[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I can train pressing muscles everyday, twice a day and still recover. However a hard back session leaves me drained for 2 days.[/quote]
Is this because you started using many reps per set to work on your back muscles?
[quote]tolismann wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I can train pressing muscles everyday, twice a day and still recover. However a hard back session leaves me drained for 2 days.[/quote]
Is this because you started using many reps per set to work on your back muscles?
[/quote]
Not really, it was always like that for me. My theory is that I’m structurally built for pressing but my biomechanics sucks when it comes to pulling. When your body is well suited for a type of movement, it is less draining on the nervous system.
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
thib,
since barbell rows are out because they are too neurally draining for upper body performance days, when do you fit them in? Also, what do you think of performing an upperbody perfomance day where trap/rhomboid/rear delt is worked followed by deads the following day? I would assume if I stuck to rhomboid rows, and band pull-aparts that the drain would not be too much for deadlifts the following day
Thanks[/quote]
I VERY rarely use the bent over barbell row. When I use it , it is only during a back spec phase, and even then it is not one of my favorite choices.
I’ve never had any problems working traps and rhomboids the day before deadlift… heck, olympic lifters snatch and clean every day… stop underestimating the speed at which a muscle can recover.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
thib,
since barbell rows are out because they are too neurally draining for upper body performance days, when do you fit them in? Also, what do you think of performing an upperbody perfomance day where trap/rhomboid/rear delt is worked followed by deads the following day? I would assume if I stuck to rhomboid rows, and band pull-aparts that the drain would not be too much for deadlifts the following day
Thanks[/quote]
I VERY rarely use the bent over barbell row. When I use it , it is only during a back spec phase, and even then it is not one of my favorite choices.
I’ve never had any problems working traps and rhomboids the day before deadlift… heck, olympic lifters snatch and clean every day… stop underestimating the speed at which a muscle can recover.[/quote]
Yeah, are all those studies saying a muscle needs at least 24 hours to recover done on untrained individuals? What if muscle recovery time can be trained to decrease too.
[quote]bloodnsweat wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
thib,
since barbell rows are out because they are too neurally draining for upper body performance days, when do you fit them in? Also, what do you think of performing an upperbody perfomance day where trap/rhomboid/rear delt is worked followed by deads the following day? I would assume if I stuck to rhomboid rows, and band pull-aparts that the drain would not be too much for deadlifts the following day
Thanks[/quote]
I VERY rarely use the bent over barbell row. When I use it , it is only during a back spec phase, and even then it is not one of my favorite choices.
I’ve never had any problems working traps and rhomboids the day before deadlift… heck, olympic lifters snatch and clean every day… stop underestimating the speed at which a muscle can recover.[/quote]
Yeah, are all those studies saying a muscle needs at least 24 hours to recover done on untrained individuals? What if muscle recovery time can be trained to decrease too.[/quote]
I’ve seen studies done on training olympic lifters showing that 2 training on one day did not decrease performance the next. And frankly, as much as I used to be a “studies guy”, I see them with a grain of salt now… rarely are the condition tested applicable to real-life hardcore lifters.
I’ve worked with over 900 athletes during my career. Most of them used their body intensely every day and recovered fine. Olympic lifters train the squat, snatch and clean & jerk daily, sometimes 2-3 times per day, and recover.
BTW, most studies performed on muscle recovery do not measure how long it takes for a muscle to be “repaired” after training. They measure either:
- The time it takes to replenish muscle glycogen after training
- The time it takes to replenish phosphocratine after training
- The length of time that protein synthesis is elevated after a session
The first two are greatly affected by nutritional status and the use of proper peri-workout nutrition.
The third one doesn’t indicate how long it takes for the muscle to be repaired and ready to go, it simply tells us how long the body remains in muscle-building mode after a session. A muscle could be recovered enough to be trained again but still be in muscle-building mode.
And studies (yeah yeah I know) have shown that training a muscle doesn’t disrupt a previously stimulated anabolic/protein synthesis state.
Thibs, a good while back you mentioned thegaragegymstore.ca as being a good place to buy an olympic bar for a home gym for someone not wanting to spend money on the price of an ‘elite’ bar. I can’t remember, but was it the 7’ york bar that you mentioned to be a good bang for your buck?
Also, do you know any places in canada to buy olympic weight plates for a reasonable price? (I have done several google searches but haven’t found anything too great. At least not like the deal you save on bars at thegaragegymstore.ca to other websites selling the same bars)
Thanks, much appreciated
Hi again CT,
Yesterday I did a high-performance upper body session, just as you explained, and it felt great.
