I’ve always felt explosive training was the way to go, and I’m well aware that auto-regulation is the key to continuous progress as I see elite lifters being able to adapt their training to fit their daily state of muscular or neural “freshness”. But like many, I’m not very good at applying certain principle to myself as I’ve been guilty of falling into the “more is better” trap more often than not.
Many time I caught myself thinking "oh I need to do go up to a 1RM, I need to go to failure, I need to do those extra sets or if I still have any energy left I must do a couple more triceps exercises or else it means I’m not really training that hard…
I’ve always been very interested by Christian Thibaudeau’s articles but that one put much of what I truly believed in altogether. It’s like a revelation. And it’s perfect timing for me to revolutionize my own training because since about a year ago I haven’t been able to make any progress.
I love evolving, I’ve trained for power, speed, vertical jump, I like building my body, but the one aspect I’m really after is strength right now. And the fact is I’ve been stuck for over one year. My best deadlift, bench and squat, all raw, are from 2008 (660lbs, 460lbs, 550lbs). - YouTube- YouTube
Since I did lost quite a good amount of fat, but I thought my strength would shoot right back up as soon as I quit cutting. But it really did not!
So thanks to CT to basically giving me the balls to start something brand new. No more forced reps, no more 2-hour workout, no more spotter, no more wasting more energy than needed! Just dominate the bar from the first rep to the last. And it’s always encouraging when you look at a trainer or writer who actually practices what he preaches. CT’s own progress regarding strength and mass speaks for itself.
A few details on my training. I’m doing just 2 lifts per training session. I will use elastic bands for 2 lifts a week, bench and squat. They’re will be blue bands, the short ones (21inches) about 160lbs tension added on top of a squat.
Also since I’m really bad for self-evaluations, I will use a device to measure the speed of the bar. It’s called the tendo unit and I’ve used it for vertical jump training, dynamic days, o’lift training but never as a general means for strength. Although I did remember the articles about fred hatfield’s training and compensatory acceleration with submaximal weights from back in the days… I’ve set a few speed limits under which I will stop the exercise. Those are not set in stones obviously and are probably meant to evolve, but it fits my current own feeling of acceleration and totally controlling or “dominating” the bar.
So here is my training split
Day1: Bench + bands (speed limit 0.50m/s), Seated drop biceps curls (speed limit 0.80m/s)
Day2: Squat + bands (speed limit 0.80m/s), Behind the neck push press (speed limit 1.30m/s)
Day4: Incline drop bench (speed limit 0.60m/s), Pullups (speed limit 0.60m/s)
Day5: Romanian Deadlift wich is simply a Deadlift off platform for max range of motion with normal grip (speed limit 0.50m/s), Power rowing (speed limit 0.90m/s)
Saturday 2nd:
Fat bar bench with bands (5kg/11lbs) increaments) 40-90kg+bands (88-198lbs) speed @ 90kg+bands = 0.58m/s
Note: bands equal approximately 110lbs total at top.
Tuesday 5th:
Incline drop bench (5kg/increaments) 80 to 110kg (176lbs to 232lbs) speed @ 105kg = 0.52m/s, speed @ 110kg = 0.38m/s… Way too slow, so stopped the exercise short.
Pullups+weight (2.5-3kg increaments) 2.5 to 25kg (5.5 to 55lbs) speed @ 25kg = 0.72m/s
Friday 8th:
Bench with elastic bands (5kg/increaments)60 to 100kg+bands (132lbs to 220lbs) speed @ 100kg+bands = 0.42m/s
Note: bands equal approximately 50kg (110lbs)
Drop biceps curls, seated (5kg/increaments, should have done 2.5kg…) 30 to 55kg (72lbs to 121lbs)
Not happy with the bench training so at night did a second session.
Bench with elastic bands (5-10kg/increaments)60 to 100kg+bands (132lbs to 220lbs) speed @ 100kg+bands = 0.52m/s!
