Coach Thibaudeau,
What do you feel is the best approach to improving forearm development and grip?
Coach, do you think it appropriate to look for leg strength with as little leg size gains if you are an athlete who needs to run, jump, and be agile?
Thib, will the I, BB training programme cause at least 50% of strength gains with regular nutrition?
As I read about it more and more, it looks like at least 80% of results are due to vast quantities of those expensive supplements, and the training itself will be like a nice recommended add-on.
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, will the I, BB training programme cause at least 50% of strength gains with regular nutrition?
As I read about it more and more, it looks like at least 80% of results are due to vast quantities of those expensive supplements, and the training itself will be like a nice recommended add-on.
[/quote]
Dorian Yates used to say: āTraining is 100%, nutrition is 100%, recovery is 100%, supplementation is 100%ā¦ā
Basically he meant that every aspect of a program can make or break your gains if it is too much deficient.
The I, BB system (itās actually not a program but a system. A program will be given soon, but many more will follow) is the core of the whole process but the peri-workout protocol is what allows you to perform optimally, recover fast enough and grow maximally from the program.
[quote]TheBigV wrote:
Coach, do you think it appropriate to look for leg strength with as little leg size gains if you are an athlete who needs to run, jump, and be agile?[/quote]
Any non-contact sport benefits from the greatest strength and power/body mass ratio. However in contact sports, the additional weight/size from increased muscle mass can be helpful to prevent injury or overcome an opponent.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Thy. wrote:
Thib, will the I, BB training programme cause at least 50% of strength gains with regular nutrition?
As I read about it more and more, it looks like at least 80% of results are due to vast quantities of those expensive supplements, and the training itself will be like a nice recommended add-on.
Dorian Yates used to say: āTraining is 100%, nutrition is 100%, recovery is 100%, supplementation is 100%ā¦ā
Basically he meant that every aspect of a program can make or break your gains if it is too much deficient.
The I, BB system (itās actually not a program but a system. A program will be given soon, but many more will follow) is the core of the whole process but the peri-workout protocol is what allows you to perform optimally, recover fast enough and grow maximally from the program.[/quote]
Yes I understand.
But to afford those supplements you have to be financially stable AND live in an economically adequate country. Not that you care, but I am a student in the idiotic country (Ukraine). To give you an idea, a 1000$ salary here is considered amazing and 1 kg of beef costs 7$, so Iām lucky to get enough food without supplementsā¦
Great news that the program will be available earlier than the system because Iām only interested in the program.
Thibs,
Where do you put HIIT in a training regimen? Is it ok to use during a phase of wanting to gain muscle, or does that hinder gains?
Coach, how does doing front raises with a straight bar affect the delts vs holding onto a plate w/ palms facing each other?
What part of the delt is emphasized when you do wide grip raise w/ a straight bar. Same question for doing shoulder width or narrow grip front raises w. a bar. Thanks
Christian,
What is the best way to increase neuromuscular recruitment in your non dominant side? Would unilateral isometrics be best, or some type of heavy movement?
Thanks
Thib,
With oldtime lifters, especially in the early part of the 20th Century, it was fairly common to see men who demonstrated rather impressive feats of āsuperā strength. Do you think that this was in large part because of asymmetrical/unilateral training (ex. 1-arm barbell OH press, bent press, etc.), odd object training, and even working with a lot of thick grips? Iām particularly interested in things like the asymmetrical lifting as this seems like it would give these oldtime strongmen massive stability through the core that would essentially remove the parking brake on many lifts. The anti-rotation component to many of those feats was certainly significant. And back in the day, a lifter would just pick up a bar with one arm and lift it if he could without considering whether a bilateral version would recruit and fatigue more MUās, etc., etc.
