Thib's Q&A - April 13 - 20

Training
101

Hi CT.

The French book you mention (The Pharmaceutical Lie) got my interest. Do you know its French name?

I ask because I’d like to know your opinion about this French site http://www.lanutrition.fr . It has a big database which includes for each food GI and GL, PRAL index, the type of lipids, carbs and aminoacid profiles among other useful data.

I think I can trust the info there (many sources are Canadian) though I’ve found some differences with other sources, e.g., almonds are listed as slightly acidic.

Another question. I’ve been following your refined physique transformation approach. For the carb-up days I distribute carbs in three meals, mostly P+C and I take 3 other P+F meals. I take the extra carbs IN ADDITION of my normal days energy intake: I divide the fats I normally consume in one day among my 3 P+F meals. Is this an adequate way of carbing-up?

Thanks in advance!

102

Hi Christian,

What do you think of Dave Palumbo’s strategy to sometimes include a meat+vegatbles day with significantly less fat(while on low carb diet). He justifies this by saying that the body stores fatty acids after a certain period of low-carbing, and will readily use them during a short period of one day.

I’m asking because generally, I find it much easier to keep fat calories just a tip over the protein(51/50%) instead of wondering how much I can lower it without promoting a gluconogenic state. So one or two days like that during the week would really be a convenient way for me.

Thank you

103

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Gymjunkie wrote:
Hey coach,

I just completed the Super Accumulation program. Hardest work I have EVER carried out, but I am proud that I finished it. My measurements after the 2 weeks of training lead to 2 lbs fat loss and over 2-3 lbs muscle gain. I was doing GBC type work prior to jumping into this, so my body responded well to the heavier work and gained muscle, instead of losing, like I should have.

Anyway, my query is surrouding the 5 day food loading phase that I am about to start. In the article, CP says to eat every 1.5hours, alternating food with a shake and carbs with every meal etc…I have MAJOR insulin issues(bf is at 15.5% subscab 15mm, supriliac 28mm), and still need to drop fat while maximising the muscle gain from this program.

I planned this:

Day 1: Eat every 1.5 hours, alternating whole food meal with shake INCLUDING carbs every meal(as described in article)

Day 2-5: Eat every 1.5 hours, alternating whole food meal with shake BUT only protein and fats in each meal and trace carbs.

Look okay?

Thanks alot!
GJ

No it doesn’t.

I really don’t like what you did.

You were seduced by a program rather than convinced by it.

Do not simply do a program because you fill like it, or were seduced into trying it. When you select a program it is to fill a specific need that you have.

This means that when you chose to do something, it should be exactly what your body needs right now and this refers to the whole program, not part of it.

In that case, the 5 days of heavy eating are part of the plan… they are necessary to make things work properly. See, the key thing with the superaccumulation program is not so much the super intensive weeks of training but rather the recovery week. This is what will give you the best gains. If you do not do it as planned you might as well scrap all the hard work you just did.

Afraid of eating carbs for 5 days? THEN YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE STARTED THE PROGRAM… after all the article DOES tell you that you will have to be carb-heavy for 5 days, so if you decide to start the program it means that you accepted to live with that fact.

Charles is a low-carbs guy… over 75% of his clients are on a low-carbs diet year round. So if he tells somebody to ingest carbs it’s because he believes that in the scope of the program THEY REALLY NEED IT.[/quote]

Hey Coach,

Thanks for the feedback.

I would have thought that Charles would more than likely tailor the 5 days diet to the individual as apposed to making everyone follow the diet outlayed. Hence why my above plan. I have just started the food loading today so I do have time to make small changes. I am not AFRAID of eating carbs, rather thought that it may not be ideal if I don’t want to gain(if anything, lose) fat and gain muscle.

Thnks,
GJ

104

[quote]Gymjunkie wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Gymjunkie wrote:
Hey coach,

I just completed the Super Accumulation program. Hardest work I have EVER carried out, but I am proud that I finished it. My measurements after the 2 weeks of training lead to 2 lbs fat loss and over 2-3 lbs muscle gain. I was doing GBC type work prior to jumping into this, so my body responded well to the heavier work and gained muscle, instead of losing, like I should have.

Anyway, my query is surrouding the 5 day food loading phase that I am about to start. In the article, CP says to eat every 1.5hours, alternating food with a shake and carbs with every meal etc…I have MAJOR insulin issues(bf is at 15.5% subscab 15mm, supriliac 28mm), and still need to drop fat while maximising the muscle gain from this program.

I planned this:

Day 1: Eat every 1.5 hours, alternating whole food meal with shake INCLUDING carbs every meal(as described in article)

Day 2-5: Eat every 1.5 hours, alternating whole food meal with shake BUT only protein and fats in each meal and trace carbs.

