Thib, just curious if you could let us know what kind of articles you have sent to TC? Any chance of a strongman article?
Thanks
Thib, in your mindandmuscle interview you wrote…
"For example one approach that I use is a push-pull-legs system where I pick one main exercise, performed with micro-ramping (described above) and anywhere from 3 to 6 assistance exercises performed for 1 set of max reps. The load for the max rep sets normally allows you to perform 8 to 12 reps, but you shouldnâ??t actually count the repsâ?¦ simply perform as many piston-like reps as you can with the selected weight. See that set as a challenge, not as a chore to do.
A typical pushing workout might look like this
A. Bench press x 3 reps
Micro-ramping (5 or 10lbs increments) starting at 60% of your max and working up to the max weight you can dominate for all the reps. Shoot for roughly 12 sets.
B. Close-grip bench press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 70% of the top weight you reached on â??Aâ??
C. Incline bench press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 60% of the top weight you reached on â??Aâ??
D. Push press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 60% of the top weight you reached on â??Aâ??
E. Dips
Perform 1 set of max reps with bodyweight only"
Do you still do practice sets for Close-grip, Incline, Push Press and dips just to groove the movement a little. If you hit 400 on the bench, would you just go straight to 280 on close-grip?
Thanks
Hi Thibs just a quick question, should beginners preform the micro drop in the perfect rep? I had problems progressing with it weight wise on bench until i started slowing the lowering phase down and not performing this, but i may have been a coincidence.
Coach, i’m kind of confused as to what the function of the Golgi Tendon Organ is. I have read in some places that it is to protect the muscle by shutting down force production if the load is too heavy, and i have also read that it’s job is to help generate more force due to a stretch reflex. If you could give me a simple answer as to what the function of it really is, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
EDIT: So far what i seem to understand is that the GTO has an ‘inhibitory’ effect and the muscle spindles have the opposite ‘excitatory’ effect. is this correct?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]kakno wrote:
[quote]lllDUTCHlll wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]lllDUTCHlll wrote:
Hey Thib quick question. I have a terrible bench press. My other main lifts are decent enough I think. (for my body weight/size) but my bench is just awful. Like I have ramped up to a PR single of 225 on standing push press. But the most I have ever done in my life benching is 275. And if I went to try and do that today it would probably pin me. I know you would have to actually watch me bench to correct any problems…but I was wondering if you could give me any general hints or “cues” to be thinking of while setting up for benching. Any insight would be appreciated at this point. Thanks Coach[/quote]
Care to give me a good physical description (length of arms, shoulder width, torso thickness, etc.) as well as where you get stuck on the bench.?[/quote]
Ummm at the moment I don’t have measurements…but heres a shitty “myspace” pic as ole Dave Tate would say. Maybe that can help you get an idea. I definitely get stuck at the bottom half of the lift. And when I ramp up, I seem to have good force and acceleration…than I get to a point where I raise the weight using micro ramping…so very little…and it just pins me. Even thinking on it now, it may be a good possiblity that during my push press I use too much leg drive…and thats why Im able to get past that point. I hope this gives you enough info???
again thanks for your help…and any info would be appreciated
[/quote]
Those are some long arms, which will make benching a bitch. Posting a vid of you benching will be good for evaluation purposes. There are tons of bench setup articles and vids on this site, but I bet you’ve seen them.[/quote]
Correct on the arms. Long-armed individuals are generally weaker on the bench press, especially during the first half of the movement because of the shoulder angle due to the arm length. The same individuals do not have the same problem on a push press because the leg drive (especially if you overdo it) basically unload the first half of the pressing movement, which you obviously can’t do on the bench.
My recommendation is to work on starting strength and explosive strength so that you can build up a lot of speed of the chest, which will kinda act like the leg drive in the push press: if you can create enough bar speed from the chest, the momentum you build will allow you to blast through the sticking point.
A combination of floor pressing, low pin press (2-4" from the chest) and heavy decline press with a 2 seconds pause on the chest to work on starting strength; and speed bench press (with 1 workout out of 3 with bands if possible) and blast isometrics should do the trick.
