Most of my upper body training is on hold for 30 days (nursing a shoulder injury) and would like for you to comment on the following. After the 1st 30 days, I will lightly introduce shoulders and upper body back into the mix. In the meantime…I really want to put focus on legs…which I do admit I need some help with.
Thib, I have a 40-50 kg (possibly more if my grip wouldn’t limit the weight) difference in rack pulls from above knees and regular deads from floor. Is it usual or it indicates that legs are severely behind ?
Any recommendations as to spec cycle to bring up the low end power ?
[quote]Diego Z. wrote:
Hi Coach.
Next Week I will be in total vacation (school and work). In the next 25 days I want to train to muscle growth the max I can. Is it better if I do two-a-day workouts(strength AM, hypertrophy PM???)? Increasing training frequency (like six days a week)? Or follow “regular routine” (i was on Upper-Lower split - 4 days a week)and simply take advantage of my plenty rest periods ?
Any suggestion of routine to vacation period?
[/quote]
If you can handle two-a-days it will work best. Do the same muscle groups in the AM and PM. However pay attention to your recovery. If you feel drained, take a break.[/quote]
Ok. I read “The Thib System” article, but still have some doubts about volume. First I was think abou training this way: Lower-Upper Split (4 days per week), just one exercise per muscle group each session.
Exemple: Upper Body AM
Chest - Incline Dumbell Press (4x6) Heavy but not to the failure.
Back - Deadlift
Shoulder - Push press
Upper Body PM
Peck Dec (3x15) Failure in all sets.
Seated cable rows
Lateral rise and/or rear delt machine
Please, tell me what do you think![/quote]
I wouldn’t really go with sets of 15. In my honest opinion, a guy interested mostly in strength and size should rarely go above 12 reps. And even when doing volume work he should stick to, at the most, 8-10 reps.
I would include the deadlift more as a lower body exercise, unless it is a partial deadlift from rack.
For upper body I would make sure to have:
one horizontal pulling exercise
one horizontal pressing exercise
one vertical pulling exercise
one vertical pressing exercise[/quote]
But should I do this types of exercises in the two workouts (AM and PM)?
Please, give an exemple of exercise selection to a Upper Body twice a day workout, just to fix de conccept.
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, I have a 40-50 kg (possibly more if my grip wouldn’t limit the weight) difference in rack pulls from above knees and regular deads from floor. Is it usual or it indicates that legs are severely behind ?
Any recommendations as to spec cycle to bring up the low end power ?[/quote]
No it’s not. It is mostly a biomechanics issue. Every body is pretty much like that. The biggest drop-off in strength is when you have to pass the knees. In other words you might have a huge difference between partial deads from just above the knees and full deads, but be the same strength in partial deads from just BELOW the knees compared to from the floor.
For example an individual might be able to do:
From the floor: 140kg
From mid-shins: 145kg
From just below the knees: 150kg
From just above the knees: 190kg
From mid-tight: 210kg
This is a normal example (actual number from a female client of mine). The big difference is the knee point. Why because the mechanics of the lift are drastically different when lifting from above and lifting from below the knees.
People will tend to bend their legs more, and ‘get under’ the bar when deadlifting from above the knees, a position that is not seen in a true deadlift and is actually using body position to cheat.
For that reason there is no, or very little, carryover between strength gains from above the knees and from the floor… you could gain 80kg in your lift from above the knees without even gaining 1kg in your full deadlift!
Heck, when I was an olympic lifter I once was able to lift 475kg from the middle of my quads, yet at the time my full deadlift was only 250kg.
I will say that half deadlifts from above the knees are pretty much worthless for improving actual deadlift strength. I’m not saying that they are not useful: they can prepare you for holding on to biggest weights and strengthen the thoracic erectors, but not much more than that.
BTW, do you also have RDL and podium DL numbers of that client? Interesting to see what are the common differences between those numbers and the posted ones as well.
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thanks Thib, that’s a reasonable explanation!
BTW, do you also have RDL and podium DL numbers of that client? Interesting to see what are the common differences between those numbers and the posted ones as well.[/quote]
I never max out on RDL and rarely do podium deads. She did 90kg x 5 reps on the RDL
I will say that half deadlifts from above the knees are pretty much worthless for improving actual deadlift strength. I’m not saying that they are not useful: they can prepare you for holding on to biggest weights and strengthen the thoracic erectors, but not much more than that.[/quote]
Coach, what if the lift is approached similar to an RDL? That is, butt pushed back, knees don’t come forward. When you started talking about lifts from a dead stop I figured this would be a good way to train the hams without the stretch reflex. What do you think?
coach i think to start to use supplements like whey isolate,bcaa,creatine,beta-alanine and glutamine.can you recommend to me a simple protocol to use these supplements before during and post training?also the days when i dont train which of these supplements should to take and what about dosage?i am looking forward to hearing for you.
