| ASK THE CHAMPION | ||
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| DO YOU TRAIN WOMEN LIKE MEN?? Are people really alike when it comes to strength training? Possibly, if they were clones or very identical twins. Over the years until now, I continue to see individuals performing the same exercises that everyone else does in the same manner. There seems to be individualization or professional consultation on what exercises might be better or possibly harmful or them. Other examples of generalizing questions are:
These are but a few. I am mainly concerned about the selection of exercises that are always given to women to do. For example, some women have wider shoulders and narrower hip areas. Unless they are participants in athletic events, focus should be mainly on body shaping and selecting the exercises that would enhance her femininity and beauty so that she would see the effort to create the balance in her physique. What I learned from the many years of competing in bodybuilding, local and world level, is that BALANCE is what cut it . Bodybuilding means balance. That is why balance is what I have to preserve when I train any client to WHAT THEY NEED, NOT WHAT I LIKE TO DO. I must always help clients towards that simple goal of being happy of what they see in the mirror. |
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| WHAT TO EAT BEFORE A WORKOUT The eternal debate... Over the years I have seen people faint right after working out, or sometimes during. If we eliminate any medical or health factors and look into personal habits we will find two general categories: 1. Those who ate just before workout time and worked out on a full stomach. 2. Those who came in with no food at all since breakfast and worked out on an empty stomach. The first group, on a full stomach, often experience an upset stomach and are forced to rush off the workout floor. When the food gets into the stomach, all the blood vessels around the digestive track relax to allow more blood for the organs involved to work. As soon as you start exercising, your muscles start pulling in more blood for the workout, then rather than having the blood stay around the digestive track to digest the food, it gets shuffled out to your muscles. Then VOILA, we have vaso-restriction induced by the workout. This stops the digestion process and pushes the food out…I mean out. And that is never good! Despite warnings, we still see this happen. The second group, with no food, start with average to low blood sugar content. And as soon as they start working out, the blood gets directed to the muscles causing that low blood sugar count to go even lower, inducing a hypoglycemic like condition…and the person faints. WHAT TO DO? If your workout session is going to be mostly cardio, then 80% of the meal should be from carb sources and eaten one to two hours prior to working out to provide fuel for the workout. If your workout session is going to be strength training, then the meal should be 50% carb and 50% protein eaten two hours prior to workout time. This provides the body with the fuel source and building blocks that replace damaged tissues and build new ones. Both types of meals mentioned above are based on no meat content. If there is a meat content in your meal then it should be eaten four to six hours prior to your workout to give your body time to digest the food before you start. Stay Healthy. |
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| EXERCISE I WOULD NOT DO
I was asked once about chest exercises and which would be the best. To start off, I look at the reasons why one exercise would be recommended over another. It is never because I personally get great muscle pump doing it. In this business, it is always about the client, what will work for them, what is applicable to their condition for the day and the training period they are going through. It has been proven many times over, through research and physical therapy findings that long term use of flat bench press can lead to more rapid degeneration to the anterior shoulder capsule. Yet many people continue to apply that exercise to their routine. The overhead shoulder press is another questionable movement especially if done improperly. Throughout my career the preferred form of chest exercise would have been on a 30 degree and/or 45 degree incline. This can be substantiated by looking the muscle fiber orientation of the pec major, and then make the right decision as to what to do on the gym floor. From this we can easily see the answer to the question asked many years ago. At that time due to careful observation and education, I gave the right answer to protect the person's shoulders for life. Happy and Safe Lifting. |
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| WEAK POINTS
Q: My arms do not seem to develop, no matter what I do. Any suggestions? What to do? |
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| STICKING POINT IN DIET I get this all the time: Why is it that I’m not losing any more weight despite my efforts? We have to look at how the diet started - was it a high protein diet OR was it a low fat one? With either type of diet the body (hopefully with enough exercise) will lose a certain amount of weight, mostly protein if it was a low fat diet. The body goes into an adjustment phase, it wants to adapt to this new weight and new percentage of body fat. Followed by adaptation a certain hormone and enzyme level will take place and the body will just cruise with it as long as we do not upset that new normal and change the percentages of fat, carbs and protein. This is what is known as a sticking point. To get out of it just shock your system by changing the percentages and lowering the fat and carb intake in small increments, along with regular exercise. And voila, you got the scale moving again and the tape measure shrinking. Good luck. |
