most common reason why people stop working out, or eating well. Here are a few tips I hope you find helpful that will allow you to power through your self-doubt/lack of motivation:

1) Beware of trying to “see” results. Tracking your progress through the mirror is like trying to watch grass grow. In fact, one of my clients ended up gaining 14 pounds of muscle and completely changed his body. He told me he honestly couldn’t “see” the difference. When we compared before/after photos, the differences were striking. The point is you can’t trust the mirror. I would consider tracking other metrics including body weight, body fat, measurements (arm, waist etc.), and even energy levels. See my free Get Lean Guide for more information on tracking: http://www.builtlean.com/email/.

2) Exercising is worth it whether or not you see results, or even notice any changes. Here are 31 reasons to exercise. Next time you are considering skipping a workout, go through every one of them.

3) Body change is not only about exercise, but it’s primarily a nutritional challenge. Did you change your eating habits? Assuming you are looking to lose fat, are you eating less calories than you are burning? See: How many calories should you eat to lose weight? In addition, I strongly encourage you to keep a food journal, even just for a few days: See: 7 reasons to keep a food journal.

Finally, I think it’s important to attach an emotional reason WHY you want to change your body. It needs to be very deep. It’s the type of thing that will motivate you to do something you don’t really want to do, but you know you must do.

Hope this was helpful and best of luck!

– Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #4 | Calorie Intake & Fat Loss

Question: A question about calorie intake: why do all dieticians advocate healthy foods like fruit and egg whites? If a person eats one slice of pizza three times a day, that would still be hardly 1000 calories…shouldn’t the person still lose weight?—Sadiq

Answer: The short answer is that you are exactly correct – you can lose weight eating 1 slice of pizza 3 times per day because weight loss requires that you eat less calories than you burn. What you must take into account is the difference between weight loss and fat loss. It’s very possible you are losing both fat and muscle if you eat fast food and garbage calories as I call them. This is very undesirable because you won’t look leaner even if you lose weight and your metabolism will decrease. In addition, your energy levels may suffer if you don’t get the right number and balance of nutrients in your diet, which is a big reason why nutritionists (at least the smart one’s) emphasize nutrient dense foods. Whole foods that are unprocessed are your best bet (i.e. fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts and seeds, etc.). There’s a lot more to say, but I hope that’s compelling enough!

– Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

Question #5 | Healthy Grocery Shopping

Question: Nice article Marc, the middle aisles of the grocery store are generally filled with the delicious things that we probably shouldn’t eat. Now, what is the best way to find non-empty calorie foods? -Wade

Answer: The unfortunate reality is that very, very little of a grocery store is filled with natural, wholesome, unprocessed foods. As Jack Lalanne used to say, “If man made it, don’t eat it”. I plan on adding an article with just 5 photos I took at the same grocery store of all the foods I recommend you eat, but as a quick summary, they are (1) fruits, (2) vegetables & tubers, (3) Organic Meats/Fish, (4) organic low fat milk, eggs, and yogurt (milk depends on if you can digest it), and (5) nuts & seeds. That’s really all human beings lived on for tens of thousands of years. Grains are a controversial topic, but I believe they are fine to eat, depending on your reaction to them. The less processed, the better.

I also want to mention that I’m a realist and I realize most people probably consume 70% or more of their calories from empty calories. So I would recommend over time substituting unprocessed foods with more wholesome, natural foods. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly didn’t happen right away for me! But I developed a taste for vegetables, became very sensitive to salty, or sugary foods that I used to eat all the time, and now have no desire to eat empty calories at all. My body craves real food. Hope this is helpful and thanks for the comment!

– Marc (Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)

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Have you noticed recently that your gym is getting more crowded?

Beach season is fast approaching, which means the 50% of the people who normally don’t go to the gym but have a gym memberships are suddenly avid exercisers.

Everyone is in a mad dash to lose the 10lb of fat gained during winter hibernation, but sadly few will be successful.

Here’s the Truth:

1. Most people don’t get any results despite considerable effort

2. Even if results are achieved, keeping those results are unlikely

Why is this so?