I’d do 2 bench workouts a week… one focusing on starting strength and the other on explosion.
Use a push-pull-leg split with 2 push sessions per week.
Use mostly strength movements for assistance work on the starting strength day (e.g. close grip bench, dips, military press, etc.) and explosive ones + isolation for the explosive day (push press, plyo push ups, isolation work).[/quote]
CT,
I have a similar problem in terms of arm length and sticking point on the bench press. How would you structure the set/rep scheme for the two push days? Meaning, on starting strength days would you ramp sets of 3 up to the MFP and then on explosive days do straight sets with a relatively light weight (i.e 50-60% of 1rm) for a high number of sets and low reps focusing solely on acceleration? Thanks in advance.
Hi Thibs
what are you thoughts about joining training methods together. ie training with low and high reps in the same routine. for a relative beginner i dont think the low rep stuff is as affective by it self, ie. effective control of the heavy weight just isn’t there
i tried it out the other day on my chest workout.
2 warm up sets of about 15 reps
5 x 3 reps (ramped up)
then did sets of 12,10,8,12,10,8.
Im thinking the low reps at the start would get the nervous system going then the high reps just to fatigue the muscle…?
is there a better way to put high and low together?
Lets say if K ump warmed up and did 150 x1 180 x1 and then I could do 230 x3 instead of 210 since i am not as fatigued . Why wouldnt I want to do it this way since I am stronger and
also should be able to progress quicker this way?
Than I can choose another excercise and get more volume in that way if i needed it.
Front squat - ramping sets of 3 reps
Set 1. 150lbs x 3
Set 2. 160lbs x 3
Set 3. 170lbs x 3
Set 5. 180lbs x 3
Set 6. 190lbs x 3
Set 7. 200lbs x 3
Set 8. 210lbs x 3 (third rep start to slow down, stop exercise)
Jump squat
5 set of 5 reps with 60-65lbs (30% of 210lbs)
[/quote]
[quote]coolusername wrote:
Coach, i’m kind of confused as to what the function of the Golgi Tendon Organ is. I have read in some places that it is to protect the muscle by shutting down force production if the load is too heavy, and i have also read that it’s job is to help generate more force due to a stretch reflex. If you could give me a simple answer as to what the function of it really is, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
EDIT: So far what i seem to understand is that the GTO has an ‘inhibitory’ effect and the muscle spindles have the opposite ‘excitatory’ effect. is this correct?[/quote]
Yes it is correct. The muscle spindles activate the stretch reflex and the GTO inhibits muscle contraction.
BOTH are protective mechanisms. The GTOs protect against excessive tension being produced by the muscle (by shutting down force production when the body feels that the intramuscular tension is excessive) and the MS protect against excessive stretch (by activating the stretch reflex which shorter the muscle, thus preventing it from tearing apart).
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
Thib, in your mindandmuscle interview you wrote…
"For example one approach that I use is a push-pull-legs system where I pick one main exercise, performed with micro-ramping (described above) and anywhere from 3 to 6 assistance exercises performed for 1 set of max reps. The load for the max rep sets normally allows you to perform 8 to 12 reps, but you shouldn�¢??t actually count the reps�¢?�¦ simply perform as many piston-like reps as you can with the selected weight. See that set as a challenge, not as a chore to do.
A typical pushing workout might look like this
A. Bench press x 3 reps
Micro-ramping (5 or 10lbs increments) starting at 60% of your max and working up to the max weight you can dominate for all the reps. Shoot for roughly 12 sets.
B. Close-grip bench press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 70% of the top weight you reached on �¢??A�¢??
C. Incline bench press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 60% of the top weight you reached on �¢??A�¢??
D. Push press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 60% of the top weight you reached on �¢??A�¢??
E. Dips
Perform 1 set of max reps with bodyweight only"
Do you still do practice sets for Close-grip, Incline, Push Press and dips just to groove the movement a little. If you hit 400 on the bench, would you just go straight to 280 on close-grip?
