This week’s topics include if you really need carbohydrates, healthy eating on the run, training delts for women, shoulder issues, and more!

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News

• John Berardi, Todd Durkin, John Romanello
• Virgin Mobile Magazine
• Brian St. Pierre

Mailbag

• Hi Folks,I’ll skip all the pleasantries.  You already know we all love you guys.

  Anyway…

  I have a problem with internally rotated shoulders.  Likely from sitting at a desk working with a mouse.   Chicken wings as the PT calls them.  Right shoulder is far worse then left.

  Needless to say this has made me prone to shoulder impingement injuries.  Last one took a year to heal.

  I’ve been working hard with specific focus to fix this for over a year an a half  using PT prescribed work.  Specifically…

  – The drawing the sward motion.
  – External rotator motion.
  – Rear shoulder isolation work.
  – Serratus pushups
  – And stretching the internal rotator and chest.

  I’ve stopped stretching the mid-back/rear shoulder and external rotator.  I’ve changed my ergonomics.  And I’m hyperconscious to maintain proper posture at my desk now.

  But the reality is, heavy deadlift static pulls, with a hyperconscious focus to hold the scapular in proper position have worked better then any of the PT isolation work.

  Yet still, the problem remains.  In a resting position the scapular is winging.  Anytime I do overhead shoulder work I have to consciously pull the scapular in place.  If not I get impingement and popping.

  What do I do here?  Another year of the same isn’t going to fix it.

  I’ve laid off sports, and held back starting others to get this corrected first.  I don’t want another injury.  Help.  Can’t wait much longer.

  Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

  Thanks,

  Jared

• Hey Fitcast gang!
  Love the Fitcast , it is the only podcast I subscribe to as every week has great info! I find it so refreshing to hear you guys so genuinely dedicated to your professions and truly enjoy what you do- so motivating! Thanks!
  I have been weight training for about 3 years with significant body composition improvements since having 2 kids but continue to be frustrated as I try to gain bulk in my delts. Looking for the “shoulder cap” . Wondering if you could give me any suggestions as to a program to emphasize this area, some guidance with exercises, load/reps etc. Already doing what I consider the “basics”, including lateral raises, incline lateral raise, posterior delts, overhead press etc. sets of 10-15 and mix it up from time to time cable/dumbbells/machines etc. If I can gain bulk here I think the rest of my transformation comes down to buckling down on the fat loss side.
  Thanks again for all you do, you have motivated me to take my training up a notch and reignited my desire to learn.
  Thanks, Heather
• Is there an intrinsic function of carbohydrate intake beyond the 50-100 g per day required to prevent ketosis? That is, what other functions can only be performed by carbohydrates that is not “covered” by the 50-100 g? This is outside of post-workout nutrition unless that is indelibly connected.Thanks!
  Dathi
• Hi Kevin,Great podcast, i listen to it on the way to work over here in England.

  I’m having a bit of trouble getting back to full fitness after a few injurys, i had a split in my right patella tendon which took a long time to get over, unfortunatly i suffered a motorbike accident shortly after which resulted in a broken clavical (i know have a plate in place). My fitness dropped dramaticly and i put on weight.

  Currently im following the P90X routine, working mainly upperbody (chest, back, shoulders, arms) I’m 6’1 and about 230lbs, i eat about 2800kcal’s a day (meals every 3 hours), 40,40,20% split with protein, carb and fat. I’m vegie so most of my protein comes from shakes.

  I jog occationally and can do 5k in about 30 minutes, i do cycle to and from work which is 10miles in total taking roughly 40-60minutes altogether, i work in parks so im often cycling around but nothing more than 2-4miles max. I used to be able to barbell curl 60kg (132lbs) one rep max but now i can just about manage 50kg (110lbs)

  Do you have any tips? is there anything i missing?

  Take care,

  Lee

• This question requires a Scottish accent.So this one is really to the whole gang, even Tony if he’s hanging around this week. I’m a college student that’s trying to put on some muscle and stay healthy while juggling classes and work. I’m always on the go and don’t always have time to prepare every meal I eat. Being a college student, I’m working on an extremely tight budget, but I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions for healthy foods that I can take with me to eat in between class or on my way to work. Especially foods that are high in protein and don’t have to be refrigerated. Any suggestions or websites would be awesome. Please no “pay” sites if possible, like I said, tight budget.

  Thanks in advance.

  Stacy from Texas,

  PS. yeah I’m from Texas, just wanted to hear Kevin butcher a Scottish accent.

• Dear Kev, ( I’m going with the traditional “dear” as I live in Wales in the uk, so would never say top of the morning).First of all I’d like to thank you for your awsome podcast and tons of info.

  I was hoping that you might be able to point me in the right direction, I’ve been having trouble with both my elbows. It happend a year ago while I was in a phase of lifting the heaviest weights of my life. There was no sudden pain, just a dull constant pain would develop deep in my elbows. I always warm up and stretch for at least 30 minutes before a lift. After still lifting for a short time i stopped all together (for abouut 6 months) to see if the pain would go away, but it did not.

  I’ve been doing forarm exercises but the ones I’ve been doing don’t help.

  I’ve seen my doctor and been to a physio but they just said it wouldn’t get any worse but wouldn’t improve either. I find this answer unacceptable.

  If you know anything about the issue o’r know anybody that specilizes in elbow cures/preventions could you point me in the right direction please??

  Thank you very much, I rely on my elbows for work (i’m a tv cameraman) and love working out but it’s ruining my life at the moment.
  Thanks a million,
  John

• Thanks for getting to my question about my Heart Rate Monitor on http://www.facebook.com/l/54e8c;thefitcast.com! Just a bit of follow up to some of the questions you posed to me:
  I do not take any medication

  I stay away from caffeinated beverages (no coffee, tea, soda or energy drinks.)

  I do use supplements – 1000mgs of Vitamin C, fish oil (2 capsules, I believe that is 1000mgs as well) and a multi vitamin. For what it is worth, I had my first mountain bike race last Sunday and my HRM recorded a peak rate of 214 BPM, 13 BPM higher than my max recorded rate during my training sessions.

  I was wondering how I can use the information from my HRM to improve my training?

  Thank you and keep up the great work! -Gordon