I got some questions for my next 2 workouts though:
-
I’m going to do a lower body high-performance today and I just wanted to do a something like:
A.Front Squat
B.Back Squat
C1.Leg Extension
C2.Leg Curl
A and B are done ramping and I’m gonna try to get as much volume on it.
And maybe throw in between them some clave work. I just wanted to see I you have anything to recommand. -
Tomorrow is gonna be foundation (lats and bis) and I was tinking to do something like:
A1.Restart Preacher Curls ramping up the weight
A2.Lat Pulldowns ramping up the weight
B1.Hammer Curls ratchets of 1 and 3 (they work well for me)
B2.V-bar pulldowns ratchets of 5 and 8
C1.Cable Curls
C2.Straight arm pulldowns
And then throw in some isometric stuff.
I’m considering to change the cable curl for the reverse curls. I want your opinion on this and I was wandering if I can shorten the time by doing some max reps circuits, but I don’t know if it’s a good ideea. -
On ramping I sometimes do double or triple ramps and I get to my 1 RM and in some cases it improves but is it better if I do only a straight ramp and not going to my 1 RM? Will my PRs improve this way?
(Sorry if my questions are bothering you or if they seem stupid.)
Hey Coach,
I want to specialize on my shoulders for a time and see if I can add some size and strength. I thought about repeating the shoulder spec from IBB, but I know with Daryl’s back spec you talked about putting all the spec sessions early in the week. I don’t remember where you posted it, but I wrote down the weekly setup: Push 1, Push 2, Push 3, Push 4, Neural Recharge, Legs & Pull, Moderate Activity.
I want to give this a shot and see what I can accomplish…do you have any suggestions for the sessions themselves or can you direct to a previous post with that info? Or could I use the IBB shoulder days?
Thanks for the time and information you share with us!
Ryan
CT,
I remember from one of your books or articles here that you really liked the kneeling rope lat pull-down. Is this still a movement you like?
Do you have a post or article listing your current favorite movements?
[quote]boidae wrote:
CT,
I remember from one of your books or articles here that you really liked the kneeling rope lat pull-down. Is this still a movement you like?
Do you have a post or article listing your current favorite movements?[/quote]
Yes I like it a lot still. No there isn’t any list of my favorite movements, although I don’t really have one for the simple reason that different exercises work for different people, so I can’t have a universal list of preferred exercises.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
thib,
since barbell rows are out because they are too neurally draining for upper body performance days, when do you fit them in? Also, what do you think of performing an upperbody perfomance day where trap/rhomboid/rear delt is worked followed by deads the following day? I would assume if I stuck to rhomboid rows, and band pull-aparts that the drain would not be too much for deadlifts the following day
Thanks[/quote]
I VERY rarely use the bent over barbell row. When I use it , it is only during a back spec phase, and even then it is not one of my favorite choices.
I’ve never had any problems working traps and rhomboids the day before deadlift… heck, olympic lifters snatch and clean every day… stop underestimating the speed at which a muscle can recover.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply coach, I was not as clear as I should have been. My main “concern” was that there did not appear to be much trap/rhomboid work that seemed to be optimal for building back size. While I used to love Blast strap facepulls on pressing days, I always did it more for shoulder health, never for building mass in the middle traps. Barbell rows were always great for adding size to the traps but those are too neurally draining on pressing performace days.
So, do you consider the trap/rhomboid work done on pressing days to be sufficient enough to add back size and is that why you do those movements or is just to “aid” the performace of the pressing muscles?
If the back work done is not done for size, when would you fit the best thickness movements in that tend to be neurally draining?
Hope I was somewhat clear
Thanks
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]Mr_Magoo wrote:
thib,
since barbell rows are out because they are too neurally draining for upper body performance days, when do you fit them in? Also, what do you think of performing an upperbody perfomance day where trap/rhomboid/rear delt is worked followed by deads the following day? I would assume if I stuck to rhomboid rows, and band pull-aparts that the drain would not be too much for deadlifts the following day
Thanks[/quote]
I VERY rarely use the bent over barbell row. When I use it , it is only during a back spec phase, and even then it is not one of my favorite choices.
