Questions About Training

Training
661

[quote]Thy. wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
ebomb5522 wrote:
CT,
In an earlier post you mentioned that you split up your specialization with 1 Heavy Day (heavy partials/clusters), 1 Volume Day (mechanical drop sets), and 1 Dynamic Day (explosive exercises. I have an idea of what exercises to use for the dynamic day, but am not entirely sure on how to group them. If I were doing chest for instance, would Iso-Relaxation Bench be a choice? Would Medicine Ball throws, smith machine bench throws, or plyometric pushups fit? This might be too much to answer, but I maybe you can give me some Idea as to how one would group those exercises or if they would work at all.

Thanks.

Actually I dropped the volume day in favor of a density day. The volume day cut into recovery too much.

The stretch-relaxed bench is a good choice if you do it explosively using around 50% of our max. The others are all good choices too.

What is a stretch-relaxed exercise exactly ?[/quote]

It will be explained when the I, Bodybuilder program comes out.

662

[quote]BoSoxFever wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

  • When doing a contrast, both movements should be mechanically close to each other.
  • You can use several types of pairings provided that the first one is explosive. For example:

OPTION 1. Performing the same exercise with different loads and speed of contraction. (for example speed bench press with 50% of your max followed by regular bench press with 85-90%)

OPTION 2. Performing a strength-speed exercise then the regular lifting movement. A strength-speed lift is an explosive movement with a relatively heavy load. The best example being the olympic lift variations (you can use the push press or push jerk for overhead movements)

OPTION 3. Performing a speed-strength exercise then the regular lift. A speed-strength movement is an explosive exercise with a moderate load (e.g. jump squats with 20%, medicine ball throw from chest, bench throws)

OPTION 4. Performing a plyometric or jumping movement then the regular lift. Plyo movements for the pressing muscles could include various types of push-ups where you project yourself in the air.

Thib,

Would you ever use a heavy movement prior to an explosive movement in a pairing or should the explosive movement always come first?[/quote]

It can be done, but personally I never use that approach. First because it creates too much fatigue for the explosive movement, which becomes not so explosive. Second because explosive exercises are good potentiator of the CNS. By doing them second you kinda lose part of that benefit.

quote]BoSoxFever wrote:
If possible, I also wanted to ask you about your thoughts on things like single-leg box jumps, 1-leg jump squats, or even single-leg box jumps performed either medially or laterally (possibly for landing mechanics). Do you see these as having a place in programs, or is it best to stick with regular box jumps and jump squats? [/quote]

Plyo drills are extremely hard on the joints and tendons, mostly because of the accumulated kinetic energy as you land, which transfer in your body absorbing up to 6 times your body weight in force.

If you perform a single-leg plyo drill that amount of force will be absorbed only by one limbā€¦ so its a lot of stress.

Can it be done? By elite athletes with a amazing strength and muscular foundation as well as a long experience with plyo. But not by anybody else.

663

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
ebomb5522 wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
ebomb5522 wrote:
CT,
In an earlier post you mentioned that you split up your specialization with 1 Heavy Day (heavy partials/clusters), 1 Volume Day (mechanical drop sets), and 1 Dynamic Day (explosive exercises. I have an idea of what exercises to use for the dynamic day, but am not entirely sure on how to group them. If I were doing chest for instance, would Iso-Relaxation Bench be a choice? Would Medicine Ball throws, smith machine bench throws, or plyometric pushups fit? This might be too much to answer, but I maybe you can give me some Idea as to how one would group those exercises or if they would work at all.

Thanks.

Actually I dropped the volume day in favor of a density day. The volume day cut into recovery too much.

The stretch-relaxed bench is a good choice if you do it explosively using around 50% of our max. The others are all good choices too.

Thank you for your quick response.

A density day? Iā€™m not entirely sure, but does that consist of performing the lifts in timed periods (ie 20 minutes, as many sets as possible) or is this something totally different? I did your canadian bear density program and am wondering if it is similar to that.

