[quote]maxiron wrote:
hi Coach,
which are the main details and differences between
" Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Body transformation ", “Off-Season and Pre-Contest Training for Bodybuilders” and " Get Jacked… Fast program " ?
I mean if someone, not a beginner, is interesting in muscle gain and/or fat loss program ( talking about training, not the diet) which is the best to read?[/quote]
Get Jacked is a lot more up-to-date
CT-
Im looking to get your recommendation for a dosage protocol using waxy maize. I have recently cut out all artificial sweeteners from my diet and just purchased waxy maize and a gemma pea protein isolate to replace Surge.
Im female, 5’2 108 lbs, 14% bf and trying to add some lean mass to my frame. Im currently following a 4 day pattern split similar to the female mass gaining workout you wrote in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
I was previously consuming 1/2 serving of Surge and 5 g BCAA pre/during training and 1/2 serving Surge,5 g creatine and 5 g BCAA PWO. How many grams of WMS and protein should I be using for each drink and what else should I be adding to the mix (creatine, BCAA etc)?
Thanks!
My front delts look flat. I have been doing a lot of OHP pressing once or twice per week , usually in the 3-5 rep range and my strength has gone up. One OHP exercise per workout along with one side and one rear delt exercise.
Should I add some front raises or do you have any other suggestions. Thanks.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Yeah, get off any stimulants. Take 1-2 days off and include high doses (2-3 daily daily double doses) of Power Drive to restore the nervous system.[/quote]
Thank you so much. Got your Mechanical Drop Set program, by the way, looking forward to it come Autumn.
CT,
I’ve got a question about your Get Jacked Fast program, particularly the diet. Are all of your meat portions standardized to the general rule of 1 oz=7 grams of protein?
I ask because the raw chicken breast I buy only has 5.5 grams of protein per ounce and I was wondering if this will affect the goals of the diet and undershoot my protein intake.
Thibs
I am 59 years young. Have been walking 4-5 miles pre-dawn for over 7 yrs. Almost every day. Twice a week I workout for 45-60 min. right after I get done walking. Not heavy, heavy lifting, but it works me. Have just gone basically low carb and lost close to seventy pounds over last six months. I am 5’10", 175lbs. now. Lost some muscle. but not bad.
Have always gone cold turkey. Nothing to eat before walking. Would you recommend some GROW before going out for walk and anything on days when I include my lifting? Need to gain a little muscle back.
Hey thibs just wanted to say its refreshing seeing someone give advice that has results to show for it. Been around the site for a while just rarely feel the need to post.
My question is the new mechanical drop set dvd from muscledrivethru.com the same thing you are doing for the site?
Either way I will order it.
If not when can we expect to see it here?
Hey CT,
I had a question about pre-contest dieting.
If i’m 8 weeks out and using a targetted carbs approach of 50 grams a day. Would it be best to keep Surge Workout Fuel in my diet and use the 21 grams of carbs it provides? Or would i better off following your low carbs optimised peri-workout startegy?
Thanks alot.
CT,
In your opinion, is it usually worthwhile to use a hand dynamometer to test grip strength and establish a baseline when working with a new client?
I also wanted to ask you what approximate percentage increase in volume you’d shoot for if overreaching is desired before a total week off/vacation. If your typical high volume week was considered 100-percent, would aiming for 150-200 percent of this be about right or going overboard even when overreaching is the intended aim?
If training options are available during the vacation, would you skip the overreaching week and simply continue on with your current program during the vacation? Or would you still go with the overreaching week + active recovery only during the vacation week?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
[quote]SouthsideMayhem wrote:
CT,
In your opinion, is it usually worthwhile to use a hand dynamometer to test grip strength and establish a baseline when working with a new client? [/quote]
I’ve never used that test. Most machines are not biomechanically suited to a lot of people.
[quote]SouthsideMayhem wrote:
I also wanted to ask you what approximate percentage increase in volume you’d shoot for if overreaching is desired before a total week off/vacation. If your typical high volume week was considered 100-percent, would aiming for 150-200 percent of this be about right or going overboard even when overreaching is the intended aim? [/quote]
It depends on the length of the vacation/off period. +50% per off week is a good starting point.
