1. How important is the 1-minute between sets rule? Lets say I do 25 push-ups, wait a minute, do 20 more, wait a minute and do 15 more. I've done 3 sets, 60 total. Now an hour later I do 20 more, wait a half-hour, then do 20 more to round out my 100, were the last 40 useless?

2. Is there some rule about how to do each set? I've heard of going easy on the first set, doing the second set until failure, then just doing a small 3rd set, are there different techniques for needing different results?

3. What's the best (most healthy) breakfast, in your opinion?

4. Is lunch that important, or can I just have a banana or an apple?

5. Do you really never eat after 9 PM?

6. Should I cut out soda altogether?

7. What's the healthiest snack, in your opinion?

8. What's the worst snack, in your opinion?

9. Is there a way to calculate what my caloric intake should be every day? I'm 5'4, and weigh 152 (but it's not as bad as it sounds, I have a decent amount of muscle mass). My ideal weight is probably 135 or so (0 fat), and I'd like to get back there, but I'm a little confused as to how. I don't want to make any HUGE changes, but maybe some little things that will show in the end, you know.


Any help will be much appreciated, searching for this stuff on the Net can be so confusing, everyone's an expert, and no one has tried it themselves, they just spout advice (which I'd rather have from you guys).

 

1..The one minute of rest is not that important, you could wait 30 seconds if you wanted to, or you could wait 2 minutes..as long the muscle you are working gets fatigued you are doing fine.

2. I usually go 3 sets 12-10-8. If your looking to gain more mass you could go 10-8-6 with heavier wieghts, but it is really personal pref.

3. Egg whites 5-6 and 4 slices wheat toast, and 8 oz of OJ

4. lUnch is very importanr, you should eat 6 small meals a day..and a piece of fruit is not a meal..try a turkey sandwich and an apple and that would be best

5. I eat as late as i want to, after 9 is ok as long as it is healthy, protein shake or fruit or egg whites...no junk food late night

6. soda unless it is diet is one of the owrst things you could put in your body, from the standpoint of having a nice body..it is just empty calories...diet sodas chemicals are horrible for you also, but in small doses should be ok..drink the new sodas sweetened with splenda, they are good if you really want a soda

7. healthiest snack would be fruit, or rice ckaes or even pretzles, or a protein bar/shake

8. potato chips are really bad, and ice cream, and other things that are sweet or fired

9. your caloric intake should vary by how much activity you are doing in a day, on days with light activity calories should be lower, and on high activity days you will need more calories to substain energy levels

try spreading 6 small meals

breakfast
protein bar/shake
sandwich and fruit
protein shake
dinner of chicken/fish/steak with brown rice and steamed veggies
shake/eggwhites/fruit/przles

eatthis combo you will lose some weight

 

All the answer's posted about are very good answers!
If you happen to have more questions like you ones in the first post, or are looking for different answers along the same line I would recommend checking out:
mensfitness.com and
menshealth.com
These two sites have great workout tips and tricks, and provide great nutritional information (and recipes) based on whether you are looking to trim down the fat, or bulk up on muscle.

 

1. I generally use a 30 seconds between sets rule. This gives you enough time to catch your breath but not let your heart rate drop. I dont understand why you are waiting an hour and then reworking the same muscle groups? Are you trying to build bulk or lean muscle? Either way one session per muscle group is enough.

2. Again, this depends on what your goals are. If you are trying to build lean muscle then the first set should be a warm up set, not a 100% max set. Your last two sets should be drop sets. If you struggle to get to 7 reps then you have to much weight on. You should struggle to get to the 12th or 13th.

3. Again your eating habbilts are going to be based on what your fitness goals are.

4. Same as above. I would recomend (as a guide line) six times a day, three meals and three snacks. A banana or apple is not a suitable lunch.

5. If you are sleeping at normal hours, waking up at 8ish and sleeping around 11ish then your last food intake (a small snack) should be around 9ish. This will make sure that you have something in your stomach while you sleep. You should NEVER to go sleep on an empty stomach. Then again, you NEVER want to go bed stuffed.