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| STICKING POINT IN TRAINING Question: How can I get over the sticking point in my training? This is a question that I think will continue to come up as long as people continue to lift weights. As a general observation, there are many reasons for it and here are a few: - Periodization of training plan - Frequency of training sessions - Type of training plan Let me take the last point as it may relate to a great many people. If you are training for anaerobic endurance strength, with a goal to increase muscle mass along with endurance, then we must relate to the first reason I mentioned above as a culprit for the lack of progress. As you continue your endurance workout with no further results in muscle mass, one would need further stimulus to recruit more type two muscle fibres that are quick to hypertrophy. This can be done by increasing the external force applied on the muscle (meaning add more weight) while keeping the same number of high reps and sets with ample recovery in between. This, I have found in my many years of workout experience, will contribute to a great deal of quick gains in muscle mass. Just remember a continuous regular supply of good nutrition post workout to ensure the required results. NEXT TIME: STICKING POINT IN DIET |
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| QUESTION: WHY DO MOST DIETS FAIL? This is a question a lot of people wonder about. Let us examine the idea of diet ... why do some people want to diet? For many people, the reason for dieting is to look better physically, and as a result look better to others. Although in my personal opinion what others think is not important. I always tell people to do it for themselves; to be happy about the look they have created and to ensure they are still healthy after the diet. Diet is like fashion, a million and one types to fit every mood and every person. Many of them offer compromises by allowing people to eat forbidden foods as a reward of their meagre progress. I found in real life that most diet plans fail due to a lack of understanding regarding human nature. When I work with someone to reduce body fat percentage I do not write a plan, the client does. HOW? Similar to strength training ... there is what is called adaptation. It is a process whereby the physique gets adapted to certain foods and adapted to be away of others. This process will take some time and under supervision the client is continuously guided through the process. This will assure permanent success. Positive reinforcement of their results helps guide them to further success. We are reprogramming the brain with all the positive ideas that has proven successful time and time again. One-on-one counselling, combined with a workout plan, day by day results will happen and the person will feel increased energy and strength. But this will not happen if the person is unwilling to accept the change and receive the new permanent results. I offer NO rewards for people losing an inch or a pound. The reward will always be there, whenever they look in the mirror and love what they see. |
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| THE FRENCH ATHLETIC DIET I had a question from one of our members about the Anabolic Diet. It is the same as the French Athletic Diet, just in past years Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale had the term registered to his book. But in all fairness, it is the bodybuilding diet. The origin is French…and it is nothing less than severe deprivation of carbohydrates. What is the goal of the French Athletic Diet (Bodybuilding Diet)? Mainly to gradually rid the body of its excess fat while building more muscle tissues that would eventually use energy to function and grow. Bodybuilders become picky with their diet as they advance into competition level. I find that on average most people want the look of bodybuilding, but not necessarily the size that would come with it…so one may end up lean with a fit look (not bodybuilding). To get there, advertisers and diet business’ continuously make it look easier than it is and this is one of the main reasons many average individuals lose hope or get discouraged and give up. Therefore whatever gains they made on their diet plan disappear fast. How can someone succeed on the Bodybuilding Diet? Focus on the goal…will power combined with the how to. What to do? I suggest that one would stay off all carbs for the first week, then introduce 30 - 50 grams of complex carbs into your food plan during the day - the last portion should be consumed before 5 pm. Send me your questions on that matter and stick to your program with your trainer and if you do not have one, get one. Good luck. |
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| THE FRENCH ATHLETIC DIET Long before the mention of the very popular Atkin's diet in North America, there was the controversial "French Athletic Diet." The French Athletic Diet had one goal (at the time )and that was to produce a very lean body with very low body fat percentage. Imagine not eating any carbohydrates for four or six weeks, or The first month on that diet was a tedious mental struggle to convince me that I did not need the intake of carbs. Amazingly enough, the high intake of beef, fish and poultry meat, had an amazing effect on my physique. Before the month was up, the physique changes were startling! Increased vascularity and muscular striation was clearly evident, I looked like a new me. Once attaining the look required for the Mr Universe contest, I was advised to start eating some carbs once a week which is on the weekend then back on track for training on Monday. Every athlete I met there and was on the diet, looked great for their contest. At the time, the American athletes were opposed to that diet and believed that one must continue to consume carbs right up to the contest. It was no wonder that they arrived with thick waistlines and puffy faces. With the physiques they presented, they had very little hope to win in comparison to the European team. This occurred in the 70s and for more than twenty five years, dieticians and nutrition specialists believed in what the Americans did way back. Now with the times, they are changing this stance and telling people to not eat carbs at night to stay lean hoping that individuals will benefit from bodybuilding ideas. This bodybuilding diet improves the anabolic (building) phase in muscle tissues as long as one trains properly which is the key! Will continue next time...... |
