[quote]mstorm wrote:
threewhitelights wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
mstorm wrote:
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
For the day 1 partial press from pins would you suggest using something like a 2 second pause to eliminate any bounce, while pulling down on the pins?
Yes, you start every rep from a dead start from the pins.
Could you explain a bit more about this program ?
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Is it it supposed to be done within 1 week ? (Mon-Wed-Fri or similar)
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Why potential 87-92% (3RM of the day can’t be less than 85% in the worst case scenario) sets on each day, with 2 of the days having 2 exercises this way ? According to what you have said to me earlier it’s too much for the CNS.
Forgive me if asked something similar before (you didn’t answer and you hate those that repeat) But I really like your solutions, I’m just trying to understand it all, and try a similar approach. So far, I’m totally confused about this!
I’m not CT, but this is how I plan to set this up when I do it:
Day 1 Heavy Activation OH Press
Day 2 Deadlift/Upper Back work
Day 3 Dynamic Activation OH Press
Day 4 Front Squat/Calves/Abs
Day 5 Contrast Activation OH Press
Obviously nothing spectacular on day 2 or day 4, as the point is that it’s a specialization routine.
As for question 2, it goes back to it being a spec routine. I’m not gunna fry my CNS going heavy 3x a week, even if it’s the same bodypart twice a week, unless I do too much for my other body parts. Since everything else will be reduced to maintenance (low volume 1x per week each), I shouldn’t have too much of a problem recovering. Besides that, I’m only planning on doing this for 3 weeks at a time.
My recommendation is to read Thib’s articles on specialization training and follow his Q&A more. He talks about spec training a lot. I’m starting to do it because I’m finding that as I get stronger, it becomes tougher to bring up all my lifts at once because of limited recovery, but it’s easy to bring up 1 lift at a time. Squatting, Pulling, and Pressing heavy every week led to gains here and there, but I can make significant, guaranteed gains on any one of those at a time.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been trying this shoulder press spec routine for a week and don’t feel burnt out one bit. On the non-target days, if you don’t go overkill on the other bodypart exercises you’ll feel good and energized all week.[/quote]
When you’re done with it, if you wouldn’t mind drop me a PM and let me know how it went
. I’ve got legs next, so I won’t be starting shoulder spec for another 3 weeks, but I’d be interested to see what you got out of it and what you learned.