I’m having trouble with my squats. I’m not sure if it’s because my back is messed up now or if I’m going a lot deeper than I used to (probably both), but I’m very weak at the absolute bottom of the squat. At that point, the area in the center of my back along the waistline feels a lot of pressure. It’s the first muscle to fatigue after a few sets so it’s really holding back my progress on heavy days.
Is there anything in particular that would help this? I thought it might be a weak core, so I had just started doing that, but wanted your thoughts.
hey Thibs, my off season just started and i’m looking to add on some strength as well as size, any good articles you think would fit that nicely, my form on most lifts and olympic lifts is pretty solid, so excersies shouldn’t be a problem, I was originally thinking of a 5x5 program, but any tips from you would be greatly appreciated, as well,
I havn’t been able to find some good articles on the site that reach out to gaining speed and reactive power, do you know any, thanks for any help you can give me, and ps: my diet and supplimentation is pretty solid for that of gaining size.
My breakfast consists of 3 whole eggs, a 24g whey shake and a banana. Many people have been getting on my case about me eating eggs every morning, telling me I’m gonna get a heart attack and its rly bad. So my question is…
Is eating 3 eggs a day for breakfast bad?
(I usually try to switch it up on weekends though with meat)
Do you feel that there is a practical minimum and maximum bodyfat % for mass gain phases and possibly an ideal range to try and stay between during the phase? i.e. keep bodyfat no lower than say 8 percent but no higher than 15 percent with somewhere in between those extremes likely allowing for the best possible gains?
If possible, I’d also like to get your take on two other body comp topics.
What is the lowest bodyfat & you feel can be maintained year-round (if desired) without incurring too many negative changes in metabolism and hormonal profile?
And if working with someone who has done metabolic damage through some combination of excessive dieting and training, what types of steps would likely need to be taken to start repairing things, that is, if the damage can be repaired?
I have a question regarding squats. Whenever i squat, i have tight, sore inner legs afterwards for 3-5 days. If i put my legs together and push (so my knees and ankles are pushing against each other) there is a lot of pain in the adductor region, and doing the ‘butterfly’ stretch ( Butterfly Stretch - Fitness Exercises - Fitness VIP ) also causes pain.
I am 17 and relatively new to lifting, (max deadlift 140kg, max squat 115kg). The pain even occurs in lighter squats where there is no DOMS in any other muscles.
I squat with a close stance, olympic style, and i am 6’3, 80kg
What could be the cause of this? Is there anyway to get around it? I love to squat but this is really killing me and nobody has been able to give me any help… so what do you reccomend? thanks for your time
I am doing your Beast Building program right now and am currently on the last week of Part 1, starting Part 2 on Monday. My question is whether or not I should use the same explosive exercises in the Beast Complexes in Part 2 as I did for the Isometric/Explosive sessions in Part 1.
For example, I used jump squats and speed bench press in Part 1, so would it make sense to continue to use these same exercises in Part 2 to continue to hone the moment, or switch to speed squat and ballistic bench press to provide a change of stimulus?
[quote]NiallC wrote:
christian,
a recent study has shown that selenium contributes to hair thinning…
any thing to say on that?
skin head and all…
many thanks
Niall[/quote]
It also helps increase thyroid production. I’ve not noticed the hair thinning thing on my part (obviously), I think that it would be hard to measure during a study and if one stays within the normal required amount there shouldn’t be any problem.
Do you feel that there is a practical minimum and maximum bodyfat % for mass gain phases and possibly an ideal range to try and stay between during the phase? i.e. keep bodyfat no lower than say 8 percent but no higher than 15 percent with somewhere in between those extremes likely allowing for the best possible gains?[/quote]
It depends on the individual. When you are leaner your insulin sensitivity is high, which means that your body will naturally send more nutrients to the muscles and store less as fat.
However if you are too lean, the risk of injury might be greater and the anabolic hormone milieu sub-optimal.
But what is ‘‘adequately lean’’ or ‘‘too lean’’ will depend from one individual to the next. Some people are naturally 5-6% without efforts, others are closer to 15-20% in their normal state. Obviously being at 5% will not have the same effect on both guys.
But on average I’d say that between 8-12% is a good range to shoot for.
[quote]Reg Dunlop wrote:
What is the lowest bodyfat & you feel can be maintained year-round (if desired) without incurring too many negative changes in metabolism and hormonal profile?[/quote]
Once again it depends on the individual for the same reason as mentionned above
[quote]Reg Dunlop wrote:
And if working with someone who has done metabolic damage through some combination of excessive dieting and training, what types of steps would likely need to be taken to start repairing things, that is, if the damage can be repaired?
[/quote]
cutting out all stimulants
restoring a proper cortisol/testosterone cycle (licorice supreme in the morning and mid-AM; Panthetine 3x/day, Alpha Male at supper and 1 hour before bed)
A friend of mine is finishing Lyle’s UD 2.0 (consuming mainly liquid meals + flax seed on low carb days - just like in V-Diet, using your suggestions about BCAA, fish oil etc…) with remarkable results. Many of us, here in Poland, respect your knowledge very much, so he has a few questions regarding starting your ‘Shredded in 6 days’ plan.
First question is about cardio on ‘Shredded in 6 days’. He’s going to keep a fasted cardio in the morning and post-workout. Does it contradict with the purpose of this plan?