I’ve never had any problems working traps and rhomboids the day before deadlift… heck, olympic lifters snatch and clean every day… stop underestimating the speed at which a muscle can recover.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply coach, I was not as clear as I should have been. My main “concern” was that there did not appear to be much trap/rhomboid work that seemed to be optimal for building back size. While I used to love Blast strap facepulls on pressing days, I always did it more for shoulder health, never for building mass in the middle traps. Barbell rows were always great for adding size to the traps but those are too neurally draining on pressing performace days.
So, do you consider the trap/rhomboid work done on pressing days to be sufficient enough to add back size and is that why you do those movements or is just to “aid” the performace of the pressing muscles?
If the back work done is not done for size, when would you fit the best thickness movements in that tend to be neurally draining?
Hope I was somewhat clear
Thanks
[/quote]
Traps/Rhomboids/Rear delt work might include: various shrugs, face pulls, some seated rowing if needed, rear delts raise, blast straps work. Staggered between sets of pressing and you can get up to 20+ sets for that area, more that enough for it to grow. My “thickness” has never been better.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]boidae wrote:
CT,
I remember from one of your books or articles here that you really liked the kneeling rope lat pull-down. Is this still a movement you like?
Do you have a post or article listing your current favorite movements?[/quote]
Yes I like it a lot still. No there isn’t any list of my favorite movements, although I don’t really have one for the simple reason that different exercises work for different people, so I can’t have a universal list of preferred exercises.[/quote]
Great… I really appreciate your response!
Last night I tried Thib Pulldowns and really liked them. I have bad tendonitis in my brachioradialis and cannot do anything with an overhand grip right now. Doing these, rope lat pulldowns, and cable pullovers really allowed me to hit my lats nicely.
CT,
If a trainee is not a competitive bodybuilder but does train for size and strength, focusing on big movements like deads, squats and lots of prowler work, do you feel they need direct calve and hamstring work?
[quote]boidae wrote:
CT,
If a trainee is not a competitive bodybuilder but does train for size and strength, focusing on big movements like deads, squats and lots of prowler work, do you feel they need direct calve and hamstring work?[/quote]
No calves work would be needed, and very little if any direct hamstrings work (the later depending on muscle dominance… someone with a very dominant lower back, might need to add some hamstrings work)
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
[quote]tolismann wrote:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I can train pressing muscles everyday, twice a day and still recover. However a hard back session leaves me drained for 2 days.[/quote]
Is this because you started using many reps per set to work on your back muscles?
[/quote]
Not really, it was always like that for me. My theory is that I’m structurally built for pressing but my biomechanics sucks when it comes to pulling. When your body is well suited for a type of movement, it is less draining on the nervous system.[/quote]
Aren’t most people going to be able to press more frequently than doing strenuous pulling or leg exercises? I would think Bench presses and shoulder presses are much less draining on the CNS than bent over rows, deadlift variations and squat variations.
I might feel a little sore a day or twp after a heavy press workout but I m ready to go again. I once tried deadlifting heavy 3-4 days per week and just burned out after a month. A guy I know who uses drugs did the same thing and he couldn’t handle it.
CT, Do you have any plans to introduce new movements or a specific method using Blast Isometrics or Twitch Reps other than what you have previously introduced in the Experimental Arms program?
[quote]itisfinished wrote:
CT, Do you have any plans to introduce new movements or a specific method using Blast Isometrics or Twitch Reps other than what you have previously introduced in the Experimental Arms program?[/quote]
I never have any such plans. I’m always experimenting and if I find something new that works well I will tell you guys about it.
CT, if one was wanting to bring up lagging bicepts, how would you suggest would be the best way to do so? Because you say that lats and bicepts for example take a little longer to recover than the pressing movements, so how often should someone hit their bicepts if they’re wanting to bring them up?
[quote]dem0n wrote:
CT, if one was wanting to bring up lagging bicepts, how would you suggest would be the best way to do so? Because you say that lats and bicepts for example take a little longer to recover than the pressing movements, so how often should someone hit their bicepts if they’re wanting to bring them up?[/quote]
-
It’s not “bicepts” it’s “BICEPS” (yes I really did get annoyed reading your message)
-
It didn’t say that biceps recovered at a slower pace; I said that lats and biceps respond best to higher volume training which means that they can’t be trained as often IF YOU USE MORE VOLUME DURING A SESSION.
To bring up a lagging body part I suggest increasing it’s frequency; BUT WITHOUT OVERSTRESSING IT AT ANY OF THE SESSIONS. For example you can’t go 20 sets of biceps per workout 3-4 times per week and expect to recover. However doing one “big” workout and adding a small to moderate amount of biceps work on other training days would work.