I had surgery for a complete tendon tear in my right hand about six weeks ago. Naturally, I’ve been unable to lift with the exception of some improvised lower body exercises. I should be able to resume training in another month or so.
Before the injury, I was preparing to begin a specialization program, but my common sense tells me that I should start off with a full body routine.
Would you say this is the right thing to do?
How long do you think I should spend doing full body before starting specialization?
Do you think Phase 1 of your Beast Building program is an appropriate start?
I need to get my grip strength back so, do you have any advice on how to incorporate this into my program?
I apologize for the long post. I just don’t know where to start.
Do you think oldschool strongman feats such as bending nails/heavy neck extensions (- YouTube)and doing rack pulls with 1 inch of motion have any value from a powerlifting or bodybuilding perspective?
if i do stifflegged deadlifts, i am not able to keep my back completely straight, at the bottom part of the movement at least, because i have the problem of having a short torso, but very long legs, in fact, i am 178cm, my brother is 188cm and knees, and hips are in the same height… so i think thats an issue, even though i didn’t experience any aches or pains so far after doin it 1 year straight, but something tells me that stifflegged deadlifts arent that healthy for my posture… if it comes to stretching i’m able to touch the floor with my palm while having stiff bolt-upright legs.
am I right in the assumption to stick to something else, maybe regular deads? if i’m not, what should i stick to if i have “only” the barbell, a hyper-extension pad and a ham-curl machine available?
maybe i’m just afraid and sound like a pussy, but this is a purely question for safety reason
Coach my weak muscles i think is lower back muscles and gluteus or hamstrings(i lean in front when i rise from bottom position in fronnt squat.also my elbows is not always up(do you reccomend any tricks to correct it?).i want to ask if weak rhomboids and thoracic spinal muscles could be the reason to lean front when i rise from front squat bottom position?
as cou can see my front squat isnt my strong lift.because is very important in my sport i want to improve it.i give you a general idea of my problems,do you recommend any metods or tactics to coorrect these problems?
Also is it possible for you to explain why my running vertical going off one leg is atleast a few inches higher than my running vertical off both legs?
With the barbell hip thrusts how do you get yourself in position with a heavy load? I cant get myself into position!
Thanks[/quote]
I’m obviously not Thibs, but I like this exercise, so let me offer my suggestions. Unless you have unusually large hips or you only have small plates on each end, you should be able to start by sitting on the floor with the bar over your ankles/calves and, before laying back, just working yourself down until the bar is over the front of your hips. If you can’t do that, you may need to recruit a spotter or two.
I hear you if you think asking spotters to help would be awkward - so here’s what I would try: Lay two plates flat on the floor so that they are on either end of the bar and the plates you’ve loaded on the bar will sit on top of them like two low steps. Use enough plates to raise your setup sufficiently to give your hips just enough room to wiggle your way underneath the bar and begin your set. Hope this helps.
With the barbell hip thrusts how do you get yourself in position with a heavy load? I cant get myself into position!
Thanks[/quote]
I’m obviously not Thibs, but I like this exercise, so let me offer my suggestions. Unless you have unusually large hips or you only have small plates on each end, you should be able to start by sitting on the floor with the bar over your ankles/calves and, before laying back, just working yourself down until the bar is over the front of your hips. If you can’t do that, you may need to recruit a spotter or two.
I hear you if you think asking spotters to help would be awkward - so here’s what I would try: Lay two plates flat on the floor so that they are on either end of the bar and the plates you’ve loaded on the bar will sit on top of them like two low steps. Use enough plates to raise your setup sufficiently to give your hips just enough room to wiggle your way underneath the bar and begin your set. Hope this helps.
With the barbell hip thrusts how do you get yourself in position with a heavy load? I cant get myself into position!
