CT's War Zone Is Open!

Training Powerlifting
61

[quote]PtrDR wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
PtrDR wrote:
CT…I have a question regarding training legs that last week. I have heard that NO training for the quads…during the depletion phase primarily, will help decrease the likelihood of decreased thigh definition. Is that true?

This probably come from the fact that when pumped up the quads don’t look as defined. However I personally always came up with flat quads when I stopped training them more than 5 days out.

In “New Pics” thread in the pics section the leg shot where taken 2 days after a very hard leg session. Tell me if I lack definition :wink:

CT, yeah…those pics of your quads are awe-inspiring! Ive got pretty good wheels…but not like that!
Follow up question: Have you heard of yohimbine being effective for removing stubborn fat (for men its usually low back and love handles, and for women…primarily thighs) that is resistant to beta 1&2 receptor drugs? Ive heard (from the late Dan Duchaine)that since yohimbe is a alpha receptor agonist, it may be effective for this. My problem is one that women usually have: deep thigh definition and striations are hard to obtain.

Peace!
Donnie…
[/quote]

I have used a topical cream containing yohimbe HCL with decent results. Christiane has also used it on her glutes with fairly adequate success.

I do believe that there is a potential there, but it’s nothing spectacular.

Studies have shown that a typical fat loss product (either ephedrine + caffeine or clenbuterol) is ineffective at increasing lower body fat loss, but the addining of yohimbe seems to reverse that situation.

62

There isn’t really a central program as most bobsledders train at home with their private trainer most of the year. I know that Giulio Zardo uses a lot of olympic lifts and deadlifts. He has power cleaned 180kg and power snatched 130kg.

Pascal Caron relied more on the squat, jump squat and bench press, plus some snatches and tons of track work.

Dan Weisman train using a modified Westside routine.

63

CT:

  1. Related to what is happening to the muscles in terms of growth, what is the difference between the “functional hypertrophy zone” and the “total hypertrophy zone”?

  2. You mention REPS as defining these Zones…does each Zone have a corresponding %of 1RM that one should push for?

  3. The “Eternal” question…do you reccomend taking all sets to failure?

  4. Progression…do you wait to increase weight once you’ve reached the “maximum” reps for a particular Zone?

(I’m curious as to whether these and other topics will be covered in detail in your upcoming book/DVD?)

Thanks, CT!

Mufasa

64

[quote]mike hanley wrote:

Day 1 ME Upper:
A. Floor Press- work up to max set of 3-5 reps(for now)

B. Incline DB BP- 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps

C. 1 Arm Barbell Row-4 sets of 10-15 reps

D. Seated DB Power cleans- 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps

E Weighted Ab work- 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps
[/quote]

Recommendation no.1: AT LEAST 1 triceps exercise performed in the 6-8 reps range

Recommendation no.2: I’d rather use 6-8 or 8-10 reps for the upper back.

[quote]mike hanley wrote:
Day 2 ME Lower:
A. Trap Bar Deads-work up to max set of 3-5 reps(for now)

Speed deads with regular bar 6-8 sets of 1 rep 60-70%
Bar speed is the key to this exercise.

B. Barbell Reverse Lunge w/front foot elevated-3-4 sets of 8-15 reps

C. Good Mornings-3-4 sets of 6-10 reps

D. Grip/Forearm Work-3 sets
[/quote]

1: No speed work, this is your max effort day.

  1. The goodmorning should be your 2nd exercise

  2. Barbell reverse lunges… WHY???

  3. I’d use one more hamstring exercise.

[quote]mike hanley wrote:
Day 3 Max Rep Upper

Speed Bench 8x3 use bands/ chains or straight weight

A . Suspended Ring Push ups- 3 work sets of max reps w/60 rest b/t

B. Skulls Crushers w/ Chains or Band Pushdowns - 3-4 sets of 5-10reps

C. Ring Chin Ups-4 sets of 8-12 reps

D. Kettlebell Side Press-3 sets of 10-15 reps

E. 1 Arm Barbell Curl-3 sets of 8-10 reps
[/quote]

1: This is the best designed session.

[quote]mike hanley wrote:
Day 4 GPP/Lower

Speed Box squats 10 sets of 2 60-70%
Bar speed is Key not the percentage.

