DORI WROTE: And now for something completely different... So I'm off to the rec center to renew my membership and start exercising again. This will include some weight lifting. The last time I did this, my first two workout were too close together and man, did I hurt! How long should I wait between workouts to avoid excruciating pain? JUSTIN SAYS: You have to gauge your own recovery ability. For me, 1 upper body and 1 lower body workout per weeks is just right. For upper-body, I do curl-grip pulldowns and hammer strength incline press. For lower body, I do full-squats and stiff-legged deadlifts. I also do calf work on leg day. That totals to only 5 movements. Each movement gets 1 warmup set, and then one high rep failure set (10-12), and then 1 low rep failure set (6-8). For me, that's the perfect mix. DORE WROTE: My plan so far is to do both weight lifting and aerobics. Someone here told me privately that swimming isn't the best option since the water cools you and keeps you from sweating as much as you would, say, on the stairmaster. Is this true? Even if it is, I'll still do some swimming because it's one of the few aerobic exerises I enjoy. FYI, I use flippers and hand paddles to create resistance. This actually did MORE for my upper arms than the weight room, believe it or not. JUSTIN SAYS: That was me. Swimming doesn't allow your body to heat up. Thermogenesis is the only muscle sparing fat burning mechanism. You can get adrenaline and thyroid levels going with a swimming workout, but thermogenesis just doesn't happen, unless the water is warm like in a lake or something. It probably did more for your upper arms b/c it reduced your bodyfat, but not b/c it built more muscle. DORI WROTE: As for food, the plan is to eat 75g protein and 1200-1400 cal/day. No need to count carbs because a) I only eat low-carb vegetables anyway and b) if I keep my overall caloric consumption low, I can probably eat 50-60 grams a day and still maintain ketosis, especially if I get a fair amount of exercise. If anyone can recommend good dietary supplements for optimal fat loss, I'm open to suggestions here, too. JUSTIN SAYS: Sounds like a good plan for fat loss. Low carbs, high cardio, keep the protein high, and keep the fat in moderation. It should work as long as your using the weights and doing a little cardio. Good luck. I'm still on my cutting phase as well. I've had to cut back on the weights b/c I'm doing a ton of cardio, but the fat is still coming off. Keep us updated. :) ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com