[quote]jonmb11 wrote:
Thibs,
I just got a power rack and wanted to know if i could perform squats everyday without negatively affecting my main workouts. Could I use a certain percentage of my max to just improve my technique, speed up recovery and increase my mobility?[/quote]
Olympic lifters around the world squat at every workout. But…
They work up to this frequency OVER TIME… over many years in fact
They vary the intensity greatly, rarely going for a max (well, except Bulgarians, which were banned from the last olympic because their whole team was caught using drugs)
That having been said, you could squat this frequently. But you can only have roughly 2 somewhat challenging workouts. Something like…
DAY 1 - Working up to your max force point for sets of 3 reps at roughly 85%
DAY 2 - Sets of 2-3 reps with around 70%
DAY 3 - Sets of 2-3 reps with roughly 75%
DAY 4 - Working up to your max load point for sets of 3 reps (roughly 88-90%)
DAY 5 - Sets of 2-3 reps with aroung 60%
DAY 6 - Sets of 2-3 reps with around 50%
DAY 7- off
I would VERY rarely recommend such an approach. The muscle will be able to handle it. And it is a good approach to improve technique. But you can’t do this for very long unless you are naturally built for squatting. More than 3-4 weeks and your joints will start to despise you.[/quote]
Thank you for the detailed response. How many sets should be done on the days where you don’t work up to a max load or force point? And on what days should other training be done? Say I wanted to have a setup similar to 5/3/1 where military press is the main movement for one day and squat, deadlift and bench the main movement on their separate days. Would it make sense to do bench on one of the lighter squat days and military press on the other lighter squat day and just drop deadlift while going through this phase?
First off, thanks for the reply to my original post as to whether the protocol would work for an old guy (37) who’d not lifted in years. I’m crazy pumped about the protocol- at beginning of year like everybody else I had a resolution to fix diet and get more serious about body transformation. I started with the protocol this month, and have already seen huge gains in terms of weight. Here are just a few examples of progress:
Bench before protocol - 225; Since protocol 305
Hang power clean before protocol - 185 max; yesterday 225
Bent over row before protocol - 165; this week 225
Squat before protocol - 225; Since protocol 275 (bad knee and all)
Dead lift before protocol - 365; Since protocol 415 (still working on form)
As you can see I’ve made some significant gains, an leaning out, and I’ve drawn an audience at the crossfit affiliate I go to - don’t laugh - especially when I do the protocol before or after the crossfit workout. People keep asking me where I’ve learned this stuff I’ve pointed them to the site but their typical response is ‘that’s insane’ or ‘man, just in the last month you’re getting crazy strong and lean - what are you doing?’ I tell em I eat like a horse - healthy though - and follow the protocol on the site.
I can’t wait til next phase - chest - where I’m looking to greatly improve.
Long story short - thanks for the protocol. It really works!
[quote]jonmb11 wrote:
Thibs,
I just got a power rack and wanted to know if i could perform squats everyday without negatively affecting my main workouts. Could I use a certain percentage of my max to just improve my technique, speed up recovery and increase my mobility?[/quote]
Olympic lifters around the world squat at every workout. But…
They work up to this frequency OVER TIME… over many years in fact
They vary the intensity greatly, rarely going for a max (well, except Bulgarians, which were banned from the last olympic because their whole team was caught using drugs)
That having been said, you could squat this frequently. But you can only have roughly 2 somewhat challenging workouts. Something like…
DAY 1 - Working up to your max force point for sets of 3 reps at roughly 85%
DAY 2 - Sets of 2-3 reps with around 70%
DAY 3 - Sets of 2-3 reps with roughly 75%
DAY 4 - Working up to your max load point for sets of 3 reps (roughly 88-90%)
DAY 5 - Sets of 2-3 reps with aroung 60%
DAY 6 - Sets of 2-3 reps with around 50%
DAY 7- off
I would VERY rarely recommend such an approach. The muscle will be able to handle it. And it is a good approach to improve technique. But you can’t do this for very long unless you are naturally built for squatting. More than 3-4 weeks and your joints will start to despise you.[/quote]
Thank you for the detailed response. How many sets should be done on the days where you don’t work up to a max load or force point? And on what days should other training be done? Say I wanted to have a setup similar to 5/3/1 where military press is the main movement for one day and squat, deadlift and bench the main movement on their separate days. Would it make sense to do bench on one of the lighter squat days and military press on the other lighter squat day and just drop deadlift while going through this phase?
