CT,
How would i fit deadlifts into a 5 time a week bodypart split??
currently i do:
chest
back
rest
legs
shoulders
arms
rest
i’m a teen and recover crazy fast…plus i eat like no ones business. However deadlifts are the one exercise that takes my whole body out of commision for the next 3-4 days. what kind of split would you do with deadlifts in it?
Thib,
Do you recommend using micro-loading with ramping? If we have access to plates in 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, 3/4 lb, and 1 lb denominations, would you try and “sneak on” additional sets at the end of a ramp that would likely have stopped if larger jumps had to be made?
And I wanted to ask a quick separate questions about curls. You said that you’re not particularly keen on cheating reps, but do you see value in adding a shoulder flexion after you’ve hit end elbow ROM on a curl, to add another stimulus, or do you see that as mere “window dressing” more than anything else?
Coach,
I’ve utilized ramping twice now and I’ve noticed that my max weight used at the end is low compared to when I don’t ramp. I have been using a 5 rep scheme.
Example:
My max bench is 225 so;
Bar: 1x10-15
95x1
135x1
145x1
160x5
170x5
180x5
Usually I can get 185-195 for 5.
Am I inducing too much fatigue rather than activating my CNS?
Is it possible that 5 reps may be high enough to deplete me?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
NumbInfinity wrote:
For that I came up with:
1.
Meal Plan for every Meal (Just solid foods, no shakes (PWO-Shake). Mostly Protein and Fat; Carbs in the morning and PWO in the PWO Shake)
Two bad things right off the bat.
a) read my peri-workout thread about when to ingest carbs around your workouts. Contrary to tradition and popular beliefs ingesting carbs post-workout is only about 30% as effective as ingesting them PRE workout. The main reason is that the catecholamines released during your training session prevent insulin release. So basically if your carbs are high post-workout you do not get the main benefits of the carbs which should be the insulin spike
b) I think that although you should follow a dietary program, it should be general and allow for some leeway. Know what type of food you need to eat but adjust your intake depending on what your body requires.
NumbInfinity wrote:
I have a few Questions:
1.
What whould you add to a before/after sheet?
I got like: Strength measure, Caliper Measure (done by a biosig coach),weight, BF, size measurements
IDEALLY blood tests, hormonal panel, cholesterol, lipid profile, blood pressure, etc.
I learned first hand that while being big is cool, gaining a lot of size fast can sometimes lead to health problems. It happened to me when I went from 215 to 242 with the I, BODYBUILDER project. I actually had to force myself to go back down to 215 because of health reasons. Now I was smarter about it and have reached 230 and still feel very good. Be smart about it, it’s one thing to be big, but your body needs to be able to support that added mass.
NumbInfinity wrote:
2.
What supplements do you recommend? (Good thing is i can easily get anything from Poliquins stuff.)
First thing is the peri-workout protocol. Get that straight and that’s more than half the battle.
At least, get:
Surge Workout Fuel
2 scoops 45 minutes prior to the workout
Surge Recovery
2 scoops 15 minutes prior to the workout
Anaconda (when it’s out)
2 scoops during the workout
MAG-10 Protein (when it’s out) or whey in the meantime
1-2 scoops post-workout
Then go with around 15g of fish oil and 6g of essential fatty acids (mostly GLA)
Alpha-GPC 1200mg 90 minutes prior to your workout.
NumbInfinity wrote:
Question to creatine/BA: I never used Creatine or Beta Alanine before. I’m thinking about trying these 2 supps.
What about the Weight gain from creatine? Should I wait until after the 9 weeks and do another project.
Or should I use it, so I can train at my fullest?
Might as well use it right now and make the most out of this experience.
10g 45 minutes pre-workout
10g post-workout
On your off days have 10g with breakfast.
NumbInfinity wrote:
Im already taking BCAAs since 1 week ago. Any thoughts about it?
Good product, but you need at least 20g 30 minutes pre-workout to make it work and the more the better.
[/quote]
Hey, you’re just hardcore.
You were already that big and gained that much of mass!
What whould you say, was the main part getting that big.
I, Bodybuilder or the Diet with PERI WO Nutrition? Or was it just plain hard work? 
I think I got it a little easier. Cause Im not already that big. But of course, I, too will gain as much size(no fat) as possible for me!
Just that you know ca. how I eat.
