Chapter List

• Introduction to Peak Conditioning
• Defining Peak
• Setting Goals
• Eating Right
• Getting Rest
• Making Time
• Getting Started
• Weight Lifting
• Aerobic Exercise
• Cross-Training
• Flexibility
• Mental Conditioning
• Peak Technique
• Arms
• Arm Joints
• Hands and Forearms
• Shoulders and Neck
• Chest
• Abs
• Back
• Buttocks
• Legs
• Leg Joints
• Feet
• Bones
• Basic Fitness
• The Core Routine
• Body Shaping
• Advanced Shaping
• Ridding Fat
• The Inactive Man
• The Career Man
• The Traveling Man
• The Family Man
• Partners
• Better Sex
• Bicycling
• Running
• Swimming
• In-Line Skating
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Golf
• Racquet Sports
• Skiing
• Football
• Soccer
• Hockey
• Backcountry Sports
• The Twenties
• The Thirties
• The Forties
• Over 50
• City Living
• Country Living
• Oceanfront Living
• Cold Weather
• Hot Weather
• The 3-Month Program
• The 12-Month Program
• Preventing Injuries
• Caring for Injuries
• Massage
• Preventing Disease
• Rebounding from Disease
• Setting Up a Home Gym
• Choosing a Gym
• Buying Shoes
• Outdoor Equipment
• Questions and Answers

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Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

If you've read the rest of this book (and if you haven't, that's fine with us—feel free to jump around), a few questions may still be nagging at the back of your brain. They may not be the most important questions, but as you walk along, you wonder. And if you find yourself completely satisfied information-wise, well, we still have a few unresolved matters in our minds. We turned to some of the experts we've consulted elsewhere, along with a few other people, research studies and various texts, to come up with answers to the following questions.

My buddy and I started exercising at the same time, but he's made much greater improvements than I have. What gives?

You're a victim of genetic injustice. "It's interesting," says John Duncan, Ph.D., a leading exercise researcher and president of Wellmart, a wellness consulting company also in Denton. Dr. Duncan has made the same observation in studies: "We can give ten people identical exercise prescriptions of running two miles five days a week for six months. Even if all ten people are in the same kind of shape at the start, guess what we find? There's a variation in the results of as much as 60 percent."

Some people are what Dr. Duncan calls high responders to exercise, and some are low responders. The vast majority, however (about 85 percent), respond fairly consistently in a middle range. If you're average, you can expect to see a 15 to 20 percent improvement in cardiovascular fitness over 12 weeks of exercising 30 minutes (at a moderately vigorous pace) three days a week. If you fall short of that, don't lose heart. "The important thing to remember is that for everyone, exercise is dose-related," Dr. Duncan says. "Do more and you get more benefit."

It seems like I add plates for my biceps curls more often than for my leg extensions. Do some parts of the body get strong faster than others?

Yes, indeed (Vagaries of Genetics, Part II), although it's usually the legs that get stronger before the arms, says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., strength-training consultant to the national YMCA and senior fitness director for the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts. Your overall potential for muscular development depends on the relative length of your muscles and the muscle fiber makeup, which can vary from one part of the body to another.

If you're wondering about the specific potential for developing biceps strength, Dr. Westcott suggests this simple test: Sit with your arm on a table, then bend your elbow 90 degrees and touch your fist to your forehead, like you're posing for Rodin's The Thinker. Now contract your biceps and, with your other hand, insert as many fingers as will fit in the crook between your flexed muscle and your forearm. If you can only fit one finger, you have great potential; if you can fit two fingers, you have moderate potential, and if you can fit three fingers, you have minimal potential.

Does bulking up make you less flexible?

"Ah, the muscle-bound theory," sighs Alan Mikesky, Ph.D., director of the Human Performance Lab and associate professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The pumped-up feeling you get from working out may make you feel like you're becoming a chunk of granite, but in reality, the act of lifting weights—contracting muscles and putting them through a range of motion—stretches muscles, which is good. "As long as you train through a full range of motion, you won't lose flexibility," Dr. Mikesky says. "In fact, you'll gain. Some of the most flexible athletes, aside from gymnasts, are Olympic lifters."

I keep hearing that soreness is bad, but I figure as long as I'm a little sore, I'm on the right track. After all, isn't the idea to push muscles beyond what they're comfortable doing?

There's a fine line to be toed here, says Dr. Westcott. True, "some soreness is good because it means you're making gains," he says. But remember that soreness (and progress) is a function of microscopic muscle damage. You want to break muscles down just enough for them to recover and be stronger by the next workout. If they're overly damaged, recovery won't be complete, and they'll essentially be in worse shape than they were, not better. Stress them again before they're recovered and you'll find it difficult to take them to the next level in stepwise fashion. Soreness and recovery are quite subjective and individual, but as a rule, Dr. Westcott says, being sore the day after a workout is okay. "If you're still sore the second day, though," he says, "you're probably overdoing it."