Look okay?

Thanks alot!
GJ

No it doesn’t.

I really don’t like what you did.

You were seduced by a program rather than convinced by it.

Do not simply do a program because you fill like it, or were seduced into trying it. When you select a program it is to fill a specific need that you have.

This means that when you chose to do something, it should be exactly what your body needs right now and this refers to the whole program, not part of it.

In that case, the 5 days of heavy eating are part of the plan… they are necessary to make things work properly. See, the key thing with the superaccumulation program is not so much the super intensive weeks of training but rather the recovery week. This is what will give you the best gains. If you do not do it as planned you might as well scrap all the hard work you just did.

Afraid of eating carbs for 5 days? THEN YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE STARTED THE PROGRAM… after all the article DOES tell you that you will have to be carb-heavy for 5 days, so if you decide to start the program it means that you accepted to live with that fact.

Charles is a low-carbs guy… over 75% of his clients are on a low-carbs diet year round. So if he tells somebody to ingest carbs it’s because he believes that in the scope of the program THEY REALLY NEED IT.

Hey Coach,

Thanks for the feedback.

I would have thought that Charles would more than likely tailor the 5 days diet to the individual as apposed to making everyone follow the diet outlayed. Hence why my above plan. I have just started the food loading today so I do have time to make small changes. I am not AFRAID of eating carbs, rather thought that it may not be ideal if I don’t want to gain(if anything, lose) fat and gain muscle whilst not been insulin sensitive.

He does specify that calories are the key during the loading phase, again why I understood that he meant you need to eat alot of food(whether is be protein and fats) as apposed to alot of carbs during the loading phase, and as mentioned tailor the intake a bit more depending on the individual. I wouldn’t be this worried, if I have a subscap of 9mm, HAHA

For a bit more info on myself. I gain muscle very easily, even when only eating protein and fats, providing I eat enough fats and follow the right type of training for my element type(Wood/Fire). But have trouble dropping fat with ease.

Thanks for your words. You know I appreciate it,
GJ [/quote]

105

Thibs-
What are your thoughts on single arm deadlifts?

(specifically for someone who throws discus and hammer)

106

CT

Anyway you do any online consulting to make a nutrition/training program for money? Specifically for a bit of a bulk, then a good cut while keeping as much muscle as possible.

107

Please? :slight_smile:

S

108

I noticed in last week’s thread how you said you feel one shouldn’t generally “diet” more than 10-12 weeks. I have been cutting for 11 weeks and only lost about 3.5-4lb. of fat dropping a total of 4.5lb. so it’s a good amount of fat:muscle but low overall.

I’m still not happy with my bodyfat right now (15%) so should I take a week off before I continue and then go at it more aggressively?

I was thinking after the week I would have 120g fat and 250g protein and 50g of “incidental” carbs (adding to about 2300 calories) all week except Saturdays when I would carb up with 300g of carbs and keep other macro’s roughly the same. Plus more low intensity cardio. What do you think?

Thanks a lot

109

Hi CT,

I have a similar question to the one above.

I too have been dieting for nearly 12 weeks and am not happy with my bodyfat yet. I saw you sometimes advise taking a week off and then resuming the diet. However my diet has not been 100% these past 12 weeks with quite big cheats, mainly alcohol, around once a fortnight. (Poor effort from me I know).

In light of this non-perfect diet should I bother taking the week off or do my binges make it so I shouldn’t bother?

Any reply much appreciated.

110

Hello,

I know that Charlie Francis advocates a more strength based weights program, while Maurice Greene and other HSI sprinters use John Smith’s bodybuilding principles when weightlifting.

I have been following a strength based lifting program for a while now with the notion that it will build more functional muscle.

I recently read that the main determining factors of muscle strength were size, slow twitch/fast twitch composition, neural drive, intramuscular coordination, and intermuscular coordination. Sprinting and plyos, which should use the majority of the CNS reserves, train all of these qualities; however, weights, which are supplemental, are the best for increasing muscular size.

This would seem to suggest that the most efficient method of increasing sport-specific strength without draining the CNS and overtraining is via the use of bodybuilding weight training.

I wanted to know if this is physiologically sound, because it would mean that strength training with weights is useful only for powerlifters and that basically all athletes should be using weights training for hypertrophy.

111

Coach

In weeks 9-10 of get jacked fast, there is an exercise called the 1/2 bench press (rack). In the image section at the end, there is a “1/2 close-grip bench.” Is this the same exercise? Or is it a rack lockout, with 1/2 referring to the range of motion?