I got a Meal Plan like:
Times for Meals:
(wakeup 7.30) ca. 7.30 ; 9.30 ; 12.30 ; 15 ; 18 ; 20.30 ; 22.00; (22.30 bedtime)
Then if its a Training Day: I add a PWO Shake.
I Eat:
Chicken/Turkey, Beef, Nuts, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Red Palm Oil, Fish, Veggies, Fruits, Quinoa/WildRice/Sweet Potatoe, Cheese, Eggs, lentils, Beans (PWO: CHO, Quality Whey, Glutamine)
Sample Meals:
-300g Meat + Veggies + Oil/Nuts
-450g Fish + Veggies + Oil/Nuts
-2 eggs + lentils/beans
(this are the minimum quantitys; if I wanna eat more, I do it.)
I will eat Meat 3-4times a day. the other meals depend on my work and other stuff.
Carbs just in the morning. (Maybe pre workout too, if you convince me.)
No Shakes as Meal Replacement. (Dont wanna add fat, and spike insulin all day long)
No Milk, no Soy, now Gluten (means no bread, pasta etc. with rye, barley and wheat)
No Cheat Meals (I do it without because I already eat what I love to eat => lots of MEAT!
Questions:
Anything to add to the “Stuff I eat” - List?
I got it Carbs in the morning and PRE Workout too. I get a solid Meal PRE Workout(Like Turkey, Veggies and 1 Fruit) Should i just add Quinoa(etc.) to that Meal or should I get a PRE WO Shake too? What time PRE Workout? What about the Meal after the PWO Shake? Carbs too?
Anaconda and Mag-10 Protein ARENT out NOW. I started my project yesterday. (And Im living in Germany too.) What else to do?
I get like 15-20g of Fishoil a day or more, depending on mood/time/stresslevel. Poliquins whould do the trick I think.
I already take Alpha-GPC prior to Training but just 2 caps. You really suggest 4 caps(1200mg)?
10g PRE and POST Workout / on Offdays 10g for breakfast. That counts for creatine-monohydrate? (I got a good german blend. Whould do the job?)
How do you suggest taking Beta Alanine? Poliquins whould be ok, I think!?
Im taking 22,75g of BCAAS (Caps from Poliquin too) WHILE Training right now. Why should I
take them PRE Training?
Something about me now.
Im training for about 8 months now. I added like 28punds (13kg) in the first 5 months where i ate like a horse.(BF stayed the same) Then the last 3 months had gone bad, cause of eating too less. (I too got skin cancer like problems.) But now Im getting into the groove again, and want to kickstart my progress again. And as I decided yesterday Deadline is 31st Decembre. So its more like a 13 week project now.
What do you think about the exercise Selection:
(Full Body; 3x/week for the first 3 weeks; then I think I will go into a Upper/Lower) Deadlifting movement(shifting between Rackpulls - Benchpulls - Floor Deadlift)
Pressing movement (Acro Bench Fatgrip)
Pulling Movement (Chinup, weighted)
Knee extension Movement (Benoit Stepup; later Peterson Stepup)
Ex Ro 90�?�° DB Fatgripz
The Thing is I got a (more or less) strong back/triceps, but a weak chest/biceps.
Any Thoughts about it? Working on Weaknesses is always the most beneficial, right?
Funny thing is, as I read in your thread your recommending “ramping”. Thats one thing I automatically did. The good thing is now I know WHY this is working. Thank you.
THANKS a lot for taking your expensive time and answering our questions here!
Greetings
Marcel
hello coach.please answer in this question.because i havent power rack aand i cant perform half press(iam following the winning arms race program from Charles Poliquin book)do you know another way to perform this exercise?can you suggest other exercise to replace half press?iam looking forward to hearing for you!
I am new to weightlifting and have some problems with my lower back rounding (small rounding, more like losing its tightness) in the bottom of the full back squat aswell as front squats.
Do you have any tips on correcting this? Or is this nothing I need to really worry about aslong as its to such a low extent?
Do you have any recommended reading to further improve and injury-proof my squats?
Thanks
When you went from 215 to 242, what type of problems did you encounter? Was it just the things you mentioned when you said “I, Bodybuilder” jacked you up too fast?
Did you start to feel like crap when you put on too much muscle too fast?
Also, was 215 alrady BIG for you? I mean you’re not even 6 feet tall, right?
