Thib's Q&A

Training
4141

[quote]DeadlySting81 wrote:
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? [/quote]

It depends on the individual. Some peoples really don’t care about their BF as long as they get bigger.

Others are above 15% when they start and do not have the luxury of enough time to lose a ton of fat THEN build muscle (e.g. athletes with a short off-season).

Some can’t psychologically stand being above 10% (this is my case).

So my answer would vary depending on how the individual accepts at gain himself.

4142

[quote]Affliction wrote:
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[/quote]

I’m with Charles on this one. Nothing about Dave, he has a lot of bodybuilding knowledge, but I do not agree with him on this issue. I’ve used as much as 60g of fish oil/day with some clients. But very high doses are only done for a short period of time. Normally I recommend 1g per percent of body fat (eg. 15g if someone is at 15%).

4143

Hi Coach,

I’m currently on the last week of the 1st phase of your Beast Building program, with awesome results, I’m deadlifting and benching up to 20% more than I ever thought I could do.

I will be going on a 2 week holiday by the time I finish the 3rd phase and I’m not quite sure what the facilities will be like, most probably a couple of dumbbells and an ab roller.

Should I treat the final 2 weeks of the 3rd phase as the Poliquin super accumulation, so I recover for the first week of the holiday or would doing the program as is and then reducing nutrient intake according to activity be the best option?

Thanks

4144

Thib,

Is there any way the medial delts can be worked in the “beach window” workouts? I ask because one of the rules is “Work two opposing muscle groups in alternating or even superset fashion”. And i don’t know what the opposing muscle is to the medial deltoid or if there is one.

Thanks

4145

[quote]kaleel86 wrote:
Thib,

Is there any way the medial delts can be worked in the “beach window” workouts? I ask because one of the rules is “Work two opposing muscle groups in alternating or even superset fashion”. And i don’t know what the opposing muscle is to the medial deltoid or if there is one.

Thanks
[/quote]

  1. There is no such thing as a ‘‘medial’’ delt. It’s a misnomer. It is the ‘lateral’ delt. Medial means ''toward the midline of the body. The lateral head of the deltoid is obviously toward the outside of the body.

  2. In the beach window you can train whatever muscle you want, the way you want. The opposing superset is not a rule but a suggestion.

4146

Thibs,

I plan on taking Alpha Male in the next couple of days…I know you suggest taking the full dose at night before bed. Can this be taken with a Metabolic Shake(which I do every night)? Or is it best taken on a ‘as close to empty stomach’ before the shake?

And just out of curiosity…Is it ok to put Power Drive in a post-workout shake that already includes Surge Recovery, Whey Isolate, and Creatine? Or is it best taken at a different time.

Thanks,
Stretch

4147

Hey Coach,

I PM you these questions, but I havent recieved an answer yet so I figured Id try this forum.

I’m putting the training from your destroying fat articles into effect today. I started strictly dieting on the 5th, put the dieting rules from your articles into effect this last Monday and am keeping a log. Im down 15 pounds and have lost 2 inches off my waist so far with ~40 pounds to go to reach my ending goal of 8% body fat.

I do havs some questions raised by the program though. Two on nutrition, three on training.

A) I know you count fiber from fruit, protein shakes, etc etc as carbs. Im guessing the answer is yes, but do you count carbs from flax meal? I put two tbsp into each protein shake I drink.

B) In the discussion for destroying fat, you suggest high carb days for heavy lifting days, but in refining, you give specific grams based on body fat. Which do you find to be more effective. Im just curious bc if I wanted to have say Surge before and during workout, that only gives me room for one protein shake (with flax) or 1/2 cup of blueberries, etc for the rest of the day (Im at a max of 30g a day).

C) In destroying fat, you suggest a sprint workout. In the refining article, you dont put it into the program. Is it just bc you wanted to show an alternate program? Or did you find that it doesnt work? To demanding on the CNS or doesnt work on low-carb, or etc.

D) I know oly lifts are bad for the LIW, but what about on heavy lifting days? I wanted to do power cleans on lower body days. But I was also wondering if maybe it would just be better to just do hang power cleans on upper body days and just use deads and good mornings (or RDL or some other ham/glute assistance exercise) on lower body days.

E) Also, Id like, if you could, to take a look at the schedule I want to do. Basically the schedule from the refining article, with a slight difference. Instead of taking a day off after legs on Tuesday, perform a LIW with a day off after. On Friday, instead of a day for arms and shoulders, do a ‘light’ second upper or lower body day (switch week to week) or a ‘light’ total body strength day. Basically;

M - chest/back
T - legs
W - Lactate-inducing Workout 1
TH - Off
F - Third Strength workout
S - LIW
Sun - Off

First, thank you in advance for your help. I know this is long, but I would really like to get this right.