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| THE FRENCH TRAINING The International Federation of Bodybuilders had decided in 1973 to help me as a promising young Egyptian star enter the Mr Universe Contest again, after an outstanding performance in the 1972 contest. With friends in Paris, it was ideal to set me up there. The French Federation of Bodybuilding had already prepared for at least a year of peak training there. Back then, it was not easy to travel out of Egypt for some youth at university prior to mandatory military service. Luck was on my side as there was a small window for students to travel. Arriving in Paris in one piece we immediately ( literally) went into training mode. The regime included Bench Press 6 sets of 20 reps - superseted with chin ups and 6 sets of whatever you can do There was no rest period at all in thr supersets. We had to keep on moving. Welcome to Paris! It was no picnic. That was the start on the road to Mr Universe. I clearly remember falling asleep all over the dinner table after the first workout with my friends. Exhausted from the travel and the Pump Up welcome, I did not think I was going to make it through dinner. Sleep was the ultimate prize after that killer workout. The rest of the workout plans were different from week to week in the first two months of training. The only thing that helped with recovery was what I had built into my physique from Olympic Weightlifting Training. That was the biggest blessing that got me through the months of grueling training. This is how champions are made; Hard, Smart and Tough training three times a day. Will continue... |
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| THE FRENCH CONNECTION The 1974 training camp in Paris France was in many ways of great significance in me winning the Mr Universe title. The training was offered and supervised by the French Bodybuilding Federation in concert with the IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding). Having friends in France was a great motivation to get the training camp going. Coming from an Olympic Weightlifting background into the European scene of bodybuilding, I did expect some differences in the workouts. Unlike the North American method of training (at the time), the French and the rest of Europe were big on anaerobic endurance strength training. They required high reps (as high as 20 per set) and also advocated progressive weight resistance in the same set. Thanks to my weightlifting background it took me only one week to adapt physically…although I remained a skeptic for a few more weeks. But when I started seeing sharp results I knew they were right. My shape in the Mr Universe Contest 1974 was testament to that. I came in second with just one point. Although the training was done to perfection, being away from home was a challenge. Preparing food for a Mr Universe contest and sleeping were not in my favor. Add to all this a foot accident, which added to the drama (along with a few other little problems) on the way to the contest. But 1974 was a decisive year for me in becoming the World Champion. This article is not a direct answer to a recent question, but to many general questions that I have gotten in the past and continue to get. In the next few months I will focus on the European way of training and diet that would create a champion. |
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| TRAINING TIME....IS IT BETTER EARLY MORNING OR LATER IN THE DAY?
The answer to an eternal and long standing question: Opposite to that there is a small minority who are focused on certain goals and highly motivated to reach them. You will see them in the early hours of the day training hard with little time to waste on chit chat. Also there are the other morning group who refer to themselves as “not a morning person” and who will enlist the help of a trainer, because they are serious about their results but just do not know how to achieve them on their own. Basically they need help and they go get it. I see them all the time making improvements. Now we have that group who will never workout in the morning, not only because they think that they are not morning people, but they feel that they get more energetic as the day goes on. And I personally have no issues with that as long as their workouts get done efficiently. There is also that group of people who are highly motivated (and no excuses exist in their book) and will workout efficient any time. Not only that but they would enlist the help of a trainer to make sure that they are further challenged and to guarantee better results. Also there are those who are in between. I mean there is no black and white, but a great grey area that I as a coach and a trainer deal with on ongoing basis. Now ...what does science say on this issue? In my observation and in my experience in the last 35 years, science has shown the need to stimulate Human Growth Hormone levels in the body especially at night by certain bodybuilding diet and exercises which would keep the HGH levels higher relatively in comparison to during the day. (Although Human Growth Hormone is not our subject today.) What I am after from this column is to draw attention to the value of working out also in the evening…especially cardio exercises for those who want to lose a few inches off their waist or wherever. For many years I have persistently asked my clients to do a little extra (45 min. on average) of cardio exercises. And even better, with more core training movements to help reduce body fat percentage. Good luck to all. Keep the questions coming |