You suggest ‘2 tbsp of vegetable glycerine’. Can it be ~30 g of liquid glycerine (main ingredient: GLYCEROLUM 86%) ?
What about the carb up from ud2 (1000-1400 g of carbs /24 h)? Can it be use instead of carb-load outlined in your template?
Can/should he use a creatine when carbing up? (if yes, which form? /mono, malate , ester…/)
Does it make any difference if he changes the workout prior to loading? (his concern is upper body - he considers performing 4-5 sets of 6-10 reps to failure per muscle group before THE day)
Judging by photos, what is his (estimated) bodyfat level (%)?
Diuretics… Do you think taraxatone is worth considering? Or maybe you suggest better solutions.
He is afraid if products like yams pancakes or syrups are essential? And what about high sucrose/fructose content? Does it affect the quality of a carb up?
Are roasted potatoes are a good carb source on loading?
And finally the last question regarding a fat content on high carb day. Should he limit fats as much as possible? If no, what is your recommendation? (source, quantity…)
I love your work and was wondering if you could spare some advice in regards to deadlift grips. When should I used over under and when should I used a double over grip? I have heard that double over will build better grip strength overtime and avoid imbalances and that mixed should only be used for PRs, but I am unsure. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and hope all is well! Your articles are always fantastic!
First off many thanks for the wealth of information you have provided over the years.
I read on another site that your off-season training was composed of:
Off-Season / Mass Gaining Phase 1: Neural Potentiation (3 weeks)
Off-Season / Mass Gaining Phase 2: Isolation Activiation & Pre-Fatigue (4 weeks)
Off-Season / Mass Gaining Phase 3: Triphasic Hypertrophy (3 weeks)
Can you please explain these phases/techniques (or let us know where we can find more info.)?
I just read your article on the seated DB clean and press. I am doing a lot of OH pressing right now. Mostly in the 3-5 rep range. Should I leave out the pressing part in the seated clean and press since the additional pressing would be redundant?
Would it be necessary to do any lateral movements in the same workout if I do the seated cleans? Thanks
[quote]jimg21 wrote:
I just read your article on the seated DB clean and press. I am doing a lot of OH pressing right now. Mostly in the 3-5 rep range. Should I leave out the pressing part in the seated clean and press since the additional pressing would be redundant?
Would it be necessary to do any lateral movements in the same workout if I do the seated cleans? Thanks[/quote]
If you already do a lot of overhead and pressing work, leave it out.
Laterals are never ‘‘needed’’, but if shoulder width is a weak point they are worth adding to a program.
First question is about cardio on ‘Shredded in 6 days’. He’s going to keep a fasted cardio in the morning and post-workout. Does it contradict with the purpose of this plan?
[/quote]
If he is already doing it, that’s fine. If he has not been doing it, don’t add it in.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
You suggest ‘2 tbsp of vegetable glycerine’. Can it be ~30 g of liquid glycerine (main ingredient: GLYCEROLUM 86%) ? [/quote]
Yes
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
What about the carb up from ud2 (1000-1400 g of carbs /24 h)? Can it be use instead of carb-load outlined in your template? [/quote]
No… he’ll likely spill over and get a bloated stomach. The purpose of the load on UD2.0 is not to aesthetically peak, but to load glycogen stores as much as possible without any regards to avoiding water retention.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
Can/should he use a creatine when carbing up? (if yes, which form? /mono, malate , ester…/) [/quote]
If he is already using it, keep it in. If not don’t add it… when you peak you want to introduce as few new things as possible.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
Does it make any difference if he changes the workout prior to loading? (his concern is upper body - he considers performing 4-5 sets of 6-10 reps to failure per muscle group before THE day) [/quote]
I don’t like it.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
Judging by photos, what is his (estimated) bodyfat level (%)? [/quote]
Probably around 7% depending on how lean his back is.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
Diuretics… Do you think taraxatone is worth considering? Or maybe you suggest better solutions. [/quote]
As far as natural diuretics are concerned, you can’t go wrong with Taraxatone… it’s not magic, but it can help.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
He is afraid if products like yams pancakes or syrups are essential? And what about high sucrose/fructose content? Does it affect the quality of a carb up? [/quote]
No in most people, but if he knows that he doesn’t respond well to it, don’t use it.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
Are roasted potatoes are a good carb source on loading?[/quote]
In most people it’s fine. But once again, it depends on how the individual respond to that food.
Peaking is as much an art as it is a science. You have to know your body to peak optimally.
[quote]Junior__23 wrote:
And finally the last question regarding a fat content on high carb day. Should he limit fats as much as possible? If no, what is your recommendation? (source, quantity…)
[/quote]
Keep it low, unless you are super flat the night before. In that case, a fatty meal can help. But in 99% of the cases I would keep fat on the low side.
Thanks coach. I would get some but I cannot really afford it at the moment. What are your thoughts on using Superfood as a multi vitamin? I am currently taking it instead since many say the current multi’s out there are a scam and don;t really work.
[quote]mmafan wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
mmafan wrote:
Hey coach!
What sort of Multi vitamin do you recommend?
Multi-intense by Poliquin
Thanks coach. I would get some but I cannot really afford it at the moment. What are your thoughts on using Superfood as a multi vitamin? I am currently taking it instead since many say the current multi’s out there are a scam and don;t really work.[/quote]
