PART I.
Hello, I'm 5'5" and weight 164lbs with 28% body fat.
I would like to thank you for creating such a useful website that provides
accurate information. I have already benefited so much by following several of
your exercises and diet advice.
I am an overweight (~30lbs) male ectomorph, 29 years old, and I have been
lifting on and off over the years.
I have been pretty consistent over the past year
now. I go the gym about 3 days a week.
Monday consists of triceps and chest, Wednesday
biceps and back, and Friday legs, abs, and shoulders.
I also try to do a little bit of cardio afterwards
to help with the fat loss.
I have seen very little progress in the last year, though I have made some
strength gains.
My goal is muscle hypertrophy and to lose the
excess fat.
From my CSCS fitness instructor at work I have
learned that for a hypertrophy focus it is best to do 10 - 15 reps at 70 - 80%
of 1RM.
My problem is that I can do the first set no
problem, but then on the next set 60 seconds later, I find that I can only do
about half the number of reps as before.
And it continues to go downhill from there on
following two sets. So can't make the full number of reps even when I
decrease the weight significantly.
All of my muscles seem to fatigue very quickly compared to other people I work
out with who are of similar body composition.
I try to eat a balanced diet with the right amount
of carbs, healthy fat and protein. I also supplement my diet with a whey
protein powder and take creatine and glutamine powders before and after I work
out.
I can't understand why my muscles would get fatigued
so quickly. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would greatly
appreciate it.
Part II.
I also have another question with regards to lower back pain. I assume that I
have a very weak core because when I do abdominal exercises I really start to
feel pain in my lower back. (I also have the posture where the butt sticks out
and the spine curves inward.)
However, since I started drawing in my core more
and contracting my glutes after following your exercise principles, I have
noticed the pain diminish somewhat and a much stronger burn in my abs.
I
still feel the pain quite a bit when doing the plank core strengthening
exercise, especially when doing it on a an exercise ball.
And the V-ups exercise totally kills my back and I
don't feel it in my abs at all.
I want to strengthen my core so that I have better
posture and no back pain. Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you again for your highly insightful and BS free website.
At your body composition your focus should be doing cardio every single
workout session. The most effective weight
training split for
your goal if you train 3 times per week is a full body weight training workout
followed by cardio.
This will allow you to work your muscles enough to increase your metabolism.
With a full body split you can superset opposing muscle groups which will help
you build muscular endurance while you build strength.
Your problem with your posture where you feel your lower back pain during
abdominal and core exercises is most likely due to overly tight hip flexors.
If your hips are tilted anteriorly too much it will put your whole body out of
alignment.
Your tight hip flexors may also be one of the reasons you fatigue very
quickly. Tight hip flexors are often the root of a whole mess of postural
distortion patterns which lead to synergistic dominance.
Synergistic dominance is when your helper (synergist) muscles compensate for
prime movers which are not recruited properly due to poor alignment.