Saturday 9th:
Deadlift (5-10kg/increaments) 140kg to 185kg (308lbs to 407lbs)
speed-power @ 150kg = 0.90m/s-1323watts
speed-power @ 160kg = 0.84m/s-1317watts * taped
speed-power @ 170kg = 0.82m/s-1366watts
speed-power @ 175kg = 0.80m/s-1372watts
speed-power @ 180kg = 0.76m/s-1341watts * taped
speed-power @ 185kg = 0.68m/s-1233watts * taped
note: recorded power as well to determine precisely the max force point, in that case 175kg (385lbs).
Power rowing (5-10kg increaments) 110kg to 150kg (242lbs to 330lbs)
speed-power @ 145kg = 0.98m/s-1393watts (actually the inside plate was 20kg, so that’s 155kg total!
speed-power @ 150kg = 0.96m/s-1412watts (same as above, 160kg = 352lbs!!)
note: power was superior to the deadlift! Max force point recorded at 150kg (330lbs)
[quote]yusef wrote:
Do you feel the power measurements approximately reflect how powerful the set ‘felt’? i.e. would you have been able to guess the max force points without the equipment now that you know objectively which was which?[/quote]
That’s a good question. You can get a definite feel for speed, but it’s trickier with power because it’s a mix between load and speed. It might feel slightly slower but still result in a higher power output.
If you take my last deadlift session for example, it would be impossible to guess precisely because the power output are very similar from 330lbs to 400lbs. However I definitely felt that my last set at 407lbs slowed down and that it was time to go on to the next lift. So as long as you’re training into that zone you will get the benefits. But it’s important to make small weight increases IMO, the bar feels almost just the same as the one before with 5 to 10lbs increaments, so you judge the power feeling more effectively. And you know when it’s time to stop!
Monday 11th:
Incline drop bench ( not much of a drop with the shoulder pain) (2-5kg/increaments)
speed @ 100kg = 0.56m/s
speed @ 102.5kg, 105kg and 107.5kg = 0.52m/s
speed @ 110kg = 0.50m/s better than last week
speed @ 112.5kg = 0.30m/s
Pullups+weight (5kg increaments) 100kg to 130kg (bw to +30kg) (220lbs to 286lbs)
speed - power @ bw of 100kg = 1.00m/s - 980w
speed - power @ bw+10 110kg = 0.88m/s - 949w
speed - power @ bw+15 115kg = 0.88m/s - 992w
speed - power @ bw+20 120kg = 0.86m/s - 1011w
speed - power @ bw+25 125kg = 0.84m/s - 1029w much better than last week!
speed - power @ bw+30 130kg = 0.78m/s - 993w
Notes: the pullups felt nice and explosive! Very happy about that part.
Tuesday 12th:
Squat with bands (5-10kg/increaments)
speed-power @ 80kg+b’s = 0.98m/s-768watts
speed-power @ 100kg+b’s= 0.92m/s-902watts
speed-power @ 110kg+b’s= 0.82m/s-884watts
speed-power @ 115kg+b’s= 0.82m/s-924watts
speed-power @ 120kg+b’s= 0.82m/s-965watts
speed-power @ 125kg +b’s= 0.82m/s-1004watts = Max power point
speed-power @ 130kg +b’s= 0.78m/s-994watts = Same as last week.
speed-power @ 135kg +b’s= 0.68m/s-900watts
note: bands’s weight was not taken into account for the power measurements.
Wasn’t happy with the workout so I did a second session… I need to lear NOT to do that again. Can’t discipline myself. Nothing was accomplished during this second workout as I went up to:
Squat with bands
speed-power @ 130kg +b’s= 0.76m/s-968watts
Push press behind the neck
speed-power @ 125kg = 1.26m/s-1543watts = less than last week…
Good work man. My gym here has ok equipment but the energy is a bit placid. I am hitting the gym in the a.m. and again in the p.m. because it is so close. The calves and delts are getting tortured almost daily, in my evening “weak points” workout. They are responding well.
