Do you still try to explode on rack deadlifts casuse the ROM is so small and is 3 reps still a good rep range. I’ve read that numerous powerlifters go for 20 reps on them along with other small ROM exercises like quarter squats?
Btw, I start right at the knees and try to use my lats to lift the weight cause if i try to use my hips my lower back takes a beating strangely enough. Do you think it’s better to start an inch or two below the knees?
Also, is it better to touch and go on 3 rep bench lockout presses or would you rather rest 5 seconds and disengage all muscles and start over again for another rep?
Do you still try to explode on rack deadlifts casuse the ROM is so small and is 3 reps still a good rep range. I’ve read that numerous powerlifters go for 20 reps on them along with other small ROM exercises like quarter squats?
Btw, I start right at the knees and try to use my lats to lift the weight cause if i try to use my hips my lower back takes a beating strangely enough. Do you think it’s better to start an inch or two below the knees?
Also, is it better to touch and go on 3 rep bench lockout presses or would you rather rest 5 seconds and disengage all muscles and start over again for another rep?
Thanks so much.
[/quote]
I wouldn’t start the bar AT the knees. Either below or slightly above. You can indeed do more reps above the knees, but I’d stay with 3-4 below the knees.
Pause an reset between every repetition of rack work. No need to always pause for 5 seconds, but pause and properly reset.
my training partner seems to have a very slow recovering cns. For at least 4 days after a cns intensive session (ramping to 3rm, stopping when bar slows)he complains about feeling tired/mentally fatigued, and his standing broad jump results are below baseline during that time. If this continues to be the norm, what kind of split should i recommend he do? 1 session every 4-5 days?
the training is autoregulated so it’s not the training making him tired, or not what i would think it would be
maybe his sleep and recovery modalities?
I would look there
or maybe try a truncated ramp where you stop when bar speed slows regardless of the weight which is best used for deload weeks or for maintenance work and see how his broad jumps
[quote]swans05 wrote:
the training is autoregulated so it’s not the training making him tired, or not what i would think it would be
maybe his sleep and recovery modalities?
I would look there
or maybe try a truncated ramp where you stop when bar speed slows regardless of the weight which is best used for deload weeks or for maintenance work and see how his broad jumps[/quote]
Could indeed be from stress outside training. You also mention ONE exercise you did, not all that you did.
Anyway, if the situation continues, decreasing training frequency is, from experience, the worst thing to do. You should train as often as usual, but as swans has mentioned, stop earlier in the ramp. Do work mostly below the max force point, more toward the max power point, so around 70% of your maximum.
I’ve been looking at EliteFTS’ sponsored lifters logs, it seems most don’t train as frequently as each bodypart twice a week and often use fairly low volume (main lifts aside). Is this simply because they often have to tax the CNS heavily when training their main lifts so need more recovery? Thanks.
I’ve been looking at EliteFTS’ sponsored lifters logs, it seems most don’t train as frequently as each bodypart twice a week and often use fairly low volume (main lifts aside). Is this simply because they often have to tax the CNS heavily when training their main lifts so need more recovery? Thanks.[/quote]
Don’t forget that they are powerlifters. They do not use bodypart splits. They train lifts and parts (or muscles) of a lift. Most will have one main squat and deadlift day and one main bench press day per week. Then they also have assistance work days spread over the week.
Personally I don’t train triceps and do very little biceps work. So you could say that I don’t ‘train arms twice a week’. But I am pressing 2-4 times a week (which involves the triceps) and doing back work 2-4 times a week (which involves the biceps). I will throw in direct biceps work because I feel that I use them less often than triceps though.
Powerlifting, like olympic lifting, is about training economy. You want to get the job done with as few exercises as possible to maximize recovery. So work that doesn’t contribute to a direct increase in performance on the competition lifts is often dropped.
CNS management is an issue. But so is time management. Some of their sessions last over 3 hours (I was there for a weekend session); that’s because of the massive amount of weight they lift (more preparation sets requires, longer ramping of the weights, thorough general warm-up, longer rest between sets). Most of these guys have jobs, and there are only so many hours in a day.
coach when the night after a heavy training session a lifter complicated to sleep is a signal to overtrainining or a signal for overload the cns?i have this signal after 2 heavy training sessions and i cant sleep over the night.how can i fight this symptom?also do you believe that sets with 4(or above up to 6) reps in snatch and c&j(or in squat exercise) with 80% intensity weights are waste of time or useful in weightlifters training?what is better 4 sets of 3s or 3 of 4s with the 80% intensity?(and less taxing for cns?).i am looking forward to hearing for you.
