Ask The Expert - November 2007

Welcome to the Ask the Expert Archive for November 2007. 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 hear about sets and repetitions all the time, is there a difference and what is it?

A. Simply put, a repetition is one complete exercise movement. So if you lift a barbell off the floor, to the waist and back to the floor again, that is a repetition or a “rep”. A set on the other hand is a group of repetitions normally defined by a rest in between. For example lifting the barbell off the floor 10 times and resting for 10 seconds is a complete set.

Q. What is spotting in the gym?

A. If a friend or a trainer is watching or assisting you as you lift weights for the purpose of safety and guidance, then he is spotting you. Miracles for Men insist for those using free weights to always have a spotter to avoid any accidents. A good spotter can also be a great source of encouragement.

Q. I am only interested in adding body muscle mass, is it important for me to do cardio exercises?

A. If you are planning on living for a long time, then Miracles for Men encourages you to include cardio exercises in your training schedule. Most bodybuilders hate it but the added health benefits for cardio exercises cannot be underestimated. The bigger you get, the more you should be concerned about the health of your heart and cardio exercises are the only way to take care of that.

Q. I wish to increase my dead lifting frequency to more than 3 times a week. I have been told that intensive bent-legged dead lifting on one day and intensive stiff-legged dead lifting on another day might be the way to go. What is the opinion of Miracles for Men?

A. The dead lift is one of the toughest exercises. Miracles for Men are of the opinion that due to the muscles of the lower back needing more recovery periods than others, the dead lift of any kind should not be done more than once per week.

Q. My physical trainer is recommending liquid creatine for me. I already use powdered Creatine, is there a need for me to change?

A. At Miracles for Men, we do not see why you should change anything that already works well. Though Liquid Creatine is now heavily promoted, Creatine has been shown to be unstable if left in liquid for prolonged periods of time. Until greater scientific achievements are made, stick to powder Creatine if it still works for you.

Q. Due to my time constraints, is it better for me to just replace my meals with protein bars or energy bars?

A. You should be wary of replacing your normal foods with protein bars. Energy bars and protein bars can vary greatly in terms of quality. There those that are useful in providing quality proteins while you are on the run but replacing whole foods with bars of any type is unhealthy. Even if you are not replacing your whole meals, be wary of energy bars rich in saturated fats and sugar ingredients.

Q. My wife asked me to consider substituting soy protein for whey protein. What is your opinion on this?

A. While not wishing to enter a debate on which is the best protein source, it is hard to find any body builder who would substitute whey protein for soy protein. This is mainly because soy protein lacks in the amino acid methionine. It is not a bad source of protein; you just can not compare it to whey protein which is great for bodybuilders.

Q. Are there any fat burners that you recommend before any competition? I have a problem taking care of my fat content and would be happy for any advice.

A. Not wishing to sound bland, the best time tested fat burners are a Stairmaster, a Lifecycle and a Treadmill. It is hard work training but it works.
as your muscles are not used to it.

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