Thib's Q&A - May 11th - 18th

Training
201

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
padrinho wrote:
Coach you only quoted my post on the last site, i dont think that my text already had a fix on my problem in it, did it? hehe

thanks

It was supposed to say to go read my article ‘‘The shoulder training bible’’ and try the following exercises:

Thib’s press
Unwinding press
Leaning away lateral

On every type of lateral raise focus NOT on lifting the weight up, but rather in bringing it as far sideways as possible. So focus on lifting away from you, not up.[/quote]

nice article, and I like the idea of lifting Away instead of Up, i definitely try it that way next time.

but, what are Thib’s press ? i only no Arnolds and Larry Scotss Press’es … you have an article on the Thib-press too ? i used the search engine here and found nothing, surprisingly

202

Hi Coach, I have been curious to know what your thoughts of Thiomucase are? I know it’s a bit old, but do you think it’s legit?

203

[quote]padrinho wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
padrinho wrote:
Coach you only quoted my post on the last site, i dont think that my text already had a fix on my problem in it, did it? hehe

thanks

It was supposed to say to go read my article ‘‘The shoulder training bible’’ and try the following exercises:

Thib’s press
Unwinding press
Leaning away lateral

On every type of lateral raise focus NOT on lifting the weight up, but rather in bringing it as far sideways as possible. So focus on lifting away from you, not up.

nice article, and I like the idea of lifting Away instead of Up, i definitely try it that way next time.

but, what are Thib’s press ? i only no Arnolds and Larry Scotss Press’es … you have an article on the Thib-press too ? i used the search engine here and found nothing, surprisingly

[/quote]

In the article I listed them as Scott press… how it became the Thib press is a VERY long story

204

Coach

I am a long limbed lifter who is glute dominant.

I have a hard time developing my quads as my glutes just overpower everything that i do (squat wise)

I was wondering how you would execute the leg press to get the most quad activation out of it and what exercises you would suggest and also those to stay away from.

Hope you can help

CF

205

CT,

Based on your current para-wokout nutrition protocol, How would you split it up for twice a day training?

Not for 2 full 1 hour training sessions (I’d assume just do it twice), but a typical 1 hour session split into 2 during the day?

Regarding Creatine for the protocol in general - I’d assume 5g pre and 5g Post would be about right - true?

206

Coach,

What is your opinion of taking your temperature upon waking to check the bodies Metabolism? If you do agree with it, what are the ranges of good vs bad temperature one should be looking for?

207

[quote]cobrakai wrote:
Coach,

What is your opinion of taking your temperature upon waking to check the bodies Metabolism? If you do agree with it, what are the ranges of good vs bad temperature one should be looking for? [/quote]

It’s something I’ve been using for years. I even wrote about it in an article from 2-3 years back.

Since not everybody has the same ‘normal’ body temp, I prefer to establish a baseline (e.g. body temp upon waking up before starting the diet) and check body temp every morning while dieting. A decrease of 1 degree lasting more than one day can indicate a 5-10% loss in metabolic rate. If that happens dietary, supplement or training changes are made until body temp is back to normal.

208

[quote]Pickles wrote:
CT,

Based on your current para-wokout nutrition protocol, How would you split it up for twice a day training?

Not for 2 full 1 hour training sessions (I’d assume just do it twice), but a typical 1 hour session split into 2 during the day?

Regarding Creatine for the protocol in general - I’d assume 5g pre and 5g Post would be about right - true?[/quote]

Everything stay at full dose, except the WORKOUT FUEL which is cut in half (because of the lower volume).

209

Hi Thib.

This is a video of my squat (it’s the olympic version, or at least I try)

Do you think that I round the low back in the bottom?, If it’s the case,
which exercises are best to improve hams and low back flexibility?

This is of my box squat DSCF2246 - YouTube
and I have a question: in this exercise, when I sit on the box, should I relax the muscles
(as we do when we sit on a chair) or should I mantain them thigh?.

Thank you for your answers.

210

[quote]heartandsoul317 wrote:

Will glute/leg focused cardo (specifically hills/inclines) along with my regular weight training while dieting (AD style) allow me to continue to shape and keep the muscles, or can it lead to overtraining and thinning those muscles?[/quote]

REAL overtraining is extremely rare (I’ve only seen it twice in my career, and I worked with over 2000 athletes) and most of the time it is a neural or hormonal/adrenal phenomenon rather than a muscular one.

Muscle tissue actually recovers very fast from a training session, it’s the nervous system that can take a while to get back up to par after a few grueling sessions.

