Hey Thibs can you explain in this piece you wrote why you finish with the shortest movement (i.e. from pins)? By the way I was thinking am I right that Stan Mcquay hasn’t done well since you worked with him?
This article below belongs to Christian Thibaudeau by the way …
I’ll try my best to explain our approach. It’s kinda hard to do so because it is not a static system.
Basically we have 4 types of workouts:
TYPE 1: “regular” heavy lifting sessions… These are generally built on training a general movement pattern rather than a muscle group per say. For example we might work “pushing” movements. Such a workout would involve 4 (most of the time) major pushing exercises, going from the “weakest” to the “strongest” in extended ramping fashion.
This means that we start with the first exercise with roughly 60% of maximum and ramp up the weight until we reach the maximum that can be done in good form for the selected number of reps, then we mesh into the second exercise and we continue ramping in the same manner. It would look something like this…
EXERCISE 1 - Military press
Set 1. 135lbs x 5
Set 2. 155lbs x 5
Set 3. 175lbs x 5
Set 4. 195lbs x 5
Set 5. 205lbs x 5 (most that can be done solidly and in good form)
Switch to…
EXERCISE 2 - Incline bench press
Set 1. 205lbs x 5 (start where you ended the preceding one)
Set 2. 225lbs x 5
Set 3. 245lbs x 5
Set 4. 265lbs x 5
Set 5. 285lbs x 5 (most that can be done solidly and in good form)
Switch to …
EXERCISE 3 - Bench press
Set 1. 285lbs x 5
Set 2. 305lbs x 5
Set 3. 325lbs x 5
Set 4. 345lbs x 5
Set 5. 365lbs x 5 (most that can be done solidly and in good form)
Switch to …
EXERCISE 4 - Top half bench press from pins (starting at mid range)
Set 1. 365lbs x 5
Set 2. 385lbs x 5
Set 3. 405lbs x 5 (most that can de done solidly)
NOTES:
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The number of set per exercise is not predetermined; you ramp up until you hit the most weight you can lift solidly on the lift… on some days you might get 10 sets on one movement and on another day only 3… it’s all about taking what your body can give you on that day.
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On all the sets you should strive to accelerate the weight as much as you can on the concentric. Force = mass x acceleration… you can compensate (to a point) a lack of mass by using more acceleration when it comes to building strength. So even the lighter sets do have a training effect.
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We also use a second form of “strength” training… we select 3 basic exercises for the same movement pattern and do them as a “circuit” but with a minute of rest between them.
Good pairings for the first type of strength sessions include:
PRESSING 1: Military press, incline bench press, flat bench press, decline bench press
PRESSING 2: Push press, Incline bench press, flat bench press, top half bench pin press
PRESSING 3: Top half shoulder pin press, top half incline pin press, top half bench press
PRESSING 4: Seated DB shoulder press, incline DB shoulder press, flat DB press, decline DB press
PRESSING 5: Military press, push press, top half shoulder pin press, flat bench press
HIPS SPECIFIC 1: Romanian deadlift, Sumo deadlift*, conventional deadlift, pin pull just above knees
â?¢ if your sumo is stronger than your conventional, to the conventional first
HIP SPECIFIC 2: High pull, power clean, Romanian deadlift, conventional deadlift
HIP SPECIFIC 3: Power snatch, power clean, Romanian deadlift, Sumo deadlift
HIP SPECIFIC 4: Snatch-grip deadlift, Sumo deadlift*, conventional deadlift, pin pull above the knees
QUADS SPECIFIC 1: Front squat, close-stance back squat, wide-stance back squat, top-half pin squat
QUADS SPECIFIC 2: Short steps lunges, medium steps lunges, DB squat
QUADS SPECIFIC 3: Bulgarian split squats, split squats, medium steps lunges
BICEPS 1: Spider curl (90 degrees preacher curl), 45 degrees preacher curl, standing barbell curl
BICEPS 2: DB reverse curl, DB curl, DB hammer curl
BICEPS 3: Reverse grip preacher curl, wide-grip preacher curl, close-grip preacher curl
BACK 1: barbell row torso parallel to the floor, barbell row torso 45 degrees, barbell row slight lower body drive
BACK 2: Pronated chin-up*, suppinated chin-up, parallel grip chin-up
â?¢ if you are stronger pronated, start with suppinated
BACK 3: Chest-supported DB row elbows out, chest-supported DB row elbows close and suppinated grip, chest-supported DB row elbows close and neutral grip
TYPE 2 - Eccentric-less sessions: These are to increase overall volume without increasing the stress on the body. In fact we even use them to promote recovery (something I learned from powerlifting coach Louie Simmons). These involve exercises without any eccentrics. The option I like the best is the sled work you saw Daryl do in the video. Since there is no eccentric phase, these movements do not cause muscle tears which means that they do not increase the muscle’s need for repair and recovery.