Thanks
[/quote]
I personally go straight to the max rep set. I MIGHT do one practice set of submax reps for movements with a higher skill component (e.g. push press) but not that often.
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
Thib, just curious if you could let us know what kind of articles you have sent to TC? Any chance of a strongman article?
Thanks[/quote]
No, I haven’t written any strongman articles.
I sent one on deloading methods, one on ‘‘old geezer training’’, one on eccentric-less training and 2 that I don’t remember.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]coolusername wrote:
Coach, i’m kind of confused as to what the function of the Golgi Tendon Organ is. I have read in some places that it is to protect the muscle by shutting down force production if the load is too heavy, and i have also read that it’s job is to help generate more force due to a stretch reflex. If you could give me a simple answer as to what the function of it really is, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
EDIT: So far what i seem to understand is that the GTO has an ‘inhibitory’ effect and the muscle spindles have the opposite ‘excitatory’ effect. is this correct?[/quote]
Yes it is correct. The muscle spindles activate the stretch reflex and the GTO inhibits muscle contraction.
BOTH are protective mechanisms. The GTOs protect against excessive tension being produced by the muscle (by shutting down force production when the body feels that the intramuscular tension is excessive) and the MS protect against excessive stretch (by activating the stretch reflex which shorter the muscle, thus preventing it from tearing apart).[/quote]
Thanks very much for clarifying!
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]kakno wrote:
[quote]lllDUTCHlll wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]lllDUTCHlll wrote:
Hey Thib quick question. I have a terrible bench press. My other main lifts are decent enough I think. (for my body weight/size) but my bench is just awful. Like I have ramped up to a PR single of 225 on standing push press. But the most I have ever done in my life benching is 275. And if I went to try and do that today it would probably pin me. I know you would have to actually watch me bench to correct any problems…but I was wondering if you could give me any general hints or “cues” to be thinking of while setting up for benching. Any insight would be appreciated at this point. Thanks Coach[/quote]
Care to give me a good physical description (length of arms, shoulder width, torso thickness, etc.) as well as where you get stuck on the bench.?[/quote]
Ummm at the moment I don’t have measurements…but heres a shitty “myspace” pic as ole Dave Tate would say. Maybe that can help you get an idea. I definitely get stuck at the bottom half of the lift. And when I ramp up, I seem to have good force and acceleration…than I get to a point where I raise the weight using micro ramping…so very little…and it just pins me. Even thinking on it now, it may be a good possiblity that during my push press I use too much leg drive…and thats why Im able to get past that point. I hope this gives you enough info???
again thanks for your help…and any info would be appreciated
[/quote]
Those are some long arms, which will make benching a bitch. Posting a vid of you benching will be good for evaluation purposes. There are tons of bench setup articles and vids on this site, but I bet you’ve seen them.[/quote]
Correct on the arms. Long-armed individuals are generally weaker on the bench press, especially during the first half of the movement because of the shoulder angle due to the arm length. The same individuals do not have the same problem on a push press because the leg drive (especially if you overdo it) basically unload the first half of the pressing movement, which you obviously can’t do on the bench.
My recommendation is to work on starting strength and explosive strength so that you can build up a lot of speed of the chest, which will kinda act like the leg drive in the push press: if you can create enough bar speed from the chest, the momentum you build will allow you to blast through the sticking point.
A combination of floor pressing, low pin press (2-4" from the chest) and heavy decline press with a 2 seconds pause on the chest to work on starting strength; and speed bench press (with 1 workout out of 3 with bands if possible) and blast isometrics should do the trick.
I’d do 2 bench workouts a week… one focusing on starting strength and the other on explosion.
Use a push-pull-leg split with 2 push sessions per week.
Use mostly strength movements for assistance work on the starting strength day (e.g. close grip bench, dips, military press, etc.) and explosive ones + isolation for the explosive day (push press, plyo push ups, isolation work).[/quote]
By two sessions a weeks, are you saying to set it up something like this:
Monday Legs
Tuesday Push
Wends Pull
Thurs - off
Friday - Legs
Saturday - Push 2
Sunday - Pull
Monday - Off
Hey CT, I haven’t posted since almost last year but I’m hoping to get a little help with something.
