New Training Questions

Training
502

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Italiano wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
krsoneeeee wrote:
CT

seeing as everyones talking about twitch reps, i gave them a go in my last gym sesh…i did them more as a main exercise than an activation tool, and my joints are pretty sore(more than usual after trying a new type of exercise) …just curious if they are too strenuous to be used all the time ie too hard on the tendons etc…or im just soft.

Im going to keep trying them for a few weeks anyway cos im sure they must produce more force than normal exercises… but just seeing what your thoughts are, and how to use them as a main exercise rather than just “activation”.

cheers,
Matt

Twitches put a tremendous stress on the muscles because the amount of force put on the muscles in the stretch position is immense. The reason is that the super fast eccentric phase followed by a sharp turnaround to the concentric action creates a whipping effect on the muscle. This is one of the reason why twitches are so powerful.

You can use them often, but don’t overdo them in any one session. For example I had a very good chest session in which I used a lot of twitched with added bands. That was LAST sunday and I’m still sore… and I rarely get sore.

Thibs, at what position should the twitches be performed for chest/ bench press? And should they be performed in both the low and top position? Thanks

Starting about 4" from the chest, pressing around 6 inches.

Don’t perform them in the top position, I found that to be ineffective.
[/quote]

is there a certain load percentage (approximately) that all twitch reps should be in or does it vary by exercise and position of “twitches”?

503

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Italiano wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
krsoneeeee wrote:
CT

seeing as everyones talking about twitch reps, i gave them a go in my last gym sesh…i did them more as a main exercise than an activation tool, and my joints are pretty sore(more than usual after trying a new type of exercise) …just curious if they are too strenuous to be used all the time ie too hard on the tendons etc…or im just soft.

Im going to keep trying them for a few weeks anyway cos im sure they must produce more force than normal exercises… but just seeing what your thoughts are, and how to use them as a main exercise rather than just “activation”.

cheers,
Matt

Twitches put a tremendous stress on the muscles because the amount of force put on the muscles in the stretch position is immense. The reason is that the super fast eccentric phase followed by a sharp turnaround to the concentric action creates a whipping effect on the muscle. This is one of the reason why twitches are so powerful.

You can use them often, but don’t overdo them in any one session. For example I had a very good chest session in which I used a lot of twitched with added bands. That was LAST sunday and I’m still sore… and I rarely get sore.

Thibs, at what position should the twitches be performed for chest/ bench press? And should they be performed in both the low and top position? Thanks

Starting about 4" from the chest, pressing around 6 inches.

Don’t perform them in the top position, I found that to be ineffective.
[/quote]
How many sets of twitch reps would you perform on bench? Same as your usual bench day?

504

Coach,

What do you recommend doing for maintenance work?

505

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Italiano wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
krsoneeeee wrote:
CT

seeing as everyones talking about twitch reps, i gave them a go in my last gym sesh…i did them more as a main exercise than an activation tool, and my joints are pretty sore(more than usual after trying a new type of exercise) …just curious if they are too strenuous to be used all the time ie too hard on the tendons etc…or im just soft.

Im going to keep trying them for a few weeks anyway cos im sure they must produce more force than normal exercises… but just seeing what your thoughts are, and how to use them as a main exercise rather than just “activation”.

cheers,
Matt

Twitches put a tremendous stress on the muscles because the amount of force put on the muscles in the stretch position is immense. The reason is that the super fast eccentric phase followed by a sharp turnaround to the concentric action creates a whipping effect on the muscle. This is one of the reason why twitches are so powerful.

You can use them often, but don’t overdo them in any one session. For example I had a very good chest session in which I used a lot of twitched with added bands. That was LAST sunday and I’m still sore… and I rarely get sore.

Thibs, at what position should the twitches be performed for chest/ bench press? And should they be performed in both the low and top position? Thanks

Starting about 4" from the chest, pressing around 6 inches.

