[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Please? 
S[/quote]
Please what? I havenāt seen any question from you Stu
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
I noticed in last weekās thread how you said you feel one shouldnāt generally ādietā 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 itās a good amount of fat:muscle but low overall.
Iām 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 āincidentalā carbs (adding to about 2300 calories) all week except Saturdays when I would carb up with 300g of carbs and keep other macroās roughly the same. Plus more low intensity cardio. What do you think?
Thanks a lot [/quote]
4lbs of fat in 11 weeks basically sucks, unless you were already at 8% body fat, which you obviously were not.
Someone who is above 15% should be able to lose around 15-20lbs of fat in 11 weeks, sometimes more.
There is ābeing cautious about not losing muscle while dietingā and "being so scared of losing muscle that I completely waste 11 weeks worth of effortsā'.
The 10-12 weeks recommendation applies to those who actually lost a significant amount of weight. A measely 4lbs will not lead to negative adaptations that requires taking a week off from dieting.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
4lbs of fat in 11 weeks basically sucks, unless you were already at 8% body fat, which you obviously were not.
Someone who is above 15% should be able to lose around 15-20lbs of fat in 11 weeks, sometimes more.
There is ābeing cautious about not losing muscle while dietingā and "being so scared of losing muscle that I completely waste 11 weeks worth of effortsā'.
The 10-12 weeks recommendation applies to those who actually lost a significant amount of weight. A measely 4lbs will not lead to negative adaptations that requires taking a week off from dieting.[/quote]
Ok so I can jump right into the more aggressive plan? Does my idea of 250p/120f/50c(incidentals only which seems to add up to about 40g between nuts and cottage cheese and others) 6 days a week with 1 carb up look good? Or should I place some carbs around work outs?
I figured this was going too slow but my ātrainerā seems to think Iāll āburn outā if I do more at this point and gets annoyed if I bring it up which I think is ridiculous
Thanks again
Edit: by the way Stuās post is on the 2nd page I think
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
I figured this was going too slow but my ātrainerā seems to think Iāll āburn outā if I do more at this point and gets annoyed if I bring it up which I think is ridiculous
[/quote]
Translation: The sooner you reach your goals the faster Iām losing a client because you donāt need me anymore.
Anyway, gotta go train Iāll get back to your case when I get back.
coach i have a quick question for you please. when doing rope or straight arm pull downs for lats i feel it in my triceps rather than lats am i doing it wrong or is there a way to reduce tricep action. thanks
Coach, currently in a mass gain phase, my breakfast looks as followsā¦
170g Top Round Steak
3-Whole Omega-3 Eggs
1-Scoop Grow Whey/Cinnamon
25g Almonds
2-Flameout Caps
Spinach/Cucumbers/Celery
1-Scoop Leucine/Green Tea
First, does this look solid? Second, would it be allright to add berries to this if iām slowly adding more carbs to my diet? Thanks in advance for any help
[quote]Eazy wrote:
Coach, currently in a mass gain phase, my breakfast looks as followsā¦
170g Top Round Steak
3-Whole Omega-3 Eggs
1-Scoop Grow Whey/Cinnamon
25g Almonds
2-Flameout Caps
Spinach/Cucumbers/Celery
1-Scoop Leucine/Green Tea
First, does this look solid? Second, would it be allright to add berries to this if iām slowly adding more carbs to my diet? Thanks in advance for any help
[/quote]
Is it solid? How can I tell you if itās solid if you are isolating only one meal out of your whole day and that you are not giving me any info about your body weight, structure, body composition, etc.?
Hi, Thib. I have 2 questions for you.
First, if a person wants to improve on a particular exercise by practicing it frequently, what type of parameters are appropriate to use in order to train the movement often (possibly even daily and throughout the day if schedule and set-up permit) for maximum benefit while incurring minimal(if any) negatives? And does frequent practice without accumulating excessive fatigue stimulate strength gains through improvement in muscle activation and technique?