I’m going on my 8th week of cutting and so far have lost 7.5lb in the first 7 weeks. No strength loss. However this last week things seem to be going down. Two lifts went down today, yesterday another 2 or so went down slightly and although it’s not anything crazy I’m pretty much not going anywhere with any exercises. I was OK with that for the cut but now that 3-4 lifts are slightly dropping I’m wondering, would you change anything or do you have any suggestions?
Thanks a lot
Edit: By the way below is how the diet is set up in terms of carbs if that makes a difference for you:
Sunday: Medium (80g)
Monday: Low (Trace, ~25g)
Tuesday: High (390g)
Wednesday: Low
Thursday: Medium
Friday: Low
Saturday: High
hello,
ive a question: one of my buddys is 15 years old and wants to take creatine. What do you think about creatine and teenagers?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
Thib, in your mindandmuscle interview you wrote…
"For example one approach that I use is a push-pull-legs system where I pick one main exercise, performed with micro-ramping (described above) and anywhere from 3 to 6 assistance exercises performed for 1 set of max reps. The load for the max rep sets normally allows you to perform 8 to 12 reps, but you shouldn�?�¢??t actually count the reps�?�¢?�?�¦ simply perform as many piston-like reps as you can with the selected weight. See that set as a challenge, not as a chore to do.
A typical pushing workout might look like this
A. Bench press x 3 reps
Micro-ramping (5 or 10lbs increments) starting at 60% of your max and working up to the max weight you can dominate for all the reps. Shoot for roughly 12 sets.
B. Close-grip bench press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 70% of the top weight you reached on �?�¢??A�?�¢??
C. Incline bench press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 60% of the top weight you reached on �?�¢??A�?�¢??
D. Push press
Perform 1 set of max reps with 60% of the top weight you reached on �?�¢??A�?�¢??
E. Dips
Perform 1 set of max reps with bodyweight only"
Do you still do practice sets for Close-grip, Incline, Push Press and dips just to groove the movement a little. If you hit 400 on the bench, would you just go straight to 280 on close-grip?
Thanks
[/quote]
I personally go straight to the max rep set. I MIGHT do one practice set of submax reps for movements with a higher skill component (e.g. push press) but not that often.[/quote]
Where is this article? I can’t seem to find it.
Thanks
Found it!
[quote]Sokar wrote:
hello,
ive a question: one of my buddys is 15 years old and wants to take creatine. What do you think about creatine and teenagers?[/quote]
I almost fell asleep reading your question. Creatine is soooooo 1990s. It is a very boring subject to me and everything to be said about it has been said, including whether or not it is useful or acceptable with teenagers.
Here’s my take on creatine…
- It is not as effective as many believe (especially the general public) that it is.
- It is not as harmful as the same general public believe… in fact it is pretty much devoid of side effects in healthy individuals.
- It will not turn you into a muscle monster overnight or make you break world records. In fact, it will not add a significant amount of muscle directly.
- It will increase work capacity and strength to some extent. Basically creatine allows you to do a bit more work and recover a bit faster. YOU have to take advantage of this if you want to benefit from creatine.
- Creatine is just as safe physiologically for a teenager as it is for an adult. BUT if the teenager is taking it for the wrong reason (a quick fix, a way to bypass years of training, etc. which it isn’t anyway) then it can be a psychological issue that might need to be addressed.
But yeah, it is safe. And it can help slightly.
CT what are your thoughts of shoulder press lockouts as a good delt exercise, if you have any experience with it?
^^ I have been doing pin presses on shoulder day for a couple of weeks now and would like to know as well. I’ve hit PRs every session since doing them so I’ll at least keep them in until I stall.
sorry coach, but thanks for your answer…
i read nearly everything about it, but was just not sure if teenagers can use it without harm… because theres always that sign “not for teenage use” on it…