Questions About Training

Training
401

Morning Coach,

Just started off season hockey conditioning this week which, along with on-ice practice 3x per week, includes two days of dry land training on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I’m currently lifting 5x per week early morning, rest up during the day and practice in the PM.

Training looks like this:
Monday: Chest AM, Hockey Practice PM
Tuesday: Back AM, Dryland PM
Wednesday: OFF AM, Hockey Practice PM
Thursday: Arms AM, OFF PM
Friday: Legs AM, Practice PM
Saturday: Dryland AM, Shoulders PM
Sunday: OFF

Question is this: This week ONLY due to family commitments and work, I won’t have time to lift on Saturday (Shoulders). Would it be sufficient to move this training session to Friday night, while still training (Legs) Friday morning? It would be convenient also because my coach made Friday afternoon an optional skate due to the introduction of dryland this week.

Thanks for your help!

Also: Though I play hockey competitively right now, I’m not really looking to pursue it after college (this year). I’m mainly lifting to build a more symmetrical physique. Thanks

402

Thib, why do you prefer ramping the weigths for a top final set,
instead of doing all sets with the same weigth (such as the medium day
in 5x5)?.

403

Is it smart to use antagonist stretching betweem sets if you train with an antagonist split?
If yes, which bodyparts should I stretch? (Chest/Back, Quad/Hams, Bizeps/Triceps, Anterior/Lateral Delts)

Thanks in Advance

404

Thibs,

I’ve just had a hectic two weeks of emotional stress. I’ve cried profusely and could not sleep or eat. Anyways, life is too short to be wasted. I just got back to my gym and unsurprisingly my lifts dropped quite a bit. Whats the fastest way to regain lost strength?

Thank you.

405

[quote]Mondy wrote:
Thibs,

I’ve just had a hectic two weeks of emotional stress. I’ve cried profusely and could not sleep or eat. Anyways, life is too short to be wasted. I just got back to my gym and unsurprisingly my lifts dropped quite a bit. Whats the fastest way to regain lost strength?

Thank you.[/quote]

Sorry to hear about your hardship.

In two weeks, chances are that your strength losses are due to:

  1. Neural detraining (you can lose up to 20% of your strength in 2 weeks from neural detraining alone); this one is even more likely since you were under a lot of psychological stress.

  2. Decrease in glycogen and water stores… if you didn’t eat much chances are that you depleted glycogen. Which wouldn’t be much of a problem for strength. However each gram of glycogen stores 3g of water in the muscle. Without going into too much details, intramuscular (and even extracellular to some extent) water retention increases strength due to friction and leverage issues.

  3. Muscle loss… this one is probably less important than you think. In two weeks you probably did not lose as much muscle as you think you did. You feel flat and small mostly because of a decrease in myogenic tone (tonus… a neural thing) or in intramuscular pressure (due to losses in glycogen and water stores). But you might still have lost some tissue.

The good news is that the first two factors can be recovered from quite easily; the nervous system can be detrained easily, but it gains just as fast. I suggest cluster sets (1 rep, rest 10 sec, 1 rep, rest 10 sec, 1 rep, end of set), lifting in the 2-4 reps range and explosive lifting to get the CNS back in line.

As for glycogen and intramuscular pressure, I recommend SURGE WORKOUT FUEL 2 scoops 30 minutes prior to your workout and SURGE RECOVERY 15 minutes prior. A good creatine product would also help since it pulls water into the muscle cell.

406

[quote]Addweight wrote:
Thib, why do you prefer ramping the weigths for a top final set,
instead of doing all sets with the same weigth (such as the medium day
in 5x5)?.
[/quote]

My belief is that it is the intensity (load) of your best set that triggers the most growth. From my olympic lifting background, ramping up the weight allows me to reach a higher top weight as the CNS gets primed a bit more with every set.

Furthermore, ramping up allows you to work different part of the force spectrum.

For example the first two sets will be done with more acceleration (always try to lift as hard as possible… so lighter weights will go up faster) while the later ones will emphasize the ‘mass’ factor more (force = mass x acceleration).

If you try to lift the weight as hard as you can, anything above 70% of your maximum will lead to a near maximal force production.

407

Thib, quick question :
In the high bar squat, should one strive to sit back like in PL squat or rather break at knees freely? Also should one worry about knees coming further than toes?

408

Hi Chris I want to start a twice a day split routine. I went back to your “Black Book of Training Secrets” and I wanna know if your approach has changed in some way or I should follow the routine period. Plus some nutritional advices would be nice.

Thanks in advance from a fellow Québecois!