A. Kettlebell Snatch-5 sets of max reps

B. Kettlebell Front Squat- NOT SURE

C. 1 Legged Deads w/ Kb or Db-NOT SURE

D. Kettlebell Windmill- 5 sets of 5 each side

E. Farmers Walk - 5 sets of max walk
[/quote]

Looks good exept for the 1-leg deadlift… use some romanian deadlift instead.

65

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
StrikeT wrote:
Can you explain the concept of unloading.

How would you unload for someone who is powerbuilding? Would you keep the intesity the same and decrease the volume or vice versa?

I have been traning for 5+ years, and I now feel that I burn out much quicker when following a routine.

Unloading refer to reducing training volume drastically (by around 50-60%) while the intensity is maintained. It has also been called peaking.

I personally recommend one unloading after 3 weeks of training. During the fourth week of a block, training volume is decreased and an attempt is made to increase the loads used.

The more experiences you are, the more frequently you should change you routine. I am personally on 2 weeks cycles.[/quote]

CT,

Does this mean that in the 4th week of the accumulation and intensifcation blocks the unloading should occur?

Based on what you said above if a person is unloading they should cut the sets by about 50% and try and lift more weight for those sets, correct?

I have another question about the frequency of changing exercises. How often do you change them? Do you use the same exercises each week for say an accumulation block and then change them for the intensification block? Obviously there is a limit to the number of exercises one can do based on the amount of equipment at a gym and if the above scenario was used it would mean doing the same exercises for each type of training block. How would you ensure exercise variety is included?

Cheers,

Ben

66

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
CT:

  1. Related to what is happening to the muscles in terms of growth, what is the difference between the “functional hypertrophy zone” and the “total hypertrophy zone”?
    Mufasa [/quote]

Functional hypertrophy = More growth of the contractile elements of the muscle; thus leads to significant strength gains.

Total hypertrophy = More growth of the non-contractile elements of the muscles (also called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy). Leads to much less strength increase, especially when compared to the size gain.

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
2) You mention REPS as defining these Zones…does each Zone have a corresponding %of 1RM that one should push for?
[/quote]

In my book I do give some percentages for each zone. But the RM system is better than the % system. On some days you might get 8 reps at 85% while on some others (because of fatigue, lack of sleep, lack of motivation, etc.) you might only get 4. On the other hand, using the RM system (e.g. 4RM = the max amount of weight you can use for 4 reps on that day) is autoregulating.

[quote]Mufasa wrote:

  1. The “Eternal” question…do you reccomend taking all sets to failure?
    [/quote]

No, I recommend going around 1 rep shy of failure on all sets but the last where you go to failure.

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
4) Progression…do you wait to increase weight once you’ve reached the “maximum” reps for a particular Zone?
[/quote]

No, you increase the weight as long as you can stay in the zone.

67

This question is in regards to a previous primetime post of yours regarding some of the best exercises for increasing vertical jump. Would you give some guidelines on designing a program to increase vertical jump height?

Thanks

68

CT thank you. Couple of things just to pick your brain. Do tricep with day 1 and keep it where I had it on day3 as well?
Why not do reverse BB lunges for a quad pump?So replace this with a ham exercise?
Why not do 1 Legged DL?
Just thought I would ask to know the reasons. Thanks for your help

69

CT,

What do you think of “Altitude” jumps?
I read about them in the old Soviet sports review and they seem to be effective but scary. When training with Jay Schroeder he used recommended them but from a much lower height than in the experiment. What do ya think?
Brandon Green

70

I just recently came across your old Part-time Beast routine in the archives. I realize this isn’t the most difficult or advanced program, but it seemed like a good one to plug in for a month or so for someone who prefers whole-body workouts. Considering it’s been a couple of years since you wrote it, is there anything major you would change?

71

Christian
What do you recomment for hamstring work for those of us with lower back pain issues?

72

[quote]mike hanley wrote:
CT thank you. Couple of things just to pick your brain. Do tricep with day 1 and keep it where I had it on day3 as well?
Why not do reverse BB lunges for a quad pump?So replace this with a ham exercise?
Why not do 1 Legged DL?
Just thought I would ask to know the reasons. Thanks for your help[/quote]

Yes, Perform triceps on both days. The basic idea behind a westside template is to use a lift split instead of a muscle split. The thing is to work all the muscles involved in the lift of the day (bench: triceps, chest, delts, lats squat/dead: hamstrings, lower back, quads, glutes).

