MensHealth.com.ph Web

Fitness

How to Survive a Layoff

How to Survive a Layoff
Haven't worked out in two months? two years? two decades? Take the turbulence out of your return with these simple strategies

By Lou Schuler; Photographs by Jake Versoza

Maybe your ex-wife got the treadmill in the divorce settlement. Or the bank foreclosed on your home gym. Or your personal trainer was overthrown in a violent coup. Doesn't matter. You've laid off your exercise program, your gut is growing faster than the Bush administration's budget deficit, and you want your abs back.

Lucky for you, the comeback plan we've created is pretty simple—no headhunters, no credit checks, no HR jobinatrix administering a psychological exam.

But a comeback may not happen as fast as you expected. You may remember that you were the go-to guy when your college roommates needed a keg hauled to the second floor, but your muscles, tendons, and ligaments have developed a case of amnesia. If you try to get it back too soon—whether "it" is muscle, strength, or the ability to dance like a Cossack—you'll get hurt and end up with less of it than you have now.

Follow this plan, though, and you can achieve the shape you remember—even if your memory is playing tricks and you were never really in shape at all.

The Layoff: 1-4 Weeks

You haven't lost much—if anything. A Spanish study published in 2000 found that lifters didn't lose strength after four weeks without exercise, and a 1999 Australian study showed no decline in resting metabolism after three weeks of inactivity, indicating that no muscle was lost.

In fact, if the break lasted just one or two weeks, you may have done your body a favor. "These periodic layoffs work wonders," says Dave Pearson, PhD, CSCS, of Ball State University. "Most men find they can actually lift more when they return to the gym."

The 10 Percent Solution: You don't really need to make any adjustments in the weight room after a week or two without exercise. If you've been out 3-4 weeks, Pearson sug-gests taking 10 percent off the top. That is, use 10 percent less weight than you'd normally use for most exercises. You may also want to cut a set from each exercise. So if you normally do four sets of bench presses with 185 pounds, you could do three sets with 165.

The Layoff: 1-6 Months

How much you've lost depends on how well trained you were before the layoff. If you worked out diligently for years, you've taken a hit, but you have something left. Otherwise, you may be back where you started.

Either way, you should be able to get back in shape within five weeks, says Alwyn Cosgrove, CSCS, a strength coach in Newhall, California. "But you can't just wing it. You have to have a plan," says Cosgrove.

And you have to stick with that plan. Many men fall victim to "mission creep" when they return to the gym. Let's say you have a written plan requiring one set of curls at the end of a workout. But you feel so good that you do three sets, and maybe throw in some lateral raises to finish with a good pump.

The next time in the gym, you feel flat—stale—and you wonder how that happened after just one workout. The answer: You did more work than your body was prepared to do, and you took too little time to recover.

The Minus-Five-Repetition Rule:

Cosgrove has a unique system for keeping your enthusiasm in check while ensuring fast and steady results. You can choose any training plan. Then you're going to do less work in each set than your body can handle—a lot less at first, a little less later. Here's how it works:

For any exercise, you probably have a pretty good idea of how many repetitions you can do with a given weight. So put your memory to work as you devise a rebound strategy. Let's say your routine calls for a set of 10 bench presses, and before your layoff, you would've used 135 pounds for those 10 repetitions. Cosgrove's system requires that you select a weight that you're sure you could've lifted 15 times before your layoff. You'll still do 10 repetitions, but you'll use a weight you would normally use for 15.

That's week 1: minus-five repetitions. Week 2 is minus four, week 3 is minus three, week 4 is minus two, and week 5 is minus one. At week 6, you'll be using your prelayoff weights. So if the routine calls for sets of 10 bench presses, you use 135 pounds. Which means you should be using heavier weights than before in week 7 and beyond.

The Layoff: More Than six Months

Sorry, but you're a beginner again. You have to think of your body as a completely deconditioned blob of ectoplasm, even if it doesn't look quite that bad to the naked eye. Fortunately, Juan Carlos Santana, CSCS, a trainer and owner of the Institute of Human Performance, in Boca Raton, Florida, believes you can easily get back to where you once belonged in 12-18 weeks, as long as you stick to a disciplined schedule. The key: Start with a firm goal. Let's say that during the prime of your XFL career (four weeks) you did squats using 225 pounds, and let's assume you want to become strong enough to work with that kind of weight again. Here's how.