Thanks
I’m obviously not Thibs, but I like this exercise, so let me offer my suggestions. Unless you have unusually large hips or you only have small plates on each end, you should be able to start by sitting on the floor with the bar over your ankles/calves and, before laying back, just working yourself down until the bar is over the front of your hips. If you can’t do that, you may need to recruit a spotter or two.
I hear you if you think asking spotters to help would be awkward - so here’s what I would try: Lay two plates flat on the floor so that they are on either end of the bar and the plates you’ve loaded on the bar will sit on top of them like two low steps. Use enough plates to raise your setup sufficiently to give your hips just enough room to wiggle your way underneath the bar and begin your set. Hope this helps.[/quote]
Excellent. Thanks I’ll give that a shot next time I’m in the gym
hey i’m doing your get strong, get fast, get vertical program
for the 2/1 machine curl it says 3 x 4-5/side (lift explosively with 2 arms, lower in 5 sec. with 1 arm)
however the only bicep curl machine in my gym has a separate bicep curl thing for each arm not one entire bar, so how should i do it, just lift explosivley with each arm and then a 5 sec eccenntric with each arm or should i do something else or do it differently?
I was wondering what some good lifts would be for a flatwater kayaker? There used to be 1000m and 500m events in the olympics for it - now its 200m and 1000m so you got to do one or the other. So 200m is gonna be the go which only lasts 34secs(world record)to 40secs max if theres a headwind.
Also many of the coaches around here are training the kayakers with a full-body program… what would be a good split program for a kayaker? (this is for a current u23 australian champion). Considering you got to spend many sessions on the water aswell.
Finding it hard to know whether doing similar exercises to the sporting movement like one arm DB rows are a good thing or not? Since some coaches say you shouldn’t train similar muscles to the sport because of overuse injuries and some seem to say the opposite… :S
I was wondering what some good lifts would be for a flatwater kayaker? There used to be 1000m and 500m events in the olympics for it - now its 200m and 1000m so you got to do one or the other. So 200m is gonna be the go which only lasts 34secs(world record)to 40secs max if theres a headwind.
Also many of the coaches around here are training the kayakers with a full-body program… what would be a good split program for a kayaker? (this is for a current u23 australian champion). Considering you got to spend many sessions on the water aswell.
Finding it hard to know whether doing similar exercises to the sporting movement like one arm DB rows are a good thing or not? Since some coaches say you shouldn’t train similar muscles to the sport because of overuse injuries and some seem to say the opposite… :S
Would be much appreciated! Thanks[/quote]
I actually worked with an olympic medalist in that sport. The training approach is honestly quite complex, especially as far as organizing the lifting sessions. I personally used a lot of the “big basics”… don’t major in the minors. My first focus is to get the athlete as strong overall as humanly possible… kayakers and canoe guys are beasts. Get really strong in all the muscle groups. This is the first stage of the training year.
Then during the second stage, when the athlete’s strength is drastically increased, move on to strength-endurance training: develop the capacity to maintain your strength for 30-40 seconds. Not so much by doing longer sets, but rather same muscle circuits and pre or post fatigue training.
I was wondering what some good lifts would be for a flatwater kayaker? There used to be 1000m and 500m events in the olympics for it - now its 200m and 1000m so you got to do one or the other. So 200m is gonna be the go which only lasts 34secs(world record)to 40secs max if theres a headwind.
Also many of the coaches around here are training the kayakers with a full-body program… what would be a good split program for a kayaker? (this is for a current u23 australian champion). Considering you got to spend many sessions on the water aswell.
Finding it hard to know whether doing similar exercises to the sporting movement like one arm DB rows are a good thing or not? Since some coaches say you shouldn’t train similar muscles to the sport because of overuse injuries and some seem to say the opposite… :S
Would be much appreciated! Thanks
I actually worked with an olympic medalist in that sport. The training approach is honestly quite complex, especially as far as organizing the lifting sessions. I personally used a lot of the “big basics”… don’t major in the minors. My first focus is to get the athlete as strong overall as humanly possible… kayakers and canoe guys are beasts. Get really strong in all the muscle groups. This is the first stage of the training year.