Will making muscles stronger or bigger boost my sex drive?

Not quite. It's aerobic exercise, rather than muscle-building, that stands to improve your sex drive, if you measure "drive" by either the quantity or quality of sexual experiences, says Roger Crenshaw, M.D., a psychotherapist and sex therapist in private practice in La Jolla, California. In one study, men in their forties who swam regularly had sex more than twice as often as sedentary men their age—seven times a week, as opposed to three times, on average. Another study found that regular exercisers (both men and women) reached orgasm easiest and most often compared to others in a group of 751 volunteers. In this last study, physical condition was deemed an even more important factor in good sex than age.

Some guys tote so much stuff to the gym that they practically carry suitcases. Am I missing something? What's the most perfect way to pack a workout bag so that you have everything you need but not an item more?

Most men overpack, says Owen McKibbin, a former pro beach volleyball player who's now a Los Angeles-based model who has graced the cover of Men's Health magazine. McKibbin's profession makes working out essential, but his schedule (with much time spent traveling) demands that he be able to pack light and move quickly.

First, he says, avoid carrying clothes by wearing as much as possible of what you need. "I bring clean underwear, socks and maybe a spare shirt, but I like to wear my workout gear and sweats to the gym," McKibbin says, "and I always wear the same shoes." Beyond that, he packs antiperspirant or deodorant, a bar of soap, a moisturizing lotion such as Polo Sport, a comb, a leave-in hair conditioner that's applied after showering to avoid flyaway hair and a toothbrush, "in case I have a date." And, perhaps most important, McKibbin brings a snack for on-the-go eating, often a small pop-top tin of high-protein tuna or a protein supplement powder that he adds to fruit juice. One other bit of advice: If you're traveling to warm climes, bring nylon shorts. "You can rinse them in the shower and they'll dry in two hours."

When is it okay to talk to a woman you don't know at the gym?

First, consider how women imagine an attempted pickup progressing: "After I stop laughing, I check for his wedding ring," sneers Liz Neporent, president of Frontline Fitness, a consulting firm that sets up private and corporate gyms in New York City. She continues her distressingly thoughtful and not-too-encouraging response by saying, "Let me tell you when it's definitely not okay." The rules: "Never approach a woman who's in the middle of a set, wears a wedding band, is listening to headphones or scowls at you." Beyond that, however, things become a bit hazy, and it's in the smoke of gender battle that opportunities lie for breaking through defensive frontiers. For example, Neporent says a man shouldn't be encouraged by anything less than flat-out "come here, baby" vibes, but allows that it never hurts for a guy to try. In other words, the essence of the matter, as always, is in the approach. Some of her suggestions:

* Don't make the mistake of thinking that a stock pickup line will work if only it's clever or disarming or sensitive or, for some women, blatantly suggestive enough. Women hate clever, disarming, sensitive or blatantly suggestive lines. And don't bother complimenting a woman on her physique, even if improving it is her reason for being there. Some classic clinkers to avoid: "What exercise do you like for your thighs?" or "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

* For an opening line to succeed, it has to sound totally innocent, having nothing whatsoever to do with any sparks of attraction that may or may not—currently or at any point in the foreseeable future—fly. A good gambit is to ask specific questions about specific aspects of a specific routine, such as, "You're able to lift a lot of weight; do you do supersets for your biceps?" If she responds brusquely to such an innocuous question, you've laid so little ego on the line, it doesn't even count as a rejection. If she answers your question, strive only to have a nice conversation.

What should I do when I need to use a machine but some other guy is sitting on it between sets? I always assume he knows the rules about not hogging equipment and is probably taking extremely short rests. But should I allow him to inconvenience me for the sake of his own timing?

"Give him the benefit of the doubt," Neporent advises. "Maybe he's new and doesn't know the ground rules. Or maybe he's just distracted or hasn't noticed that it's become more crowded than when he first arrived. Or maybe he is doing a sophisticated exercise and legitimately isn't finished yet. The main thing is that if you don't ask, you don't know. If you say politely, 'Mind if I work in with you?' you'll usually get a polite answer."

Is it really necessary for me to drink water while I'm working out? Why not just tank up before and after?

Maybe it's not surprising that hydration so often seems a pain. When you're sweating like a pig, you're actually sweating more than a pig: No mammal sweats as much as humans. If you're fully hydrated before a workout, not drinking during exercise isn't going to kill you—unless you're working out in the heat (temperatures in the 70s or higher), or exercising at high intensity or for a long period of time. Then, dehydration might kill you after all. Remember, running at a typical training pace can drain you of two quarts of sweat an hour. To keep up, you need to be taking in more than a quart each hour, says Colonel John Gardner, M.D., professor and physician at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at Bethesda, Maryland. Dehydration doesn't just make you thirsty, it makes you weak: Muscle strength declines with every percentage point of dehydration. If you're trying to get stronger, what's the point of letting a lack of water sap you? Severe loss of fluids can bring on muscle cramps, headaches, tunnel vision, nausea, diarrhea and, ultimately, heat stroke, which is fatal a third of the time.

