Ask The Expert - March 2008

Welcome to the Ask the Expert Archive for March 2008. Please feel free to browse through all the questions that have been asked by our customers and answered within this month. Remember if you have a question, click here and ask the Team. We welcome any questions related to Mens health and Supplements, and you can be sure that if we don’t know the answer we will research it for you and e-mail over as soon as we can.

Q. I have difficulties doing cardiovascular exercises and really do not like them. There has to be a reason why everyone seems to like doing them. What could it be?

A. The purpose of weight training is not to do only the things that you like doing but to improve on your body’s performance and if it means doing things you don’t like, so be it. We at Miracles for Men have found out that though doing cardiovascular exercises can be boring, they help you handle squats, dead lifts and leg presses without grasping for breath in the middle of a set. It also improves your heart performance while keeping the fat off your body.

Q. I believe weight training is making me very stiff and my range of movement is really reduced. What can I do?

A. You are right that weight training will make you stiff, but only if you do not do you’re training properly. If you ignore stretching as part of your training strategy, you are very likely to get stiff. The best weight trainers are very flexible and most do splits so it is not weight training that is making you stiff, it is ignoring the all important stretching exercises as you are training.

Q. I am looking for a training partner, as I cannot afford a personal coach. What does Miracles for Men recommend for a good training partner?

A. It is good to see that you are looking for a training partner. As an initial start, Miracles for Men would recommend that you get a training partner that is reliable and keep you on track towards your goal. He or she should encourage you to stick to your schedule, encourage you to push harder while within your limits. A verbose over bearing training partner will likely make you stay away from the gym.

Q. Can stretching really help me grow my muscles and how?

A. Oh yes! At Miracles for Men we have found that stretching helps more blood flow with fresh nutrients into the muscles. This will help greatly in the recovery process. It has also been found in animals that stretching increases the number of muscle cells but this has not been proven in humans. It also feels very good when you stretch so why not do it?

Q. I have tried doing power-lifting moves like dead lifts and squats to make my thin frame blocky but it does not seem to change much. What I’m I doing wrong?

A. Not everyone has a blocky physique. This is all a genetic cause and has nothing to do with your working out. Power lifting to get a blocky physique is a myth. You cannot do much with genetics but you can increase your lats, delts and quads to improve your appearance. You have to remember that not everyone likes a blocky physique anyway so improve on what your body type is and let us see how good you can look with your own genetic make up.

Q. Is it true that wearing kneecaps and elbow caps during weight training will keep me from getting injuries?

A. Though at Miracles for Men we see no aesthetic downside to wearing knee caps, over use can be harmful to you and actually cause injury. Since they allow you to lift more weight, you might be tempted to always use them. However, this leads to your muscles increasing in strength while your joints are weaker. While you are using them, they might be useful but since you now have a weaker park of your body later down the line, it might cause serious harm to you. Use all types of body wraps sparingly.

Q. I am having difficulty improving on the size of my calf muscles. What would you suggest as a training program?

A. At Miracles for Men we know that calf muscles can be a tricky muscle group to grow. It has a lot of slow twitch muscle fibres and you may have to do more work on them. You can try to train them first in a workout, with 3-4 exercises for 2 sets each including both standing and sitting exercises. Mix high repetition / low weight training with low repetition /high weight training in the same workout. This should affect all the muscle fibres in your calf muscle. Most important, do not be tempted to train them every day. Give them the same amount of rest time as other muscle groups.

Q. I just love spending time in the spa in my gym after working out. I have found that I sweat more and believe that I lose more weight like that?

A. Sweating is not a sign that you are losing weight. If it were no one would be obese in hot climates. Sweat is just the body’s cooling system and though it might seem like it, you are not burning calories as you sweat.

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