Then during the second stage, when the athlete’s strength is drastically increased, move on to strength-endurance training: develop the capacity to maintain your strength for 30-40 seconds. Not so much by doing longer sets, but rather same muscle circuits and pre or post fatigue training.
[/quote]
Thanks Thib! Love the pre or post fatigue and same muscle circuits idea. Your contribution to answering these questions is fantastic and again highly appreciated!
[quote]nba2008 wrote:
hey i’m doing your get strong, get fast, get vertical program
for the 2/1 machine curl it says 3 x 4-5/side (lift explosively with 2 arms, lower in 5 sec. with 1 arm)
however the only bicep curl machine in my gym has a separate bicep curl thing for each arm not one entire bar, so how should i do it, just lift explosivley with each arm and then a 5 sec eccenntric with each arm or should i do something else or do it differently?
[/quote]
Do each arm individually. Use a very heavy weight, help yourself with the non-working arm to bring the weight up and lower it one arm at a time in 5 seconds.
[quote]kgcage14 wrote:
Also is it possible for you to explain why my running vertical going off one leg is atleast a few inches higher than my running vertical off both legs?[/quote]
For the same reason the long jump and high jump are performed from a running start at the olympics. You are transferring the horizontal momentum into air time (not the scientific explanation, but you get the point).
Do you think oldschool strongman feats such as bending nails/heavy neck extensions (- YouTube)and doing rack pulls with 1 inch of motion have any value from a powerlifting or bodybuilding perspective?[/quote]
Nail bending, no… it’s kinda like ripping phone books… impressive, and do require a lot of strength and technique, but wont really be worth the effort for a bodybuilder or powerlifter.
Neck extension I actually like and I feel that it will help with one’s deadlift, power clean and squat (the later mostly by improving support). For bodybuilding it might end up being detrimental if the neck gets too big for esthetics.
Thib, if I have a muscle soreness/tightness right after doing an exercise (not before/after, but during the workout), does this mean that this muscle is overtrained ?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
makis wrote:
Hi coach my front squat is stuck for one month now. I used your wave system. Do you have any recommendations improve my front squat?
I honestly can’t answer that. I need to assess what your weak point is… what is the muscle group that is holding back your squat.[/quote]
Coach my weak muscles i think is lower back muscles and gluteus or hamstrings(i lean in front when i rise from bottom position in fronnt squat.also my elbows is not always up(do you reccomend any tricks to correct it?).i want to ask if weak rhomboids and thoracic spinal muscles could be the reason to lean front when i rise from front squat bottom position?
as cou can see my front squat isnt my strong lift.because is very important in my sport i want to improve it.i give you a general idea of my problems,do you recommend any metods or tactics to coorrect these problems?
My lats were real sore yesterday due to lots of rows and pull-ups over the last week. I decided to give them a break but still wanted to work the biceps in the same plane as a chin-up without much lat involvement. I performed a curl with the pulldown machine to behind my neck. I found out I was extremely weak with these, but liked the way they felt. I am thinking of adding these as an isolation bicep exercise, since I do not do a lot of these. Do you think I will get much carry-over to the chin-up at the top of the movement ?
My lats were real sore yesterday due to lots of rows and pull-ups over the last week. I decided to give them a break but still wanted to work the biceps in the same plane as a chin-up without much lat involvement. I performed a curl with the pulldown machine to behind my neck. I found out I was extremely weak with these, but liked the way they felt. I am thinking of adding these as an isolation bicep exercise, since I do not do a lot of these. Do you think I will get much carry-over to the chin-up at the top of the movement ?
Thanks,
Frank[/quote]
If biceps are a weak link in your chin-ups, yeah, probably. Not a direct 1 to 1 ratio of improvement, but they should be a decent addition, as long as you keep them only as an assistance exercise.