how do you convince a friend to train her chest(plenty there) when she doesn’t want to “lose” them?
Hi coach CT,
I have a question concerning your easy hardgainer articles, from quite a while back.
I’m not really sure how to categorize myself. I think I have a reasonably fast metabolism, since I’m pretty lean right now without actually dieting(> 200 grams of carbs a day, most of it at dinner) and the fattest I’ve ever been is 13%. However, I don’t really eat that much right now , which is why I’m also kinda skinny. I also notice that when I eat lots of carbs, especially sugars, I tend to get fat. (No really, I do) And that doesn’t really fit into the easy-hardgainer category does it?
%RM testing does show that I might be fast twitch dominant since I perform about 4 reps at 85%. That being said I have trained using lower reps in the past. I use higher reps now, and my bf% seems to drop because of that.
So my question is. If you look at my picture do you think I’m an easy hardgainer or just an “average hardgainer”?
CT,
From reading you posts and your articals, I get the impression that frequency is key if you want to increase a lift. My question is could you squat(or deadlift), OHP and pwr snatch 3x’s a week? With out overworking your CNS?
Thanks
Will42
CT,
What would be your suggestion to military memebers who want to increase their lifts (squat, OHP and Deadlift), but who also do a lot of running? In my case I try to lift at night, after our morning PT. But does running (10 miles a week) hurt strength gains?
Thanks
Will42
[quote]enigma wrote:
how do you convince a friend to train her chest(plenty there) when she doesn’t want to “lose” them?[/quote]
It’s a common misconception that working the pecs will lead to smaller breast tissue. The reasoning probably comes from looking at female bodybuilders, athletes and other lean women who often have small breasts.
This has NOTHING to do with muscle size; it is only about dropping a lot of body fat. There is fat stored in the breast and that’s what makes up its size. When a woman gets super lean, she also looses fat “there”. But increasing muscle size will not have a detrimental effect at all. It’s illogical when you think about it… why would increasing the size of something that is underneath decrease the overall size? If you increase the size of the tires on your car, will it make the car higher or lower overall?! 
Well first thing you state is that you’re are not eating enough right now and that’s why you are losing weight, then you say that it’s because you have switched to higher reps. Which one is it? Most likely it’s the low food intake.
Let’s look at it this way. You do seem to have a fast metabolism.
You seem to be fast twitch dominant.
You get fat from too many carbs (what type of carbs?).
To me you are an EHG. The fact that you gain fat when you consume too many carbs is probably due to a nutrient partitioning thing, and doesn’t have much to do with metabolism. It’s also possible that you feel carbs make you fat because they make you retain water, which makes you look puffy and feel heavy.
You’re probably not a pure EHG, but because of your muscularity you seem much closer to the EHG than to a normal hardgainer.
[quote]francois1 wrote:
Hi coach CT,
I have a question concerning your easy hardgainer articles, from quite a while back.
I’m not really sure how to categorize myself. I think I have a reasonably fast metabolism, since I’m pretty lean right now without actually dieting(> 200 grams of carbs a day, most of it at dinner) and the fattest I’ve ever been is 13%. However, I don’t really eat that much right now , which is why I’m also kinda skinny. I also notice that when I eat lots of carbs, especially sugars, I tend to get fat. (No really, I do) And that doesn’t really fit into the easy-hardgainer category does it?
%RM testing does show that I might be fast twitch dominant since I perform about 4 reps at 85%. That being said I have trained using lower reps in the past. I use higher reps now, and my bf% seems to drop because of that.
So my question is. If you look at my picture do you think I’m an easy hardgainer or just an “average hardgainer”?[/quote]
[quote]Will42 wrote:
CT,
From reading you posts and your articals, I get the impression that frequency is key if you want to increase a lift. My question is could you squat(or deadlift), OHP and pwr snatch 3x’s a week? With out overworking your CNS?
Thanks
Will42[/quote]
Yes, without a doubt. As I have mentioned tons of times, a simple look at elite weightlifters should answer that question. For example the Bulgarians snatch, clean and squat 6 days a week.
While this is certainly not something that you jump right into, it is possible to train these lifts 3x per week. Just make sure that the total volume isn’t too high. And you’d be best to do like the Olympic lifters, and perform these 3 lifts on the same day. These should be the only exercises you perform on that day.
Sadly it will hurt your gains. To avoid any negative impact you’ll have to increase caloric intake by somewhere around 800kcals/day. Since you might be limited by military dining, this is where products like Surge or Grow! (not the Low-Carb version) can be helpful.
