Question of the Day

The answer depends on your history. Your body adapts to your intake. This is well studied and documented.

It's another example of oversimplification. Your body doesn't "burn muscle tissue." That makes it sound like you have enzymes that start attacking your own muscle cells and begin to tear them away. It's in the same category as that dreaded "starvation mode" that seems to go around permanently damaging everyone's metabolism.

What do you mean by "safe"? In other words, people run marathons that last hours, and they survive. So apparently it is safe as in, you can do it. Is it safe to preserve muscle? That depends less on the time and more upon how you work up to it - going from nothing to 60 or more minutes is different that slowly working to 60 minutes and having the right nutrition and recovery.

No! You said you want to remove the fat. Are you buying into the myth that cardio burns more fat? It doesn't. This has been well researched. If your goal is to lose fat, then you should do both cardio and weight training. This combination burns far more fat than cardio alone.

I can only speak from my direct experience with this ... and here's the scoop: that "genetic thing" may contribute a bit, but the bottom line is that the issue is still fat, and burning fat is what will correct it.

Cardio is really a modern term that has grown to replace aerobic exercise. To avoid the stigma of the aerobic craze of the 70s people switched to cardio when discussing it relative to fitness and strength-training programs to disassociate with the aerobics-only phenomenon.

One reader recently got a juicer and drinks mix out of fresh juice with carrots, half a broccoli, orange, a red beet and some pomegranate every day. They say it tastes great but worry about blood sugars and calories. Will this be a problem with losing weight?

This is actually quite common. Even people who feel they are in balance don't realize they have slightly more musculature on one side.

Fitness Expert Tom Venuto answers the question, "Hello Tom, I've been doing BFL for the past year, and did well at first, losing 3 dress sizes and 5% body fat, but then I totally hit a plateau and have had no more results since December. I'm wondering if I've been strict enough with my eating."

3500 calories is the rough estimate for the energy contained in one pound of fat.

In general, it seems that making sure your potassium is equal to or greater than your sodium intake is more important than the actual amount. The issue is that most people get tons of sodium but little to no potassium.

This is a common misconception. I hear it all of the time. "Oh, the abs are a special muscle and they require daily workouts." The other variation is, "They are rapidly recovering so they CAN be worked out every day." Indeed, some people swear by it and claim that daily ab workouts is the KEY to having a defined six-pack. Is it true? The answer is NO! Let me explain ...

The answer is, "Yes and no." You say, there he goes again ... but let me explain!

I recently received the question: "I've been working out for two years now and managed to drop my weight to an ideal 115 lb. I still hit the gym everyday but now I always aim to burn over 2,000 calories everytime. Is this good? If I cut it down am I going to gain the weight again?" My answer is ... it depends. Let me explain ...

Love them. Part of the bonus of having lived in the Midwest.

Fat doesn't keep you from staying lean while adding muscle ... calories do.

There are really two fundamental principles for gaining muscle: force the muscle to contract and give the muscle a little more work each time.

One thing to consider for life is that you don't have to diet. Diets are short-term, as you have made clear (i.e. not able to keep it). Perhaps instead of focusing on the perfect diet, instead focus on a healthy ,lifelong strategy.

Fitness Expert Tom Venuto answers the question: "Would you please try to explain in laymen's terms exactly how fat cells work and what happens when you start to burn body fat. I heard a statement that the fat cell has to get moved into the muscle cell for it to be released or burned. Thought you could explain a little better."

It depends on what your goals are. If you are looking to lose fat or maintain health then HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and weight-lifting are two entirely different entities.

As for your work and school, join the club. I've had a few clients who are full-time single mothers going to night school and working multiple jobs.

I've seen this push for the dairy industry. It is a billion dollar industry so of course, both the industry and the government want people getting lots of dairy. But is it really the fat burning miracle they claim it to be?

I believe there is a certain weight that our bodies try to settle at. This is known as homeostasis and is the way the body attempts to "keep things the same."

Better for what,one might ask. Both routines are fine. The concept of a set or rep range being better is more of an oversimplification. There are some basic laws of training ... one of them is overload, meaning you subject the muscle to more tension or load each workout. So whatever your rep range, if you are increasing weight or adding reps or sets, you are progressing.

Most people cannot sustain 90% of max HR for a prolonged period of time ... and if you target this, what happens is that your body adapts and the heart becomes more efficient so it becomes harder to raise the rate. The intervals do several things. They allow short bearts of near maximal effort, which by definition and design of your energy systems would be impossible to prolong, so the second thing is the lower intervals allow active recovery to prepare for another bout. The stimulus creates an adaptation - the heart is able to return to a normal heart rate more quickly, which is a good thing, and you create more post-EPOC consumption.