[quote]cell2cells wrote:
Good work man. My gym here has ok equipment but the energy is a bit placid. I am hitting the gym in the a.m. and again in the p.m. because it is so close. The calves and delts are getting tortured almost daily, in my evening “weak points” workout. They are responding well.
[/quote]
Yeah I hope all is well! Let me know if you get to post an article about training soon!
After a couple of weeks of this style of training, considering my shoulder pain and after reading up on max force training, I’ve figured I wasn’t quite ready for max force power training, especially the fast lowering, as I am unable to absorb most of the force from the eccentric and use it optimally to explode into the concentric phase of a lift.
Therefore, I’ve decided to follow some of the principles and training procedure from jay schroeder, starting from the bottom with the iso extremes. (Isometrics hold at the very bottom position or more exactly, at full extention of a given joint. There are 7 iso extreme positions. The lunge, push-up, one-legged squat, scapular pull-up, dips, preacher curls, and glute ham.
Now that’s when it gets interested. The goal is to pull into these positions for 5 minutes straight. Or as long as possible, take 3 deep breaths and keep going until 5 mintues is reached. Quite challenging! The cool part about it is that there is no movement, no connective tissue damage that got to be repaired post training, therefore there is virtually no soreness resulting from thid type of training. So basically you can (and should) train them everyday! Moreover it allows one to build tremendous work capacity. Which I lack, and I think this is why I have always had a pretty hard time recovering from workout sessions and forced me to space them out and in the long scheme of things, waste some valuable time.
So basically I plan on not touching a single dumbell or bar for the next few weeks, or months, whatever up until I reach 5 minutes straight. Ideally 5 minutes + 30-40% of bodyweight added. But that’s another story…
I’ve started one week ago and will detail my progress in the following post.
So I’ve been doing the iso extreme for 6 consecutive days now. I must say it might be the most painful training method I’ve ever used. Takes some serious willpower to hold a position until failure, take 3 deep breaths and pull straight back into as perfect position as possible.
Here is a quick recap of the past few days:
Friday 15th: Iso extreme push-up/pull-up/ghr/bi’s/dips. Note: Could only hold for 1:15 minute on the push-up (between 2 boxes) on my initial hold… Then 21-27seconds up until I got to 5 minutes. Was hard as hell, but loved the feeling on this one. Probably the only one I was doing in the correct postition right away.
Saturday 16th: still did deadlift up to good power numbers and power rowing as well then iso extreme push-ups/bulgarian squat/dips. Note: Thought I was going to die on the bulgarian one-legged squat, after my initial hold, all I could handle where bouts of under 12 seconds for the most part… Took forever to complete the total of 5 minutes…
Sunday 17th: iso extreme push-up/lunge
Monday 18th: Morning: iso extreme push-up/bi’s. Afternoon: iso extreme elevated lunges (front foot)/dips/pull-up/GH Note: Got 2 minutes on the lunge.
Tuesday 19th: Morning: iso extreme push up/bulgarian squat/bi’s. Afternoon: iso extreme elevated lunge/dips/Abs Notes: got 2:30 on the lunge and 2min in the push-up. Abs was an invention since my grip is ruined for the pullup, basically the extended postion of an ab wheel with arms holding on to a bar higher than the feet about 15-20 inches from the floor. Quick bench test: an easy 25reps at 100kg (220lbs). Still a little pain at top of the bench press, but none at the bottom.
Wednesday 20th: Iso extreme lunge/push-up/pull-up. Note: Got 3minutes the lunge (first leg only) and the push-up as well!!! NICE!!!
Thursday 21st: Morning: Iso extreme lunge/pushup/bi’s.
Note: I just figured my position was wrong for years on bench press, as I had my elbows too close to the body and not directly under the bar and wrists… Which is why I’ve been pushing “outwards”, instead of straight. Anyways… Hopefully it will all be corrected with the iso extreme push-up.
