Submitted By: Max Vitulano, Italy

First of all let me thank for sharing your hard work and knowledge. I have started the diet and exercise program 1 month ago and I never felt so well in all my life. I have always been involved with sport and in the last 12 years with body building. I’ve tried all sort of training and diet but the last month made me feel like I wasted all those years! Ok I said that I have a question which I hope you can answer. Every time I do the plie lunges I experience pain in my knees. I have not had  problems with them and because the plie lunges don’t seem to me biomechanically very correct as exercise, I am afraid to get an injury on the long run. Do you think I can substitute them with the exercises on the cables you suggest in the book? The side lunges don’t give me any problems. It is only the plie. Second and last question: next month I have a friend’s wedding (by the way I live in Italy) and it will be a big problem to stick on the meal plan as my friend’s mum will make sure I eat every thing that will be served and there’s no way to escape that (believe me you don’t know what is like at an Italian wedding! kg of carbs loaded with fat and if you don’t eat you get in trouble with the host!!!!), so the question is after the huge and hormonally incorrect meals I will have should I start the NHE diet plan all over again by doing the first seven days?  I look forward to your reply and I send you all my regards. ps sorry about my spelling I hope you have understood everything I wrote!

I’m glad the program is working for you - keep up the good work.  Addressing your second question first, yes, after attending an Italian wedding as you describe it, a period of metabolic readjustment would be warranted. We’ll say three days in this case.

Regarding your exercise question, yes, you can substitute cable adduction/abduction for plie lunge. The question of the appropriateness of a given exercise for a given individual is different from the question of biomechanical soundness. Some exercises are inherently more difficult than others, and exercises suitable for a 20 year old will in many instances be unsuitable for a 90 year old. "Advanced" exercises should not be performed by beginners or intermediates.

In the broadest sense there are two categories of exercise: those that you are capable of performing competently for the target amount of reps and those toward which you are progressing. For example, many folks cannot perform one pullup but can train the same muscles with seated pulldown or row. The acquired ability to perform more challenging exercises is a functional measure the effectiveness of an exercise routine.

Even though plie lunge is categorized as advanced, it is one of the safer leg exercises when performed properly because with one leg in front of the other and off center, weight can be slightly transferred back and forth or laterally between legs. Your technique may be incorrect; plie lunge is a difficult exercise to master. But whether it is faulty execution or the exercise is incompatible with the condition of your knees you should discontinue it, as you should any exercise, if performing it causes joint pain.

When testing to see if an exercise is suitable for you, try performing it without weight. Perform it slowly, with a spotter or spotting device, and if you discover that there is a pain point take note of where in the range of motion it occurs (for diagnostic reference and to help identify other contraindicated exercises). If you experience no discomfort at any point in the range of motion when using no added weight, but experience joint pain subsequently when weight is added, chances are you increased weight too much/too soon. Especially with plie lunge, because it is balance-intensive, too much weight can throw off your technique. Gradual progression is always the watchword with exercise and especially so during the period in which you are learning how to perform the exercise properly.