There are several applications of density training as it basically means doing more work per unit of time. But itā€™s not like the Canadian bear. And I am not going to tell you how I use it before the program comes out.

[/quote]

Thanks CT. Iā€™ll make do with what I can figure out until the program comes out.

Thanks again for your help.

664

Hey Coach I know this may be your day off so this answer can wait.

In waiting for the new program I pulled out some old articles and your black book to get a new routine

The Holistic Chest Blast looks like a great WO (need some chest help) but would you add in any ancillary exercises that day or just train chest alone. For instance could you add in Bis to this day superset between.

I am looking at s split like this

Chest(holistic Chest)/Bis Chest (holistic chest)/Bis
Thighs Quads/Calves
Off OFF
Back/Tris OR Back/Hams (Deadlift primary day)
Shoulders/Calves Shoulders (limited pressing to not overtrain tris)/Triceps
Overall/metaboic Day Metabolic/overall Workout
Off Off

I was tossing around different splits and thought about splitting thighs, so I can focus on quads but now I am not sure if that is overwork from what the current level of research is

The second option has less shoulder pressing because I do a lot of work with my shoulders and especially triceps for my job (chiro) so I have to cycle my shoulder/tricep training at times to not overtrain them

Hope this wasnā€™t too much to ask I know this is a crude workout split I am just getting the pieces together first and then the exercises are to come

If I clueless you can tell me that too, we are all always learning

Thanks

665

Thib,

When using iso holds at a point during a dynamic exercise (examples- 5-second hold at the mid-point of a row or holding the top position of a curl while curling the other DB as in your constant-tension alternate curl), is it necessary to lower the overall number of reps used to take maximum advantage?

Another way of putting it is thisā€¦would it be more beneficial to execute 4-5 reps on a 2-0-2-5 tempo than to perform 12-15 reps on a 2-0-X-1 tempo with the same weight (in the case of an exercise like rows)? Or with constant tension alternate curls using 6-8 reps at a 3-0-3-0 tempo per working arm versus using 12-15 reps at a 2-0-X-1 tempo.

Youā€™ve said that iso holds prior to dynamic lifting increase MU recruitment, but they also would require you to lower the weight when compared to dynamic movements with no iso hold, so that is what prompted me to ask this particular question.

666

Thibs,

My hips rise up way too fast on a elevated snatch grip deadlift. I basically roman deadlift it up, should I add in more quad work or just lower the weight?

Hereā€™s a video of it:

667

Are there certain people who based on their genetic build should not do things that require the arms to be over head (lat pull down, shoulder press, etc.)?

668

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote

Those who have been reading my forum for a long time know that one of my rule is that i NEVER answer those who repeat questions.

[/quote]

Oh sorry. I guess I got kinda carried away. Iā€™m kinda new here soā€¦ Anyways I had assumed that there was a lot of questions asked and that you missed me or something. Sorry again.

669

Thib,

For a beginner/ intermediate with about 2 years training would you suggest rotating max effort bench variations every couple weeks or keep it simple and stick with using regular flat barbell bench and master correct form before adding more advanced techniques? Thanks for help!

670

Gā€™Day CT,
I am just interested to know how you structure fat loss training nowadays. Heavy work, metabolic pairings, volume, splits, ect.

Thanks in advance.

671

Hello there Thibs

When I squat, I either elevate my heels and have horrible back pain for five days, or I have flat heels and can not get low enough
I can go down to just above parallel and have no back pain.
Is this better than no squats at all? Can you advise on anything i should do to get lower / stop the back pain?

Facts that may help
-6"4 long legs 225 pounds 12% BF
-Left knee clicks on extension but never had an injury and no pain, not sure its relevant
-The lower i try and squat, the more my torso flexes forward to create a good morning type movement on rising, however even when I have a spotter to ensure straight back, i still get back pain.

Apologies for another ā€˜i canā€™t squat lowā€™ type post, its been a difficult issue for me to resolve.

672

Thib, I want to incorporate Vit B complex and ginko biloba for increased neural activation and recovery. I donā€™t have access to Biotest or Poliquin supplements, so my only choice is to use those separately. What dosage and time of use (PWO, Pre-WO, etc.) would you advice?