I used to be 130 or less as a lean, non-weightlifter. I’m 69 inches tall. I feel much better now as I approach 160 after having been lifting for almost a year. I just don’t want to lose what I have going by getting too big too fast.
Sorry one more quick ? i forgot to ask
Do you think snatch-grip dealifts are a good outter deltoid builer. I know it’s more taxing on the CNS than lat raises but I really feel it in my outter delts. I don’t feel like I get much out of lateral raises. What do you think about this? Also, what else is good for the outter deltoids?
thank you so much
Hey Coach, thanks for answering all the questions. I envy your patience in answering some of the questions. After the 2nd time of repeating lift as fast as possible, ramping up the weight and mostly 5 reps and under, Id be ready to call it a day haha.
Im designing a new split and picked up on a remark you made earlier about how most muscle groups responded better to stimulation twice a week? My diet and supplementation is on point right now so believe I could handle it.
The idea i had in mind was:
Mon-Legs(Squat-based)/Shoulders
Tuseday-Chest/Biceps
Wednesday-Back/Triceps
Thursday-Legs(Deadlift-based)/Shoulders
Friday-Chest/Biceps
Saturday-Back/Triceps
Sunday-OFF
The question was whether you would recommend performing the same workout twice for that muscle group. For example chest:
I would perform a primary movement of BB bench press in the 3 rep range followed by DB incline in the 5 rep range. Depending on how I feel, would maybe add a tertiary excercise(flyes, pullover etc.) possibly upto 7 reps.
Would you recommend to perform this twice a week or would switching things up, perhaps on the 2nd workout use a BB incline as primary movement for 3 reps followed by a secondary of DB flat for 5 reps…
Apologies if I am over-thinking this…
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into answering the questions. Just by reading your answers to the questions in this article discussion alone I have learned a lot.
quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Loui.s wrote:
With all of this talk about “ramping,” let me ask, what did people do before? I never heard of “ramping” but I’ve been doing it all along. I don’t get what alternative there is. You start off small and then go to heavier weights. The only difference I see is accelerating the weight, but that seems like a different subject.
Thank you.
I honestly have been ramping all of my training life, did it instinctively and all the powerlifters, Olympic lifters, and athletes that I trained with did it this way. I never mentioned it before because I too, thought that everybody was training this way. Turns out that a lot of people screwed up my program by doing all the sets all-out instead of ramping.
With the greatest respect coach I find it truly amazing that you thought that everybody was using a ramping style method of loading. With your vast knowledge of sports science and interest in historical bodybuilding methodology etc.
Hey coach
I cannot explain exactly, hope you understand me.
Is there any kind of scale I can focus on for the strenght for the whole body, for the most important exercises like squat, bench press etc., for a balanced body, in relation to bodyweight?
I know in some articles there were such scales, but i cannot find one.
thanks
[quote]gigigo wrote:
Hey coach
I cannot explain exactly, hope you understand me.
Is there any kind of scale I can focus on for the strenght for the whole body, for the most important exercises like squat, bench press etc., for a balanced body, in relation to bodyweight?
I know in some articles there were such scales, but i cannot find one.
thanks[/quote]
Such ‘scales’ are worthless because different body types will be better suited for some lifts than others. For example, I’m built to bench and squat but not for deadlifts and rows. So I might look out of balance according to some scales, but it is really just bad leverage on some lifts.
Also, if you have to ask whether you are strong for your size it generally means that you aren’t strong.
Someone who is strong doesn’t need to be reassured that he is.
[quote]Mac2 wrote:
quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Loui.s wrote:
With all of this talk about “ramping,” let me ask, what did people do before? I never heard of “ramping” but I’ve been doing it all along. I don’t get what alternative there is. You start off small and then go to heavier weights. The only difference I see is accelerating the weight, but that seems like a different subject.
Thank you.
I honestly have been ramping all of my training life, did it instinctively and all the powerlifters, Olympic lifters, and athletes that I trained with did it this way. I never mentioned it before because I too, thought that everybody was training this way. Turns out that a lot of people screwed up my program by doing all the sets all-out instead of ramping.
With the greatest respect coach I find it truly amazing that you thought that everybody was using a ramping style method of loading. With your vast knowledge of sports science and interest in historical bodybuilding methodology etc. [/quote]
Well I was first trained by a football strength coach who was a former olympic lifter… ramping is the norm among olympic lifters. I was trained by him for 6 years. Then I switched to olympic lifting, so obviously my coaches also had me ramp up as it is traditional OL methodology. I did that for 6 years. Then I started training in a powerlifting-strongman gym and most guys were ramping too. I trained there for 4-5 years.
