Best deal in town I tell ya … the beast is here for you!
Hey CT –
I was wanting to give your 8 Week bench program a try, but I had a few questions on how to adjust the program to my schedule and still get the most out of it.
have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind.
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I am a firefighter so the schedule you have prescribed is a not a workable one. So what I was thinking is that I would do each workout in a three day cycle. I would work one day, cardio and then complete one of the prescribed work outs. Will I be able to achieve same results? I have about 9 weeks of training between national and worlds.
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How would you modify the supplementation with the addition of Spike to the available list?
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I am looking at the addition of the Ice pack pre lift for nationals – how exactly does this help? Does it increase your lifting numbers?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Malinda
What do you think of bear crawls or crab walks up a hill for upper body GPP? Also is it beneficial to do sprints backwards and forwards or is there no reason for going backwards?
What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage (if you ever indulge in such a highly catabolic process?) 
I am still a bit confused on what kind of ab work should be done while cutting. Should I train them as normal or go heavier or what? What rep/set scheme should be used? Any specific move recommendations? Any enlightenment would be much appreciated. Thank you!
CT Thanks for the last week prep. I look really good right now. Just curious of the theory and reason for the epsom salt bath the night before show. I know soaking in it helps bruises and sprains but what about for the show?
Also have you heard of using Prep H on abs? What is your view on it or do you know any BB that have used it? I sent you a PM about a page in your T&A book. Page 78 or 79 with the charts with the x’s in the boxes. Can you explain why there are 1,2,3 x’s in different boxes? BTW I am reading the book for the second time because I thought it was so good and easy to follow and I really want to ingrain some if not all of it.
Keep up the good work. You are a true leader inthis game and I love following your work as I did with Poliquin back in the early 90’s. Thanks for Inspiring me.Gotta go train I’ll catch later.
[quote]chtdrmn wrote:
What do you think of bear crawls or crab walks up a hill for upper body GPP? Also is it beneficial to do sprints backwards and forwards or is there no reason for going backwards?[/quote]
As a former football player I HATE bear crawls However they are indeed good as a non-weighted GPP drill. It’s not something that I would use too frequently due to wrist stress, but it’s a good tool to use in a GPP rotation.
Unless you are a defensive back, I don’t recommend backward sprinting.
[quote]firebug9 wrote:
Hey CT –
I was wanting to give your 8 Week bench program a try, but I had a few questions on how to adjust the program to my schedule and still get the most out of it.
have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind.
- I am a firefighter so the schedule you have prescribed is a not a workable one. So what I was thinking is that I would do each workout in a three day cycle. I would work one day, cardio and then complete one of the prescribed work outs. Will I be able to achieve same results? I have about 9 weeks of training between national and worlds.
[/quote]
Are you competing in Montreal? Two guys I work with will be competing.
The biggest problem you might face is that of proper recovery. You adaptation of the program might work, but only you will be able to assess the results. I would recommend at least one day of complete rest per week. As well as some of the restoration methods described in my article on the subject.
[quote]firebug9 wrote:
2. How would you modify the supplementation with the addition of Spike to the available list?
[/quote]
I would only use Spike for the test days or days where you must lift loads above 92-95%. Use Power Drive on the other days.
[quote]firebug9 wrote:
3. I am looking at the addition of the Ice pack pre lift for nationals – how exactly does this help? Does it increase your lifting numbers?
[/quote]
Yes, it causes somewhat of an adrenaline rush, it basically increases nervous system activation and has an effect similar to smelling salts.
CT in Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power methods, it brings up a few questions (haven’t gotten that far yet)
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When you discuss Depth Jumps and Altitude Landings your recommend 4 blocks. Blocks 2/4 are “low Intensity Jump training” what exercises do you recommend for for those blocks?
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During blocks 1/3 do you recommend just doing Altitude landings and Depth jumps? No other jump trainig or jump squats?
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What complex do you find best for hypertrohpy? Russain, Bulgarian or Canadaian Ascending-descending?
[quote]mike hanley wrote:
CT Thanks for the last week prep. I look really good right now. Just curious of the theory and reason for the epsom salt bath the night before show. I know soaking in it helps bruises and sprains but what about for the show?
[/quote]
Epsom salt baths, when taken for 20-30 minutes in super hot water causes intense sweating and thus help you get rid of subcutaneous water without depleting intra-muscular water stores (so you won’t look flat).
[quote]mike hanley wrote:
Also have you heard of using Prep H on abs? What is your view on it or do you know any BB that have used it? I sent you a PM about a page in your T&A book. Page 78 or 79 with the charts with the x’s in the boxes. Can you explain why there are 1,2,3 x’s in different boxes? BTW I am reading the book for the second time because I thought it was so good and easy to follow and I really want to ingrain some if not all of it.
[/quote]
Preparation H, the old formula (only available in Canada I think), has a localised diuretic and skin tightening effect. As a result it can get rid of a little more water under your skin. It is temporary though.