[quote]sam21 wrote:
coach when the night after a heavy training session a lifter complicated to sleep is a signal to overtrainining or a signal for overload the cns?i have this signal after 2 heavy training sessions and i cant sleep over the night.how can i fight this symptom?also do you believe that sets with 4(or above up to 6) reps in snatch and c&j(or in squat exercise) with 80% intensity weights are waste of time or useful in weightlifters training?what is better 4 sets of 3s or 3 of 4s with the 80% intensity?(and less taxing for cns?).i am looking forward to hearing for you.[/quote]
The lack of sleep is not necessarily a sign of overtraining. Especially not after only two sessions. It most likely is an overactivation of the CNS. If anything it shows that you did a good job during your session: you were so efficient at ramping up the nervous system, and you stopped before you drained it, which led to an overactivated state at night.
Unless using baby weights, and doing it as a warm-up, high reps on the olympic lifts is not that smart. None of the elite olympic lifters train like that… heck NO olympic lifter at all (elite or beginner) train like that.
Data from the former Soviet Union (so with data from over 100 000 lifters) showed that, on the competition lifts:
Around 57.4 - 59.4% of the sets are done for 2 reps
19.3 - 19.4% of the sets are done for 1 rep
17.9 - 19.4% of the sets are done for 3 reps
So roughly 95% is done for 1-3 reps!!!
The highest rep scheme I’ve seen on the olympic lifts by good lifters was 5, but as a complex movement (for example 1 power snatch, 2 behind the neck press snatch grip, 2 overhead squat) but even then the technical component (lift) is done for 3 reps or less.
The reason? Not so much CNS burnout as form breakdown which increases the risk of injuries, decreases bar speed (which is critical for those lifts) and teaches bad motor habits.
Ive been using your ramping/max force ideas for training with great success(74kg to 80kg in under four weeks with no supps!?) …however Im about to go on my cut diet and just curious as to whether this type of training would be as effective with a low caloric/carb diet?
Does the principle remain the same even without the large energy intakes?? Especially in terms of maintaining the mass I gained over the last few months.
thanks,
Matt
[/quote]
The approach that helps you put on the most muscle is also the approach that helps you better keep muscle when you diet down
Autoregulation automatically accounts for the possible drop in energy that may come with intense dieting… the amount of work you do per session being a direct result of what your physiology can do on that day. So autoregulation is the best way to avoid overtraining when dieting down
The CNS takes a beating during long diets. Probably because of the lack of carbs and increase in stress levels than can deplete neurotransmitters. So a system that puts less strain on the nervous system will arguably make the dieting down process more tolerable[/quote]
Thanks very much
I know its still important to take in the same volume pre-workout during a diet. Ie 50-100g carbs? Would it be effective to have for example, lunch (rice or bread) in place of a carb drink an hour before a workout? Ie. getting the carbs without having to have another meal?
Hello CT. I have been implementing your training techniques into my 5/3/1 training TEMPLATE (in caps because i wanted to point out that the overall split is the only thing I still use from the 5/3/1 program) and have used your rep schemes 8x3, 5x5 and perfect rep concept, auto regulation, ramping. etc. I believe I have grasped the concept due to the fact that I now love lifting weights even more, have more focus in the gym, and broken several PR’s in the last three weeks and believe it or not after about the 6th set of my activation exercise of that day I know exactly when I’m in the zone because my face gets a tingly feeling above my lips something that has never happened before (I dont use the protocol or beta alanine so thats out of the question)(Explanation? lol) . By using your techniques I realized that the training system I am currently using is no longer 5/3/1 as you have mentioned before but was wondering how I would change my training around to fit more into a split that would fit my approach of getting bigger and stronger with hypertrophy being the dominant goal.
Any suggestions such as isolation work, an arm day, or even a split that would fit the bill. Ive noticed that you say that frequency is an important factor to hypertrophy but have not figured out a way to do this since my schedule only allows me to train once a day. I know you have stated over and over that training split is the least important factor if one can not master the art of the perfectly explosive rep (which I think I have fairly understood and implying the concept) but I would highly appreciate any criticism, suggestions regarding that matter. Sorry for the long post but this has been bugging me for a while.
Ive been using your ramping/max force ideas for training with great success(74kg to 80kg in under four weeks with no supps!?) …however Im about to go on my cut diet and just curious as to whether this type of training would be as effective with a low caloric/carb diet?