Thanks[/quote]
I don’t really like to answer a question like this. Why? Because I JUST said that this is an approach that I would VERY RARELY recommend, and only for 3-4 weeks. This means a concentrated loading phase which requires a lot of day-to-day adjustment. By giving you a specific way to assemble such a program I run the risk of:
People just quoting me, saying that ‘‘Thib recommend squatting 6 days a week and here is his plan’’; whereas the reality is that Thib would never recommend squatting 6 days a week except for some very specific situations which almost no reader are likely to be in.
This is one situation where day-to-day autoregulation is key, so planning the sessions in advance is not really possible.
[quote]elliot15 wrote:
Coach,
Just wanted to say a big thank you!
First off, thanks for the reply to my original post as to whether the protocol would work for an old guy (37) who’d not lifted in years. I’m crazy pumped about the protocol- at beginning of year like everybody else I had a resolution to fix diet and get more serious about body transformation. I started with the protocol this month, and have already seen huge gains in terms of weight. Here are just a few examples of progress:
Bench before protocol - 225; Since protocol 305
Hang power clean before protocol - 185 max; yesterday 225
Bent over row before protocol - 165; this week 225
Squat before protocol - 225; Since protocol 275 (bad knee and all)
Dead lift before protocol - 365; Since protocol 415 (still working on form)
As you can see I’ve made some significant gains, an leaning out, and I’ve drawn an audience at the crossfit affiliate I go to - don’t laugh - especially when I do the protocol before or after the crossfit workout. People keep asking me where I’ve learned this stuff I’ve pointed them to the site but their typical response is ‘that’s insane’ or ‘man, just in the last month you’re getting crazy strong and lean - what are you doing?’ I tell em I eat like a horse - healthy though - and follow the protocol on the site.
I can’t wait til next phase - chest - where I’m looking to greatly improve.
Long story short - thanks for the protocol. It really works!
Elliot
[/quote]
Yes it does. Much to the chagrin of all the cynics who like to scream ‘‘scam’’ when everything stronger than vitamin C is involved! The fact is that the protocol delivers… period.
Quick question. I am on Wendler’s 5/3/1 and would really like to add in power cleans to my routine. I was thinking about using them as an activation exercise before deadlifting, or maybe just doing them after deadlifts.
Any thoughts?
Also, if you don’t mind, what did you usually have the guys do to warmup when doing the I, Bodybuilder program for the protocol?
Quick question. I am on Wendler’s 5/3/1 and would really like to add in power cleans to my routine. I was thinking about using them as an activation exercise before deadlifting, or maybe just doing them after deadlifts.
Any thoughts?
Also, if you don’t mind, what did you usually have the guys do to warmup when doing the I, Bodybuilder program for the protocol?
Thank you,
Adam[/quote]
Normally I would not suggest doing them after deadlifts, but since the 5-3-1 program is low volume when it comes to the main lift, you can actually do that. In fact, the deadlift will make the cleans feel light which will give you a psychological boost.
So now that the first 4 segments of I,BODYBUILDER have come out, one thing I’ve noticed in common is the first specialization workout utilizes a pre-activation move, from the pins(seated pin press, rack deadlift, 1/4 squat from pins, and now bottom position bench press) followed by a full range version of the movement.
I’m thinking about experimenting with this, I know you’ve had more people than probably wanted saying thigns about 5/3/1 which is what I’ve been following. I’m curious as to what would happen if instead of just going right into the main excersise of squat, press, dead, or bench, if I started with 2 cluster sets first. I know this is supposed to activate the nervous system, any chance it fatigues you to where you may not perform as well on the main excersise or shouldn’t I worry? and what type percentages should you use, example, what percentage of the full squat would you use for the 1/4 squat from the pins? The Anaconda protocl is a bit too pricey for me to afford right now, so thats why I’m not going with the full I,BODYBUILDER but I’m wondering if I can pull some of the principles out and be able to benefit from them.