You should get your potassium from your food, not supplements. Excess supplemental potassium can cause a heart attack. A few bodybuilders trying to artificially manipulate their electrolyte balance with potassium pills have collapsed on stage. In fact, it is so dangerous that companies in the United States are not allowed to have the supplement in greater than 99mg per capsule.

Someone was told that 45 minutes, 5 days a week was the key to more rapid weight loss. Is this true? The answers is ... yes and no.

There may not be one single answer to this ... and even if there were, what would you do? Only eat that food? Losing weight is about living healthier, and living healthier means eating a variety of healthy foods. So the answer to your question isn't a simple, "Eat this" but rather ... find the better choices.

There are many people faced with challenges like this. Fortunately, it's not as much about the time you have but the desire. With the right desire, you will find the routine and the time to accomplish what you set out to achieve. There are many routines that are fast, easy, and convenient. Studies suggest as little as 20 minutes 3 times per week can have a beneficial impact on your health.

Absolutely. There is a world of difference between muscle and fat. People say "muscle weighs more than fat" but the truth is that a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. The advantage of muscle is that it is more dense, so the same weight in fat takes up less space. This is why you can lose inches without losing any weight on the scale if you are shedding unwanted fat and building muscle in the process.

Fitness expert Tom Venuto explains, "Over the 18 years that I've been involved in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, nutrition consultant and motivation coach, I've noticed that some people who start a nutrition and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. If they feel the slightest bit of discouragement or frustration, they will abandon even their biggest goals and dreams."

I would say in certain circumstances, 40% is high even when you are lifting. At 178 pounds I was only averaging around 100 grams per day, no issues with building muscle mass or gaining strength.

There are many ways you can add cardiovascular exercise to your workout schedule. Running is only one of them. While running is a great activity that burns a lot of calories, it's not for everyone. There are several factors that will determine how much you should run.

It only takes a few key habits to raise your metabolism. There is no magic pill required. You don't have to put heavy spices on all of your foods or run in circles all day long, either. This article shares ten strategies to keep that metabolism elevated.

There are many programs out there that claim timing may be the most important aspect. There certainly is evidence to suggest that it can have an impact on your success. Just how much, however, is the topic of debate.

Fitness Expert Mike Geary shares, "I bet you want to know... Does Hoodia really work to help you lose weight? After all, billions of dollars are being spent worldwide annually on this supposed 'miracle' diet pill that, if you were to believe the hype spouted off by all of its manufacturers, you would think that hoodia is the miracle cure to obesity and excess weight that will save the world. Ahh, if it were only that easy to lose weight!"

While I don't believe you have to increase the intensity every week, I do feel that something has to change in order to see success. The body is extremely efficient at adapting to your current environment and habits. If you don't change things, the body will stop responding.

This is a common question ... fortunately I've worked with dozens of clients who experienced just what you are looking for. To lean out in the face requires a few steps.

9 times out of 10 the reason people don't see their abs has nothing to do with doing crunches and everything to do with a layer of fat obscuring them. I've had people get a six pack without ever doing a single abdominal exercise, and I know a lot of people who do crunches all day long and don't see their abs.

It's a common goal: to lose fat and gain muscle. Hardly anyone wants to lose muscle with fat or gain fat with muscle. But how does weight loss affect strength, and does losing weight automatically mean you can bench/squat/or lift more? The answer is ... not really.

I received a lot of questions about how much muscle can be gained. Unfortunately, there is an inflated belief based on marketing campaigns that promise dozens of pounds in a short period of time. But if you really dig into the details, you'll find practical answers simply by looking at what current athletes are doing.

Tom Venuto received this question in his inbox: "Tom, I was wondering if you had seen the 6 part e-mail series sent out by [name and website deleted]. If you look at the last part, he basically states that "starvation mode" is a bunch of hooey made up in order to sell diet programs. He didn't mention you, but it almost sounds like he's talking about your program specifically. How do you feel about this?"

I see a definite red flag. Perhaps it is great you lost weight, provided it is not due to some other, more dire condition: things like stomach parasites, etc, can contribute to weight loss.

In my opinion, everything you need is going to happen on the inside. You've got a great place to start physically, but until you cut the negative self-talk and self-sabotage it will be difficult to shift into the healthy mindset that you deserve to have.

What do you mean by "safe?" In other words, people run marathons that last hours, and they survive. So apparently it is safe as in, you can do it.

You should be fine doing cardio after lifting. Not a problem. I've done it. For nutrition, I would get a meal in as soon as you are comfortable.

I have not used these. A lot of people call this the gold standard, but without much backing. Basically, because it is a big piece of equipment and used in universities, the assumption is that this is more accurate.

