Michele Dolan

Certified Fitness Trainer

Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.

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Q&A Comments (1189)

What types of food will add body weight?
All foods (except perhaps some vegetables like celery and cabbage) will add body weight if consumed in large enough portions. If you are trying to gain weight, look at increasing your healthy fats with foods like nuts, avocados or fish. To gain muscle you'll have to eat more protein. It is important to keep nutrition high so don't skip lower calorie foods like vegetables, but do try to increase calorie intake to gain weight.
I'm confused about what reps and sets are.
Lots of people find this confusing. Think about it like this: I do one bicep curl. Then I do another. Then another. I keep doing bicep curls, counting the number of times I go through the complete action of lifting the dumbbell and lowering the dumbbell until I have counted 10 times. I have lifted the dumbbell and lowered it ten times —that is one set of 10 repetitions (reps). Then I rest. After a rest, I do 10 more bicep curls. Now I have done 20 repetitions in total, with a rest in the middle. That completes two sets of ten repetitions, or in exercise lingo, two sets of 10 reps.
I'm 22 year old thin guy weighing 57 kg (125 lbs). I want build my body. What kinds of food should I eat and at what times?
How tall are you? Protein is your friend, young man. You should be consuming 2 or more grams of protein for each kg of body weight to maintain your current body composition. To gain muscle, you would want to consume more than 114 grams of protein per day. Many believe this should be consumed right before (20 minutes) or immediately after (within 20 minutes, but the sooner the better) weight training. Check out the articles here: [Eat More Protein|How to Eat More Protein] [Eat to Gain Muscle|How to Eat to Gain Muscle] Remember to include water and a balanced nutrient-rich diet with a weight lifting routine to build a strong healthy body.
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