Adrenal burnout is also a possibility if the amount of overall training is excessive compared to one’s recovery capacity and if this situation is maintained over the long run.

Cardio exercises focuses on the glute area is normally very low in intensity (when it comes to CNS involvement) so the risk of CNS fatigue is fairly low. Obviously it increases as you switch to more intense form of energy systems work, like sprints for example. But moderate intensity cardio should not negatively impact the CNS.

Excessive low intensity cardio can, however, have a negative impact on your hormones. Specifically it can lead to elevated cortisol levels which might lead to muscle loss over the long run.

Excessive cardio can also lead to adrenal fatigue by forcing your body to overproduce catecholamines and other ‘fight or flight’ hormones.

So yes, excessive cardio can eventually lead to muscle loss. But the amount necessary for that to happen is very important, and anybody who can listen to their body will see it comming from ten miles away!

Now, the muscle loss will not necessarily be muscle-specific. In other words, just because you are doing glutes-focused cardio does not mean that you will lead your glutes first.

Cardio doesn’t cause a ton of muscle damage due to the lack of loading and the very small amount of eccentric work (when you switch to running, the eccentric stress increases drastically though). So I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

211

[quote]Addweight wrote:
Hi Thib.

This is a video of my squat (it’s the olympic version, or at least I try)

Do you think that I round the low back in the bottom?, If it’s the case,
which exercises are best to improve hams and low back flexibility?
.[/quote]

Yes, you are starting to show a ‘‘tail under’’ position when in the bottom portion of the squat. This is likely due to lack of hip flexors flexibility or improper glute activation.

212

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Addweight wrote:
Hi Thib.

This is a video of my squat (it’s the olympic version, or at least I try)

Do you think that I round the low back in the bottom?, If it’s the case,
which exercises are best to improve hams and low back flexibility?
.

Yes, you are starting to show a ‘‘tail under’’ position when in the bottom portion of the squat. This is likely due to lack of hip flexors flexibility or improper glute activation.

[/quote]
Which exercises do you recommend to solve this?.

213

Coach,

I have been having much trouble sleeping through the night lately. I fall asleep easily, but wake up 3-5 times over the course of 6-7 hours. ZMA actually makes me sleep worse, which is perplexing to me. Z-12 works well if I pop 3 capsules, but I don’t want to rely on that forever. I usually drink 2 cups of coffee daily, but my sleep patterns don’t seem to change if I limit the stimulants. I also have the same issues whether or not it’s a training day. I’m guessing it’s a cortisol issue. Do you have any suggestions?

214

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
heartandsoul317 wrote:

Will glute/leg focused cardo (specifically hills/inclines) along with my regular weight training while dieting (AD style) allow me to continue to shape and keep the muscles, or can it lead to overtraining and thinning those muscles?

REAL overtraining is extremely rare (I’ve only seen it twice in my career, and I worked with over 2000 athletes) and most of the time it is a neural or hormonal/adrenal phenomenon rather than a muscular one.

Muscle tissue actually recovers very fast from a training session, it’s the nervous system that can take a while to get back up to par after a few grueling sessions.

Adrenal burnout is also a possibility if the amount of overall training is excessive compared to one’s recovery capacity and if this situation is maintained over the long run.

Cardio exercises focuses on the glute area is normally very low in intensity (when it comes to CNS involvement) so the risk of CNS fatigue is fairly low. Obviously it increases as you switch to more intense form of energy systems work, like sprints for example. But moderate intensity cardio should not negatively impact the CNS.

Excessive low intensity cardio can, however, have a negative impact on your hormones. Specifically it can lead to elevated cortisol levels which might lead to muscle loss over the long run.

Excessive cardio can also lead to adrenal fatigue by forcing your body to overproduce catecholamines and other ‘fight or flight’ hormones.

So yes, excessive cardio can eventually lead to muscle loss. But the amount necessary for that to happen is very important, and anybody who can listen to their body will see it comming from ten miles away!

Now, the muscle loss will not necessarily be muscle-specific. In other words, just because you are doing glutes-focused cardio does not mean that you will lead your glutes first.

Cardio doesn’t cause a ton of muscle damage due to the lack of loading and the very small amount of eccentric work (when you switch to running, the eccentric stress increases drastically though). So I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

[/quote]

Thanks Coach!
That is excellent news because I like doing incline work for cardio and need to bump up the amount of cardio that I am currently doing. Still, I am not going to be doing excessive amounts of cardio, so I am good to go on that! (:

215

Thib,

On my last bench press workout I did 14x2@90% with 1-2min rest. Do you find it too much volume or loading if maximum strength development is the aim? I plan on doing this 1/week with other two sessions being with more traditional scheme. Also, how do you see doing a bunch of singles (5-7) @ 95% ? Is it worth it for strength or are there less effortfull and strainless (on joints) methods?