409

Hi Chris,
I have been researching your work and have really like your philosophy. I am currently doing Berardi’s Get shredded to take myself from 12%BF to under 10%. I am only able to lift 3 x a (MWF) week do to family obligations (can do home bodyweight stuff on Tues/th to supplement). Can you recommend a training program of your to work within this schedule and this type of caloric reduction? I was going to purchase the ebook but had read that it was for 5 days a week and sometimes 2X a day.
Stats are 6 3"
216 lbs
12 % BF
37 year old male

Thanks!

410

Hi Thib…i just purchased your Get Jacked ebook…just wanted some advise…i have recently done the V-Diet…and dropped to 19% b/f…just wanted to see if i can start this new programme straight away or would you recommend a break…i am eating very low carb at the moment (only green veggies and fruit)
thanks in advance

411

[quote]Aga_Bak wrote:
Hi Thib…i just purchased your Get Jacked ebook…just wanted some advise…i have recently done the V-Diet…and dropped to 19% b/f…just wanted to see if i can start this new programme straight away or would you recommend a break…i am eating very low carb at the moment (only green veggies and fruit)
thanks in advance[/quote]

My recommendation would be to keep the diet you are on and start the program.

412

[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, quick question :
In the high bar squat, should one strive to sit back like in PL squat or rather break at knees freely? Also should one worry about knees coming further than toes?[/quote]

Don’t sit back. The common technique queue is to go sit between your legs.

Here is a video of Ivan Chakarov squatting with proper “olympic lifting” form.

413

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Addweight wrote:
Thib, why do you prefer ramping the weigths for a top final set,
instead of doing all sets with the same weigth (such as the medium day
in 5x5)?.

My belief is that it is the intensity (load) of your best set that triggers the most growth. From my olympic lifting background, ramping up the weight allows me to reach a higher top weight as the CNS gets primed a bit more with every set.

Furthermore, ramping up allows you to work different part of the force spectrum.

For example the first two sets will be done with more acceleration (always try to lift as hard as possible… so lighter weights will go up faster) while the later ones will emphasize the ‘mass’ factor more (force = mass x acceleration).

If you try to lift the weight as hard as you can, anything above 70% of your maximum will lead to a near maximal force production.[/quote]

Thib,

What to do if you had a struggling 5 rep set, and you are sure that you can’t ramp no more. At the same time, you probably can do one more set at the same weight, but if you ramp you’ll get 4 or 3 reps. Which one is more preferable to choose ?

414

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Thy. wrote:
Thib, quick question :
In the high bar squat, should one strive to sit back like in PL squat or rather break at knees freely? Also should one worry about knees coming further than toes?

Don’t sit back. The common technique queue is to go sit between your legs.

Here is a video of Ivan Chakarov squatting with proper “olympic lifting” form.

- YouTube [/quote]

Damn, I wish my hip flexors were that mobile. That looked like childs play for that guy.

415

[quote]Thy. wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Addweight wrote:
Thib, why do you prefer ramping the weigths for a top final set,
instead of doing all sets with the same weigth (such as the medium day
in 5x5)?.

My belief is that it is the intensity (load) of your best set that triggers the most growth. From my olympic lifting background, ramping up the weight allows me to reach a higher top weight as the CNS gets primed a bit more with every set.

Furthermore, ramping up allows you to work different part of the force spectrum.

For example the first two sets will be done with more acceleration (always try to lift as hard as possible… so lighter weights will go up faster) while the later ones will emphasize the ‘mass’ factor more (force = mass x acceleration).

If you try to lift the weight as hard as you can, anything above 70% of your maximum will lead to a near maximal force production.

Thib,

What to do if you had a struggling 5 rep set, and you are sure that you can’t ramp no more. At the same time, you probably can do one more set at the same weight, but if you ramp you’ll get 4 or 3 reps. Which one is more preferable to choose ?[/quote]

It depends on what the rest of the workout looks like; if you have CNS-intensive work, I would stop the exercise. If it’s the only neurally draining work I’d do a set of 3 or 4

416

Coach,

Last weekend I suffered an small anular disc tear which is placing pressure on my left sciatic nerve. I start PT this week and the doctor told me I could do lighter/high rep upper body exercises and biking.

What type of diet and exercise would you recommend while I am recovering from this?

Thanks.

417

Coach,

I have been training on a 5 day for quite some time now (couple years) due to just schedule and work. This is my training schedule:

Monday: CHEST
for 3 weeks
DB flat: 4x6-8
DB Incline: 4x6-8
DB incline fly: 4x8-10
Dips: 2 x failure
**Every 4th week we do BB. 4-6 on rep scheme

Tuesday AM: TRICEPS
Different variations
Cable pushdowns
Reverse pushdowns
Skull Crushers
Single reverse pulldown
Dips, Dips, Dips, Dips
Usually 3-4 sets of 10

Tuesday PM: BACK
50 Wide Grip pullups (usually 5 sets to get there)
Neutral grip lat pulldown 4x10,10,8,8
Rack Deads (pull from below the knee) 4x5-6
V-grip seated row 4x10,10,8,6
rear delt deck 4x10,10,8,8