First 4-6 Weeks: Work up to 60 percent of your final goal for 8-10 repetitions. So by the end of this period, you want to do squats with 135. Where you start is up to you, although 40-50 percent is a safe choice.

Second 4-6 Weeks: Work up to 80 percent of your goal for 6-8 reps. So you start this period using 135 pounds and end it using 180.

Third 4-6 Weeks: Start with 80 percent and end with 100 percent of your goal for 4-6 repetitions.

 

 

Slimming Lessons
9 ways to go from thick to thin

By Thomas Incledon, MS, RD; Photographs by Jake Versoza

Two years ago, I presented 10 dietary rules for the man who wants bigger muscles and a smaller waist—which is to say, every man who reads this magazine. But even if you memorized those rules, you're probably more confused than ever by the sheer white noise created by today's dietary advice. If you did what you were told by every expert out there, you'd eat more of everything and less of everything, and you'd eat it earlier, later, and not at all. Fat would save you and kill you, carbohydrates would make you skinny and fat, and protein would turn you into Adonis and put you on dialysis.

Recently, as part of a research project, I reviewed hundreds of weight-loss studies and found some surprising ways in which nutrition science is remarkably clear and straightforward. So, with apologies to Dr. Atkins, Suzanne Somers, and all the other noted weight-loss experts, I humbly present the undisputed masters of the midsection.

1. To lose weight, you must cut calories

The low-fat/low-carbohydrate debate comes down to this: You still have to eat fewer calories than you burn if you want to lose weight. Every study I looked at shows this. The perfect weight-loss diet is the one you can live with, whether you cut fat, carbs, or some combination.

2. Use whey to cut waist

Protein-rich foods put more distance between hunger pangs. And the fuller you feel between meals, the easier it is to avoid binges. The best food for appetite destruction: whey protein. A daily shake made with two scoops of whey protein, fruit (fresh or frozen berries or a banana), and water or crushed ice will improve your middle line. You can buy whey protein at any good health-food store.

3. Meat kills fat

When you eat, your body has to expend calories to digest the food. Protein causes this inner fire to burn the hottest, followed by carbohy­drates, followed by fat. Animal pro­teins increase thermo­genesis more than vegetable proteins, so the best calorie-burning foods are lean meats. So eat some protein at each meal—build your dinner around lean chicken, beef, or pork. That way, you're burning the most calories through digestion at the end of the day, when your metabolism is slower.

4. Remember these letters: BCAA

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and the branched-chain amino acids—leucine, isoleucine, and valine—are the best of the bunch. BCAAs are as close to magic foods as we'll ever get. They help you recover from hard workouts by reducing the protein breakdown within your muscles; they increase testosterone and growth hormone, your body's most important fat-fighting and muscle-building hormones; and they have their most profound effect when you're following law number 1 and cutting calories in order to lose weight.

For starters, try to get at least 10 grams (g) of BCAAs a day. Since they're most abundant in meat and dairy products, you can get the better part of that by following laws 2 and 3. (Two scoops of whey protein and 3 ounces of beef contains 10 g of BCAAs.)

You can also buy BCAA supplements (which, you should be aware, are expensive). Look for supplements that are 50 percent leucine, 25 percent isoleucine, and 25 percent valine. Start off with 10 g per day, and wait a month before bumping up the dose. The maximum useful intake is probably 60 g a day from food and supplements.

5. If it's fryin', you're dyin'

One thing that every weight-loss researcher and diet-plan author can agree on: Highly refined carbohydrates, such as fructose-sweetened beverages and low-fiber breads, are a terrible idea. Among the many sins of Mountain Dew and Twinkies is the way they cause your blood sugar to spike soon after eating. What goes up fast comes down fast, and you end up feeling tired and hungry much sooner than you should. Goodbye diet, hello diabetes.