673

[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, I want to incorporate Vit B complex and ginko biloba for increased neural activation and recovery. I donā€™t have access to Biotest or Poliquin supplements, so my only choice is to use those separately. What dosage and time of use (PWO, Pre-WO, etc.) would you advice?[/quote]

I honestly wouldnā€™t lose my money on those. B vitamins wonā€™t do much unless you are deficient in them. And even in that case they donā€™t do that much for neural activation.

Ginko isnā€™t super effective by itself as it mainly increase blood flow to the brain.

674

[quote]thenanger wrote:
Gā€™Day CT,
I am just interested to know how you structure fat loss training nowadays. Heavy work, metabolic pairings, volume, splits, ect.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

Itā€™s a case-by-case thing. A bodybuilder training for a contest will not use the same approach than a housewife wanting to look good for the beach.

675

[quote]cttballer23 wrote:
Thib,

For a beginner/ intermediate with about 2 years training would you suggest rotating max effort bench variations every couple weeks or keep it simple and stick with using regular flat barbell bench and master correct form before adding more advanced techniques? Thanks for help![/quote]

Iā€™d do both. Iā€™d keep the bench press in ā€¦ to get more efficient at the movement. Then Iā€™d add a secondary exercise trained with heavy weights, but not with max weights (3-5RM) which would be rotated every 3 weeks.

E.g.

Bench press - max effort movement
Floor press - 5 sets of 3-5 reps (secondary exercise)

Then do the assistance work

676

[quote]Loui.s wrote:
Are there certain people who based on their genetic build should not do things that require the arms to be over head (lat pull down, shoulder press, etc.)? [/quote]

Not really any type of build. Even ectos with very long arms can do overhead work provided that they progress gradually.

However I would not have athletes such as baseball pitchers and quarterback do much overhead work, if at all.

677

Thibs,

Whenever I do deadlifts with 90% + 1rm weights, my hamstrings seems to take up the bulk of the work, it turns into a Romanian deadlift. Does this indicated poor quad strength or just bad form?

678

CT,
I am trying to lose about 10 lbs of fat. At the moment I am following a push/pull routine 4x a week. With a goal of losing fat what would be the best set rep scheme to keep as much muscle as possible? How many exercises is optimal two per body part?

679

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Loui.s wrote:
Are there certain people who based on their genetic build should not do things that require the arms to be over head (lat pull down, shoulder press, etc.)?

Not really any type of build. Even ectos with very long arms can do overhead work provided that they progress gradually.

However I would not have athletes such as baseball pitchers and quarterback do much overhead work, if at all.[/quote]

Thib,

Would this also apply to position players in baseball, or would you assess such cases on a more individual basis?

And would the little to no overhead pressing apply to tennis players, volleyball players, swimmers, and athletes like that who also are using the arms overhead quite a nit?

While on this overhead topic, perhaps I could ask you a few more quick questions.

For athletes who should limit or cut out overhead pressing, would partial overhead pressing still have a place and possible value, or is it still too risky for those populations?

Can holding dumbbells, sandbags, or some other implement overhead for time be used to get in some extra scapular stability work and a focus on ā€œpackingā€ the shoulder in thee populations or should that be left out, as well?

Lastly, since you have familiarity with Coach Poliquinā€™s structural balance testing, what would be done with the behind-the-neck press portion of upper body testing when certain athletes would not be performing overhead work in their programming? For example, what would testing for a pitcher look like, since this exercise would not be one heā€™d be executing?

Any feedback would be appreciated, and sorry for dumping a bunch of questions on you like this. Iā€™m very interested in learning more along these lines.

680

Thib, at what point (reps with bodyweight) do you have your clients add weight on pull-ups if max strength is the goal ? To stimulate HTMUā€™s and generally for max strength is there any point on trying to achieve, say 5x10 with BW before moving on added weight?

And second question, would you give any tips on weighted pull-up specialized programme ? (what special methods to use, etc.)