[quote]Will42 wrote:
CT,
What would be your suggestion to military memebers who want to increase their lifts (squat, OHP and Deadlift), but who also do a lot of running? In my case I try to lift at night, after our morning PT. But does running (10 miles a week) hurt strength gains?
Thanks
Will42[/quote]
Thank you for your response. So what I should be doing is train like an easy hardgainer, except with slightly higher reps, perhaps? And watch nutrient partitioning. Should I eat more P+C meals than P+F meals in a day?
Thanks again.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Well first thing you state is that you’re are not eating enough right now and that’s why you are losing weight, then you say that it’s because you have switched to higher reps. Which one is it? Most likely it’s the low food intake.
Let’s look at it this way. You do seem to have a fast metabolism.
You seem to be fast twitch dominant.
You get fat from too many carbs (what type of carbs?).
To me you are an EHG. The fact that you gain fat when you consume too many carbs is probably due to a nutrient partitioning thing, and doesn’t have much to do with metabolism. It’s also possible that you feel carbs make you fat because they make you retain water, which makes you look puffy and feel heavy.
You’re probably not a pure EHG, but because of your muscularity you seem much closer to the EHG than to a normal hardgainer.
francois1 wrote:
Hi coach CT,
I have a question concerning your easy hardgainer articles, from quite a while back.
I’m not really sure how to categorize myself. I think I have a reasonably fast metabolism, since I’m pretty lean right now without actually dieting(> 200 grams of carbs a day, most of it at dinner) and the fattest I’ve ever been is 13%. However, I don’t really eat that much right now , which is why I’m also kinda skinny. I also notice that when I eat lots of carbs, especially sugars, I tend to get fat. (No really, I do) And that doesn’t really fit into the easy-hardgainer category does it?
%RM testing does show that I might be fast twitch dominant since I perform about 4 reps at 85%. That being said I have trained using lower reps in the past. I use higher reps now, and my bf% seems to drop because of that.
So my question is. If you look at my picture do you think I’m an easy hardgainer or just an “average hardgainer”?
[/quote]
thank you agin
i trust you completely and let you now how it was.
i will send you e-mail with pic and results
1 more day to go…
im fucing dreaming on friday on 5pm…
damm that diet is hard…thank you agin 
How do i find out if i had a food absoprtion issue or a digestion problem. Because i still find it very weird that not only i can eat more than alot of people, but i can eat the same or more than alot of people that weigh 50 to 75lbs more than me and not gain mass. I almost feel like there has to be something wrong with me haha. Or is it just a reality that i may have to wait untill my metabolism slows down before i can gain muscle mass?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
An upper/lower body split using a relatively high volume of work to benefit from the natural anabolic rebound following the diet. I’d work in the 6-8 and 8-12 rep ranges for 12 sets per major muscle group and around 6-9 sets for smaller muscle groups.[/quote]
Thanks for all the great help/tips!
CT, where would you incorporate sandbag training in an accumulation/intensification scheme?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
cccp21 wrote:
Do you think that the Soviets could have put an NFL caliber football team together and how would they have been different than our teams?
Brandon Green
Nobody can answer that for sure. If they could it would take A LOT of time. Today it would be impossible with the fall of the communist system and the fragmentation of the former USSR. But even during those years it would have been a long shot.
They whould have to start with the grassroots. Have the best athletes start practicing and playing football when they are super young.
I’m sure that they could have achieved some sort of success considering what they have done in hockey. But I doubt that they could have approached the caliber found in North America.
There’s just so much more than athletic skills or even game skills imvolved in football.[/quote]
********** nice response. I would have to agree with you for the most part. I would imagine that their power(strength-speed probably not speed-strength) would have been terrific as their athleticism and sport specific endurance. I can imagine trying to go against one of their no huddle offenses!
again thanks.
Brandon Green
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Tonight I’ll be answering any training question you might have and will reveal the meaning of life.[/quote]
******* I already know the meaning. It’s having graduated from the Moscow intstitute of physical culture just before the USSR fell with my PhD!without saying it would include the most up to date info the Ussr was including with their strength-speed and speed-strength athletes!
Brandon Green
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
cccp21 wrote:
Do you think that the Soviets could have put an NFL caliber football team together and how would they have been different than our teams?
Brandon Green
Nobody can answer that for sure. If they could it would take A LOT of time. Today it would be impossible with the fall of the communist system and the fragmentation of the former USSR. But even during those years it would have been a long shot.
They whould have to start with the grassroots. Have the best athletes start practicing and playing football when they are super young.
I’m sure that they could have achieved some sort of success considering what they have done in hockey. But I doubt that they could have approached the caliber found in North America.
There’s just so much more than athletic skills or even game skills imvolved in football.[/quote]
******* What do you mean more than game skills or athletic skills?