[quote]jonmb11 wrote:
Thibs,
I just got a power rack and wanted to know if i could perform squats everyday without negatively affecting my main workouts. Could I use a certain percentage of my max to just improve my technique, speed up recovery and increase my mobility?[/quote]
Olympic lifters around the world squat at every workout. But…
They work up to this frequency OVER TIME… over many years in fact
They vary the intensity greatly, rarely going for a max (well, except Bulgarians, which were banned from the last olympic because their whole team was caught using drugs)
That having been said, you could squat this frequently. But you can only have roughly 2 somewhat challenging workouts. Something like…
DAY 1 - Working up to your max force point for sets of 3 reps at roughly 85%
DAY 2 - Sets of 2-3 reps with around 70%
DAY 3 - Sets of 2-3 reps with roughly 75%
DAY 4 - Working up to your max load point for sets of 3 reps (roughly 88-90%)
DAY 5 - Sets of 2-3 reps with aroung 60%
DAY 6 - Sets of 2-3 reps with around 50%
DAY 7- off
I would VERY rarely recommend such an approach. The muscle will be able to handle it. And it is a good approach to improve technique. But you can’t do this for very long unless you are naturally built for squatting. More than 3-4 weeks and your joints will start to despise you.[/quote]
Thank you for the detailed response. How many sets should be done on the days where you don’t work up to a max load or force point? And on what days should other training be done? Say I wanted to have a setup similar to 5/3/1 where military press is the main movement for one day and squat, deadlift and bench the main movement on their separate days. Would it make sense to do bench on one of the lighter squat days and military press on the other lighter squat day and just drop deadlift while going through this phase?
Thanks[/quote]
I don’t really like to answer a question like this. Why? Because I JUST said that this is an approach that I would VERY RARELY recommend, and only for 3-4 weeks. This means a concentrated loading phase which requires a lot of day-to-day adjustment. By giving you a specific way to assemble such a program I run the risk of:
People just quoting me, saying that ‘‘Thib recommend squatting 6 days a week and here is his plan’’; whereas the reality is that Thib would never recommend squatting 6 days a week except for some very specific situations which almost no reader are likely to be in.
This is one situation where day-to-day autoregulation is key, so planning the sessions in advance is not really possible.[/quote]
I completely understand. Sounds like I should just continue squatting once a week and be more patient. Thanks for the info.
Do you know whether Poliquin still recommends a slow (4 second) eccentric phase? I got an assessment done with Larry today and for the exercises he recommended a 4 second eccentric and explosive concentric.
On a totally unrelated note, I can’t believe of all muscle group, it isn’t my rotator cuff or lower trap strength that isn’t up to par, but my bicep strength.
Would adding BCAA on top of Leucine for peri-workout perhaps have a synergistic effect? or leucine by much more anabolic by itself.
Do you know whether Poliquin still recommends a slow (4 second) eccentric phase? I got an assessment done with Larry today and for the exercises he recommended a 4 second eccentric and explosive concentric.
On a totally unrelated note, I can’t believe of all muscle group, it isn’t my rotator cuff or lower trap strength that isn’t up to par, but my bicep strength.
Would adding BCAA on top of Leucine for peri-workout perhaps have a synergistic effect? or leucine by much more anabolic by itself. [/quote]
Yes he does
No it wouldn’t. Leucine is the most anabolic of the BCAAs. Isoleucine an valine actually compete for transporter with leucine and can actually reduce its efficacy.
I’ve been on a low carbs diet for a month (no carbs except veggies) with a cheat day made of three cheat meals because I felt flat and weak. I will thus start my fifth week monday, and I am thinking of introducing one finibar before my morning workout (till then, I was training using the protocol minus the finibars first thing in the morning) since my fat loss progress has slowed down.
The thing is that I have a wrestling competition in the middle of the sixth week. I normally won’t have problems winning it, so stopping my fat loss program wouldn’t be worth it. However, do you think that I should wait till this special day to reintroduce carbs into my diet?
On a side note, how do you think that I should eat during the day, knowing that a wrestling competition can be a matter of 3 to 5 matches with 30 minutes to 2 hours between them?
Thanks a lot for the help, nutrition is tough to figure out by myself since fat loss is emotional… I’m afraid of not managing to be objective.
In the past, I have always been told to do squats with a wide stance and toes pointed ‘slightly’ outwards as this would apparently allow me to use the most weight. However, when I have tried to do it this way, I have found it very hard to explode out of the bottom part of the squat. After manipulating certain aspects of my squat technique to find the best way for me, I have found that I can squat the most weight with a narrow stance with my feet turned about 45 degrees, and come out of the bottom explosively. It also allows me to keep my back straight/ arched better than before (thanks to the turning out of the feet).
Is this an uncommon way of squating? Would it be as effective as more standard forms of squating in terms of providing strength/ size gains? Also, I was wondering if I may be setting myself up for future knee injury by turning my feet out that far.
