I had this problem that started mainly with your Beast Building series where I was using heavy weights in bench press movements. First off, it worked great, I added a lot of strength and I enjoyed the variety so thanks for making the program.
During any bench press movements with a barbell while using heavy weight, my, from what I can guess, lateral triceps start getting very fatigued and extremely sore and painful causing me to go down in weights greatly. Even after resting up totally, the pain starts to come back on bench press with a barbell. Dumbbells don’t seem to bother me, or at least not enough to cause me to stop. I bench pressed earlier today, had a lot of pain, and its even tender to the touch right now. It will go away in a couple of days until I bench again.
This is really limiting me on increasing my bench further and I’m stumped as to what I might be doing. I make sure my scapula are retracted and my partner today said my right trap was elevated. I tried fixing that but still hurt. In fact, its usually the left side that gives me the most trouble.I try pressing with my pecs and not my triceps as well.
I would appreciate any help as this really is limiting my chest progress.
Thank you for keeping this Q&A up. It’s definitely one of the gems of T-Nation.
Coach Thib,
I remember reading that you believed in focusing on THE lifts and squats soley for taining as a competitive weightlifter, do you still believe this approach to be the best?
Coach Thib,
I remember reading that you believed in focusing on THE lifts and squats soley for taining as a competitive weightlifter, do you still believe this approach to be the best?
Coach Thib,
I remember reading that you believed in focusing on THE lifts and squats soley for taining as a competitive weightlifter, do you still believe this approach to be the best?
I’m beginning a work project soon and will only be able to train one day per week for a few months. Do you have any general recommendations for this sort of situation?
Is there a benefit to splitting up a workout into 2 separate workouts?
My thinking is you could lift heavier with each lift if you were doing half the work if you split it into morning and afternooon.
or is this just too small a detail for concern? unless of course you are competing
[/quote]
If you can afford the time, splitting a workout in two daily sessions will always yield better results.
However it is easy to overdo it; we are used to lifting for a certain amount of time and feeling a certain level of fatigue after our session. So when doing 2 daily workouts we tend to do too much volume. Remember to:
Split your daily volume in two, do not increase it. For example if your daily workout called for a total of 12 sets of two muscle groups (e.g. 12 sets for chest, 12 sets for back) if you split it up, the total number of sets for that day should still be 12 for each (when both sessions are added).
Keep the sessions short (20-45 minutes)
Make sure to have at least 4 hours between sessions, preferably 6.
[quote]keilnirby wrote:
I’m beginning a work project soon and will only be able to train one day per week for a few months. Do you have any general recommendations for this sort of situation?[/quote]
Find another work project
Honestly it will be very hard to gain strength or size training only once a week. That frequency will allow you to easily maintain what you have, but gaining will require one hell of a session! To succeed training only one day a week you will need to put a tremendous growth stimulation on your body so that you will actually NEED the whole week to recover.
This will require:
training the whole body
doing a lot of volume
going heavy
The best option would be to do two workouts on that day because a single high volume/whole body workout would be too much to handle.
[quote]konig916 wrote:
Coach Thib,
I remember reading that you believed in focusing on THE lifts and squats soley for taining as a competitive weightlifter, do you still believe this approach to be the best?[/quote]
I never said that. I said that this is how the bulgarians train.
The best approach in my humble opinion is to do a lot of technique work with the competition lifts; strength work with basic lifts such as the squat, front squat, push press, deadlift and remedial work (exercises focusing on fixing your own individual weaknesses).
Thib, in your high-threshold book you recommend to accelerate the last 1/4 of the eccentric part to improve muscle recruitment. In your recent thib system series, you only recommend this technique in olympic lifting, and plyometrics.
If someone is not using this two type of drills, should one use this technique in full squats, bench press, pullups, etc?.
[quote]Addweight wrote:
Thib, in your high-threshold book you recommend to accelerate the last 1/4 of the eccentric part to improve muscle recruitment. In your recent thib system series, you only recommend this technique in olympic lifting, and plyometrics.
If someone is not using this two type of drills, should one use this technique in full squats, bench press, pullups, etc?.[/quote]
To maximize strength, yes.
On isolation movements, no.
To maximize growth with compound movements, yes but make sure to really control the first 3/4th of the eccentric phase.
just wondering what you think of my routine? and what sets and reps should i use to build size and strength?
ive tried to use lots of different articles to put this together.
I am working with a certified biosignature coach in northern california. He has determined I have a high conversion of test to estrogen as well as high cortisol and low gh. I am currently on a diet written by him to lean out that has me on the following macros on training days:
Kcal: 2380
Pro: 275g
Carbs: 120g
Fat: 80g
im 5’ 11" and 195lbs
my question is about sucralose. I love the taste of Metabolic Drive and it is hard to find a protein powder that does not have sucralose(splenda) as a sweetener. My coach claims it is cancerous, I was wondering what your views on it are?
Thib doesnt analyze programs because it actually takes more time to analyze one than make one up. It also would not be fair to his paying clients who pay for such a service.
I am working with a certified biosignature coach in northern california. He has determined I have a high conversion of test to estrogen as well as high cortisol and low gh. I am currently on a diet written by him to lean out that has me on the following macros on training days:
Kcal: 2380
Pro: 275g
Carbs: 120g
Fat: 80g
im 5’ 11" and 195lbs
my question is about sucralose. I love the taste of Metabolic Drive and it is hard to find a protein powder that does not have sucralose(splenda) as a sweetener. My coach claims it is cancerous, I was wondering what your views on it are?
Thanks!
Nima[/quote]
Everything is potentially cancerous! Seriously, some sweeteners may be potentially harmful, but at EXTREME dosages in a vast minority of people under precise sets of circumstances.
In other word, do not use add artificial sweeteners to what you eat/drink. But the little amount that might be in your protein powder is fine.
[quote]tommyv wrote:
ok i realise why you cant analyse it, but is there any chance you could help me on picking what set/rep ranges to use for the exercises for strength and size?[/quote]
What are you, impatient? No need to click send more than once.
Look at the two part series “How to design a damn good program”. It’ll tell you what you want.
Is it better to perform the floor flyes with straight arms in order to obtain a significant working range of movement for the pecs or can they be performed with bent-arms where there is reduced range however increased load.
Either way I have found them a very effective movement with what seems to be considerably less stress on the shoulder joint.
You really have an impressive arsenal of exercises so I humbly ask for any suggestions you may have to build up the lower traps. I already do superman’s on an incline and trap 3’s. Anthing you could offer would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your time and thought. If you get a second I would be honored if you would drop by my new log laroyal’s return to powerlifting in strength sports!
