[quote]Mondy wrote:
Thibs,
Z-12 doesn’t put me to sleep, but somehow ashwangdha and passionflower and hops all do. Would you recommend me to rotate them regularly if I use them as a sleeping aid?
Thank you.[/quote]
Yes, every day or every 2 days. Using the one that works best FOR YOU on the days of your hardest workouts.
[quote]bmar22 wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]Stevenwags wrote:
Coach, I read your chest specialization article and it sounds very appealing and im looking into trying it out. However I was wondering if after the chest specialization if I could jump right into and arm specialization or a shoulder? I would like to do a 3-4 week specialization program for all of my muscle groups but I just wanted to verify it with you real quick.
I just want to make sure that jumping from one specialization to another wont mess up the resting period which is so crucial for this type of training. Also if this is a good way to train for a few months should I change the routine for different muscle groups. For example, you say to lift the chest on monday, wedsenday, and friday, now would I apply this same routine for any muscle I would like to specialize? Thanks Coach[/quote]
No, actually you can’t. The shoulders already get hit hard when doing a chest spec program and so do the triceps. The only muscles that can be specialized on after chest are legs and back.
The ideal order if you are gonna use a spec for all groups is as follow:
Shoulders/Traps
Back/Biceps
Legs
Chest/Triceps[/quote]
I believe I heard that shoulders is the first part of IBB. can we expect this type of specialization split for IBB? or am I completely off base lol? if so sorry curiosity is getting the best of me.
but for a serious question, whats your opinon on fullbody slits done 4x-5x a week, especially on the protocol? If you think it would be beneficial to hit with so much frequecny how should I split it up in terms of quantity of exercises.
Ive also thought about doing upper/ lower and an extra arm day for lagging issues 2x a week.
thx coach for all the help. hope all is well.[/quote]
Yep, that’s pretty much the split of the IBB, which is the first program using the High Force Training methodology
The protocol would make full body more effective by enhancing recovery, obviously. I often mention that your training split is actually the least important variable. As long as you can recover and perform optimally on every exercise of each session then you will be fine
[quote]Addict3d wrote:
CT,
My girlfriend wants to get into lifting and exercise more to lose a few pounds, but I have never really been able to give her advice that would help her, other than diet is the main part of weight loss. How does your training of women differ from men? Any advice?[/quote]
It differs mostly because their goal differ.
I would suggest going to the figureathletes.com web site and looking for my articles on Optimal figure training as well as hypermetabolic training.
[quote]Clypher wrote:
Thibs, ever since employing autoregulation techniques the subtle differences in how exercises feel has become much more apparent to me. Basically I find them to fall into 4 categories:
A)Efficient exercises
-where it seems even at 85% 1RM I seem to be able to rep highly. (horizontal pulling)
B)Strong exercises
-ones where I can’t rep much at 85%, but my 1RM is very high comparitively. (Deadlifts and its variations)
C)Powerful exercises
-movements where I can remain explosive and accelerate the weight even at 1RM. (Any pushing exercise in my case)
D)Volume exercises
-ones where I feel weak both in strength and power, but am able to do many sets of low reps with very little rest in between. (this is what pullups are for me)
From this information is it possible to determine the best method to train each type of exercise?
Is this just the nature of the muscle type being expressed, or are these sort of things different for different people?
If so, is it more of a consequence of genetics, or of how each exercise has been trained?[/quote]
Very good observations! Obviously it varies from people to people. But yeah, normally not all motor patterns respond the same way. For example I’m a natural pusher… any pressing exercise plus squatting comes easy to me. So I’m powerful on them and my 1RM is high… however my capacity to maintain a 85% effort for a lot of reps is limited.
I’m the opposite on all pulling exercises.
Yes, it does affect my training.
For example let’s say that the first step I use on all main exercises is to work up to a 3RM. On pushing exercises and squats I might do several sets of 3-5 reps with 80-85% of that 3RM OR continue to ramp up to a heavy single.
On pulling movements if I work up to a 3RM I will back down to 80-85% and perform 1 set of max reps.
Coach,
A few questions:
When trying your squat test i fall backwards, but when i have my heels raised i am completely fine. Any thoughts as to why this is?
I have gained some great quad development using this heels raised idea, would this be fine to use permanently as long as i follow this up with a hamstring exercise each time to make sure i get balanced development?
Finally, i am also fine when using a wide stance, almost like a powerlifitng stance. What difference do you notice when squatting in this stance to the normal closer stance?
Thanks !
J
[quote]King Eric wrote:
Coach,
A few questions:
When trying your squat test i fall backwards, but when i have my heels raised i am completely fine. Any thoughts as to why this is?
I have gained some great quad development using this heels raised idea, would this be fine to use permanently as long as i follow this up with a hamstring exercise each time to make sure i get balanced development?
Finally, i am also fine when using a wide stance, almost like a powerlifitng stance. What difference do you notice when squatting in this stance to the normal closer stance?
Thanks !
J[/quote]
Probably lack of ankle mobility or tight psoas
Yes it is. People get their panties in a bunch when it comes to squatting with elevated heels, forgetting that the athletes widely regarded as the best squatters (olympic lifters) use shoes with a built-in elevated heel! I would still work on improving ankle and psoas flexibility though.
It will work the glutes and hamstrings more
Thanks for the quick replies! very interesting
Couple more for you if thats okay?
In your experience, what have you seen work well at improving ankle mobility?
