PRIME TIME Beast For Ya

Training Powerlifting
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[quote]kpd315 wrote:
How would someone get in contact with you for the online coaching?[/quote]

email me at christianthibaudeau_1@hotmail.com

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[quote]cal wrote:
CT,

In one of your old newlestters (no 6 i think), u discussed bulgarian training where you max then 2 sets minus 40lbs, 3 sets minus 20lbs of max etc.

Are these numbers (40,20) suitable for all? If someone maxs 400 on a squat and 200 on bench, they will handle the bench sets easy but struggle on the squats due to the % of the max. Is there any logic behing the numbers used that you are aware of??

Thanks[/quote]

Those are the numbers used by the Bulgarian team going from the lightest athletes to the biggest (so basically from a 150kg clean to a 230 clean). Their logic is that lowering by a fixed amount of weight is better than lowering by a certain percentage. I find that this is generally true when working with low reps, but not with higher reps. But since we are essentially talking about sets of 1 or 2 reps, it works fine in most cases.

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[quote]cal wrote:

A If someone maxs 400 on a squat and 200 on bench, they will handle the bench sets easy but struggle on the squats due to the % of the max. Is there any logic behing the numbers used that you are aware of??

Thanks[/quote]

I don’t think that they’ll struggle … 40lbs less than your max is 40lbs less than you max … Angel Spassov (who wrote the original article) argued that in fact, using percentages, the weight to be lifted with the stronger lift would be too low because of an excessive reduction. Basically their goal is to stay in the limit strength zone, but use a little less weight to allow for a greater volume.

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Hey Christian I was wondering is it possible to overtrain on your Mutation Series Program and am in part 2 of it, also the Gironda Perfect curl seems like you be arching back or using back more, dont seem to feel much in biceps, except when combined with the straight bar curls. Is it ok to miss a day because 7 days a week is kinda harsh on body, because of my crazy work, the only advantage I have is working in corpoarate health have no excuse for working out, lol.

Does it matter if db shoulders instead of the hise shrugs, just wondering, the carb. rotation phase is kinda diff. seems like i have lost a few pounds since starting i did get sick last week pretty bad so rested, think im just going to finish this week and move onto 3rd stage, im taking Carbolin 19, the 500 grams is a lot for me i stay close to 300 grams of protein some day, 50 gram carb is hard basically all you do is take the Surge, that day right, i guess just eating chicken and lean beef is what keeps in that range. I was just wondering because this was your competition program when competivel;y were bodybuilding,

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During a lower body sprinting and lower body lifting phase that is very intensive both on the CNS and the muscular-skeletal system what frequency and type of upper body lifting would you recommend for the highest amount of hypertrophy without loading the CNS? I was thinking of using mostly bodyweight exercises (chain suspended pushups, body rows, pullups) with added resistance when necessary for the main movements and putting the frequency at 2-3x a week. Also, how much assistance work for the upper body muscle groups would be optimal during this type of phase? Should I do more since the main movements are not as stressful?

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CT:

I remember you saying that you are working less and less with “true” beginners, but I do have some questions about setting up a resistence program for beginners (with the goal of hypertrophy).

  1. I know that it’s probably very individual, but do you have a minimum “break-in” period for beginners?

  2. During this period, (in addition to working on form), do you work on calculating “real world” rep maxes, so that you know that they will be pushing enough weight for growth? (I’m using the term “real world” to indicate seeing how much the beginner can lift with each exercise AS OPPOSED to using “rep-max” charts).

During this “break-in” period, is it better to figure their 1 rep maxes or some other rep variations? (e.g. 5 rep max?)

Thanks, CT!

Mufasa

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CT any chances of getting another “soviet Secret” articles?

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[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
CT any chances of getting another “soviet Secret” articles?[/quote]

Maybe, maybe not … I’m still working on several pieces; we’ll see.

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[quote]Mufasa wrote:

  1. I know that it’s probably very individual, but do you have a minimum “break-in” period for beginners?
    [/quote]

My new book will talk about this. Normally when I work with beginners (I work with them a lot more nowadays because I’ve been named the responsible of strength & conditioning at one of the best sports prep program … I get to work with over 450 athletes from 24 different sports, many of them are new to strength training) I use a succession of 3 “beginner” programs, each being a bit more advanced than the next. Each program lasts 4 to 6 weeks depending on the athlete’s progress. Then we move one to intermediate training.

[quote]Mufasa wrote
2) During this period, (in addition to working on form), do you work on calculating “real world” rep maxes, so that you know that they will be pushing enough weight for growth? (I’m using the term “real world” to indicate seeing how much the beginner can lift with each exercise AS OPPOSED to using “rep-max” charts).
[/quote]

No 1RM testing with beginners EVER, especially if they are young. I have them work in the 12 to 15 reps range at first… if they use as much weight as they can for 15 reps they will be using around 60% which is the threshold for beginners. Later we include work in the 8-12 reps zone (corresponding to approximately 70%) and finally in the 6-8 reps zone (approx. 80%).

[quote]Mufasa wrote
During this “break-in” period, is it better to figure their 1 rep maxes or some other rep variations? (e.g. 5 rep max?)

Thanks, CT!

Mufasa [/quote]

Go with the RM method (as much weight as possible in the given training zone). No need for 1RM testing until the athlete starts to include balistic and explosive work (which a beginner should NOT engage in).

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[quote]nArKeD wrote:
During a lower body sprinting and lower body lifting phase that is very intensive both on the CNS and the muscular-skeletal system what frequency and type of upper body lifting would you recommend for the highest amount of hypertrophy without loading the CNS? I was thinking of using mostly bodyweight exercises (chain suspended pushups, body rows, pullups) with added resistance when necessary for the main movements and putting the frequency at 2-3x a week. Also, how much assistance work for the upper body muscle groups would be optimal during this type of phase? Should I do more since the main movements are not as stressful?[/quote]

If you are focusing on sprinting and leg development I’d forget using upper-body only sessions. Perform upper body work after your lower body work (same session). If you are draining your CNS you want to have at least 2-3 days of recovery during your week. It’s better to add a bit of stress during the workout days and have more rest days than to have more “CNS-draining” days.

Stick to basic movements … the first rule of specialization is to reduce the amount of work for the non-specialized parts to allow for the greater volume/load used for the specialized parts.

Since you are focusing on your legs you should reduce upper body work and stick to the exercises which will give you the most results in the least amount of time. And those are your basic lifts:

  1. Horizontal press (e.g. bench press, incline press or decline press … with a bar or dumbbells)

  2. Horizontal pull (e.g. bent over row with a bar or dumbbells, seated rowing with various grips)

  3. Vertical press (e.g. standing shoulder press with dumbbells or a bar)

  4. Vertical pull (e.g. chins and pull-ups with various grips, lat pulldown)

I’d include 2 upper body exercises per workout (work on horizontal in one workout and vertical on the other).

Some assistance work can be done, but really should be limited to as little as possible. You can’t have everything all at once! If you are really focusing on lower body and sprinting, you really cannot develop your upper body as much.

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ct i understand you read alot of oldtime strongman courses. who has had the biggest impression on you and how you train? you can buy these books at www.superstrengthbooks.com bill is a great guy.