Basically I was wondering where you draw the line today between ācircusā training or doing something that looks impressive versus what may look impressive, but is actually chock full of value, as well. For example, my gym has two specialty pull-ups bars, one of which is suspended from a single chord in the center, and the other which is suspended from two chords- one at each end. In addition, they both possess rotating sleeves around the bar, which will try to slide out of your hands, a la Ironmindās Rolling Thunder deadlift handle. Each of these markedly decreases the number of pull-ups performed versus a fixed bar, but improving performance on these self-limiting bars definitely improves performance on return to a fixed bar. I say self-limiting, because if you are not balanced in your pulling, you tend to swing or even start to spin without going up, which would not allow for cheating even if you attempted it. Ditto for the revolving grip. For a lifter after size and strength, do you think these are worthwhile variations to sub in at times or just gimmicky?
Additional examples could include any type of dumbbell or barbell lift where loading is offset to some degree or affected in such a way as to require an especially high amount of core stability. Even something along the lines of the modification you made to the āGunthorā row where you suggested performing it with 1 DB would be an example, as the requires a prominent anti-rotation componentā¦picture attached, so hopefully you donāt mind me using your own picture for illustration purposes 
Dear CT
Whilst training for aesthetic size/strength, Would it be effective to do 3 full-body workouts a week in this fashion;
sunday: pure strength; 4-6 rep range using ramping.
tuesday: focus more on size; 8-10 rep range. perhaps dropsets?
thursday: functional strength/size; 6-8 rep range, ramping?
aiming for at 15 sets per muscle group within the week period. Also, Im not really sure what style of workout is best for each goal, ie ramping is best for strength?
any help would be much appreciated and thanks for taking the time,
Matt
CT
During a specialisation phase do you expect strength increases in the chosen bodypart? Just finished a leg spec., my front squat did not increase at all, actually was almost dropping poundage. Upper body lifts increased slightly (slower than usual obviously), so would you say this was more likely due to errors in poor program design or just the planned overtraining halting adaption? Thanks.
[quote]jk270 wrote:
CT
During a specialisation phase do you expect strength increases in the chosen bodypart? Just finished a leg spec., my front squat did not increase at all, actually was almost dropping poundage. Upper body lifts increased slightly (slower than usual obviously), so would you say this was more likely due to errors in poor program design or just the planned overtraining halting adaption? Thanks.[/quote]
In the past I would have said that this is to be expected and that strength rebounds once you get to another program. And this is true if you use the āplanned overreachingā approach of doing work exceeding the recovery capacity of the body. This is the logic behind āhell weeksā to have an athlete peak: overstress them for 2-3 weeks then deload drastically for 7-10 days to reach a new peak.
This works, for a while, but I found that it can lead to systemic CNS and hormonal burnout.
The way that I now specialize is by focusing on the CNS: maximizing CNS stimulation while managing the stress placed upon it. The key is to 'wake up" the CNS, stimulate the muscles and get the hell out. CNS fatigue builds-up, it is systemic and not limited to the muscle being focused on.
The way Iām specializing now, I expect a 10% improvement over a 3-4 weeks spec period. Obviously those with monster numbers (e.g. bench pressing 500+ already) might reach only a 5% improvement, which is still very interesting. However this is completely impossible without the proper micromanagement/autoregulation of the training and the proper selection of the training methods.
[quote]krsoneeeee wrote:
Dear CT
Whilst training for aesthetic size/strength, Would it be effective to do 3 full-body workouts a week in this fashion;
sunday: pure strength; 4-6 rep range using ramping.
tuesday: focus more on size; 8-10 rep range. perhaps dropsets?
thursday: functional strength/size; 6-8 rep range, ramping?
aiming for at 15 sets per muscle group within the week period. Also, Im not really sure what style of workout is best for each goal, ie ramping is best for strength?
any help would be much appreciated and thanks for taking the time,
Matt
[/quote]
Any scheme/method where producing the most force possible works best with ramping. To me this means that anytime that your goal is to reach the heaviest possible weight for a specific number of rep you should ramp up.
It may seems contradictory to the fact that I often recommend wave loadingā¦ but wave loading really is ramping; you are ramping throughout each wave (each set of a wave is done with more weight) and from wave to wave (the second wave is heavier than the first wave).