I wish there were a fixed answer. There isn't. Too many factors are involved. It depends on how intelligent your training is. The most basic form is simply to grab some heavy weights and push them. While that may work for some people for some period of time, it doesn't last forever unless you are incredibly genetically gifted.

Sounds good, but the research suggests otherwise.

The balls are great, but they are not the end-all-be-all some people swear they are ... that is just a trend. They do serve a purpose.

Buffalo stew meat, Buffalo burders, Buffalo rib steak, Buffalo sirloin, Buffalo t-bone, Buffalo sausage, Buffalo cube steak, Buffalo arm roast, Buffalo round roast, Lean beef, Ostrich, Turkey breast, Orange roughy ...

If you still need to get leaner, you will need to get rid of fat. So if you maintain your muscle mass and lose fat, you will need to lose weight.

Some people want to do the bare minimum to get by and eat convenience foods rather than changing their habits to embrace healthier, less processed foods. If you take a quality multi and eat whole foods, you will gain much more energy than eating a highly processed diet and taking fat burners.

Another example of the myth of generalization. You'll hear it all ... at 60 minutes, cortisol magically kicks in and you begin losing muscle by the buckets, etc etc.

You are actually asking the wrong question. See, there is not any workout that is going to target extra flab in the stomach area.

To burn fat, you have to create a deficit through nutrition and through burning calories. Guess what?

The condition of missing or not having periods is called amenorrhea. There are many reasons it may occur and the first step should always be to consult with a medical professional to diagnose the condition and ensure there is not something more serious going on. From a nutrition and training perspective, there are a few reasons this will happen in younger women ...

Detox is a process that, in my opinion, works. I have tried several detoxes.

I really don't see any confusion with its nutritional value. Whenever people engage me in the soy argument, they either point to studies involved isoflavone isolates that are in higher concentrations than products made from whole soy (i.e. some companies sell isoflavone concentrates) or they lead me to studies involving babies who were exclusively fed soy formula (well, doh, I bet if we only fed babies corn they'd develop poorly, too) - there is still not one shred or scrap of evidence that having moderate amounts (5 - 50 grams of soy protein) from whole sources in a nutrition program has any adverse effects, whatsoever.

Soreness is not an indication of progress unless it is bad soreness, in which case you have injury.

Fatigue is a complex issue and can be impacted by many factors. When cutting and calories are low, it is normal to feel fatigue. While some people claim to feel great, I would say in my experience coaching people to lose fat for almost a decade now, having a lot of energy when cutting is the exception and not the rule.

There has been a lot of buzz about the so-called "negative calorie foods." In fact, a book and specific diet program both exist that focus specifically on these foods as a means to lose weight. Has someone really found the magic bullet that will allow you to eat all long but still shed unwanted pounds, or is this just another gimmick?

You know, that's a great question! Plantains are a type of fruit like bananas, so they are really low in fat. In fact, a raw plantain has less than 1 gram of fat. However, it also depends on how they are prepared.

You have muscle cells that are grouped in bundles called motor units. They are called units because each of these muscle cells has a single nerve that commands them to contract or relax. Each motor unit is either completely on, or completely off: there is no "in-between."

Actually, a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat (ever heard the riddle, what weighs more: a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?) Muscle is denser than fat so you can stay the same weight and lose inches. But I know those last few pounds are difficult. Here's how to tackle them.

When people are recovering from an injury, the two most common concerns are whether they will lose muscle and if they will gain fat (or stop losing it). It is tempting to "do something" when you're used to training and living an active lifestyle.

Fitness Trainer Mike Geary says, "I'm going to talk about something today that most of you have probably never heard... that there is a distinction between good trans fats and bad trans fats. There is some evidence that the good trans fats can help you with fat loss, muscle building, and even cancer prevention, while the bad trans fats have been shown to cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and the general blubbering of your body."

I've never heard that it was useful for fat loss. Any food is useful for fat loss in the sense that if you eat less, you can create the deficit to lose fat. In other words, I don't believe whey helps you lose fat at all. Rather, it helps you supplement your protein intake so that you obtain more amino acids to recover from intense training.

Focus on progress, not perfection. You take on one thing at a time, master it, and move on.

I guess my question would be this. And, forgive me for this approach - I understand the ideas behind debate, etc. However, in my opinion, spending time analyzing, dissecting, and worrying about optimal, et al is more of "activity" when what people are really looking for is "productivity" - i.e. results.

You've probably heard all of the tricks: eat lots of spicy food and drink cold water, right? Your metabolism is a little more complex than a cayenne pepper or ice cube.

After coaching clients for many years now (some of them having lost well over one hundred pounds) and trying out various fat-burner supplements, I'm convinced the "best" fat burner supplement is the fork and keeping it on the plate after you've had your portion.

My bio-electric impedance scale always shows me 5 to 10 percent higher than I actually am. In fact, once I get below 10%, it stops registering any changes.