Secondly, is it possible for all other potential types of stress to be relatively low or in-check but have high enough mental stress to significantly and chronically elevate cortisol and catecholamine levels? And if so, can that alone be the prime contributing factor in the case of someone presenting with low testosterone levels (via blood testing) and impaired/sluggish digestion (possibly due to over-stimulation of the sympathetic and under-stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system? Admittedly physiology is not my strong suit, which is why Iād appreciate your take on this.
Hey Coach,
Been looking to start the HSS 100 program for awhile now and I read upon the back and chest specialization programs.I really donāt mean to bastardize your program but I was wondering if it is possible to make a leg specialization program with the HSS 100 since I couldnāt find one using your āPillars of Strengthā program for legs. Look something like this:
Monday: Pillars of Strength (A)
Tuesday: Back/Traps
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Pillars of Strength (B)
Friday: Chest/Shoulders
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Biceps/Triceps
Also I was wondering about the Biceps/Triceps, do you do the HSS pattern for both biceps and triceps?
Thanks Coach, it would be greatly appreciated.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Eazy wrote:
Coach, currently in a mass gain phase, my breakfast looks as followsā¦
170g Top Round Steak
3-Whole Omega-3 Eggs
1-Scoop Grow Whey/Cinnamon
25g Almonds
2-Flameout Caps
Spinach/Cucumbers/Celery
1-Scoop Leucine/Green Tea
First, does this look solid? Second, would it be allright to add berries to this if iām slowly adding more carbs to my diet? Thanks in advance for any help
Is it solid? How can I tell you if itās solid if you are isolating only one meal out of your whole day and that you are not giving me any info about your body weight, structure, body composition, etc.?[/quote]
Coach, apologize for that, iām 175lbs currently, iām lean everywhere with the exception of the belly area (have a manual labor job and deal w/cortisol issues) I have carbs only from green veggies, nuts, and tomatoes. Peri-workout nutriton consists of either a serving of Surge recovery or Surge workout fuel pre and a serving of Surge recovery after. My protein sources for the other parts of the day include tuna, 4%fat ground beef for lunch,salmon for dinner and turkey before bed.
Hope that can give a little better overview without getting long winded.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
I figured this was going too slow but my ātrainerā seems to think Iāll āburn outā if I do more at this point and gets annoyed if I bring it up which I think is ridiculous
Translation: The sooner you reach your goals the faster Iām losing a client because you donāt need me anymore.
Anyway, gotta go train Iāll get back to your case when I get back.[/quote]
Haha the funny thing is Iām going to stop working with him in a few weeks because I havenāt gotten the desired results.
feel free to take your time with the response
Hi Christian,
Only just found your articles online and have spent the past few days reading them at my leisure. Like everyone else here I got a question, my goal is to be 200lbs cut (currently weight 193lbs) and I would like your advice as to whether cutting my work load will actually help me increase overall size. Btw the only supplements I use are multivitamins and whey. I hope you can help;
So I just came of the back of a 2 weeks split during which I worked chest 3days in two weeks, back x3, shoulder/arms x2 and legs x2 with 4 non weights days to recover. Each workout I do around about 16sets maybe more going to failure on at least 1 set of my primary compound movements and to failure to a greater degree on the less taxing exercises thereafter. Recently however my bodyweight and my lifts have not been going anywhere fast, bench was stuck, as was weighted pullups (infact going back reps on pullups), bent over rows and deadlifts too. Squats for some reason were fine (always my first workout per week). Anyway I was forced to take an extra days rest two weeks ago (i never miss a workout) and I found that my lifts were all up. I figured over training might be the cause. As I have gotten bigger my workouts have got more intense to produce the necessary stimulus thus I have had to reduced overall workload for a give muscle group to allow greater rest before but have never really cut the number of days I workout per week.