216

Thib,

I was hoping to ask you a few bench press questions especially in light of your informative post on the new Dave Tate bench press program article.

If the technique described by Mr. Tate is optimal for maximal weights on the bench press, would you stick with that on all bench pressing at 6 reps and under or would you even extend it to 7 and 8 reps to cover the functional hypertrophy zone, too, despite the last two being outside the realm of maximal weights?

You mentioned using the powerlifting-style bench as a primary exercise on a “triceps” day, but would it still be appropriate as the primary lift on a “chest” focused day since that would likely be the heaviest-loaded exercise on that day? Your comment that “they were all monsters! And trust me, none of them were lacking in pectoral development” makes me think that this is possible, but I wanted to ask you directly.

Admittedly I am more focused on aesthetics than performance as my primary goal, yet I found myself gravitating away from “bodybuilding-style” benching after reading and being influenced by a lot of Eric Cressey’s work on shoulder health. But I am still curious if there is a “safest” way to perform (or at least a least “egregious” in terms of shoulder health) to perform a wider-grip and more pec-focused bodybuilding bench press…possibly flaring the elbows out more than 45-degrees to the torso but less than a full 90, so that the elbows were still somewhat tucked but the overall grip was still wider than powerlifting style or going with the full flare on a 2-board press?

Again, going back to your comment about the pec development of the lifters you saw in Ohio, I’m assuming that noteworthy pec development can be achieved without using elbows-flared bodybuilding benching, but at the same time I would never want to throw a tool out of the tool box if there was still a way to spare the shoulders for the most part and still derive benefit out of the exercise.

I apologize for this post getting a bit long, as I did not intended it to be so. If you’re able to provide some more feedback, I’d be much obliged, but as always I understand if that is not feasible given your hectic schedule and desire to get to other posters questions.

217

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
cobrakai wrote:
Coach,

What is your opinion of taking your temperature upon waking to check the bodies Metabolism? If you do agree with it, what are the ranges of good vs bad temperature one should be looking for?

It’s something I’ve been using for years. I even wrote about it in an article from 2-3 years back.

Since not everybody has the same ‘normal’ body temp, I prefer to establish a baseline (e.g. body temp upon waking up before starting the diet) and check body temp every morning while dieting. A decrease of 1 degree lasting more than one day can indicate a 5-10% loss in metabolic rate. If that happens dietary, supplement or training changes are made until body temp is back to normal.[/quote]

Regarding this: I’m going to take a week off dieting soon and raise calories because I’ve been cutting for awhile. Would it be a good idea to test morning temperature in the later half of this week or would the week not be enough to go back to normal if there were problems?

218

When using a targeted carbs approach, i.e. only in para workout shakes, What are your guidelines for increasing energy intake to gain size/strength?
How much would you get daily from P+F before you would increase Carb intake, and would it all be para workout or spread throughout the day?

Based on training 4 x per week with one weekly cheat meal.

Thanks CT

219

[quote]Needmassquick wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
cobrakai wrote:
Coach,

What is your opinion of taking your temperature upon waking to check the bodies Metabolism? If you do agree with it, what are the ranges of good vs bad temperature one should be looking for?

It’s something I’ve been using for years. I even wrote about it in an article from 2-3 years back.

Since not everybody has the same ‘normal’ body temp, I prefer to establish a baseline (e.g. body temp upon waking up before starting the diet) and check body temp every morning while dieting. A decrease of 1 degree lasting more than one day can indicate a 5-10% loss in metabolic rate. If that happens dietary, supplement or training changes are made until body temp is back to normal.

Regarding this: I’m going to take a week off dieting soon and raise calories because I’ve been cutting for awhile. Would it be a good idea to test morning temperature in the later half of this week or would the week not be enough to go back to normal if there were problems?
[/quote]

It depends on the length of your cutting phase and its severity. If you dieted down for less than 12 weeks and were reasonable in your approach, one week would be fine. Otherwise 10-14 days might be required.

220

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

It depends on the length of your cutting phase and its severity. If you dieted down for less than 12 weeks and were reasonable in your approach, one week would be fine. Otherwise 10-14 days might be required.[/quote]

ok well I’ve been cutting for 16 weeks or so but only severely for about 8 and I’ll be deloading the week before the week off from the diet so I guess the 1 week would do it