Also, I don’t know how much strength I should expect to lose; how would you advise I select starting weights in week 10, so as not to fail in an early set?

Thank you for your time

G

112

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Ripped Fury wrote:

Hi Coach,
Just a follow up question on your above recommendations from the Thib’s Q&A thread. I am now exactly 4 weeks out from my first show. Up untill now I have been training very heavy for the first exercise of the session (5-6 sets of singles) and then moving to 5x5 for the rest of the session.

What would be the ideal set/rep scheme to switch to now? With the lack of energy from extremely low carbs in my diet, the first exercise always beats the hell out of my joints and, I can’t keep training that way any more till the contest.

I was thinking to switch to something along the lines of the set/rep scheme in the high volume phase of your HSS-100 program. Would this be the ideal way to go?

HSS has too much high-volume techniques for the physical state you are in, especially since you have been using mostly heavy lifting until now. You might actually burn out more on HSS in your state of carbs deprivation.

I would suggest training segmentation at this point. Keep the same amount of work as you are currently doing, but spread it over the day. Either have 2 daily 30 minutes workouts (half of your planned workload is performed in the first session, the other half in the later one). Both sessions should be spread around 6 hours appart.

If you can’t do that, I recommend doing the first exercise. Rest for 10-15 minutes while you drink some protein (around 15g is enough) BCAAs (15g) OR leucine (5g) and a small amount of carbs (10-15g, just to increase blood glucose without affecting your diet) then do the rest of your workout.[/quote]

Thanks Coach. I used your second suggestion for my training over the weekend and will do the same for the coming week. After that I’ve taken 4 weeks off work for the contests so I will then use option 1 as I will then be able to train twice a day.

My shoulder joints have started to hurt a lot when I do heavy chest pressing and rowing with max weight for 1 rep. What would be the better way to go?

  1. Lower the weight to a 3 rep max?
  2. Keep the weight at 1 RM but use machines instead?

Thank you Coach for your time.

113

[quote]sprinter23 wrote:
Hello,

I know that Charlie Francis advocates a more strength based weights program, while Maurice Greene and other HSI sprinters use John Smith’s bodybuilding principles when weightlifting.

I have been following a strength based lifting program for a while now with the notion that it will build more functional muscle.

I recently read that the main determining factors of muscle strength were size, slow twitch/fast twitch composition, neural drive, intramuscular coordination, and intermuscular coordination. Sprinting and plyos, which should use the majority of the CNS reserves, train all of these qualities; however, weights, which are supplemental, are the best for increasing muscular size.

This would seem to suggest that the most efficient method of increasing sport-specific strength without draining the CNS and overtraining is via the use of bodybuilding weight training.

I wanted to know if this is physiologically sound, because it would mean that strength training with weights is useful only for powerlifters and that basically all athletes should be using weights training for hypertrophy.[/quote]

You are suffering of paralysis by analysis. Furthermore you are doing so with concepts that you, obviously, don’t really understand.

Yes you want to avoid draining the CNS, but this doesn’t mean that you should avoid all work involving the CNS. In fact you WANT to stress the CNS, otherwise it will not improve.

To be honest you are so far off in your evaluation that it would take a whole day with me so that I could explain everything to you.

So I will only share some pointers with you (btw, look for parts 1 and 2 of my “Muscle for athletes” article, it will at least fill some of the numerous gaps you seem to have).

  1. Plyos are actually the most stressfull CNS exercises around. Because of that, Soviet literature recommend only using plyo for 2 yearly blocks of 4 weeks.

  2. Strength is the foundation of power. You will be limited in your capacity to increase your power production by your strength levels. Therefor training aimed at building strength is paramount to the development of athletic capacities.

  3. In order to build strength you obviously should focus on the most effective means to do so. Bodybuilding training, while excellent for building muscle mass will increase strength to a lower extent than strength-focused training.

  4. Plyo, jumping drills, medicine ball throws, etc. are good to build speed-strength (power production against a low resistance) but suck at developing strength-speed (power against a moderate to high resistance).

Strength is the direct foundation to Strength-speed which is the direct foundation to Speed-strength with is a foundation to Speed.

Thus for maximal development you must build a foundation of strength and strength-speed (olympic lifts, jumps with a resistance, high-speed lifting movements). Simply doing some weight work and plyos will NOT lead to optimal results (you are missing one link in the chain), especially if the weight work is not strength-focused.

114

[quote]andrewe123 wrote:
Hi CT,

I have a similar question to the one above.

I too have been dieting for nearly 12 weeks and am not happy with my bodyfat yet. I saw you sometimes advise taking a week off and then resuming the diet. However my diet has not been 100% these past 12 weeks with quite big cheats, mainly alcohol, around once a fortnight. (Poor effort from me I know).