I'd like to start a workout program, but I can't afford any exercise equipment right now, much less a gym membership. What are my alternatives?

"I love high tech, but low tech often gets you in better shape," says Neporent. Who needs a $2,000 stationary bike when walking or running will give you a superior aerobic workout with more interesting scenery? For resistance training, good old-fashioned push-ups, crunches and chin-ups will get your muscles in great shape, free of free weights. If you're pushing beyond that point, well, weight is weight. Browse the supermarket aisles for containers that have fat ends and narrow middles (the section where bleaches and cleansers are displayed is a good bet). Dump the contents into something else and fill the container with sand for makeshift dumbbells. For unsophisticated items like jump ropes, don't shell out the $15 to $30 it takes for a high-end model when plastic kid's ropes are available for under $2. "I love my $1.75 jump rope best," Neporent says. "It whips around a lot faster than professional ropes."

Are chores exercise?

Broadly speaking, yes, but naturally it matters what kind of chores you're doing. Here's how some domestic duties favorably compare with various forms of exercise or sports, with calories burned per hour by a 180-pound man noted in parentheses.

Tree pruning (630)=swimming at a slow crawl (630)

Pushing a power mower (486)=biking at 10 mph (486)

Light snow-shoveling (702)=jumping rope (684)

Garden hoeing (576)=playing singles tennis (522)

Sawing by hand (594)=using a rowing machine (558)

Chopping wood (414)=walking at 3.5 mph (432)

House painting (378)=playing volleyball (396)

What's the best way to go about hiring a personal trainer?

You might think that people who say they're personal trainers actually need to have some training themselves, and maybe a paper to prove it, but you'd be wrong. Anybody can call himself a personal trainer. According to a survey by the International Association of Fitness Professionals, 27 percent of those who hang trainer shingles have no formal background in fitness. Here are some lines of inquiry to follow, provided by the association, to find trainers who know their stuff.

Who says? Certification by any of the following six major national groups is a sign of professionalism and dedication.

* The American College of Sports Medicine

* The American Council on Exercise

* The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America

* The International Fitness Institute

* The National Academy of Sports Medicine

* The National Strength and Conditioning Association

Where's the safety net? If something goes wrong, the best trainers know CPR and first-aid, and also insure themselves and their services against personal injury and property loss—something that's particularly important if you'll be training in your own home.

What's your background? Good trainers have been involved in athletics since way back when. They have a longtime passion for fitness that the best of them will have pursued by studying—if not getting a degree in—exercise physiology, kinesiology, anatomy or sports psychology.

How's business? Find out if this is a full-time job; a part-time trainer may not be as committed to you as someone whose livelihood depends on keeping clients satisfied. Ask how many people this person trains a day. A trainer who's in demand isn't necessarily better: You're paying for personal attention, and somebody who's frazzled, distracted or overbooked won't be able to give it to you. Ask for a few references and call them.

How can I make my athletic shoes last longer?

"There's not really that much you can do," says Bob Wischnia, senior editor and resident shoe guru at Runner's World magazine. "No matter what, shoes wear out depending on how much you use them, the mechanics of your body, your size and the kind of surface you wear them on." The best bet, Wischnia says, is to buy shoes made with durable materials such as polyurethane midsoles (as opposed to EVA, which is a more cushioned foam, but less durable) and hard carbon outsoles (as opposed to softer rubber). Beyond that, says Wischnia, there are a number of basic ways to avoid shortening the life of your shoes.

* Keep them dry. Getting shoes wet makes the midsoles break down and become brittle.

* Avoid temperature extremes. Shoes kept in cold garages also quickly become brittle in the midsole, and sunlight can turn foam to mush.

* Let function follow form. Using running shoes for basketball or basketball shoes for playing tennis wears and tears shoes in ways they're not designed to hold up against.

If I'm pressed for time, which is better: taking three-minute rests between two sets, or 30-second rests between three sets?

From a strictly time-management point of view, let's assume you're doing a basic workout with six stations, one set per station. Each station takes a minute to do (assuming ten reps at six seconds per lift). Tacking on an additional set (another ten reps) at each station costs you an additional 6 minutes, and adding a third set is another 6 minutes. Add 30 seconds between each set and you're up to 9 extra minutes. Your total time spent would be 27 minutes.

Now, two sets would only take 12 minutes, but 3 minute rests between those sets would add another 36 minutes to your workout, for a total of 48 minutes. As you can see, it will take an extra 21 minutes if you choose the 2-set, long rest program.

That said, the real answer here depends upon your goals. Remember, longer rests of three to five minutes between bouts of heavy resistance are better for building muscle strength, while shorter rests of 30 to 90 seconds between bouts of moderate resistance are better for building muscle size.