Again thank you,
Brandon

4148

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
2. In the beach window you can train whatever muscle you want, the way you want. The opposing superset is not a rule but a suggestion.[/quote]

What beach window exercises would you recommend for an Olympic weightlifter whose workout is basically the lifts, pulls, and squats? I’m looking for overall muscle growth.

4149

Coach,

Should I see a rise in my blood sugars on a glucometer after ingesting glutamine only PWO - compared to no PWO nutrition?

Thanks!
David

4150

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
kaleel86 wrote:
Thib,

Is there any way the medial delts can be worked in the “beach window” workouts? I ask because one of the rules is “Work two opposing muscle groups in alternating or even superset fashion”. And i don’t know what the opposing muscle is to the medial deltoid or if there is one.

Thanks

  1. There is no such thing as a ‘‘medial’’ delt. It’s a misnomer. It is the ‘lateral’ delt. Medial means ''toward the midline of the body. The lateral head of the deltoid is obviously toward the outside of the body.

  2. In the beach window you can train whatever muscle you want, the way you want. The opposing superset is not a rule but a suggestion.[/quote]

There’s me thinking i finally got the right name… my fault for trying to sound smarter than i am :).

Thanks for you’re response.

4151

Erm i dunno if this is good or bad but i am down 16 lbs since i started … i think i can safely say its working !

Whoever has not bought it, buy it it works better than most of the tripe out there anyways.

4152

hey Coach when will you be writing on Monday’s again.

Rich

4153

Hey Thib,
When you were an O-lifter did you do any additional ab work? If yes, what exercises were preferred, and also which ones do you prefer nowadays in your training?

4154

[quote]Thy. wrote:
Hey Thib,
When you were an O-lifter did you do any additional ab work? If yes, what exercises were preferred, and also which ones do you prefer nowadays in your training?[/quote]

No, I didn’t do any real abdominal work back then.

Now I always train abs with supersets… 1 weighted exercise for 8-10 reps supersetted with 1 unweighted exercise for as many reps as possible.

4155

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Thy. wrote:
Hey Thib,
When you were an O-lifter did you do any additional ab work? If yes, what exercises were preferred, and also which ones do you prefer nowadays in your training?

No, I didn’t do any real abdominal work back then.

Now I always train abs with supersets… 1 weighted exercise for 8-10 reps supersetted with 1 unweighted exercise for as many reps as possible.[/quote]

For weighted ab work, are decline sit-ups and flat roman chair sit-ups a good choice as far as spine health is concerned?

Also, what’s your opinion on hanging straight leg raises up to the bar done with minimum momentum ? (Soviet weightlifters’ favorite)

4156

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
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.

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.[/quote]

Thank you very much.

4157

Hi Coach,

I had a question about training volume and work capacity. Some say training with too high a volume without building up to it can actually decrease strength and/or size. Would going straight to doing 10 sets of 1-3 or 4-7 be too much too soon? I have trained in these rep ranges in the past, but have never done any more than 5-6 sets per muscle group.

Also, I usually train on a 5 day cycle with day 1 being chest & back, day 2 being legs, day 3 being off, day 4 being shoulders & arms, and day 5 being off, then repeating the cycle.

4158

Hey Coach…

I’ve just started your carb cycling to gain mass… My current stats are:

Height: 5’11
Weight: 183lbs
BF% - 10% - 12%

I recently purchased:

Protein
Surge Recovery
BCAAs
Glutamine
R-ALA

I have everything figured out numbers wise, but had a few questions if I may?

  1. After 4 scoops of Surge Recovery… may I use Fruit rather then rice to make up the rest?

  2. Should I take the Glutamine Post workout only? at 20g?

  3. Same with the R-ALA (200mg post workout) for anti-oxidant reasons

  4. The BCAAs before and Peri workout?

Thanks for your time…

VibeAlive

4159

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
DeadlySting81 wrote:
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?

It depends on the individual. Some peoples really don’t care about their BF as long as they get bigger.

Others are above 15% when they start and do not have the luxury of enough time to lose a ton of fat THEN build muscle (e.g. athletes with a short off-season).

Some can’t psychologically stand being above 10% (this is my case).

So my answer would vary depending on how the individual accepts at gain himself.[/quote]

Thib,

If time is not a limiting factor and aesthetics are the primary goal, do you feel that gains are optimized by staying below a certain upper limit? i.e. you could still add mass above that point, but it might begin to favor fat gain more so than muscle gain

And for a natural trainee, what would you consider to be the absolute minimum acceptable ratio of muscle gain to fat gain as well as the ratio in the absolute best case ratio (provided that nutrition, training, recovery, and all other factors are optimized as much as possible)?

I’m also curious how often you feel someone should have their body composition assessed by a skilled practitioner if they are 100-percent focused on maxing out their gains.

Thanks again for your help, coach!

4160

Hi Christian, i was looking over your Design a damn good program and i was wondering if you considered a hang muscle clean without a press more of shoulder exercise then an upper back one?

I’m asking because i’m trying to follow your 9-12sets per muscle group guidelines.

Thanks