[quote]SouthsideMayhem wrote:
If training options are available during the vacation, would you skip the overreaching week and simply continue on with your current program during the vacation? Or would you still go with the overreaching week + active recovery only during the vacation week?[/quote]
It depends on the situation. If the individual can maintain training motivation during a vacation and will not abuse alcohol and bad food, I’d simply continue on with the plan.
If I know that the individual will not be training as hard and will not recover as well, then I’d use an overreaching weak, albeit less severe than if complete rest would follow.
[quote]xsquatx wrote:
Hey CT,
I had a question about pre-contest dieting.
If i’m 8 weeks out and using a targetted carbs approach of 50 grams a day. Would it be best to keep Surge Workout Fuel in my diet and use the 21 grams of carbs it provides? Or would i better off following your low carbs optimised peri-workout startegy?
Thanks alot.[/quote]
I like SURGE WORKOUT FUEL during a diet, especially in the later stages as it helps maintain training intensity and thus plays a significant role in preventing muscle loss.
Post-workout I’d go with:
0.3g whey isolate per pound of bodyweight
0.2g of glutamine
0.1g of glycine
5g of leucine
[quote]tbohacker wrote:
My question is the new mechanical drop set dvd from muscledrivethru.com the same thing you are doing for the site?
[/quote]
Not even close. The project I’m working on for T-Nation will simply be huge… something that has never ever been done. But it will take some time to set up.
Thib,
When training the split jerk, is it imperative to switch the lead leg from set to set to avoid developing an imbalance? Or would you stick with the same lead leg and use other work to prevent imbalances from developing?
And as far as dropping weights is concerned when training Oly lifts and their variations, would you suggest always dropping the weights (assuming access to bumper plates and a platform) between reps to spare the shoulders or are there times when you’d actually advise hanging onto the bar between reps?
[quote]ndiddy85 wrote:
CT,
I’ve got a question about your Get Jacked Fast program, particularly the diet. Are all of your meat portions standardized to the general rule of 1 oz=7 grams of protein?
I ask because the raw chicken breast I buy only has 5.5 grams of protein per ounce and I was wondering if this will affect the goals of the diet and undershoot my protein intake.[/quote]
It will make ZERO difference. Worst case scenario you’ll be off by around 20-25g of protein, most likely 8-12g… nothing that would make a significant impact.
[quote]MissMarce wrote:
CT-
Im looking to get your recommendation for a dosage protocol using waxy maize. I have recently cut out all artificial sweeteners from my diet and just purchased waxy maize and a gemma pea protein isolate to replace Surge. [/quote]
I never use waxy maize. When mixed with other stuff (protein, glutamine, creatine, etc.) it loses it’s unique properties (which have recently been contested anyway).
Thib, any input on my heavy arms/shoulders day since it’s soon coming up? (Don’t mean to rush you.)
But more importantly, as per your Refined Physique Transformation, I’ve been hanging around 75g carbs per day, and soon I’ll have my first carb-up day of about 200-210g generally clean carbs. However, I have an Army fitness test coming up (2 mi. run, 2 min. push-ups, 2 min. sit-ups) on April 21st, and I’d like to ensure that my depletion of carbs does not alter my performance negatively.
Do you recommend having my carb-up day before the test, the morning of perhaps, or to not worry about carbs too much for two days or so leading up to the test (however, I’d like to stick to the nutrition plan as closely as possible)? Thanks man, really appreciate it.
Hey CT,
I was just wondering if your views on Energy expenditure have changed since you “Running Man” Article? I’m seriously considering adding Intervals to my cario regime (I got bummed knees from football) But I think I can do the quick short sprints with a good set of knee sleeves. Would you recommend a x2/wk Interval with a x2/wk Low intensity session?
Also, whats your opinion on Carb cycling for someone who is highly insulin resistant (15% BF but working on dropping it - Have a biosig guy, but I’d like your opinion as well) with high cortisol due to working Shift work alternating sets of days to nights?
Thanks!
PS: Go Flames Go 
is it the same with vitargo? the real vitargo mixes differently than waxy maize. I do notice it gets foamy when you mix it with protein powder though, even wpi.
Well I have been following a similar routine to the following one you recommended for chest, back with a few compound exercises prior to the drop sets.