Appreciate any feedback you might be able to give!
I’m slightly confused about insulin spiking and preworkout supplementation.
Wouldn’t the insulin spike from the leucine block cortisol? I’ve heard that cortisol is needed as a source of energy.
I’m carb adapted, I find that having something sweet like pancakes and syrup preworkout boosts my energy and even reps! Should I maintain this approach or switch to something like a low glycemic load carb with 5-10 grams of leucine. Of course in both cases I’ll add in a scoop of whey, some creatine and beta alanine.
I’m slightly confused about insulin spiking and preworkout supplementation.
Wouldn’t the insulin spike from the leucine block cortisol? I’ve heard that cortisol is needed as a source of energy.
I’m carb adapted, I find that having something sweet like pancakes and syrup preworkout boosts my energy and even reps! Should I maintain this approach or switch to something like a low glycemic load carb with 5-10 grams of leucine. Of course in both cases I’ll add in a scoop of whey, some creatine and beta alanine.
Thank you.[/quote]
Cortisol is not a source of energy, it’s a stress hormone. ONE of its function is to release glucose an fatty acids so that it can be used for energy production. So one could make the argument that blocking cortisol pre-training with an insulin spike would reduce available energy. Some coaches have actually made that argument (Charles Poliquin being one of them).
And it would be true if…
a) cortisol was the only hormone responsible for the release of those energy substrates. But it isn’t. Adrenalin (epinephrine) and noradrenalin (norepinephrin) among others play that role too (and more efficiently).
b) no energy substrate was directly available for use. This is not the case if you spike insulin with carbs pre-workout (e.g. with the Anaconda protocol) because carbs will be available in the blood stream, readily usable for energy production. So unless the workout is long (around 2 hours), you will not run out of energy and the role of cortisol for energy mobilization would have been minimal anyway.
I do not disagree with insulin blocking cortisol release (or at least decreasing it) BUT I disagree that this will reduce the amount of available energy during a strength workout.
See… if the insulin blocking cortisol = no energy would be true, having carbs pre-workout would not give you added energy… but it does. Depending on your goal you can continue to have the carbs (if your goal is strength or maximum size), a smaller portion of carbs (gaining size with minimal fat gain) or use leucine instead of the carbs (if your goal is fat loss).
Coach,
I was wondering if you would mind offering any advice. My knees always tend to buckle inwards during squats, even on the light sets. I dont think its a form problem but im not sure what it is. Any help would be much appreciated! Thankyou in advance
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
2. See… if the insulin blocking cortisol = no energy would be true, having carbs pre-workout would not give you added energy… but it does. Depending on your goal you can continue to have the carbs (if your goal is strength or maximum size), a smaller portion of carbs (gaining size with minimal fat gain) or use leucine instead of the carbs (if your goal is fat loss).[/quote]
How many grams of leucine pre-workout, and would you add it to a protein shake?
Hi coach. I’m wondering if you have a female client with fat and big (muscular) legs (glutes, quads, hams, calves), skinny and lean upper body and her goal is to loose the body fat from lower body to get some symmetry with the upper body (goal: hypertrophy), what do you suggest to do in her workout, diet or supps. Could you please give us some basic guidelines? Thanks in advance.
I need to bring my upper chest up to par. I was thinking of adding the bench press to neck into my training.
I was thinking of adding a 3rd chest workout with just this exercise performed on deadlift day. Comments please !
IE:
Day 1: Chest/triceps ( Ramping Bench press, CG lockouts, French DB presses, CG bench press )
Day 2: Deadlift/Squats/Lats/Rear delts/Neck and add Bench to Neck ( micro ramping sets ( 4- 6 ) of 3 reps and then 1 set of max reps at 80% of working weight
Day 3: Off/Light restoration
Day 4: Run and Restoration
Day 5: Chest/lats/Triceps ( Lighter workout ramping sets of 3 and add Bench to Neck ( double ramping sets ( 4- 6 ) of 3 reps and then 1 set of max reps at 80% of working weight.
Day 6: Light Legs/lower back/rear delts/Foreams/neck
Day 7: Off
Hey CT, I have a hard time feeling my chest work while doing excercises such as incline and flat bench wether with db or bb. Do you think pre exhausting the chest with some flys to pump blood into the muscle is a valid approach. And do you think working inclines works the upper pec, decline lower pec, etc. ? Would really appreciate a response. Thanks much for your contributions.
