Hey guys. sorry I haven’t had a moment to give some sort of review on the week in CO, I’ve been jumping around a lot between Queens and L.I., and just trying to get a lot done, and didn’t really want to gloss over any important stuff with a quick write up.
Yes, that was probably the coolest part of the week for me. I really respect Christian, and to have him hand me the reins for a bit, and then watch what I’m doing and complement my approach, well, it certainly meant a lot. Even having someone with as much experience as HipScar thank me for the session I designed on the last day out there, means more than I think a lot of people would expect.
The key feature that seems to be prominently stressed is that of active rest, or active recovery. Initially, I found myself wondering if this would somehow inhibit maximal intensity generated during sets for the ‘main’ muscle being worked during a particular session, but by choosing muscle groups that wouldn’t negatively affect the work being done, it never seemed much of an issue.
Also, I believe the approach of working a movement pattern (ie. posterior chain, or horizontal pressing etc) vs just targeting a specific muscle the way most bodybuilders do, probably prevented a lot of possible inhibiting of performance (this is just me theorizing, don’t think I’m quoting Thibs here).
Initially, what I found myself considering was the old (very old) concept of ‘feeder workouts’. This is something that probably went out of fashion back in the 1950’s. The idea was to train chest on a Monday for example, and then on Tuesday, in addition to your regular training session, do a small chest workout as well.
I don’t know if this was a productive method of inciting more muscle growth, as the potential for excessive muscle damage could certainly be an issue, BUT the approach I took away, as well as the way I structured the sessions I designed, was to focus on the Recovery aspect. Essentially creating an environment where more nutrients would be uptaken by the muscles trained the day before without creating so much additional trauma that you would create a negative situation (whole lotta eccentricless work!)
Obviously you could also use Thibs approach of doing ‘more work’ a la staggered sets the way you see some guys throwing in sets of abs or calves (typically weak points) between regular sets during their workouts.
Running out to hit legs now (so I can meet up with my girl and her sister for Sushi later, ready the Indigo!), but I’ll try to add a bit more, and certainly answer any questions anyone has 
S