I will say that half deadlifts from above the knees are pretty much worthless for improving actual deadlift strength. I’m not saying that they are not useful: they can prepare you for holding on to biggest weights and strengthen the thoracic erectors, but not much more than that.[/quote]
Coach, what if the lift is approached similar to an RDL? That is, butt pushed back, knees don’t come forward. When you started talking about lifts from a dead stop I figured this would be a good way to train the hams without the stretch reflex. What do you think? [/quote]
Yes, but we then call these RDL from a dead start, not partial deadlifts. But still, most people will need to start from below the knees to get the full effect.
Now, partial deads from above the knees can be useful if you maintain the exact same mechanics as during the full deadlift. But for ego reasons, very few actually do that.
Firstly let me say congratulations for your recent success and the news that you are to become a father.
Just a quick question, do you have any advice for counteracting lower and mid-back soreness from deadlifts and romanian deads. I have recently switched to only training lower body once a week because the back soreness was making it difficult to perform more volume. However, even at just once a week, I find the soreness from squats and two dead variations hinders other lifts (rows, overhead presses) later in the week, as well as being barely recovered a week later!!! Do you have any advice I could follow, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and best wishes to you and your family,
Firstly let me say congratulations for your recent success and the news that you are to become a father.
Just a quick question, do you have any advice for counteracting lower and mid-back soreness from deadlifts and romanian deads. I have recently switched to only training lower body once a week because the back soreness was making it difficult to perform more volume. However, even at just once a week, I find the soreness from squats and two dead variations hinders other lifts (rows, overhead presses) later in the week, as well as being barely recovered a week later!!! Do you have any advice I could follow, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and best wishes to you and your family,
James[/quote]
You could try epsom salt baths… 400 g in the hottest bath water you can tolerate, stay in there for 20-30 minutes. This should be done after your workout and again before bed.
Thibs
Training intensity wth low testosterone count wth bad cholesterol profile
Quick question on an approach for training intensity and some dieting tips
I was competing in powerlifting and have been lifting in general for over 10 years
My cholesterol profile was ballpark total = 250 HDL = 25 LDL = 180 Triglycerides = 275 with a testosterone count of around 500 which is in the middle of the range ( range = 240 - 800 )
The doctor put me on 20mg of a statin drug and 9 month later I am very frustrated…my sex drive is gone, my training intensity is gone and my blood is total cholest = 140 HDL = 27 LDL = 175 Triglc = 240 with a testosterone count of 230!!!
As you can see the statin drug has driven my total cholesterol count waaay down which means nothing, my LDL remains high and my triglycerides only came down because of the bump in fish oil and slo niacin.
I’m really pissed that my test count dropped out of range and my training intensity and libido is shot.
this is what i just wrote up… any feedback would be awesome… in general everything is proportional and i’m just trying to supersize everything, but I have a special interest in the upper chest, back width, traps, and overall arm size
nutrition and sleep are close to optimal.
Some questions I have - is this the best split, in particular, basing it on working pre-fatigued muscles such as back/bicep?
How long is optimal to stay on this program, and when should I take a week off?
WORKOUT ROUTINE (SETS X REPS)
DAY 1 BACK + BICEPS (FRIDAY)
DEADLIFTS (8X3 AUTOREGULATE)
CHIN-UPS (3X-MAX)
CABLE ROWS (3X8)
FACE-PULLS (3X12)
STANDING CURLS (4X6)
HAMMER CURLS (4X6)
DAY 2 CHEST + TRICEPS (SATURDAY)
BENCH PRESS (8X3 AUTOREGULATE)
INCLINE DB PRESS (5X5)
CABLE FLYES LOW-HIGH (4X6)
WEIGHTED DIPS (3X8)
SKULLCRUSHERS (4X6)
CABLE PULLDOWN W/ BAR (3X8)
DAY 3 LEGS + SHOULDERS (SUNDAY)
BACK SQUAT (1X20)
LEG EXTENSION (3X8)
MILITARY PRESS (5X5)
ONE-ARM STANDING DB PRESS (5X5)
BARBELL SHRUGS (3X20)
DAY 4 BACK + BICEPS (MONDAY)
BARBELL ROWS (4X6)
LAT PULLDOWN (3X8)
INCLINE REVERSE FLIES (3X8)
PREACHER CURLS (5X5)
CABLE REVERSE CURLS (4X6)
I train two different muscle groups each day I want to show you my split for each workout and would like to see what you think of it, whether it’s good or bad and what you recommend for someone who is trying to put on mass and improve strength.
I train two different muscle groups each day I want to show you my split for each workout and would like to see what you think of it, whether it’s good or bad and what you recommend for someone who is trying to put on mass and improve strength.