Wednesday: LEGS
Either squats, leg press, or hack press 5x10,10,8,6,4
Leg extensions 2 sets, full rack, to failure. 2 drop sets, 3 pins to failure on each
Romanian deadlift 4x8
seated ham extension 4x10
calves, random machine 2x10-12, 2 x as many in 30 seconds

Thursday AM: BICEPS
A: 1 minute chin-up (30s up, 30s down)
B: straight bar curls 8-10 ***2 supersets
A: Dumbbell curls 3x10
B: Hammer curls 3x10 ***3 supersets
Preacher dumbbell curls 3x10-12

Thursday PM: CHEST & BACK
1A) Hammer Strength Incline 3x10-12
1B) Medium Grip Seated Row 3x10
2A) Hammer Strength Wide Press 3x10
2B) Reverse Grip Lat Pulls 3x10
3A) Cable crossovers 3x10-12
3A) Face Pulls 3x10

Friday:SHOULDERS
DB Press seated 4x6-8
Standing BB Press 2x10
Upright Row 4x8
Side Lat raise (drop) 8,8,8
Front Lat raise 4x10
Shrugs 4x8

When it comes to the CNS and recovery, etc. what are the visually signs and side effects of over training? We keep the intensity at a pretty decent level and continue to make gains for both strength and size and feel good throughout the week. When the weekend comes I am definitely ready for the 2 days off but still feel OK overall. Just curious as to what you think about the frequency of the lifts and how you think it could affect me if any…

~Matt

418

Hi CT

I hope you can help me,i am a personal trainer and to be honest quite embarassed to ask for advice to say the least. It’s regarding the lack of results a client of mine is seeing! I hope this doesn’t seem out of order asking you for help but i am stumped with her lack of results after applying just about everything i have learned from t-mag over the yrs. She is a one off and I feel like i’ve let her down and well i hope you can give me some pointers.I hope this isn’t asking too much of you but it would be much appreciated.

Her goal in her words is to ‘lose weight and tone up’. She came to me at 133lbs and after months of training she only got to 125lbs which at first she was happy about. Her diet was low in cals low protein, low fat, mod carbs in the region of 1200calories which she wasn’t losing on. i had her follow a typical t-dawg type diet still at 1200 cals this helped her lose 8lbs then hit the plateau.
Now, though i may be wrong i assumed that her metabolism may have slowed and so i had her eat more cals from protein and good fats and well it’s looking bad because with the increased cals she’s now 131lbs again and has been for close to 3 months! With a definite increase in fat, not just water. In last 3 wks i’ve had her on the carb cycling plan, trying to keep cals higher.

Would you suggest cutting cals again? Increase activity? I’m open to any ideas?

Training wise to keep this short on detail lets just say i’ve tried periods of heavy low rep training, medium, now high. I’ve done metabolic circuits, more cardio, less cardio. This may seem haphazard but to keep this message short they have all been structured programmes based on t-mag authors articles.
She was obsessed with doing lots of steady cardio i stopped this for intervals etc, but she’s also scared of ‘gaining too much muscle’ which drives me mad but to be honest she does have a fair amount of muscle.

Now i know for sure that she does follow the diet plans it’s not a case of her telling me lies. I don’t know if it’s a case of me being too worried about under doing her calories?

Sorry for the length of the message, i’ve included her current schedule below

My client - 36yrs old
5 foot 2.5/ 131 lbs /approx 28% body fat
Wants to reduce body fat (she tends to hold it around her abdomen)
To keep it brief, this is her schedule:
Monday - Kettlebell complex (20 mins)
Tuesday - HIIT treadmill
Wed - PT session - total body (6 exercises, 3 x 15-20 reps, 60 secs rest btwn super sets)
Thurs - Body weight metabolic circuit (20 mins)
Fri - PT session - same as wed (diff exercises)
Sat - Light Activity
Sun - Off

419

I’m currently doing the “Get Jacked” plan. For some reason when I do back extensions, my lower back tends to stiffen up quite a bit. I don’t tend to have as much of a problem if I do good mornings. Might this be an acceptable exercise since it works hams and lower back which is similar to the back extensions? If not, what lower back stretches might help me to get used to the back extension?

420

Thib,

This question is not meant to start a war or bash any particular exercise, but in your own training and the clients you work with do you find yourself making much use of box squats? I know that many very strong individuals and coaches with proven track records swear by them, and other top lifters and coaches who don’t sing their praises. While the strengthening effects on the hip musculature are undeniable, the abbreviated range of motion always seemed to me like it would be a less-than-desirable feature for anyone outside of the competitive powerlifting realm. Any thoughts you might be able to offer on this would be appreciated.