CHEST
FLIES MECHANICAL DROP
A1. Dumbbell flies; move on to…
A2. Eccentric as a flie; concentric as a DB press; move on to…
A3. DB press
PRESS MULTI-ANGLE
A1. High incline (45-60 degrees) DB press; move on to …
A2. Low incline (15-30 degrees) DB press; move on to …
A3. Flat DB press
FLIES MULTI-ANGLE
Same as above but with flies
BACK
MULTI-GRIP LAT CHIN-UPS
A1. Pull-ups (pronated grip); move on to…
A2. Chin-ups (supinated grip; move on to …
A3. Parallel grip chin-ups
MULTI-WIDTH PULL-UPS
A1. Wide grip pull-ups; move on to…
A2. Medium grip pull-ups; move on to…
A3. Close grip pull-ups
PULLDOWN MULTI-ANGLE
A1. Lat pulldown back perfectly upright; move on to…
A2. Lat pulldown leaning back 45 degrees (no swing); move on to …
A3. Lat pulldown with a slight lower back action
MULTI-MOVEMENT BACK (SAME WEIGHT)
A1. Straight-arms pulldown; move on to…
A2. Pronated grip lat pulldown; move on to…
A3. Supinated grip lat pulldown
My legs are much bigger in proportion to the rest of my body due to 15 years of soccer, as well as my arms. My most lagging part is by far the chest. I incorporate the drop sets on back as well to balance out the chest exerecises, though my back is not lacking. Anyways my question is how often should I be doing drop sets like this or any type of training to bring up my chest? I normally hit chest on monday, back on tuesday and do some accessory work on friday for traps, a little chest and calfs.
As far as splits go I have been doing the following including the drop sets with decent success.
Mon- Chest
Tues- Back
Wed- Shoulders
Thurs- Legs
Fri- Secondary
Opinion?
Sorry if its confusing.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
fitzz wrote:
Hey
I was just reading over a few of your articles.
I was trying to answer my own question but got more confused
then i was before.
Basically ive been lifting heavy recently but started to cut for summer and my holiday.
So i decided to revert back to Set of 20 squats as i remember when doing this i used to drip with sweat and put
muscle on .
Was this actually sensible or would heavy lifting be better?
I noticed you seem to suggest heavy lifting, but i had got to the end of an 8 week set of heavy lifting.
maybe sets of 20 one week and heavy the next ?
Im not to sure
Any help would be appreciated or just a reference as i quite like searching for the answers
Cheers
Going from heavy to super light when starting to cut is the dumbest thing you can do.
Here is from one of my articles:
''High volume training to “cut up” a muscle.
If you’ve been reading Testosterone for more than a week you probably guessed right off the bat that this is the idiotic theory of lifting for fat loss. Yet, for 90% of the population you see in gyms all around the world, this is still the prevailing notion: if you want to “get cut,” you should increase your repetitions per set.
A trainer schooled in this philosophy will say something like, “Do sets of 8-12 for size and 15-20 for cuts”. He obviously disregards the simple physiological fact that you cannot “cut” or “define” a muscle with strength training. Doing high reps will not “add detail”, “carve” or “sculpt” anything.
Simply bumping up the reps per set will do nothing but slightly increase energy expenditure and use up more muscle glycogen. This is not sufficient to speed up the fat loss process. Plus, not only will it not help you protect your muscle mass, it can actually lead to muscle loss!
In a deprived caloric state your body will need a real good reason to keep its energy-costly muscle mass. Going from a heavy lifting regimen to an easier (as far as muscle tension production goes) high reps/lighter weights approach will not force it to preserve its muscle mass. The muscle used to need its mass to move heavy shit, now you’re only asking it to move light weights so there is no need for that big engine anymore.‘’
Your timing suck… starting to cut right after a strength phase is a bad idea because you have to lift lighter for a while.
You should still at least maintain some form of heavy lifting right now. But since you are coming off of a strength phase I suggest not going ‘‘all-out strength’’ right now.
Pick one lift per muscle group and lift relatively heavy (3-5 reps per set) the rest of the exercises for that muscle group should be done more ‘‘bodybuilding style’’ (sets of 8-12 reps) but do not go above 12 reps per set.
[/quote]
Thank you very much