[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
But in real life there are no weight classes…if you get into a bar fight and your opponent is a 300lbs mastodon who knows how to fight, and you are 150lbs then all the ‘‘relative strength’’ in the world won’t save you.
[/quote]
Ain’t that the truth!
Hey CT, for my workouts that have Back/Biceps Monday, and Chest/Triceps Tuesday, I am wondering what type of CNS activation exercises you would suggest.
Should I use an explosive pull-over for Back? I am a little confused for Back activation.
And should I use a dead-stop (on pins) bench press with max loads for 4-6 reps for chest? I am worried because I think I remember reading somewhere these should be used sparingly?
For legs I am using Jump Squats for 5-6 reps, I’m assuming these are fine.
-Thanks!
Thib, from your observations, what strength level does it take to perform a 100% natural Glute Ham Raise ? I mean without any help - straight up and down with hamstrings… I know this would differ greatly, but what is the estimated Romainan Deadlift (in relation to bodyweight) of a person who can do at least a couple of those without problem ?
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, from your observations, what strength level does it take to perform a 100% natural Glute Ham Raise ? I mean without any help - straight up and down with hamstrings… I know this would differ greatly, but what is the estimated Romainan Deadlift (in relation to bodyweight) of a person who can do at least a couple of those without problem ?[/quote]
Hey Thy,
After perfecting Pistols either weighted or jumping for height and distance, natural GHRs w/o assistance are easier to perform. Pistols and GHRs are a staple in most gymnastic strength routines and require a great deal of tension to perform correctly. I am unsure of the amount of relative strength needed in RDL terms, but the natural GHR is an advanced excerise that develops a lot of lower body strength quickly. I started with pistols and worked my way up to GHR’s w/o assistance, currently I do both in the same workout. RDL’s might work too though. Good luck.
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, from your observations, what strength level does it take to perform a 100% natural Glute Ham Raise ? I mean without any help - straight up and down with hamstrings… I know this would differ greatly, but what is the estimated Romainan Deadlift (in relation to bodyweight) of a person who can do at least a couple of those without problem ?[/quote]
I would think they have more correlation with leg curls than RDLs. Interesting question though, I’d like to hear Thib’s thoughts on this movement as well… I love natural GHRaises.
[quote]bloodnsweat wrote:
Thy. wrote:
Thib, from your observations, what strength level does it take to perform a 100% natural Glute Ham Raise ? I mean without any help - straight up and down with hamstrings… I know this would differ greatly, but what is the estimated Romainan Deadlift (in relation to bodyweight) of a person who can do at least a couple of those without problem ?
I would think they have more correlation with leg curls than RDLs. Interesting question though, I’d like to hear Thib’s thoughts on this movement as well… I love natural GHRaises.[/quote]
I honestly don’t see much correlation; it seems that movements where you have to lift your own body requires a somewhat different movement patterns and relies on a different motor skill.
For example, I trained a figure skater who could do 6 full natural glute ham raise and could barely lift more than 135lbs on the Romanian dead. I also trained a bodybuilder who could deadlift 700 but couldn’t do one NGHR.
Of course the skater was 130 and the bodybuilder 250 but still… it means that the skater has to lift around 63lbs and the bodybuilder 175. The bodybuilder had to lift 2.7 times more weight yet was 5 times stronger.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
padrinho wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
padrinho wrote:
chris,
i’m starting the para-protocol next week, and as I expect some muscle to gain I have one more thing thats bothering me. I have a weak (optically) trap and mid-back area, the rest of the back (lower back and lats) are relatively big&thick… the question on my mind is, should I specialize my whole routine on my back if I want to gain the most weight as possible, or should i just do a normal split and begin to use narrower grips in pullups, rows and so forth?
i ‘just’ want my traps and midback to reach out to the outside world like my pecs for example do.
thanks
I train a bodybuilder who has (had) that same problem… except that he is 260 on 5’9" and has the widest shoulders I’ve ever seen. So his lack of traps really created a bad look.
We have been focusing on this weakness by splitting the back into 3 workouts:
Workout 1: Traps and lower back
Workout 2: Mid-back/back thicknes
Workout 3: Lats/teres major/back width
After 4 weeks I took some pictures and he was honestly shocked. I’ll try to post it here, my camera is out of power and can’t find the charger!
sounds good, did you still train him back every 5 days or or even more frequent ?
His training cycle was:
DAY 1. Traps, lower back, hamstrings
DAY 2. Chest/Triceps
DAY 3. Mid-back/biceps
DAY 4. Quads/calves
DAY 5. Back width/Shoulders
Note that he has the widest shoulders I’ve ever seen and actually needs very little direct delt work which is why he can put it along with back[/quote]
i’ll try doing
day 1 traps, lowback, hams
day 2 chest/tris
day 3 off
day 4 midback/biceps
day 5 quads/calves
day 6 off
day 7 back width/shoulders
day 8 off
repeat …
i guess this should work fine for my body,
i tried yesterday the trap workout
did
warmup/activation blastiso shrug
6 or 7 x3 powershrugs
5x5 shrugs from pins holding barbell behind myself, but god damn it, my stood in the way a bit, but fuck it 
5x5 rope-rows to neck
6x3 stifflegged deadlift
… then wanted to do some hypers but got diarrhea haha and had to run to the car !!
even though i am sore as hell in the trap area, i think ill drop the shrugs behind body and try cleans from the hang…
would u do the cleans first and then the powershrugs ?