When the goal is to create fatigue (I call that ācapacity trainingā) which will indirectly stimulate growth, then I prefer to use the same weight for every set and AUTOREGULATE. This means that the number of sets will depend on my work capacity. For example, you use a weight that is close to your 6RM, first two sets are āfeel/wake-upā setsā¦ perform 4 reps on the first set and 5 reps on the second. The the real work sets beginā¦ you perform sets of 6 reps with the weight ā¦ when you canāt complete 5 technically correct reps, you stop the exercise.
For example:
Set 1 = 4 reps with 120lbs
Set 2 = 5 reps with 120lbs
Set 3 = 6 reps with 120lbs
Set 4 = 6 reps with 120lbs
Set 5ā¦ fatigue sets in ā¦ only do 5 reps with 120lb
Set 6 ā¦ can only complete 4 repsā¦ end of exercise
I donāt like to use drop-sets anymore, I found them to create too much neuromuscular stress, specifically at the neuromuscular junction, which will possibly negate the gains from CNS-intensive workouts.
Instead of drop-sets I like to perform ONE SET ON THE LAST EXERCISE OF A MUSCLE GROUP (not on the last set of every exercise!!!) with 85% of what YOU ENDED UP USING FOR YOUR LAST GOOD SET and to as many reps as possible.
For example the most weight you used above is 120lbsā¦ 85% of that is 100lbsā¦ you would do as many reps as you can with that weight.
The good thing is that this autoregulates volume: you only perform the number of sets that your body can handle and recovers from and the max set is based on your daily capacities.
BTW 4-6 reps is NOT pure strength work. Heck, this is my HIGH REPS bracket!!! Strength work is working at or above 90% of your max which normally means 1-4 reps.
Thib, I know you donāt like this much, but could you take a quick look at my routine, itās really brief:
Mon
A. Bench Press work up to 1-3RM
B. Deadlift Variation work up to 3 cluster rep max
C. Assistance for back 5x3-5
Wed
A. Bench Press 70% 5x2 explosive
B. Speed Deadlift 10x1 @ 70%
C. Romanian Deadlift 75% 5x3 with super slow negative
D. Assistance for legs 5x3-5
Fri
A. Bench Press motor learning : 90% x 1 max sets in 20 minutes (usually 12-16)
B. Deadlift Variation 6-9 x 1-3 (heavy)
C. Assistance for bench 5x3-5
D. Assistance for back 5x3-5
All assistance is intuitive and heavy but always leaving 1-3 reps in the tank on the last set.
-
Do you think itās fine in terms of CNS stress ?
-
My number one priority is bench press. The issue is that I want to put something close to heavy bench on Wednesday, but still not overwork and create too much CNS stress over the whole week. Do you have any ideas what to do instead OR with the explosive sets? Although theyāre important, I hate moving that little weight. Maybe you would recommend some changes on Wednesday or to the whole bench press routine.
I reall donāt like this plan. It will not work. You will burnout the CNS in less than 3 weeks.
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Thib, I know you donāt like this much, but could you take a quick look at my routine, itās really brief:
Mon
A. Bench Press work up to 1-3RM
B. Deadlift Variation work up to 3 cluster rep max
C. Assistance for back 5x3-5
Wed
A. Bench Press 70% 5x2 explosive
B. Speed Deadlift 10x1 @ 70%
C. Romanian Deadlift 75% 5x3 with super slow negative
D. Assistance for legs 5x3-5
Fri
A. Bench Press motor learning : 90% x 1 max sets in 20 minutes (usually 12-16)
B. Deadlift Variation 6-9 x 1-3 (heavy)
C. Assistance for bench 5x3-5
D. Assistance for back 5x3-5
All assistance is intuitive and heavy but always leaving 1-3 reps in the tank on the last set.
-
Do you think itās fine in terms of CNS stress ?
