New Training Questions

Training
222

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
threewhitelights wrote:
Question on blast isometrics…

So I’m planning my next shoulder/tri/chest specialization phase, with the goal being to bring my push press max up for competition (strongman). I start slowing down around nose level and fail right above my forehead, so I was thinking about doing some iso holds (pushing against pins) after my DE Military Press for assistance.

After seeing the video, I’m considering doing blast iso’s instead, as it seems like that would better stimulate the CNS without destroying it for my max effort day. You used them mostly as an activation exercise, but would it make sense to do 3-4 sets of 3 at different heights (nose to forehead) right after some speed reps?

Also, I’ve based a lot of my training around what you write here and in your books, but I was wondering with the way all your views on training have changed and advanced, will you be writing another book at some point?

I might, right now I have a lot on my plate, but never say never.

As for your vertical pressing work you could do:

DAY 1 HEAVY ACTIVATION

A. Top half shoulder press from pins (from just above the top of your head)

  • Ramp up to one maximal set of 3 reps (ramping means that you always use the same number of reps but gradually increase the weight ntil you reach your max for that number of reps)

B. Standing military press
Sets of 3 reps starting at 70%, ramp up to the max you can lift for 3 reps

C. Push press
Sets of 3 reps… start with 20lbs less than you ended up on the military and ramp up to the max you can do for 3 reps

DAY 2 DYNAMIC ACTIVATON

A. Military press blast iso (from shin to eye level)
Sets of 3 reps starting with 60% of your max, work up to the max weight that you can SLAM and HOLD for 1-2 seconds on the pins

B. Military press 75-80% of your max for sets of 2 explosive reps. Rest for around 30 seconds and stop the sets when you lose speed

C. High incline bench press
Sets of 3 reps starting at 70%, ramp up to the max you can lift for 3 reps

DAY 3 CONTRAST ACTIVATION

A1. Miitary press twitch reps (high speed partial reps from mouth level to eyes level)
Sets of 5-9 seconds, ramp up the weight until you stop to lose speed

A2. Push press
Sets of 3 reps, start at 70% of your max and ramp up until you reach your max for 3 reps

B1. Blast iso military press
same as Day 2

B2. Military press
Sets of 3 reps, start at 70% of your max and ramp up until you reach your max for 3 reps[/quote]

Thanks for writing that out, I’ll give that a try during my next pressing specialization phase. Will report back with results.

223

Hey CT,

Your ideas on focusing on the central nervous system have reminded me of a text / training method you may be familiar with. Have you ever read “The Sports Book” by Dietrich Buchenholz or heard of Inno-Sport? In his book, which came out a few years back, his main concept for workout structure is called AREG (autoregulatory) training. He would prescribe time brackets (usually either 5-9 seconds or 25-40 seconds) and when a drop off % of 6% was reached (6% reps less than initial performance, or other methods of measuring performance) the exercise was dropped from the rotation. Its interesting to note that he had an extremely diverse range of ways of performing exercises (very rarely using traditional methods) and your blast iso’s and twitch reps are found in his book under slightly different names.

His method was mainly geared to athletes rather than recreational lifters or bodybuilders and because of its complexity has fallen by the wayside, but I was wondering if you have had any experience with his teachings? I’m so excited to see these type of ideas applied more to bodybuilding, though DB did have an article or two on how to set up a BB program.

Lastly, I do have a copy of TSB that I scanned as a PDF, and as the book is no longer in print, if I can legally share it with you if you haven’t seen and are interested in it I would gladly share it with you!

Thanks CT
Justin

224

CT,
a couple questions;
first, is it neccessary to pair a CNS stimulating movement/exercise with a “full movement” (dare i say; normal style full range of motion)for optimal effect? or could I focus on one movement at a time (a fast twitch/blast iso etc…) and have good gains?

   Second, you mention regularly the focusing on a certain part of the body and doing "maintanance" work-outs on the supplementary muscle groups. Is this type of "split" neccessary to rest the CNS as i've read in many articles; or do you suggest it to people only as a way to make up ground for inconsistancies in their physique?

thanks a lot.

225

Hey Coach,

I have a question about back squats that I could use your input on. An oly lifting coach told me that a good way to do a back squat is to pause for a second or two in the bottom position, and i know you say to do reps as fast as possible. I’ve tried the pause with a nice controlled eccentric, not too slow, but controlled, and then lifted out of the hole with max acceleration and have found I think it actually works better at least for pure strength gain. Am I crazy or is this a legitimate way to lift.

226

Coach,

I just read the interview you did with Nate. Thanks for the great info.

If I used an upper/lower split, would you recommend ramping on every exercise? If I’m comprehending correctly, you could easily burn yourself if you went max intensity on every exercise. I am assuming this is why it is better to focus on 1-2 body parts. Still, is it ok to ramp when using an upper/lower, or total body for that matter?