While there are many answers to this question, I believe a contributing factor is the mismanagement of goals and expectations – particularly the difference between body change vs. maintenance.

There is a huge difference between what is required to change our bodies versus maintain our existing weight and physical condition, which may not properly understood, or appreciated.

Body Change | Are You Ready For Battle?

If you are in the camp of wanting to lose as much fat as possible before that beach trip this summer, it’s important to mentally get ready for a serious battle.

Steamrolling ahead is not a smart strategy if you are not mentally ready to handle the discomfort of changing your eating and exercise habits. Notice I didn’t use the word “sacrifice” to describe changing your habits – not having fries with your burger is not a sacrifice, but it does create discomfort.

Do these lines sound familiar? These are the lines used by people who aren’t mentally ready for battle:

“I’m going to try to workout while I’m traveling next week”

“I’m going to try to eat better”

“I’m going to try to lose 10 pounds”

Getting the body you want isn’t about trying, it’s about doing. I’ve certainly found myself using the dreaded “try” line more than I would care to admit, but I catch myself when I do. Trying is for people who accept failure as an option. We need to create a mindset shift where success is the only option. Keep in mind the words we use have a major impact on our success.

If you are losing (not “trying” to lose) 5-10lb, follow this 5 step plan, which is the same exact 5 steps everyone who successfully completes my BuiltLean Program follows:

1) Self Assessment
2) Set Your Goal (& The Reason Why That Goal is Important To You)
3) Create, or Identify Your Plan
4) Take Action
5) Track Progress

So what happens if you simply aren’t ready, or don’t want to make improvements to your body? The next section will discuss some strategies for maintaining your existing condition.

Body Maintenance | Cruising With The Top Down

Body maintenance is a beautiful thing. It’s possible to maintain a high level of physical conditioning without nearly the same amount of effort as it took to get to that fitness level. Yep, your just cruising along with the top down, enjoying the fruits of your labor.

But just like the line “a fool and his money are soon parted”, the same applies to your body. If you make a lot of bad decisions and either massively overeat, or don’t exercise at all, you will lose whatever results you have been able to achieve.

In my opinion, body maintenance is a lot of fun, because you can try different routines, different types of exercises, or activities like hiking etc., and as long as you stay consistent with a few workouts per week of sufficient intensity, you should be able to keep your results.

While maintaining your results isn’t quite a walk in the park, it’s pretty close. It goes back to mindset – if you are happy and excited to eat well 90% of the time, you will more than likely be able to maintain great results. Of course, if you “let yourself go”, we all know how fast results can be lost with mindless eating and lack of exercise – very, very fast!

It’s totally cool to go from Body Change to Maintenance as you see fit. The mental wiring that needs to be changed is going from Body Change to Body Destruction, which is normally how the process works – “Ok, I just killed myself for 3 months and lost 20lb of fat, now it’s time to reward myself”. That kind of mindset invariably leads to the yoyo effect of fat gain/loss over and over and over again.

So where are you at? Body change, or maintenance?

If you are in the gym every day trying to build muscle, you may already have the body you envision, you just need to lose the fat.

If you’re like most guys, you wouldn’t mind packing on an extra 5-10lb of muscle to your frame. Maybe you are contemplating starting a muscle building program, or even actively using one. Before you start pounding more protein shakes and killing yourself with heavy weights, this article will help you seriously revaluate your fitness goals.

If you are attempting to build muscle and you do not have a lean physique (See: Ideal Body Fat Percentage Chart if you are unsure), I strongly recommend you focus on losing fat without losing muscle before attempting to add some bulk to your frame. Keep in mind on average most guys substantially underestimate their body fat percentage by AT LEAST 5% body fat.

Here are 3 compelling reasons why you should lose fat first before building muscle. If you are expecting to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, check out this article “Should I lose fat and build muscle at the same time?”