So my new workout looks like this, with some worries;
Mon- Legs;
Squat (5sets)
Legs Press (2sets)
Legs extensions (1set)
Widegrip sumo deadlifts (3sets)
Romanian Deadlifts (3sets)
Hamstring Curl (2sets)
Tues - Off
Wed Chest and Biās;
Bench Press (5sets)
Neck Press (3sets)
Pec Dec or dips (3sets)
Barbell Curls (3sets)
Hammer Curls (2sets)
Cable curls (1superset as fast as possible)
Thurs - Off
Fri - Back;
Weighted chinups (5sets)
Barbell rows (5sets)
Lat Pulldown (3sets)
Seated rows (3sets)
Saturday - Shoulder/triceps
Morning;
Dumbell press (5sets)
Barbell press (3sets)
Laterial raises (3sets)
Evening
Close grip bb (5sets)
Zbar curl (3sets)
Triceps extensions (2sets)
Dips (1 set)
Sunday - off
My main worry is that I wont be doing enough workouts to optimise growth, doing each body part only once per week is new and worrying (I used to do 3 for chest and back a few years back with 1 day off per week) and means I have 3 wholes days off per week. This is something that I am not used to and to be honest Iām finding it really difficulty fighting the āgo workoutā urge which might be counterproductive.
I realise that lifting weights is a long term process, I have been at it for 5 years or so now increasing weight by about 55-60lbs during that time. Now that I am soo close to my target weight I donāt want to slack up but perhaps cutting back my work load is exactly what I need? I know a few other guys who workout 4 days a week and it works for them but they are all taking steroids and to that end im the odd one out in my gym.
Any advice is much appreciated, thanks for reading.
NIguy
Bump! It seems my Q was lost in the crowd. Must have been my manly avatarā¦
[quote]alphawoman wrote:
Salut CT,
Une question Ć vous poserā¦
What dietary protocol do you recommend for those who have a tendency toward subscapular fat storage, particularly during a 12-week pre-contest diet phase? Roughly 20% of my 7-site caliper body fat measurements are stored in the subscapular region, while my supra-iliac fat storage is low. Iāll provide some personal context and follow up with a more specific question.
Some contextā¦
From what Iāve read, Charles Poliquin suggests that this pattern may indicate poor carbohydrate tolerance and a degree of insulin sensitivity.
As a result, I consume sugary carbs only during workout (1/2 serving Biotest Surge), and add another half serving of Surge PWO during mass gain and maintenance phases. All starchy carbs are consumed peri-workout, and fruit only PWO. I have no trouble maintaining ~12-14% BF following mass-gain protocol (at a weight of 128-130lbs), with 2,500-2,900 kcal/day varying by training intensity and ES work (obviously, macros vary, too).
The follow-up questionā¦
Beyond any general recommendations, is it advisable for me to continue with a PWO recovery drink like Surge outside my mass gain phases? During a gradual (say, 12-16 week) pre-contest fat loss phase (with max fat loss 7-8lbs), would it be advisable to even abandon the during-workout drink, also?
Je vous remercie en avance pour vos suggestions! Vous ĆŖtes tellement inspirant!
Alpha.
[/quote]
[quote]Eazy wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Eazy wrote:
Coach, currently in a mass gain phase, my breakfast looks as followsā¦
170g Top Round Steak
3-Whole Omega-3 Eggs
1-Scoop Grow Whey/Cinnamon
25g Almonds
2-Flameout Caps
Spinach/Cucumbers/Celery
1-Scoop Leucine/Green Tea
First, does this look solid? Second, would it be allright to add berries to this if iām slowly adding more carbs to my diet? Thanks in advance for any help
Is it solid? How can I tell you if itās solid if you are isolating only one meal out of your whole day and that you are not giving me any info about your body weight, structure, body composition, etc.?
Coach, apologize for that, iām 175lbs currently, iām lean everywhere with the exception of the belly area (have a manual labor job and deal w/cortisol issues) I have carbs only from green veggies, nuts, and tomatoes. Peri-workout nutriton consists of either a serving of Surge recovery or Surge workout fuel pre and a serving of Surge recovery after. My protein sources for the other parts of the day include tuna, 4%fat ground beef for lunch,salmon for dinner and turkey before bed.