Now we know of a way to make refined carbohydrates even worse: Fry them. Researchers have found a suspected carcinogen called acryla­mide in such products as potato chips and french fries. A “suspected” carcinogen isn't the same as a proven carcinogen, such as tobacco smoke. But anytime I get a chance to talk you out of eating worthless snack foods, I do it.

6. Food goes farther with fiber

Fiber's effect is the opposite of snack foods'. When you have fiber in your stomach, food takes longer to enter the bloodstream, and your blood-sugar level stays steady. The benefits: You'll have a more consistent energy supply and less between-meal hun­ger. The only potential downside is that you won't get as much reading done in the bathroom. What slows down your blood sugar at the front end speeds things up at the back end. I could give you the usual riff about eating more broccoli and raisin bran, but you can safely and easily take in more fiber by using a supplement. Start with 7-12 g a day, mixing some with water and drinking it before your main meals the bloodstream, and your blood-sugar level stays steady. The benefits: You'll have a more consistent energy supply and less between-meal hunger. The only potential downside is that you won't get as much reading done in the bathroom. What slows down your blood sugar at the front end speeds things up at the back end.

I could give you the usual riff about eating more broccoli and raisin bran, but you can safely and easily take in more fiber by using a supplement. Start with 7-12 g a day, mixing some with water and drinking it before your main meals.

7. Count on calcium

Recently, nutrition researchers discovered that dairy and other calcium-rich foods help you stay lean, prevent osteoporosis, and possibly prevent colon cancer. The recommendation is to take in 1,000-1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day. (A cup of milk contains 300.) Unfortunately, too much calcium may increase the risk of prostate cancer. The tragic number seems to be 600 mg a day from dairy products. And what's the point of having a V-shaped torso if your prostate has a spare tire?

Here's how to reap the benefits of calcium without the risks:

Avoid taking high-dose calcium supplements unless you really need them (under doctor's orders, or if you never eat foods naturally rich in calcium). The fat-fighting properties of calcium are activated only if you obtain it from real food.

Look for low-fat dairy products fortified with vitamin D, such as fat-free milk and yogurt. Vitamin D offers prostate protection.

Triple your home-gland security by occasionally eating a tomato salad (rich in prostate-protecting lycopene), mozzarella cheese (rich in calcium), and olive oil (which contains a cancer-fighting fat called beta-sitosterol).

8. Alpha males use omega-3 fats

Each year, we learn more about the health benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, which are found in fish, nuts, seeds, and flaxseed and fish oils. These health benefits—less risk of heart disease and diabetes, for example—are great on their own. But omega-3 fats contribute to a better physique as well.

For example, omega-3s reduce inflammation throughout your body. That not only prevents heart attacks (inflammation in the tissues surrounding blood vessels is a major cause) but also helps your muscles recover faster from workouts. Bigger, less-inflamed muscles mean a faster metabolism, and speeding up your metabolism is crucial when you're trying to get lean.

If you don't eat fish twice a week and can't stomach fish-oil supplements, try and find eggs high in omega-3s. You can eat four of them a day without any negative effect on your cholesterol levels.

9. Make a plan

Next time you read a weight-loss story in a newspaper or magazine, count the number of disparaging references to popular diets. Based on the way diet gurus trash their competitors, you'd think there was no plan on earth that actually works. But the truth is that you can't lose weight without a diet.

You must have a plan. The more sophisticated it is, and the more tailored to your likes and dislikes, the better. You can't wing it and expect to see results.

I won't offer you the perfect weight-loss regimen, because research has yet to discover one. But even the worst plan is more likely to succeed than no plan at all. The best plan is likely to include these elements:

Meals and snacks are based on some lean protein source—fish, eggs, dairy, meat.

More meals are better than fewer. Five or six meals and snacks a day is ideal.

Low-fat and high-fat diets can both work, but one that cuts almost all fat is doomed.

Nobody ever became obese from eating the best carbohydrates—fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. And nobody ever died from skipping potatoes, pasta, rice, popcorn, and Wonder Bread.

 

Advertisement