Lose Fat First Reason #1: Gaining Any More Fat Is A Slippery Slope

Gaining muscle without gaining fat is a very difficult proposition, even if you count every calorie you eat meticulously. If you don’t count calories, then it’s highly improbable. In order to gain muscle, our bodies need to be in an anabolic state, which is fed by an ample amount of protein, carbs, and calories. If you are attempting to build muscle, it is expected that you will add some fat. This is keenly understood by fitness models and bodybuilders who “bulk up” with both muscle and some fat during the offseason when attempting to build muscle.

Now let’s say you are 5’10” and 185lb with 15% body fat. You end up putting on 12lb of weight, with 6lb being muscle and 6lb being fat. Your new body fat is 18%, which is dangerously close to the 20% level you definitely don’t want. If you do get up to 20% body fat, you will need to lose around 20lb of pure fat without losing muscle to get down to a lean 10% body fat, which is when you’ll have the killer beach body.

I must disclose I have a bias against muscle building – I think most guys have more than enough natural muscle once they reach maturity and after putting in a few good years of quality lifting and eating. Following this line of thinking, most guys can have a seriously awesome physique if they just lose enough fat without losing muscle to get lean. Easier said than done of course, but it’s a lot easier than building muscle and a much faster way to get a beach body.

If you are at, or above 15% body fat (the chances are likely), I highly recommend focusing on losing fat first.

Lose Fat First Reason #2: You Look Bigger When You Are Lean

If you are not lean, you have body fat that is hiding your hard earned muscle mass and even more important, hiding the shape of your muscles.

For example, your shoulder muscle is a round, teardrop shaped muscle that is involved in all pulling and pushing movements. If you have body fat over your shoulders, they will appear flat with little roundness. The more round your shoulders and the leaner they are, the more striking the shape will be. When you can see the actual muscle and it’s shape, it creates an illusion that they are bigger than they actually are. A chiseled physique generally will look bigger, fuller, and more impressive than a soft physique of a similar size.

In the photo of me to your right taken a couple of years ago, I have 155lb of lean body mass and I weighed around 167lb. When I went to the gym, people thought I was 190-200lb. Interestingly, I have the same amount of muscle as a guy who is 200lb with 22% body fat.

Why is this important if you are trying to build muscle? Well you may find when you lean out that you already have the muscle mass you want, you just couldn’t see it before.

Lose Fat First Reason #3: You Will Know How Much Bigger You Want To Get

Let’s say you want to add 10-15lb of muscle to your frame, do you know how much volume 10-15lb of muscle has? Do you really have any idea of what those 10-15lb will look like on you assuming you answered “yes” to the previous question?

I’m not a big fan of using weight when it comes to building a certain amount of muscle. It’s useless unless you are an athlete and your sport such as football demands it.

The better way is to measure your body parts to see if there are any major areas of improvement. You may find for example that most of your body parts are at a solid level for your height, the only issue is that your chest measurement is a measly 38 inches. Now you know for sure that you can seriously improve your chest and back thickness. Trying to trust the mirror, or even photos is notoriously difficult.

You may learn after doing some body measurements that you can definitely get your thighs and calves an inch bigger. That change in muscle may only translate into a few pounds max. The idea is that you may not need to put on nearly as much muscle weight as you think you do.

I hope after reading this article the choice is very clear as to whether you should lose fat first, or build muscle. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

From new research demonstrating muscle can be gained with just body weight exercises to how to train around bulging disk injuries, there was a wide spectrum of fitness news, articles, and videos in April 2012.

Regarding the muscle building study, researchers from McMaster university tested the muscle building effect of variables such as volume, intensity, and muscle time-under-tension. They found that in resistance-trained young men, a lower workout intensity and a higher volume of repetitions performed until failure was equally effective in stimulating muscle proteins as a heavy workout intensity at lower repetition rates. If you’ve seen very muscular guys who just do body-weight training, these finding may not be such a surprise. For more on this research, check out the full article below.

Fitness News & Research | April 2012

General Fitness Articles | April 2012

Must-See Fitness Videos | April 2012

Fitness Around-The-Web Column
The last day of every month, we include links to most relevant news, research, articles, and videos that we find during the month that are informative, useful, entertaining, or a combination of all three. If you ever come across an article or video that is worthy of being added to our monthly digest, let us know!