Don’t perform them in the top position, I found that to be ineffective.
[/quote]

I tried twitch reps on bent-over rows and have some questions :

  1. I achieved optimal acceleration (1.5 rep per second) only with about 40-45% of maximum but not more (well, I don’t really know my true 1RM in row because it’s very subjective due to many possible positions, grips, cheating, etc., but that’s approximate) Is it normal or you’d expect higher result ?

  2. I never had elbow joint aches before from anything. But those row twitches gave me some irritating ache up to the next day. Is it actually the kind of ache that you’d expect and that is the adaptation sign ?

506

hi coach

first question
what’s your opinion on heavy clusters with 2 reps of 4RM; 4-5 double reps (4-5x2reps) and clusters with 3reps of somewhere between 5 and 6RM for3-4 - triple reps (3-4x3reps) with both having the same pause as the initial single rep cluster - 10 sec?

2nd
in case I did 3 exercises for a certain muscle/muscle group, where or/and when would you suggest putting yielding isometrics, 110-115% 1RM for 20-30 sec for instance (heavy static holds), and where/when pure eccentric sets (at the end of 1 exercise or at the end of the session, etc)? I don’t intend to do both in one or every session, just trying to plan ahead and optimally organize my sessions.

and for some info, my goal is overall and functional hypertrophy (priority is overall muscle growth, however i’d like to evolve it as functional strength-wise as I can)

thank you in advance

best regards

507

Thibs, not sure if this has been answered already, but I can’t seem to find it. Should all exercises be performed with an accelerated conentric portion of the lift? Take the ‘Thib System’ articles for example, during a constant tension isolation exercise. Should you still focus on an explosive concentric, all the while keeping the muscle under constant tension throughout the exercise?

Thanks

508

For a triceps dominate person, what would be the best way to use a specialization period to bring up the chest?

509

Coach
I understand that you have recently amended some of your practices. My question is if you were to write how to design a damn good program today, what would you change? Things like splits, frequency exercise selection? I assume you would recommend your ramping strategy with 6 or less reps. Perhaps some of these variables are by themselves not the most important, but if your goal is to teach people to train themselves, I think these answers might simplify that. Thanks for your time.

510

Coach,

I’m looking to build up my inner thigh. What are some effective exercises for the adductors?

511

[quote]octagon wrote:
Coach,

I’m looking to build up my inner thigh. What are some effective exercises for the adductors?[/quote]

Sumo deadlift and squats

512

CT, i would like to use Clusters in my Bench Press Routine, but i have no idea how to, how many sets in total, how many seconds rest in between reps / sets … and i have no idea where to read about that type of training, i would like to use it on bench press from pins because i have one month now in a city where the gym has a rack with 4 pins, thank god…

so could u shortly describe me how to do it best lets say on the bench press? i will apply the rest by myself if it comes to other bodyparts of course

thanks

513

Hi Coach,
I noticed that you never specify the rest time between sets when you say that you start with 60% of your 1 RM with a prescribed number of reps and that you end when you’ve reached the maximal weight you can handle with that particular number of reps. Is it a 1 to 2 min rest time between sets or is it when you feel you’re ready for the next set ?

Thanks!

514

[quote]awaken279 wrote:
Hi Coach,
I noticed that you never specify the rest time between sets when you say that you start with 60% of your 1 RM with a prescribed number of reps and that you end when you’ve reached the maximal weight you can handle with that particular number of reps. Is it a 1 to 2 min rest time between sets or is it when you feel you’re ready for the next set ?

Thanks! [/quote]

Do the next set when you feel mentally and physically prepared. Between lighter sets this could be as little as a minute, but once the real weight starts piling on the bar, you’ll need 3+ mins to recover.

Specific rest times only have place in fat loss routines.

If something in what I said is not sound, I’m sure CT can correct it.

515

CT,

Does I, BODYBUILDER contain methods that will upset the average gym owner?

516

What does a typical workout look like for you as far as working sets and warm up sets? You keep a journal on here?

517

Hey CT, I normally train 6 days a week and every once in a while 5 days. I’m having trouble coming up with a good weekly split that involves all bodyparts: Chest, back, arms, legs, shoulders. I have been doing antagonistic pairs usuing your training advice of ramping and progressing with the working sets; I’m having trouble spliting up the chest, back and shoulder bodyparts. Any suggestion on how i could create a 6 or 5 day a week split?