Morning Coach. I know you have said the split is not important for once a week type of training, but does the same hold true for spec phases? I’m currently doing a back/biceps spec following the outline a few posts above, but want to move into a chest with either tris or shoulders spec next and was wondering what the best way to break it up would be? Would I be able to focus on all three assuming tris would get enough work from the presses?
edit: Just in case, thought I should mention my weak points in regards to this spec are upper chest, rear delts, and medial head in tris (although not as prominent as the other two).
Question for CT and his followers: What is best reads for me to develop a leg specialization program based on CT’s principles. I am an advanced (lifing for 17 years) lifter who has transitioned from competitive strongman to now just lifting to keep sane. I need to structure my programs better and have a good working knowledge of programming. I just finished a 6 week shoulder specialization program and am taking a down week right now. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.
[quote]PRDelicious wrote:
Question for CT and his followers: What is best reads for me to develop a leg specialization program based on CT’s principles. I am an advanced (lifing for 17 years) lifter who has transitioned from competitive strongman to now just lifting to keep sane. I need to structure my programs better and have a good working knowledge of programming. I just finished a 6 week shoulder specialization program and am taking a down week right now. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated. [/quote]
x2
[quote]bloodnsweat wrote:
PRDelicious wrote:
Question for CT and his followers: What is best reads for me to develop a leg specialization program based on CT’s principles. I am an advanced (lifing for 17 years) lifter who has transitioned from competitive strongman to now just lifting to keep sane. I need to structure my programs better and have a good working knowledge of programming. I just finished a 6 week shoulder specialization program and am taking a down week right now. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.
x2[/quote]
x 3
Coach,
i’ve read about overworking the nervous system and overstressing tendons from low rep high weight training. You’ve touched on overworking the nervous system before and how one could fatigue the immune system and so on…
but regardless i have had some tendon pain from working out doing sets of 3 and ramping up like you said… is this common and something i should work through? or could it be a fault of my autoregulation technique?
basically could there be something i’m doing wrong? and if not is there something i could change about my diet to assist with the over working of the nervous system and tendons.
I do between 3-5 sets per excersize (depending on how the first sets went using autoregulation) and depending on the day i do 4-5 excersizes per muscle group. I think i could be overdoing it but the nervous stimulation technique makes the workout seem so much better, and like i don’t need to stop. But is there a point where i should stop myself regardless of how good the workout is going?
thanks for your time.
Hey Coach couple of questions
Do u recommend shoulder stabality work before a bench routine(or before any other upper body day), should they only comprise of rotator cuff work or any other exercises?
i have some doubt reg exercise forms
while doing bench press is the scapula retracted throughout the whole movement or only during the eccentric to get a stretch in the pecs?
again in the dumbell front raises, lateral raises and rear lateral raises is the scapula retracted or left loose?
Thanks for your time
CT,
I have been training using your techniques with fewer reps and heavier reps etc and I have been having trouble sleeping lately. I know you mentioned one of your clients had trouble sleeping due to his CNS being very active but I was wondering if I am possible overtraining. What are some signs of the CNS being overtrained?
coach,
what activation techniques do you recommend doing on a typical Lat/Back-Width day ?
[quote]devil007 wrote:
while doing bench press is the scapula retracted throughout the whole movement or only during the eccentric to get a stretch in the pecs?
again in the dumbell front raises, lateral raises and rear lateral raises is the scapula retracted or left loose?
[/quote]
scap both retracts and protracts(among other movements) throughout the range of motion bro. pretty sure scap is never left loose …get an anat text book or at least wikipedia.
hey CT,
what would be some good exercises to increase sprint acceleration? (top end speed is not so important for me).
ive read a little bit and mainly just focus on posterior chain?
also, would it be mostly explosive/plyo type work?
[quote]krsoneeeee wrote:
hey ct,
what would be some good exercises to increase sprint acceleration? (top end speed is not so important for me).
ive read a little bit and mainly just focus on posterior chain?
also, would it be mostly explosive/plyo type work?[/quote]
First thing first. To have a high acceleration you must be strong. The strongest sprinters are always those who have the fastest starts. And according to Coach Poliquin, on a very short distance, hammer throwers and olympic lifters are faster than sprinters. The stronger your are, the easier it is to overcome the inertia of your body and accelerate.
So squats (front and back) and deadlifts (any variations) are great. You MUST be strong at them to reach your potential in acceleration.
Then you have the variations from blocks of the olympic lifts.
Then posterior chain and single limb work.
And finally plyo (only done for 4 weeks, 2-3 times a year)
[quote]padrinho wrote:
coach,
what activation techniques do you recommend doing on a typical Lat/Back-Width day ? [/quote]
Medicine ball slam, jump pull-ups, power snatch, 1/2 snatch grip deadlift
[quote]DrD13 wrote:
CT,
I have been training using your techniques with fewer reps and heavier reps etc and I have been having trouble sleeping lately. I know you mentioned one of your clients had trouble sleeping due to his CNS being very active but I was wondering if I am possible overtraining. What are some signs of the CNS being overtrained?[/quote]
CNS overtraining would have the opposite effect. Your CNS is in overdrive OR your cortisol levels are elevated at night (they should be down). At what time are you training?