As far as CNS activation, as long as we’re accelerating every rep, is this sufficient? I know you utilize methods such as clusters, heavy partials, ballistics, and explosive lifts also. How do we decide when and how often to use these methods?

Thanks for your time.

227

[quote]ryoshi wrote:
Hey Coach,

I have a question about back squats that I could use your input on. An oly lifting coach told me that a good way to do a back squat is to pause for a second or two in the bottom position, and i know you say to do reps as fast as possible. I’ve tried the pause with a nice controlled eccentric, not too slow, but controlled, and then lifted out of the hole with max acceleration and have found I think it actually works better at least for pure strength gain. Am I crazy or is this a legitimate way to lift.[/quote]

No no, it’s legitimate indeed. It is kinda like doing squats starting from pins in the low position.

Force production comes from either contractile strength (force produced by the muscle fibers themselves) or reflexive action (myotatic or stretch reflex).

When a muscle is fully stretched the reflex portion can take a lot of the burden of the first portion of the movement, the body thus has no need to recruit high threshold motor units as much as possible.

As little as a 2 seconds pause can inhibit the reflexive action by as much as 90%… so obviously this forces the muscles to produce more force through contraction…

And the faster that you try to explode magnifys this effect.

228

Thib, what do you think of such deadlift workout :

regular deadlifts for lower cluster reps (1-3) as CNS activator followed by an extended ROM deadlift (from high platform) without dead-stops for higher reps (3-5)

229

[quote]Mr.Martian wrote:
Coach,

I just read the interview you did with Nate. Thanks for the great info.

If I used an upper/lower split, would you recommend ramping on every exercise? If I’m comprehending correctly, you could easily burn yourself if you went max intensity on every exercise. I am assuming this is why it is better to focus on 1-2 body parts. Still, is it ok to ramp when using an upper/lower, or total body for that matter?

As far as CNS activation, as long as we’re accelerating every rep, is this sufficient? I know you utilize methods such as clusters, heavy partials, ballistics, and explosive lifts also. How do we decide when and how often to use these methods?

Thanks for your time.[/quote]

I am not CT, but I believe your final Q regarding how much and often relates to knowing when to auto-regulate. Too hard, too often is either for the foolish or for those with amazing CNS recovery ability. Perhaps try a feeler set like CT talks about and add more or less of those techniques based upon how your feeling for the day. If you feel great, go for broke. If you feel stressed or a little tired, cut the workload. I hope this helps.

230

With your never going above 5 reps, does that include isolation exercises?
Do you do heavy weights for things like Hammer Curls and attach a couple bands to Reverse Hyperextensions? Do you still ramp the weight for these assistance exercises?

231

Why do old-school bodybuilders, even those in a greater weight class than today’s bodybuilders, have smaller waists? I know some people say GH use and I guess even the amount of food they eat, but that still doesn’t seem to explain the discrepancy between the two.

232

[quote]Mr.Martian wrote:
Coach,

I just read the interview you did with Nate. Thanks for the great info.

If I used an upper/lower split, would you recommend ramping on every exercise? If I’m comprehending correctly, you could easily burn yourself if you went max intensity on every exercise. I am assuming this is why it is better to focus on 1-2 body parts. Still, is it ok to ramp when using an upper/lower, or total body for that matter?

As far as CNS activation, as long as we’re accelerating every rep, is this sufficient? I know you utilize methods such as clusters, heavy partials, ballistics, and explosive lifts also. How do we decide when and how often to use these methods?

Thanks for your time.[/quote]

First question… I always ramp up toward the max weight I can do on an exercise, on that day, for the selected number of reps and when I reach that max, I stop. This is the best way to avoid burning yourself up because you always go to what your body can give you, without being ‘in trouble’.

Second question … I don’t actually plan activation techniques. I do what I need to do to get in the zone. If before working out I already feel strong and amped up, simply ramping the weight with max acceleration will be enough.

But if I feel somewhat sluggish I will need to use some ‘stand-alone’ activation techniques.

233

[quote]keilnirby wrote:
Why do old-school bodybuilders, even those in a greater weight class than today’s bodybuilders, have smaller waists? I know some people say GH use and I guess even the amount of food they eat, but that still doesn’t seem to explain the discrepancy between the two.[/quote]

It’s a multi-factorial thing.

The biggest cause is the COMBINATION of insulin and hGH use. Well, the direct cause is probably an elevation in IGF-1 levels which occurs with high doses of hGH and is augmented with the concurrent use of insulin.

Elevated insulin levels have been linked to intra-visceral fat storage (which can give you a big cut even while super lean) and hGH can cause intravisceral water retention which will further cause that bloated look.

Then you also have the amount of food ingested by bodybuilders attempting to get bigger and bigger. Look at the top european amateur bodybuilders; very few of them have big guts even when they are ‘pro size’. It is also much less common for European bodybuilders to bulk to huge proportions during the off-season. I’ve seen the off-season diet of several top Eastern European bodybuilders and it is just as severe as the pre-contest diet of North American bodybuilders!