As One day per week i have a Squat + Assistance session, would it be a good idea to do one week of Heel raised normal stance squats and then the next week do wide stance squats, rotating each week? As the first places most stress on the quads and the latter on the hamstrings and glutes, would this give a balanced development?
Thanks!
J
[quote]King Eric wrote:
Thanks for the quick replies! very interesting
Couple more for you if thats okay?
In your experience, what have you seen work well at improving ankle mobility?
As One day per week i have a Squat + Assistance session, would it be a good idea to do one week of Heel raised normal stance squats and then the next week do wide stance squats, rotating each week? As the first places most stress on the quads and the latter on the hamstrings and glutes, would this give a balanced development?
Thanks!
J[/quote]
various stretches, dynamic and static. It’s not rocket science
no, people change exercises way too often. Stick with the basic exercises for 4 weeks before even thinking about switching to a variation.
About Power Drive, Spike Shooters and Alpha-GPC as workout stimulant, which one would you recommend for what purpose?
Is Power Drive outdated compared to Alpha-GPC?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[/quote]
[/quote]
nice! could you elaborate a tad? I realize all of this info will probably be made public when IBB is ready but is it possible for you to give me a basic idea on this? Does it have anying (or everything) to do with “the prefect rep” and auto-regulation like in your “new training thread” where you add weight for sets of 5 continuously?
sorry if Im off base Im just feeding my curiosity. Im kind of a muscle science nerd I find this stuff really interesting.
as always thanks for all the help!
[quote]CPerfringens wrote:
About Power Drive, Spike Shooters and Alpha-GPC as workout stimulant, which one would you recommend for what purpose?
Is Power Drive outdated compared to Alpha-GPC?[/quote]
Alpha-GPC to get you focused
Spike to get you amped up
Power Drive after the workout to help with neural recovery
Would I gain muscle on Winstrol or is it primarily for cutting?
[quote]Campy17 wrote:
Would I gain muscle on Winstrol or is it primarily for cutting? [/quote]
No AAS questions please
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?
Coach,
I’ve never split legs into 2 separate workouts before, quads then hams. I was thinking back squats, split squats, jump squats, and extensions Monday then deads, straight-leg DL, weighted arches/bridges, and curls Thursday. Is that a bad combination of lifts and schedule? The rest of the week may be Tuesday back, Wednesday chest, and Friday shoulders, bi’s, and tri’s. Thanks.
[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.
A friend gets hamstring cramps during a supine bridge, what would you do?
In High-Threshold Muscle Building, The Muscle growth template, what constitutes a beginner and an intermediate?
How important is upper-trap training for general strength & muscle balance. Do you have any means to compare a balance between overhead vertical pulling, horizontal pulling, and the rest of vertical pulling exercises such as deadlifts and or shrugs.
For hypertrophy, I respond better to reps in the 8-12 range. I’m a little confused though as I try to train with maximal weights as you teach, and I am definitely stronger since incorporating your techniques. Problem is, is sometimes a 8-12 rm is only 40% of my max. It seems like I should respond better to lower rep ranges for size but I don’t. I would appreciate any insight to why this is so.
When working with higher reps it often times becomes difficult to concentrically apply maximal force, and if doing so, I will often times become exhausted to the point where I’ll have a large 10-20% or even more decrease in performance. Is this good?
When it comes down to it, my work capacity sucks and I strongly feel like hypertrophy suffers a large deal because of it. Your high threshold training has been highly informative and really helped me make continuous strength progress but not hypertrophy. What strategies can I incorporate into my training to improve my work capacity?
I really love to workout so doing it twice a day would thrill me to no end. I have heard a lot of guys getting really good results from this too. The only thing is, I really don’t know how to train twice a day. You have said that I need to work the same muscle groups both workouts but do I do the same exact exercise both times?
Hi Coach. If I’ve been off of lifting for a couple of months, what is the best way to “come back” if the end goal is fat loss? I know a good strategy for fat loss is to do something like heavy lifting, various forms of cardio/running (HIIT, Steady State, & Sprint), plus metabolic training/complexes. However I would need to spend some time getting back in shape first. With a goal of wanting to be “cut” by March 8 (3 months from today), how would you advise I allocate the time? Is 1 month getting back in shape and 2 months of a more typical plan a good idea? I plan on using the Anaconda protocol after a few of getting back in shape.
How does my plan look?:
First 4 weeks would be something like this:
TBT with Upper Body Push, Pull, and Lower Body split for 3 sessions per day, 5 days per week.
Example Day 1:
06 AM Upper Body Pull (High Reps Focus)
12 PM Upper Body Push (Low Reps Focus)
06 PM Lower Body (High Reps Focus)
Example Day 2:
06 AM Upper Body Pull (Low Reps Focus)
12 PM Upper Body Push (High Reps Focus)
06 PM Lower Body (Low Reps Focus)
Repeat for 5 total “Workout Days” per week
I would use a volume of approx 20 minutes for each session (except warm up time), and try to increase the workload each session mostly by decreasing the rest periods for the first 2 weeks, and then increasing load the second two weeks. I’m also thinking a half dose Anaconda Protocol for all sessions. Would this be a good idea?
I would also include 1 or 2 high intensity interval cardio sessions (per week) depending on how I feel.
Following this 4 weeks, I would switch over to a more typical cutting protocol like “War Room Strategies For Fat Loss,” and do that for about 2 months, but I wanted to get your opinions on this first.
Thanks so much for your time.
coah hello.do you want to send you a dvd with an unbelieveble training workout from bulgarian weightlifters right before th 1988 seoul games?if yes post message.