So for most of my formative years, ramping was automatic for me. Since very few books (if any) describe how one should progress from set to set, I assumed that ramping was done.
[quote]toomuchcep wrote:
Hey Coach, thanks for answering all the questions. I envy your patience in answering some of the questions. After the 2nd time of repeating lift as fast as possible, ramping up the weight and mostly 5 reps and under, Id be ready to call it a day haha.
Im designing a new split and picked up on a remark you made earlier about how most muscle groups responded better to stimulation twice a week? My diet and supplementation is on point right now so believe I could handle it.
The idea i had in mind was:
Mon-Legs(Squat-based)/Shoulders
Tuseday-Chest/Biceps
Wednesday-Back/Triceps
Thursday-Legs(Deadlift-based)/Shoulders
Friday-Chest/Biceps
Saturday-Back/Triceps
Sunday-OFF
The question was whether you would recommend performing the same workout twice for that muscle group. For example chest:
I would perform a primary movement of BB bench press in the 3 rep range followed by DB incline in the 5 rep range. Depending on how I feel, would maybe add a tertiary excercise(flyes, pullover etc.) possibly upto 7 reps.
Would you recommend to perform this twice a week or would switching things up, perhaps on the 2nd workout use a BB incline as primary movement for 3 reps followed by a secondary of DB flat for 5 reps…
Apologies if I am over-thinking this…
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into answering the questions. Just by reading your answers to the questions in this article discussion alone I have learned a lot.[/quote]
I would definitely recommend changing things around. Either change the exercises or the methods used.
[quote]toots27mkc wrote:
Sorry one more quick ? i forgot to ask
Do you think snatch-grip dealifts are a good outter deltoid builer. I know it’s more taxing on the CNS than lat raises but I really feel it in my outter delts. I don’t feel like I get much out of lateral raises. What do you think about this? Also, what else is good for the outter deltoids?
thank you so much
[/quote]
No they aren’t. They might fatigue the lateral deltoid because they are used isometrically to hold the weight, but I doubt that they will build much size there.
As for good lateral deltoid exercises, by favorite is low twitch reps on the lateral raise machine, leaning-away laterals and restart dumbbell laterals.
[quote]toots27mkc wrote:
When you went from 215 to 242, what type of problems did you encounter? Was it just the things you mentioned when you said “I, Bodybuilder” jacked you up too fast?
Did you start to feel like crap when you put on too much muscle too fast?
Also, was 215 alrady BIG for you? I mean you’re not even 6 feet tall, right?
I used to be 130 or less as a lean, non-weightlifter. I’m 69 inches tall. I feel much better now as I approach 160 after having been lifting for almost a year. I just don’t want to lose what I have going by getting too big too fast.[/quote]
I suffered sleep apnea, narcolepsy (was falling asleep during the day, sometimes while driving), I was constantly out of breat and generally felt bad.
I have a heart malformation from birth, so the added size might have put too much strain on my heart.
At 215lbs I don’t consider myself big because that has been my normal bodyweight for years.
Thanks. I just noticed in the mirror the other day that my medial delt is now significantly smaller than the anterior. Must be from all those overhead presses I’ve been doing for a few months. At least they worked.
[quote]Jbrew wrote:
If your genetically gifted with good abs do you feel there is a real need to work them in the off-season other than the indirect activation they get from things such as squats and deads…[/quote]
No, I rarely if ever train abs and I have a deep 6 pack regardless of my condition and an 8 pack when I’m super lean.
Abs work might be useful simply for lower back health, but not everybody need to work them for them to show.
"NumbInfinity wrote:
I have a few Questions:
1.
What whould you add to a before/after sheet?
I got like: Strength measure, Caliper Measure (done by a biosig coach),weight, BF, size measurements
IDEALLY blood tests, hormonal panel, cholesterol, lipid profile, blood pressure, etc. "
What would you suggest a 21 yr old male who got a 41 ng/dL total testerone? (doctor said the norm for someone my age is at least 500 ng/dL, he had no advice on how to raise it)
I have a whole lot of things wrong but i was wondering if you had any thoughts on just the testerone
CT,
How can you increase hamstring recruitment during a back squat?