Hope that can give a little better overview without getting long winded. [/quote]
Yeah, in light of this Iād say the your breakfast is fine in the scope of a low-carb approach. I wouldnāt add the berries unless you lower your fat a bit on that breakfast.
very interesting (good) info in these Q&Aās
Coach, I am in a tough situation, I have been training for 2-3 years but canāt seem to gain muscle without too much fat. I am not like many people who end up getting fat because of terrible habits, I was overweight by 5th grade eating how all kids used to! I have tried a CKD, TKD, your CCC (That + NROL actually showed good calipers results the 6 weeks I did it but looking at my journal I made a few comments about how much softer I looked and it seemed like I was putting on fat very fast), etcā¦
Anyway I plan to continue as hard as I can to gain muscle without too much fat but right now Iām sitting at about 160lb. and 15% body fat at 6ā0 (also Iām 17 years old). Many people just say āyou need to eat a ton, etcā¦ā but your definitely one who understands why someone would not want to ābulkā especially at 15% bf. Given my weight and body fat should I try to get leaner, maybe 11% at 150 (back where I was 1.5 years ago 
)or suck it up and gain muscle anyway knowing I put on a lot of fat.
Thanks so much Coach
Iām currently doing a cut, generally following your nurition and lifting advice. Almost zero carbs except for a carb-up day where I take in about 150g around my workout, and a four-day a week olympic lifting + major lifts strength program (3-5 sets of 2-6) to maintain muscle mass.
Iām supplementing with plenty of BCAAs and two HOT-ROX servings.
Biking is my mode of transportation to school, so I also get in 30 min of ESW 5 days a week.
I started at 213, 17% BF. My goal is 190 and 8%. Iām 5ā8
Iāve gone through 7 weeks so far. Iām at 201 now with 13% by the calipers, though I feel like my actual BF is higher, Iām really not seeing abs yet (unless I suck in my stomach a bit and flex them). And on the other hand I feel like I may be losing some muscle mass as my arms look a bit flatter (though measurements say that at the most I may have just lost an eighth to a quarter inch). My waist has gone down from 37.5 to 35, and I should probably be at 31 to have 8%
I have 5 weeks left in my cut and I really want to accelerate my progress, get down to 190 or lower in that time. I donāt want to cut for too long for fear of losing muscle mass.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
I started at 213, 17% BF. My goal is 190 and 8%. Iām 5ā8
Iāve gone through 7 weeks so far. Iām at 201 now with 13% by the calipers, though I feel like my actual BF is higher, Iām really not seeing abs yet (unless I suck in my stomach a bit and flex them). [/quote]
13% is still in what I call the ābody composition no manās landā. In other words you are still not cut enough to be defined but not fat enough to look like a fatso.
90% of all individuals must be at 10% or below to have abs.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
And on the other hand I feel like I may be losing some muscle mass as my arms look a bit flatter (though measurements say that at the most I may have just lost an eighth to a quarter inch).[/quote]
You are just feeling flat from carbs depletion. If you have not lost strength, you have not lost muscle.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
I have 5 weeks left in my cut and I really want to accelerate my progress, get down to 190 or lower in that time. I donāt want to cut for too long for fear of losing muscle mass.
[/quote]
āAcceleratingā the process WILL make you lose mass because you have already been dieting for a while.
You probably had unrealistic expectations from the start. My recommendation would be to finish off your 5 weeks, take 2 weeks off from dieting and get back to dieting until you reach your goal.
hi coach
i sent you afew mails
did you got it?
amit
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
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 donāt 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 wouldnāt be this worried, if I have a subscap of 9mm, HAHA
The goal of the āoffā 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.[/quote]
Hey coach,
I read this as YOU CANNOT SUPERCOMPENSATE FAT STORESā¦Hope this is correct. I will intake as much carbs(mainly fruit) as I feel I can handle during the 5 days without going crazy, knowing I donāt handle carbs too well, regardless of supercompensation. I feel that I would get the benefit, even on a lower scale re carbs intake.
GJ
Are you aware of if Accutane has any negative affects on bodybuilding/strength? If so what are they?
Thank you,
NMQ