In light of this non-perfect diet should I bother taking the week off or do my binges make it so I shouldn’t bother?

Any reply much appreciated.[/quote]

I hate these questions because it seems to come from someone who can’t control himself and is not 100% dedicated to his goal.

Go 100%, this means NO CHEAT at all for 21 days, then ask your question again.

115

[quote]rasturai wrote:
CT

Anyway you do any online consulting to make a nutrition/training program for money? Specifically for a bit of a bulk, then a good cut while keeping as much muscle as possible. [/quote]

No

116

[quote]moofs wrote:
Thibs-
What are your thoughts on single arm deadlifts?

(specifically for someone who throws discus and hammer)[/quote]

Mostly a “circus lift”. Guys are trying to make this more complex than it really is. Look at all the top throwers from the “golden era” and you’ll notice two things:

  • These guys were humongously strong (500lbs+ bench, 700lbs+ squats, 400lbs+ power cleans)

  • They trained hard on the basic lifts

When you can bench 500, squat 700 and clean 400 you can add circus lifts in if you so desire. But in the meantime focus on getting as strong as humanly possible and forget about “trick lifts”.

Those who rely on circus lifts are those who can’t get strong on the basics.

*NOTE: I’m not saying that such lifts are bad and should be avoided, but in the grand scheme of things, their role is so minor that focus should never be on them.

117

[quote]Gymjunkie wrote:
I would have thought that Charles would more than likely tailor the 5 days diet to the individual as apposed to making everyone follow the diet outlayed. Hence why my above plan. I have just started the food loading today so I do have time to make small changes. I am not AFRAID of eating carbs, rather thought that it may not be ideal if I don’t want to gain(if anything, lose) fat and gain muscle whilst not been insulin sensitive.

He does specify that calories are the key during the loading phase, again why I understood that he meant you need to eat alot of food(whether is be protein and fats) as apposed to alot of carbs during the loading phase, and as mentioned tailor the intake a bit more depending on the individual. I wouldn’t be this worried, if I have a subscap of 9mm, HAHA

[/quote]

The goal of the “off” 5 days is maximum supercompensation. YOU CAN SURCOMPENSATE FAT STORES. You only surcompensate GLYCOGEN and to some extent amino acids. This is why on a program aimed at SURCOMPENSATION you MUST ingest a lot of carbs.

Not to mention that the insulin production from the carbs will create an anabolic milieu which will increase protein synthesis.

118

[quote]Thunderstruck88 wrote:
Thib,

I can’t recall just how long ago it was, but if I’m not mistaken, you once made mention of Larry Scott using sauna sessions in conjunction with cardio, or something to this effect. Can this help with fat mobilization and enhance the results of the energy systems work?[/quote]

What I said is that short bouts in the sauna (around 3-5 minutes) will increase growth hormone release.

GH increases fatty acid mobilization so that there will be more of it to be readily used for fuel.

So yes, alternating short bouts in the sauna (3-5 minutes) during a period of low-intensity energy systems work can be effective.

[quote]Thunderstruck88 wrote:
On a quick follow-up note to an answer you provided above, would it be acceptable to sub in trap bar deadlifts for conventional deadlifts and still perform a squat variation at some point in the training week? Or should this exercise only be used to replace some type of squat and not deadlifts? [/quote]

The trap bar deadlift is somewhat of a misnomer as it shares a lot more in common with the squat than a deadlift mechanically speaking.

Thus I do not see the trap bar as a replacement for the deadlift, but rather as an alternative to the squat.

119

[quote]Player wrote:
Coach,

After going through your Leap Tall Building Program twice what is a realistic expectation for a vertical increase? [/quote]

7.989537593’’

Seriously, I can’t answer that question. It depends on too many factors.

120

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
andrewe123 wrote:
Hi CT,

I have a similar question to the one above.

I too have been dieting for nearly 12 weeks and am not happy with my bodyfat yet. I saw you sometimes advise taking a week off and then resuming the diet. However my diet has not been 100% these past 12 weeks with quite big cheats, mainly alcohol, around once a fortnight. (Poor effort from me I know).

In light of this non-perfect diet should I bother taking the week off or do my binges make it so I shouldn’t bother?

Any reply much appreciated.

I hate these questions because it seems to come from someone who can’t control himself and is not 100% dedicated to his goal.

Go 100%, this means NO CHEAT at all for 21 days, then ask your question again.[/quote]

Do you have any advice for my part (the “above post”)? I’m only asking because I didn’t cheat at all over these 11 weeks (never do) so just in case that wasn’t clear.