-
My number one priority is bench press. The issue is that I want to put something close to heavy bench on Wednesday, but still not overwork and create too much CNS stress over the whole week. Do you have any ideas what to do instead OR with the explosive sets? Although theyāre important, I hate moving that little weight. Maybe you would recommend some changes on Wednesday or to the whole bench press routine.
[/quote]
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I reall donāt like this plan. It will not work. You will burnout the CNS in less than 3 weeks.
[/quote]
I already did actually ! This is my stupid psychological barrier : I canāt set myself to do the lift I want to improve less frequently and less heavy although I know itās too much ! It always feels like Iām getting weaker if I donāt do itā¦
Could you please help me connect these pieces of the puzzle :
- practice this lift (bench press) 3 times a week
- go somehow heavy (doesnāt matter how many reps as long as it stays 87%+ )
- do only the regular lift (I canāt do anything with bench in the power rack - either the rack or the bench for it is always occupied in my gym)
Or is it something else besides bench press should be ditched/changed ?
Thanks. Sorry if this is a really stupid question but what is ācapacity trainingā and its use? Is this just training designed to increase an individualās work capacity?
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I reall donāt like this plan. It will not work. You will burnout the CNS in less than 3 weeks.
I already did actually ! This is my stupid psychological barrier : I canāt set myself to do the lift I want to improve less frequently and less heavy although I know itās too much ! It always feels like Iām getting weaker if I donāt do itā¦
Could you please help me connect these pieces of the puzzle :
- practice this lift (bench press) 3 times a week
- go somehow heavy (doesnāt matter how many reps as long as it stays 87%+ )
- do only the regular lift (I canāt do anything with bench in the power rack - either the rack or the bench for it is always occupied in my gym)
Or is it something else besides bench press should be ditched/changed ?
[/quote]
Your mindset will prevent you from reaching your goals.
When you are bench pressing you are focusing on not getting weaker instead of getting stronger.
You should go heavy on a lift once a week, but when you get to that one workout you are just bursting with power, eager to break a record.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR NERVOUS ENERGYā¦ its the worst thing you can do.
When I say that your program is not good, I mean just that. First of all I donāt like going near maximum on two compound lifts of different structure (bench and deadlift)ā¦ going at 90% on both of these in the same workout is one of the best way to destroy the nervous system.
DO NOT GO CLOSE TO 90% MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK ON A LIFT. When doing a lift 3 times a day, the second workout is a 'recharge", you should practice DESTROYING, DOMINATING the weights. Use around 80% of the max you reached on the first workout, NO MORE. This means around 70-75% of your max and focus on lifting the weight with as much explosion as possible. Shoot for 5-7 sets of 3.
Remember that YOU SHOULD NOT LOOK AT A WORKOUT IN ISOLATION. Each workout affect the next ones. So each workout needs to ENHANCE THE EFFICACY OF THE NEXT WORKOUT. By going heavy all the time to feed your ego your workout not only does not make the next one better, it makes it worse.
MUCH WORSE. The nervous system takes a long time to recover. By training like you are I can garantee you that in 10 years you will not have had any progress.
WAKE UP!
P.S. You see to have a mental block because you think that if you are not training hard enough, you will not progress. And in your mind hard work = heavy lifting.
REMEMBER THAT JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS LIGHT DOESNāT MEAN THAT IT IS EASY!!!
Force = Mass x Acceleration
This means that you can produce more force by focusing on heavy lifts (mass factor) and/or acceleration. Lifting a weight that is 70-75% of your max with a lot of speed requires as much force, if not more than doing a near maximal lift.
[quote]jk270 wrote:
Thanks. Sorry if this is a really stupid question but what is ācapacity trainingā and its use? Is this just training designed to increase an individualās work capacity?
[/quote]
Itās short for alactic capacity and lactic capacity.
The first one refers to the most work you can perform on a lift without causing a significant accumulation of lactate (sets lasting 15-25 seconds); the second on refers to the most work you can perform in the lactic acid accumulation zone (sets lasting 30-60 seconds)