Does the principle remain the same even without the large energy intakes?? Especially in terms of maintaining the mass I gained over the last few months.
thanks,
Matt
[/quote]
The approach that helps you put on the most muscle is also the approach that helps you better keep muscle when you diet down
Autoregulation automatically accounts for the possible drop in energy that may come with intense dieting… the amount of work you do per session being a direct result of what your physiology can do on that day. So autoregulation is the best way to avoid overtraining when dieting down
The CNS takes a beating during long diets. Probably because of the lack of carbs and increase in stress levels than can deplete neurotransmitters. So a system that puts less strain on the nervous system will arguably make the dieting down process more tolerable[/quote]
Thanks very much
I know its still important to take in the same volume pre-workout during a diet. Ie 50-100g carbs? Would it be effective to have for example, lunch (rice or bread) in place of a carb drink an hour before a workout? Ie. getting the carbs without having to have another meal?
I’m not sure, just an idea.[/quote]
I’m personally a low-carbs dieter when trying to get leaner. So I tried various approaches with the protocol to see how low in carbs I could go while still getting good results. For me, 30g of carbs pre-workout seems to be enough during a dieting phase. I’m low (no) carbs the rest of the day so I’m super insulin sensitive, which may explain why I can get by with so little carbs.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
REGARDING THE STRETCH EXERCISE ABOVE:
The first step in the clean catch stretch is to put two sets of safety pins in the power rack, with a bar resting on the first pair. The height of the second set of pins should about 2â??â?? below your collarbone when standing up.
Then you grab the bar and press it against the second set of pins, trying to force it to rest on your shoulders by pushing against the pins.
Finally your partner pushes your elbows up as high as possible (while you are still using the pins to keep the bar on your shoulders). It is very important to keep a good posture, so not cheat by arching your back or leaning backwards. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds, push down with your elbows for 5 seconds, relax and have your partner stretch you even more and hold for 10 seconds.
[/quote]
Christian,
For Athletes who are either inflexible or have shorter humerus lengths and therefore struggle with catching in a good position, is there a need for concern? In other words, if they catch with both humerus parallel to the torso as opposed to perpendicular, is this an issue if they are not training to compete in olympic lifting, but are only using them in their strength training?
I’d say yes, it is a problem. It puts a lot of stress on the elbows and will basically make it impossible to ever learn a full squat clean. Then again, if you never plan to compete, the later is not a big problem.
I have a short humerus, large biceps, and lacked mobility when I started training for the OL again. With the proper stretches I solved the problem in 1 week. My training partner Nick is build on a similar structure and also use to catch his cleans with the elbows pointing down, he solved the issue in less than a week.
You don’t have to catch with the elbows perpendicular to the floor if you don’t want to compete. But you should shoot for at least a 45 degrees angle.
[quote]denisined wrote:
How do you auto-regulate unilateral movements like the Bulgarian split squat?
Do you ramp all the way up with one leg and then do the other or do you keep switching between the two sides?
If you are switching between each side after every set do you use the same ramping for both or do both sides have their own individual ramp?[/quote]
I do not always ramp up unilateral movements like that, mostly because of the lower loads used. If the individual is using less than a total of 100lbs (holding a pair of 50lbs DBs) then I would do one feel set, one lighter set and jump straight to the work sets. I would autoregulate via rep quality. For example…
Assuming 5 reps per side with 45lbs…
Set 1 (feel set) 25lbs per side x 3 reps
Set 2 (lighter set) 35lbs per side x 5 reps
Set 3 45lbs x 5 reps (felt strong and powerful)
Set 4 45lbs x 5 reps (still solid and forceful)
Set 5 45lbs x 5 reps (starting to lose speed or quality of execution by 4th rep… stop exercise)
If you ramp up (which can still be done, especially if you have access to platemates of 1-2lbs) do your reps for the left side (if your right side is dominant), then with your right side… this is one set. Then add weight and start over with the left side.
I am seriously thinking about a shoulder specialization for several weeks, I read through your hss-100 shoulder spec article and I like the looks of it. I was wondering, with the perfect rep and max force, etc, would you change anything, or keep your previous recommendations the same?
I am also curious if you think I could combine this with 5/3/1, by doing my main 5/3/1 lifts first and then doing the shoulder work afterwards.
I am seriously thinking about a shoulder specialization for several weeks, I read through your hss-100 shoulder spec article and I like the looks of it. I was wondering, with the perfect rep and max force, etc, would you change anything, or keep your previous recommendations the same?
I am also curious if you think I could combine this with 5/3/1, by doing my main 5/3/1 lifts first and then doing the shoulder work afterwards.
I need to cap off these shoulders!
Thanks [/quote]
There will actually be a shoulder spec program (and video) available online soon (early next week?)
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
PERSONALLY I prefer the olympic-style squat. But that could be because of my olympic lifting background. I personally can squat more this way than by using a powerlifting style, which is unusual.
But it actually depends on the body structure of the individual and what you are trying to accomplish. [/quote]
Any chance you can talk more about body structure and the relationship to what one is trying to accomplish?