Thib's Q&A

Training
4121

CT - that man in monstrous!

4122

Coach,
My hamstrings lag in comparison to my quads. What do you recommend as a program to bring them up? What do you consider good hamstring exercises?
Thanks

4123

Coach Thib,

I just finished playing 4 years of college basketball but football is the sport I love so I’m playing in an upper level semi-pro football league this coming summer with a bunch of former college, arena league, and even a handful of former NFL backups/practice squad players.

I haven’t played serious competitive tackle football in a handful of years so I’m concerned that I’m not going to be going in as physically prepared as I need to be. This is a very basic question and I feel kind of stupid asking it but what would be a good training cycle to follow for the next 4 months to increase my size and strength but also maintain my speed and quickness?

I’m not asking you to write out a program I’m just talking in terms of something like the first 5 weeks basic mass building, the next 6 weeks strength training and so on…

I’m 6’61/2" topping out at 250lbs. if that helps.

Thanks

4124

Coach Thibaudeau,

First off GREAT job to you and Amit, physique and performance is truly remarkable and inspiring.

I am curious to the correlation of age and ability gain muscle mass naturally in adult males. I understand no two individuals are ever the same but I’ve read that testosterone begins to decline in males at age 30. Would you agree and does this mean it peaks in the late twenties on average?

I have heard mention of an optimal “window” for gaining muscle mass. I am 24, after I diet down I will need to gain 40 more pounds of muscle mass to reach my all time goal. Of course I will keep gaining until I cannot regardless of my age.

Thank you for your time.

4125

Hi Coach!

I have a question regarding your opinion about a weight progression from set to set and from workout to workout.

Do you prefer straight sets or building up to the planned weight (one heavy workout set)?

And I’m not sure if either I should go all-out in every training or rather plan progression from workout to workout (starting with understated loads), reaching my full potential after few weeks.

Thanks!

4126

Coach, this is a question from a group of us in The UK,

4127

Coach, do you reccomend going straight to a high/medium fat, low carb approach to someone who may not ingest alot of fats in his daily routine?

Isit true that Sat. fat can cause insulin resitance?

4128

[quote]TEEN-BUILDER wrote:
Coach, do you reccomend going straight to a high/medium fat, low carb approach to someone who may not ingest alot of fats in his daily routine?

Isit true that Sat. fat can cause insulin resitance?[/quote]

Yes on both questions.

One of the strongest effect of a diet on body composition is the original switch to the diet. The more profoundly different it is from the way you were eating, the greater the initial impact on body composition.

4129

[quote]RustBeltGym wrote:
Coach,

If you had to take a guess the percentage of your weekly meals that are “self” prepared versus those that are prepared by others (either because you chose to go out or found yourself in an unexpected situation that required you to go with what might be readily available), what would the rough breakdown look like?[/quote]

I prepare roughly 99% of my meals. The only exception is the occasional night out with my wife

4130

[quote]MEYMZ wrote:

Is there any particular exercise selection for abs that can contribute to give someone a more etched (like you said)/popped look? like the pic in your “Thib’s prep” thread.[/quote]

The only way to do this is first to be devoid of fat. Then to do heavy abdominal work. What makes the abs ‘‘deeply etched’’ is the difference in thickness between the muscle itself (the six bulges called the ‘‘6 pack’’) and the ligaments (the ‘‘lines’’ between the 6 bulges).

The muscle can get thicker and the ligaments can’t. So to get more separation you need to make the abs thicker and this requires relatively heavy weights.

4131

Hey Coach,

I’m sorry to keep bugging you about this, I know you’re busy. But we are both having email problems. Do you know yet if it’s possible for me to be booked sometime between March 17th to March 21st at your gym in Levis?

Hope you’re doing well,
Anthony

4132

Thib,

When making dietary adjustments with those who you train, do you base these changes on markers like hunger levels, quality/intensity of training sessions, rate of fat gain or muscle loss, etc.?

Do you have a set interval for which you take bod composition measurements with clients, or does that vary from person to person?

4133

Christian,

Palumbo claims high doses of fish oil can inhibit muscle gains due to the COX-1 inhibition; Poliquin claims nothing makes his clients more anabolic than 30-45g/day of fish oil… which side of the fence do you tend to fall on?

Having seen some of your previous diets and recommendations, I take it you see no reason (anecdotal or research-based) to not take a high dose of fish oil? Do you think the insulin-sensitizing benefits far outweigh the possible detrimental anti-inflammatory effects that may slow muscle growth?

Thanks very much for your insight.

Tim

4134

Coach,

For gaining muscle, is there a certain cap that you use for bodyfat levels? Would it be okay to continue a mass-gain for as long as possible provided that bodyfat levels were at or below 15 percent, or do you feel that 15 percent is a bit to high to use as the cap?

4135

Hey Coach,

I’m a Canadian Olympic Weightlifter stuck in a commercial gym in Japan.

What movements would you recommend for me to do in a gym that does not allow the dropping of weights from over head (Gold’s) to help keep maintain/perhaps progress my snatch and clean and jerk

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in Advance.

4136

CT,

How long does it take to recover from adrenal fatigue? Is there a protocol you would suggest to help the process along?

Thank you for your contribution to this forum. It’s incredibly helpful.

4137

Hi there coach,

when working the neck with a head harness, is it better to do the exercises like a regular move (controlled excentrics and fast concentrics), or to focus more on TUT and to do the entire exercise slowly?

Thank you so much!

4138

Coach

What is the total amount of simple sugars profitable for PWO before spread them in several servings? I suppose if I intake 100 grams, all of them come from 4 scoops of Surge recovery or 100 grams of maltodextrine at one time and is suitable spread them.

Thanks

4139

[quote]JPuxHenri wrote:
Hi there coach,

when working the neck with a head harness, is it better to do the exercises like a regular move (controlled excentrics and fast concentrics), or to focus more on TUT and to do the entire exercise slowly?

Thank you so much![/quote]

I prefer slow movements (both concentric and eccentric done in around 3 seconds). The neck responds better to longer TUT sets (50-70 seconds)

4140

[quote]Invictica wrote:
Hey Coach,

I’m a Canadian Olympic Weightlifter stuck in a commercial gym in Japan.

What movements would you recommend for me to do in a gym that does not allow the dropping of weights from over head (Gold’s) to help keep maintain/perhaps progress my snatch and clean and jerk

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in Advance.[/quote]

  1. Still perform the power variations of the lifts but with lighter weights (75-85%) focusing on technique and speed.

  2. Go heavy on snatch and clean-grip deadlifts

  3. Perform high clean and snatch pulls with 105-110% (clean) and 90-95% (snatch) of the lifts.

  4. Do a lot of jump squats with 20-30% of your max squat