The definition of healthy food will vary from one person's interpretation to another's.

Gosh, it sounds great, doesn't it? That we can eat cheat meals and raise our metabolism. What a great way to eat junk food and justify it to ourselves!

I'm a 47 year old mother of 3 children. I'm not looking for "6-pack abs". I also understand that spot-reduction of fat is not possible through exercise. But 3 pregnancies and 3 c-sections have taken their toll on my abdominals. My stomach muscles are very weak, and my waist has all but disappeared. I'm not overweight, but my mid-section looks terrible! Will crunches and oblique exercises tighten my abdominal muscles enough to make a visible improvement in my profile? Will it trim my waist if the muscles are more toned - kind of like sucking in my stomach really hard?

I know approximately what my protein needs are by bodyweight and activity level (about 180 grams), but the question I have always had is: how much protein can I eat/drink at one time? I have heard that only 30 grams can be digested at a time. I eat 5 times a day like you recommend, but supposing I only ate 3 times a day; that would be 60 grams of protein per meal. Would half of the protein be wasted?

I'm curious why your abs would only be worked until cutting? I guess there is still this belief that to have sterling abs, you must work them directly.

No, YOU always hear that swimming is the best for you! I don't hear that. I'm saying that only to illustrate a point. For example, if someone is about to buy a car, suddenly they notice the same car all over the place. Why? Because the thought is in their mind.

If you cannot see your abdominal muscles, grab the fat that is near your navel or love handles. If you've heard the expression, "Can't pinch an inch" the reason is that skin itself is only a few millimeters thick. Even if you had "loose skin" you would be able to pinch it flat, like the rubber of a deflated balloon. All of that excess you have in your hands is fat: a special type of fat called "subcutaneous fat" or fat beneath the skin.

Water retention is based on a variety of factors. For example, something like a mild allergy can create water retention. Most people are allergic to some degree to certain foods, they just don't know it.

Every individual responds differently to both resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. It is important to take into account everything from schedule, existing level of fitness, nutrition, health, and even stress levels when determining nutrition and training. There is a classification system known as "somatotype" that puts people into three general categories, or body types.

Weight lifting for teenagers used to be highly controversial. The common myth was that "training stunts bone growth." We know today that while teenagers can engage in resistance training and other exercise, there are certain types of exercises to avoid and the training regimen should be different than similar routines for adults.

This is a very interesting question. When I first heard this, I thought ... doesn't it just mean someone is tired? But after some research, I found that it is actually a common problem! Unfortunately, there is no consensus around why it happens.

I am happy that people ask me what quality carbohydrates are, rather than saying they simply need to avoid all carbohydrates in order to lose weight. You can definitely accelerate fat loss by eating quality carbohydrates.

The most efficient way to build muscle is to periodize your training. That means you don't focus on a specific set/rep scheme but instead go through a variety. For one period of time, you might be doing lower repetitions and high rest between sets.

Explain ... "flatten your chest." Are you trying to lose fat or muscle?

I honestly don't know a single successful natural bodybuilder or individual that has lost a large amount of weight and kept it off who hasn't used zig-zagging in some form or another.

The ability to "afford" healthy food is a matter of priority. We actually have more choice of where to spend our income than we believe.

Go as far as your flexibility will allow for a full range squat. Go to 90 degrees for a partial squat, etc. Which is best? It depends on where you are at in your training.

Guarana extract is basically caffeine. It is probably less expensive to brew a strong pot of coffee, and drink that before training.

Maybe it's the weight we wish to achieve? What's the right answer ... if you are losing weight, how many calories do you really need? The answer is simple.

You've probably heard that cottage cheese contains "casein" which is a "slow protein" and therefore is best to take at night, right?

A juice fast is a strict regimen of nothing but juices for a certain period of time. While some people swear that juice fasts can do everything from strip unwanted fat and cure various diseases, others claim they are worthless and possibly even dangerous. Who is right?

The idea is to get used to healthy intakes of food and providing what your body needs, not necessarily what your appetite or mind wants. The notion that you must be eating a lot is entrenched in society and American culture.

There is a secret sequence of facial exercises few people know about. It is the key to having a lean, chiseled face. Some people may be upset with me for revealing this well-kept secret, but I feel you deserve to know.

I eat tons of eggs and my cholesterol is fine. That doesn't mean it will work the same way for everyone.

Eggs are awesome sources of protein. It is ironic that the same people who promote eggs as being very high quality protein also ask that you throw out the yolk. The yolk actually contains much of that high quality protein and the egg becomes a poorer protein source when you throw it out!

You've probably heard that crunches or even twists may help reduce the fat there, right? Wrong! You need to lose weight. And twisting is not going to get rid of them.

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