It’s not uncommon for North American bodybuilders to go up to 50+lbs over their competitive weight in hope of piling on muscle. Gaining that much weight requires a mega-caloric intake. If you ingest a ton of food every 2-3 hours it’s not surprising to have a big gut most of the time.

234

[quote]TheBlade wrote:
With your never going above 5 reps, does that include isolation exercises?
Do you do heavy weights for things like Hammer Curls and attach a couple bands to Reverse Hyperextensions? Do you still ramp the weight for these assistance exercises?[/quote]

  1. I still ramp the weight for isolation exercises
  2. I also go heavy and low reps on isolation exercises
235

Hi Coach,

From a physiological standpoint, can chronic inflammation cause tight muscles or increase the development of scar tissue and or trigger points?

I suffer from chronically tight muscles. I know a lot of people deal with this, and it definitely affects my training. I’m not talking one muscle group. Almost all my muscle groups need constant stretching and foam rolling, although I often don’t have time. Is it natural, and should I just accept that I will have to battle with it my whole life? I know what helps it (foam rolling and stretching. I also have Coach Nick Tuminello’s DVDs, Magnificent Mobility, as well as a Trigger Point Therapy set from www.tptherapy.com/ that I use frequently), and I do all of these when I have time, but it seems that I am always fighting a losing battle with it, and it definitely affects my training. In your opinion, what could be causing this?

My father also suffers from this pretty bad, but he just thinks it’s old motorcycle crashes. He’s had 2 knee, 2 back, and 2 shoulder surgeries, yet he doesn’t really get “injured.” He just always seems to be sore. I’m not asking for a diagnosis. I just want to know if you have heard of some common cause of this condition to which I refer. I don’t want to be in my dad’s boat when I get to his age. Could it be cause by an allergic reaction to food?

Cordialement,
BT

236

CT, lets say someone were to specialize on chest and delts. what could the split look like? and how many sets each?
-thanks

237

Hey CT,

Do you recommend the style of training you’ve been advocating (atleast published on this site) like low reps, auto-reg etc. for beginners or novice lifters or should they train more “traditionally” with higher reps , set program etc. until at a certain level of strength or something?

I’m eager to try and auto-reg my training and use lower reps and all of that but from all I read these are all more advanced techniques…

Based on your recent training techniques is there anything you would recommend to a novice lifter like myself in terms of Split, reps/sets/volume etc. ?

if it helps here are my stats

age: 16
weight:155lb
bench: 165lb
Squat: around 225lb
Cable row : 50kg x 10… not sure of 1RM
Pullups: 15

Thanks in advance!

238

I was really hoping for an answer to my post about Dietrich Buchenholz and Inno-Sport, don’t you think it has as much value as “how should I train” asked in a million different ways? It is still a new training question with a lot of thought and I hope you find it worthy enough to respond to.

On another note Thibs, thanks for all you do. I have designed my most recent program with help from your ideas!

Thanks,
Justin

239

Thib, I’m interested in your opinion on this…

If you’ve seen the famous powerlifter Konstantinov, the amazing thing about him is that he uses close grip even in competition on the bench even though having long arms.
(here’s a video if you don’t follow that kind of stuff : - YouTube)

In his interview he explained why uses close-grip. First, he’s extremely triceps-dominant. But not only that.

Primarily, he said that with regular grip he can’t engage his lats on the bottom. And secondary he claimed that close-grip is the most injury-proof way to bench. Because, in his words, regular grip places too much stress on ligaments of the shoulders and pecs, and they recover much longer than muscles and don’t allow to bench frequently and injury-less. By using close grip, he was able to bench at every session because as he said the stress was mostly on muscular system which is quick to recover.

What I found out long before learning about this lifter, is that I’m much more comfortable with shoulder-width grip too. I’ve found that I contract lats harder as well with this grip and overall I have more power, speed and control. Can this be connected with the fact that I have a narrow bone structure (shoulders) and that close-grip is somehow closer to the “center of power” ? In your experience, have you trained a lot of athletes that were stronger in close-grip ? Why in your opinion it’s more powerful for some ?

240

What do you do with bodybuilders to know that their building not just lean muscle, but their proportions are optimal?

Thank you.

241

[quote]Loui.s wrote:
What do you do with bodybuilders to know that their building not just lean muscle, but their proportions are optimal?

Thank you.[/quote]

I don’t really understand your question. But I can tell you that with bodybuilders, evaluations are very subjective… since the sport is judged by what they look like, you should evaluate them by how they look.

One of the role of the coach is to have an eye for the bodybuilding physique so that he can look at a physique and know which muscle is lagging and rubs the physique of its “magic”.

As for knowing if what he gains is mostly muscle, well that’s one of the reason why I think that bodybuilders should stay relatively lean, it is easier to evaluate a physique and muscle size when the athlete is not covered up by a coat of fat.