The number of Xs means the magnitude of the training effect of a method. The more Xs there is, the more effective the method.
[quote]zdrax wrote:
What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage (if you ever indulge in such a highly catabolic process?) :)[/quote]
I haven’t drank any form of alcohol in 2 years. Back in the day I was partial to a canadian beer name Molson Export (which is sold in the US and the rest of Canada as Molson Canadian).
[quote]doctasarge wrote:
I am still a bit confused on what kind of ab work should be done while cutting. Should I train them as normal or go heavier or what? What rep/set scheme should be used? Any specific move recommendations? Any enlightenment would be much appreciated. Thank you![/quote]
You should train the abs the same way if you are cutting or bulking. I personally like to use a superset approach:
Exercise 1: Loaded exercise for 8-10 reps
Exercise 2: Unloaded exercise for max reps
I normally use 2 supersets per workout for 3-4 sets each.
Thanks CT –
No, I will not be in Montreal – not enought time off or funds. I will compete at the IPF Masters worlds in October and then turn around and have Women’s Nationals/World Fire Games in February so I am trying to get my timing down now…Always try to have a plan together.
I find the Ice trick interesting and will try it out at a meet in July – little local Firefighter meet, that I do raw.
Thanks again,
Malinda
[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
CT in Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power methods, it brings up a few questions (haven’t gotten that far yet)
- When you discuss Depth Jumps and Altitude Landings your recommend 4 blocks. Blocks 2/4 are “low Intensity Jump training” what exercises do you recommend for for those blocks?
[/quote]
One exercise I very fond of is box jumps: you stand on the floor and jump unto a box about knee or hip height. The fact that you are landing on an elevated surface reduces the landing shock because your descent is very short (beause you are landing higher than you jumped from).
Bounding drills and regular vertical jumps are also good choices.
[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
2) During blocks 1/3 do you recommend just doing Altitude landings and Depth jumps? No other jump trainig or jump squats?
[/quote]
You can (and should) use other speed-strength methods such as jump squats, speed squat and/or variations of the olympic lifts. But I don’t recommend any other jump training during those pahses.
[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
3) What complex do you find best for hypertrohpy? Russain, Bulgarian or Canadaian Ascending-descending?
[/quote]
Complexes are not meant to build hypertrophy. But out of all of those the Russian complex is probably the best one for hypertrophy because you perform more sets of heavy lifting.
CT, do you train any wrestlers (real, not pro)? If so, what kind of training routine do (or would) you use with them? If not, what would you use? Currently, I am using the Canadian-Ascending Descending complex for lower body and UB push, and the 5x20 negative chins from ‘Keeping Your Chin-Up’. Before I started the chin-up program, I could do 10 reps with strict form. What is a realistic number after four weeeks of the program?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Preparation H, the old formula (only available in Canada I think), has a localised diuretic and skin tightening effect. As a result it can get rid of a little more water under your skin. It is temporary though.
[/quote]
BTW, you’ll get a much better effect with Thiomucase cream.
hi ct.
im 4 days away from israel championship
in weightlifting.i have 2.5 kilo to lose
intill sutrday. how much time a day to do sauna? is a little carbs are aloud if so
how much? how much calroie aday is the max aloud?
1}im now on 71.5kilo {need to go down to 69kilo intill 8am sutrday morining.
2{7% bodyfat
3}any tricks that can help fight the hunger?
What recommendations do you have for introducing the arguably fitness averse, or more simply, your average individual to a resistance training program? What sorts of exercises would you focus on first? Would the first day be the day they learned about the squat rack?
[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
CT, do you train any wrestlers (real, not pro)? If so, what kind of training routine do (or would) you use with them? If not, what would you use? Currently, I am using the Canadian-Ascending Descending complex for lower body and UB push, and the 5x20 negative chins from ‘Keeping Your Chin-Up’. Before I started the chin-up program, I could do 10 reps with strict form. What is a realistic number after four weeeks of the program? [/quote]
I do train a guy who is a canadian Muay Tai champ and a national level freestyle wrestler, I also train several judokas including several junior provincial champs.
I do use a variety of training methods with them. I generally divide the week between a strength/power day and a strength-endurance day.
I do use the CAD program for some of the phases.
15 chins would be a realistic goal in 4 weeks.
[quote]zdrax wrote:
What recommendations do you have for introducing the arguably fitness averse, or more simply, your average individual to a resistance training program? What sorts of exercises would you focus on first? Would the first day be the day they learned about the squat rack? :)[/quote]
I think that with the average Joe the first thing to do is to get them hooked on training. Forget about performance at first, if the guy doesn’t show up in 2-3 weeks the best program in the world will do him no good!!!
The first program should be designed after talking to the client and should include what he wants to do, his program should be enjoyable. As much as I hate “enjoyable” training programs, a proper training discipline must be established before turning on the jets!