When using a powerlifting template you should forget about training for the pump. Select the best exercises to get the job done.

Why 1 leg deads??? It’s an inferior movement. Stick to big compound movements, not cute lifts.

73

[quote]leon79 wrote:
I just recently came across your old Part-time Beast routine in the archives. I realize this isn’t the most difficult or advanced program, [/quote]

Try it and see, it is very intense, and it has to be because you aren’t training as often yet need to still make gains. The ten sets of bench, squats etc are very hard, choose your weight for the higher rep sets carefully so that you can get all reps out. I would often find that I could do the first two sets of 10 and 9 reps but when shooting for 8 reps I could only get 6, I needed to go lighter at the start.

This program is deceptive…

74

[quote]cccp21 wrote:
CT,

What do you think of “Altitude” jumps?
I read about them in the old Soviet sports review and they seem to be effective but scary. When training with Jay Schroeder he used recommended them but from a much lower height than in the experiment. What do ya think?
Brandon Green[/quote]

I use altitude drops/depth landings in the training of my athletes (I even wrote a section about it in my second book):

"A recent paper by David Kerin (2002) concluded that it is the eccentric portion of the depth jump that actually has the greatest training effect as far as increasing vertical jump and lower body power. It makes sense when you think about it. It is during the landing portion that the eccentric stress is at its highest, as all the kinetic energy accumulated during the fall is transformed into muscle loading. This can greatly increase your capacity to break your fall and absorb this kinetic energy. If you are weak in the eccentric portion of the depth jump what will happen? The coupling time (time it takes you to switch from yielding to overcoming) will be very high and the resulting jumping capacity will be low. The shorter the coupling time, the higher the subsequent jump will be. To reduce coupling time you must increase eccentric strength and the capacity to absorb the kinetic energy.

Depth jumps obviously do this, but doing only the eccentric portion (landing) and practicing ?sticking the landing? (i.e. immediately breaking the downward movement as soon as you hit the ground) can actually be more useful in this regard. And this way you can use higher drop heights (up to 0.75-1.25m). Once again, the key point is to land in a position specific to your sport. For example, football linemen and linebackers should stick the landing with the knee bent at approximately 90-110 degrees.

Just like depth jumps, altitude landings have a very powerful training effect and should only be used for short periods of time and at a very low volume of work. While they can sometimes be used in the same training block as depth jumps, I don?t recommend it."

75

Ct,
What do you think of Verkhoshanky’s linked successive system? Do you think he is just a researcher or are his theories applicable?
Brandon Green

76

ok ct is there a way to lose fat on a diet …and build mucsle?

77

CT,
First, I would like to say thanks for all of your help.

On with my question:

Do you prefer to alternate between accumulation and intensification rather than prescribing a conjugate periodization scheme for bodybuilding? If so, why?

78

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Pendulum powerlifting is great for someone who wants a mix of strength and size. However, since I’ve been doing bodybuilding work for 2 years I want to focus only on powerlifting.

PLUS I suffer from much of the same problem as a lot of coaches: I can’t stick to a fixed program. I always want to experiment a new technique or exercise. Westside allows me a lot more freedom since, beside the dynamic effort work, everything else can be changed anytime. [/quote]

CT-

I have a question about your pendulum powerlifting program. I utilize a similar type of pendulum wave with a bit less exercise variation. I have a couple questions for you about the program you listed to use an example.

  1. When one finishes a complete pendulum wave, do you make many changes for the next pendulum cycle or do you (could you) repeat the pendulum cycle (like the one you wrote for example) several times and simply try to utilize heavier loads with the same exercises and rep/set formats (where appropriate) without a lot of changes?

  2. The structural phases of the program serve as a type of unloading week, correct? I assume that this is why there is no planned back-off week in the program.

79

Thanks for the feedback. Hey CT have you ever heard of diaphragm breathing helping fat burning while doing cardio? Would love to know what you think of the topic.

80

CT,

What do you think of the Soviet style of Gpp? I saw the USSR volleyball team in 87 in a round robin tournament in L.A. with the USSR,USA,Brazil,Canada and France. Ussr comes out in the warmup and they look like Cirque De Soliel with backward flips forward flips, windmills with arms going opposite directions etc. What do you think?
Brandon Green