And since there is only one type of contraction during the exercise (concentric) it’s less stressful on the nervous system (concentric, isometric and eccentric contractions all use different motor patterns, having many of them at the same time increase the burden on the nervous system).
So the only thing it stresses is the metabolic (energetic) system, whichcan recover VERY fast (in a matter of hour)sas long as you provide it with nutrients.
This kind of work, when used with pre and during workout protein/amino acids intake can actually speed up recovery by helping shuttling more growth-promoting nutrients into the muscles you are working.
TYPE 3 - Neural charge workouts: These are used when an individual is “not in it”… when he feels sluggish, in a bad mood or doesn’t feel like training. Normally this is after a layoff of more than 2 days or after several days of VERY intense training. Instead of having an off day I prefer to do a neural charge workout.
Here is something I wrote on the subject:
A performance-boosting technique that has been around for eons in the strength-training field is to utilize a morning workout to â??wake-upâ?? the nervous system with the goal of improving performance in an afternoon/evening workout or sporting event.
I personally used this approach with pro hockey players to help them perform better during their evening games.
Basically the morning workout would consist of a low volume of explosive and non-fatiguing exercises performed for roughly 20-30 minutes. It worked well.
This method is the foundation of what I now call â??neural charge workoutsâ??; which are training sessions aimed at â??charging up our batteryâ?? when you start to feel mentally drained during a training week.
Here is how I came to develop this approach. My training partner Nick Demers probably has one of the most hectic schedule you can have. He has his own construction company and works physically hard 60 hours per week. He has a kid to take care of, strength trains six days a week and plays semi-pro hockey twice a week.
On a Friday evening he comes in to train, completely wiped from his day of work. He also told me that he had a hockey game the next day.
My reaction was to tell him to go back home: no training today. Nick is hard-headed and an exercise addict and he absolutely refused not to train. A balls-out session was out of the question so I decided that we would perform what I normally called an activation session (a short workout of non-fatiguing explosive exercises).
It went well. Nick was happy to have done something in the gym and he actually felt more energetic when he left then when he first came in. I didnâ??t make too much of that at that time.
Itâ??s only when he called me the next day to tell me that he was flying on the ice and was so deep in the zone that everything looked to happen in slow motion that I knew that we were onto something. The guy had just worked a 60 hours week, was drained less than 12 hours ago yet he was running on high gear.
Thatâ??s how I came to utilize â??neural charge workoutsâ?? during a week, when I started to feel run-down and that my motivation was starting to drop. Without fail this approach revives me and lead to great performances for the rest of the training week. My athletes and I get a lot more recovered from such workouts as from taking a day of rest.
It represents a great way to revive a dead nervous system while giving the musculoskeletal system a much needed break.
What does these workouts consist of? Fairly simple:
a) pick anywhere between 2 and 4 exercises either working the whole body (at least indirectly). These can be basic lifts (bench, squat, deadlifts, rows, chins, dips, etc.), variation of the olympic lifts or jumps and throws, or covering a specific movement pattern (depending on how you structure your training).
b) perform the exercises as a circuit.
c) use moderate rest intervals between exercises (roughly 15-30 seconds if using a whole body approach or 30-45 seconds for a movement pattern-specific one).
d) use a load that is roughly 70% of your maximum and perform sets of 3 reps. If you decide to include jumps, use only your body weight and perform sets of 5. At this intensity level and number of reps even when doing a â??â??same movement pattern circuitâ??â?? (e.g. push press, bench press, dips) you should be able to go through the workout being super explosive and not causing any excessive fatigue or have a drop in performance.
e) perform each repetition as explosively as possible.
f) complete as many circuits as you can in 20-30 minutes (start at 20 and gradually build up to 30) but never allow yourself to do a non-explosive rep or to let fatigue set in. If one exercise stops being explosive drop it from the rotation.
Thatâ??s it! You do not want to be gassed or slow during the workout. The emphasis is on speed and power, not burning yourself out. At the end of the workout you should actually want to continue training. And one hour after the session you should feel the need to chain yourself to a tree to avoid going to the gym again!
TYPE 4 - High volume stuff: This is normally in the form of circuits or supersets, using mostly isolation work and if possible with as many different strength curves as possible. We might pick 4-6 exercises for one bodypart and do 2-4 circuits with roughly 15-30 seconds between exercises.
THE WAY WE SET UP …
… each training day will vary depending on the need of the athlete.
If he is training 3 times a day the “normal” split is:
AM. Strength workout
Early PM. Eccentric-less
Mid PM. high volume
BUT…
Sometimes we might switch things around. For example:
AM. Neural charge (if coming off of a weekend of no training and maybe partying)
Early PM. Strength session
Mid PM. Volume session
Or…
AM Strength session
Early PM. Neural charge
Mid PM. Strength session
If we are in a strength phase.
You can organize the sessions however you want if you know what they can accomplish.