6. Yes. Cut out all things that contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. (If your trying to loose weight that is).

7. Healthiest? Depends, there are a lot. Raisins and Almonds have always been a personal favorite of mine.

8. Worst Snack, Power Bars. G-R-O-S-E!

Get rid of this idea that you will have zero fat. Your body needs fat to live. Idea body fat for males is around 8 to 10% and thats like Model low. For the average joe blow, try to stay around 12-15%.

Remember the best way to burn fat is to put on lean muscle. Cardio is also very important.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

I think the answers have been posted have been good ones but I would also stress something else. Working the muscles hard is the goal, whatever way you get there is up to you. The advice I follow is, DO REPS AND SETS THE WAY THAT BEST SUITS YOU. If you do it a certain way that makes you hate your workout and therefore more likely to quit, than do it a different way.

I rest very little, hit it hard at the gym for 30-40 minutes and leave. I don't want to hang around all day, I don't have the time. I also still get good results. The one thing to watch out for is that if you do high intensity sets with very little rest you will have a very high heart rate during the workout. It has resulted in me getting woosy a couple times anfd puking on one occasion.

I also don't like to work a mucsle group, move on and come back to it. If you do pushups at the beginning, move on to biceps, and return to pushups later I think you are more likely to strain something that has gone into rest/recovery and tighten up.

Lastly, I eat whatever I want. I don't look like a bodybuilder with 3% body fat but not too bad either. The key is mix in some healthy stuff and try to take in less calories or the same calories as you burn. Herschel Walker was built like a frieght train and totally ripped. He still is. He eats one meal a day and totally pigs out on anything he wants. Try different suggestions but find the one that is right for you. I would rather look good and enjoy my meals than eat twigs and gravel to look like a god.

 

Wow, thanks for the great replies guys!!

I guess I should have been more clear, my goal is to be healthier, and leaner (if I could increase the size of my pecs and see my abs clearly it'd be a plus), but I won't be making a trip to the gym every day.

That's the thing, I don't want to create a body that dictates my lifestyle, but change my lifestyle to create a different body. Knowing what and when to eat is probably 50% of the battle, and doing small work-outs (push-ups, crunches, curls, etc) may create the body I want...maybe.

 

First off, let me your rock for taking the time to maintain a healthy life style. It is hard to start, but ever harder to maintain.

As far as seeing your abs, well its not all about doing major ab workouts. The key to seeing your ab muscles lays more with having a low enough body fat percentage. A lot of guys that hit the gym all the time may already have that six pack but because they have to much body fat percentage it may never be seen.

To lower your body fat rate you will need to obviously eat correctly and put on lean muscle, which you can do in a number of ways. Either your going to be hitting the gym no less than two times a week and some form of cardio two times a week. This can change depending on the intensity and the amount of weight you use during each workout.

 

PM sent .

 

1. Depends. It really is different for everyone. I wait long enough that the muscle has recovered enough for me to do similar, or slightly less reps.

2. Always warm the muscle group up with 2 sets of low weight to get blood flowing in the area, do not go to failure until the muscle is warmed up first. After 2 sets of warmup for your target muscle group (chest, legs, etc), go to failure every set .

3. Too many to list. I usually do 4 eggs, (only 2 yolks) and some lowfat waffles with a piece of fruit, or 4 eggs with oatmeal.

4. Yes it is, as they said, 6 small meals, you need protein at every meal, 30g minimum for average guy.

5. Fuk that, I eat something 1 hour before I go to bed, you grow during sleep and your body needs protein. Something small like a protein bar, or shake, stay away from carbs late at night.

6. Yes. I drink one per week as a way of treating myself. This is on Sunday. I'll do a cheatmeal the same day, usually for dinner.

7. For me, rice cakes with peanut butter with a banana.

8. chips, cake, any junk whatsoever. Use fruit for snacks.

9. One gram of protein per body lb per day. If you are 152, then you need 152 grams of protein. Caloric intake is based on metabolism. If you are trying to grow, 3000 calories a day is a good base to start from.

 

Thanks for the info dude .