Some day’s you’re the Steam Roller and other days you’re the Pavement. You ever have one of those days that ” you wanna just Whoop Somebody’s Ass? Well here’s a video to get you through one of those days.

Question: I’m extremely overweight and out of shape. To get back in shape, I have been swimming daily for cardio for about 6 months. I’m feeling better, but not getting much of a result. I’d like to get back into weight training…. how would you recommend I start off? It’s been so long since I did a regular routine with weights…

Kylie

Answer: Swimming is the worse exercise for fat loss. When you swim breastroke or backstroke, you’re burning about the same number of calories as a fast walk or a slow jog. However, for some reason, swimming appears to be less effective than other forms of exercise at promoting weight loss.

Research published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine shows that in the absence of a controlled diet, swimming has little or no effect on fat loss.

Most swimmers notoriously have higher body fat and to combat this are given on land exercise to help take fat off such as running or cycling. But most importantly they’re give a resistance training program. In order to take fat off you need to boost your metabolism and resistance training especially one that promotes eccentric work (letting the weight down slowly) will help to build muscle and reduce fat.

So, what does all of this have to do with swimming? Most of the work your body does in the water involves concentric muscle actions. There’s virtually no eccentric work there at all. Because of this, I’m guessing that swimming has only a minor impact on your metabolic rate after exercise.

Any form of exercise, be it swimming, walking or weight-training, is good if the alternative is doing nothing. A mixture of some form of resistance exercise and cardiovascular exercise is better, while combining interval exercise and resistance – in my opinion at least – is the best way to get in shape.

Question: I joined one of those 24-hour gyms, but because they don’t always have someone working there they don’t have a traditional bench press station. What is a better substitute? The Smith machine or dumbbell bench press?

-Steve

Answer: People!… when you join a gym please make sure that the facility has someone there to maybe give you some customer service. 24 hours means that if you need help that it should be available 24 hours. Did you ever ask them what would happen if someone was training and had, let’s say a…heart attack! Who would call the ambulance? Or would the little 18 year old tart who can barely spell her name just step over the body and wonder what kind of exercise the person was doing to turn himself blue. Maybe that wasn’t the answer that you were looking for but it’s my column and you’ll just have to deal with it.

I’m hoping that by “traditional” bench press station, you meant a bench that you place a bar across. Here’s the deal, almost 90% of the people out there that use a bar to bench press with are setting themselves up for injury. I know all you friggin’ muscle heads will be crying for my head but that just shows how stupid you can be. Any time you introduce a linear apparatus (i.e. straight bar, smith machine, chest press) to a multiple joint scenario you invite injury potential because a linear object needs the levers (your skeleton) to be perfectly balanced. If there is any weakness, lets say… in your right shoulder, than your left shoulder will be doing most of the work when your pressing and the left shoulder will become injured.

I know it’s a crazy concept because all the idiots at the gym are walking around trying to be tough guys/girls pushing through the pain of shoulder injuries that are caused by their own ridiculous misconception that Bench pressing will give you the strength and power necessary to move mountains, but the reality is that injury free training will give you the consistency to build muscle to move mountains. Now off my soap box…try doing dumb bell presses. Dumbbell presses allow the wrists and elbows to move in a more natural motion through out the full range of motion. Thanks

I got an e-mail over the weekend from my good friends Paul Thorn & Billy Maddox and I’m pretty excited. I really love that I have had the fortunate opportunity to be in a business that affords me many experiences and relationships. Although I don’t get to see Paul & Billy as much as I would like to they are always in my heart. If you don’t know who Paul Thorn is than you are missing out on some of the best music that will ever pass through those little holes in your head called ears. Paul has a brand new CD called “A Long Way from Tupelo” which can be seen and heard on YouTube.com

The great news that I heard is that “A Long Way from Tupelo” is getting rave reviews and Paul and his band will be on Conan O’Brien, Wednesday night, March 19th, 2008. Here is just some of what people are saying about Paul Thorn and his new CD:

Southern raconteur’s ‘A Long Way From Tupelo’ debuts at #7 on the Heatseekers, cracks Top 200

Southern raconteur Paul Thorn’s latest album ‘A Long Way From Tupelo’ (Perpetual Obscurity) is his first album to crack the Billboard charts. It debuts at #7 on the Heatseeker chart, #28 on the Independent albums chart, and broke into the Billboard top 200 albums chart at #192. Thorn will take this success to Late Night with Conan O’Brien on March 19.

The chart debut comes on the heels of high praise for ‘A Long Way From Tupelo.’ Here’s what we’ve been hearing

“The real deal comes along infrequently these days, but Paul Thorn qualifies…he is Springsteen from Mississippi, Bob Seger singing with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kris Kristofferson backed by the Stones…word of a record this good will spread.” – Joel Selvin (San Francisco Chronicle)

“Invokes an Everyman stance, a gruff, hard-bitten defiance that alternately staggers and struts. “Everybody Wishes” suggests a countrified Bruce Springsteen in its anthemic ring” – Lee Zimmerman (Performing Songwriter).

If you have a chance watch Conan O’Brien Wednesday and check out PaulThorn.com to see when he will be in your area because there is nothing better than seeing Paul live.

Question: Hey Rocco I just read your recent advice about calorie intake. You said you add a 0 to your weight plus 400 if you workout. I am (I’ll be honest) fat – 310 lbs. I want to make positive changes to my life and since August I have been working out 3 days a week.

I have been weight training and I’m starting to increase my cardio to about
35 minutes mixed between the bike and elliptical. Plus, I do yoga 1-2 times a week. I have lost 10 lbs and am feeling much better. Should I really be eating 3500 calories a day that seems like a lot? Thanks, trying not to be so fat and lazy.

- Mike

Answer: The short answer is, yes. The problem with that advice is that it isn’t necessarily true. Yes you need to be taking in about 3500 calories but that is to maintain your current weight. If you want to stay at 350 lbs than that is a good caloric intake but since you said you were fat than I am lead to believe you want to lose fat. I’m sorry to inform you but if you are 350 pounds I would have to think that you were taking in way more than 3500 calories a day for a long time. The average fat person takes in about 4500 calories a day. This is not ridicule it’s just the way it is. Back to your question…you cannot starve fat off of you; you can only burn it off. That’s why it is better to start off by taking in those calories and then gradually decreasing your caloric intake, creating a slight deficit. Some nutritionists say; decrease you caloric intake by 200 calories a day per week. Now here’s the tricky part: you need to figure out what weight you will feel comfortable at. Let’s say 220 pounds. Then you need only to decrease your caloric intake to 2200 calories. Keep exercising and you will keep your muscle, lose the fat and you will never feel starved.