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| CARDIO FIRST OR WEIGHT FIRST? Hi Mohamed: Which do you think is best for me ... doing cardio first or weights first? I was asked this question on the floor just recently, as well as many times in previous years. Let me say this; I have never seen anyone working out with weights in the pit, or anywhere in the club, that had any energy left, or a trace of strength for effective weight training, after descending down from the cardio room. As soon as they start weights they start yawning and taking longer than needed rest times in between, and they vanish off the weight floor sooner than they ever expected. Why is all this happening? This is due to changes, which occur in the musculoskeletal system, causing the loss of at least two significant enzymes responsible for energy transfer to Type two, A and B muscle fibers. These are responsible for strength and power output. These enzymes degrade and brake down when the aerobic slow twitch fibers fire for any bout of exercise longer than 20 minutes. What should we do? Either do the weights first if you are tight on time OR do the cardio separately and preferably three to four hours after weight training is done. In my many years of weight training I have done just about every type of exercise available. I experimented again and again with my favourite, the StairMaster, with the same result, a lack of energy to push weights and the loss of precious size off the arms and shoulders. ‘til next time. Mohamed Makkawy |
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| HAPPY NEW YEAR…NOW QUESTION: Hi Mohamed: I am tired of failing over and over again in my new year's resolution. Can you offer me any insight from your experience? ANSWER: I do not want to sound funny or disrespectful, but this subject has been going on for ages. In my 35 plus years of experience in regimented training on the workout floor, I have always found that the best time for anyone to have a new year's resolution is NOW ... and I mean NOW. For real. Just be a little more serious and realistic about what you want to accomplish, and get on with it. Almost 100% of all the people who committed to a new beginning towards their fitness goals after Christmas and the new year have gravely failed. So, why bother? In my years of practice, and the early beginning in my teenage years towards weightlifting competitions, I found out as a natural outcome of being involved that the best time to get ready for a new championship, especially as one had just finished, is NOW. NOW means NOW, not tomorrow, not January 1st, or any other time occasion for that matter. As a result of my commitment to my sport and my career I have always, and still, encourage and sometimes push to get ready for the new year from fall time and even get on the weight management plan weeks and weeks before Christmas. Therefore as one would be getting into the Christmas holiday season, one would be miles ahead and could afford some indulgence over the holidays. And come January 1st, guess what ... you are ahead and full steam forward towards spring. This sounds great and for some people it is too good to be true ... but I always do that with my clients …no new year's resolutions and no STRESS for not hitting your goal. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! |
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| TRAINING BELTS I get a lot of questions from the workout floor about training belts. This one has been around since I started lifting more than 30 years ago. Today I will attempt to put it to rest so that people will no longer see question marks in front of their eyes. Hi Mohamed, ANSWER: Training or weight belts have been around for more than a hundred years. In the beginning lifters thought that the belts would give them the support they needed to lift and push the weights above their head…and that was true to some extent. I mean certain situations needed the belts, like the overhead press (this lift was taken away from competition back in the early 1970s due to excessive back extension while pushing the weight overhead). Some others, especially in competition where the lifter needs a little support (using his or her experience to manipulate the belt under pressure to get that added edge to score a new record lift), and that is approved by IWF. Now let's get back to our surroundings here on the workout floor. As a rule of thumb, everyone is required to engage the trunk stabilizer muscles (core) to give appropriate support to the ever moving spinal column when lifting any amount of weight (free weights). As much as we are conscious and aware of engaging the Global muscle system in our bodies, we must also be aware of the Central muscle system as well. And once you learn that from your trainer, you will have absolutely no real need for a belt when you lift. I believe that most trainers, if not all, will agree with me on that last point. In our club, we have available training belts for public use…only for those who think that they still need help while using the gym. My advice to those individuals is to try to let go those belts and work on strengthening your core. |
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| INTRODUCING "ASK THE CHAMPION"
Dear members, health and fitness fans, My original Weightlifting Coach was a former Olympian himself. In my junior middle school I started working my arms and did push ups. When I went to enroll in the weightlifting club in my home town of Tanta, I found my future coach to be strict and had no sense of humour...and I clearly had to watch how I addressed him. But his personality and knowledge commanded a great amount of respect which was shown and demonstrated by the official weightlifting team. Kids like me had to move over to the next lifting platform with the old rusty weights. By the end of each training session in weightlifting back then, my white shirt had turned! The concept of lifting weights sounds very simple to a lot of people, In this corner here I will also touch base on all forms of deadlift Keep the questions coming... Until next time. |