518

CT, the squat rack at my gym doesn’t have pins its a hammer strength with the slide-ins. Is there any point in doing blast isos if the slide in pins are going to move up about 1/2 an inch every rep before the bar is stopped or should I just stick to the other techniques for cns activation if its losing effectiveness.

519

[quote]MAF14 wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Italiano wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
krsoneeeee wrote:
CT

seeing as everyones talking about twitch reps, i gave them a go in my last gym sesh…i did them more as a main exercise than an activation tool, and my joints are pretty sore(more than usual after trying a new type of exercise) …just curious if they are too strenuous to be used all the time ie too hard on the tendons etc…or im just soft.

Im going to keep trying them for a few weeks anyway cos im sure they must produce more force than normal exercises… but just seeing what your thoughts are, and how to use them as a main exercise rather than just “activation”.

cheers,
Matt

Twitches put a tremendous stress on the muscles because the amount of force put on the muscles in the stretch position is immense. The reason is that the super fast eccentric phase followed by a sharp turnaround to the concentric action creates a whipping effect on the muscle. This is one of the reason why twitches are so powerful.

You can use them often, but don’t overdo them in any one session. For example I had a very good chest session in which I used a lot of twitched with added bands. That was LAST sunday and I’m still sore… and I rarely get sore.

Thibs, at what position should the twitches be performed for chest/ bench press? And should they be performed in both the low and top position? Thanks

Starting about 4" from the chest, pressing around 6 inches.

Don’t perform them in the top position, I found that to be ineffective.

is there a certain load percentage (approximately) that all twitch reps should be in or does it vary by exercise and position of “twitches”? [/quote]

In some exercises I can use up to 50% but I still recommend using around 30% for most twitches. Actually you can start lighter because from experience load is not that relevant to twitches effectiveness. The key to twitches is to put a lot of force at that turnaround point (switch from eccentric to concentric) by really ‘pulling’ hard to bring the eccentric as fast as possible THEN to switch from eccentric to concentric as fast as humanly possible. This is hard, if not impossible to do if the weight is too heavy.

A snappy twitch with 20% will be more effective than a non-snappy one at 50%

520

[quote]Addict3d wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Italiano wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
krsoneeeee wrote:
CT

seeing as everyones talking about twitch reps, i gave them a go in my last gym sesh…i did them more as a main exercise than an activation tool, and my joints are pretty sore(more than usual after trying a new type of exercise) …just curious if they are too strenuous to be used all the time ie too hard on the tendons etc…or im just soft.

Im going to keep trying them for a few weeks anyway cos im sure they must produce more force than normal exercises… but just seeing what your thoughts are, and how to use them as a main exercise rather than just “activation”.

cheers,
Matt

Twitches put a tremendous stress on the muscles because the amount of force put on the muscles in the stretch position is immense. The reason is that the super fast eccentric phase followed by a sharp turnaround to the concentric action creates a whipping effect on the muscle. This is one of the reason why twitches are so powerful.

You can use them often, but don’t overdo them in any one session. For example I had a very good chest session in which I used a lot of twitched with added bands. That was LAST sunday and I’m still sore… and I rarely get sore.

Thibs, at what position should the twitches be performed for chest/ bench press? And should they be performed in both the low and top position? Thanks

Starting about 4" from the chest, pressing around 6 inches.

Don’t perform them in the top position, I found that to be ineffective.

How many sets of twitch reps would you perform on bench? Same as your usual bench day?
[/quote]

The twitch sets are meant mostly for activation, although they also promote growth. I normally do anywhere from 2 to 5 twitch sets. When I feel in the zone I moved up to regular benching or another technique.

521

[quote]mmafan wrote:
Coach,

What do you recommend doing for maintenance work?[/quote]

1-2 exercises per body part for 3-5 sets each, same rep range as targeted muscles, ramping the weight, not using special techniques.