Thib's Q&A

Training
1301

Coach

Searched the Physique Clinic for your favourite CARB choices, but only found body comp ones

So what are your favourite carbs of choice for meals which aren’t breakfast or post workout?

I ask as I’m trying to organise a carb dominant diet but the vegetables and fruits do not pack alot of carbs!

Thanks

  • Phoenix Theory
1302

Coach, what is your opinion on ice massages? I’ve seen them reccomended in past T-Nation articles but not anymore.

1303

[quote]Phoenix Theory wrote:
Coach

Searched the Physique Clinic for your favourite CARB choices, but only found body comp ones

So what are your favourite carbs of choice for meals which aren’t breakfast or post workout?

I ask as I’m trying to organise a carb dominant diet but the vegetables and fruits do not pack alot of carbs!

Thanks

  • Phoenix Theory[/quote]

go back and read the last 5 pages or so, should find exactly what you need.

1304

Coach

I am thinking of replacing the flat bench press with a decline press as a test of upper body strength (Horizontal Push). The reason for this is that a number of players when they attempt a maximum effort allow their backside to come off the bench. These players have a large training age and realistically are not going to change their habits due to egos and to be honest I dont have the time to attempt to get them to change their habits.

However i beleive that the decline press will minimise their ability to raise their backside and put the rest of the squad on a level playing field. Providing I standardise the decline angle can you see any reasons against using it as a test.

Regards

1305

what contest is Amit entering?

1306

[quote]Mac2 wrote:
Coach

I am thinking of replacing the flat bench press with a decline press as a test of upper body strength (Horizontal Push). The reason for this is that a number of players when they attempt a maximum effort allow their backside to come off the bench. These players have a large training age and realistically are not going to change their habits due to egos and to be honest I dont have the time to attempt to get them to change their habits.

However i beleive that the decline press will minimise their ability to raise their backside and put the rest of the squad on a level playing field. Providing I standardise the decline angle can you see any reasons against using it as a test.

Regards[/quote]

That’s true, it will force them not to cheat. BUT the job of a GOOD coach is to teach players how to train efficiently, not to use band-aid solutions.

Many coaches are really short sighted… they only focus on the athletes they have and what they are doing right now. This is a very bad way to train someone. Eventually they will move away to some place else and if they were not properly taught how to lift, then they might injure themselves.

F**K their egos, and I don’t care if you feel like it’s a waste of your time to teach them proper technique… it’s the JOB of a coach to do so; make the time.

1307

[quote]teebone2223 wrote:
Hey CT,
I am about to start your beast building phase 2 and had a couple of questions:

  1. my gym doesn’t have a power rack, they have a squat rack, so I can’t do functional isometrics, is there anything else that I can do that would be comparable to it without a power rack?[/quote]

Nothing. Sadly, if you don’t have the required equipment (which is very basic) do not attempt the program and try to modify it, it wont work.

[quote]teebone2223 wrote:
2) For the upper body neuromuscular emphasis workout would it be ok, to have week one be horizontal dominant and week 2 be vertical dominant or would I benefit from just choosing one or the other?

[/quote]

I don’t like switching every week… the goal is to reach maximal efficiency, you cannot achieve maximal efficiency in a movement pattern if you only perform it one week out of 2.

1308

Hey Coach CT,

  1. Under Poliquin’s tips, theres the carb tolerance test in the morning. So my question is, do I keep splitting 50% of my carbs between breakfast + PWO even though it makes me tired (in the morning)? I’m currently “clean bulking” with 1.5-2x my body weight in carbs (220-320gish)

  2. best PWO carbohydrate besides Surge(canadian shipping rates suck! =/) for a meso-endo while clean bulking?

  3. If I feel run down and kinda drowsy throughout the day in a calorie surplus is there something I can do differently? I thought about raising carbohydrate intake to 50g per meal but I doubt that would be advantageous?

Thanks for your time.

1309

hey Thib, I had a question about curls and your new article, you say in one of your recent articles that you should always preform an isolation movement with constant tension on the muscle but if your using dumbells and your doing seated alternating db curls how can you possible keep constant tension on the muslce or is that a variation of the movement? Also starting with your hand neutral and supinating it during the curling motion help the bicep at all?

1310

Hey Coach. Long time reader first time poster. I’ve been soaking up all the info that I can, but I’m still confused about the best way to incorporate HIIT into my routine.

I’ve read your design a damn good program. My one goal is to get stronger. I want to add HIIT because I enjoy running for stress-relief reasons but don’t want to sacrifice leg strength.

My current split is Monday and Thursday BP; Wed SQ and Sat DL. Is adding HIIT (sprinting or your running man program) on the days following squats/DL too much? (If I recall correctly, in your running man article you recommend two sessions per week.) I also understand the concept of active rest and am sensitive to being able to recover properly.

I wouldn’t be opposed to a lower/upper/whole split if you think that would work better with HIIT.

FInally, if you think HIIT can fit into either split, I presume you’d recommend Spike/Power Drive before/after, BCAAs during, and Surge afterward. is that right?

Thanks for your time.

1311

Thib,

Is one of the following methods superior when it comes to bringing up a body part that is lagging due to a stronger synergist tending to bear the brunt of the load or are the results from each on par with one another:

a) post-fatigue

b) double contraction

c) placing the dominant muscle in a mechanically disadvantageous position

Also, if using the elbows-tucked benching style to help spare the shoulders, would pushing the hands toward each other on the bar and/or using the double contraction method with the extra 1/2 rep coming in the bottom position help place additional stress back on the pecs at the expense of the triceps, despite the elbows-tucked position usually tending to stress the triceps more?

1312

Hey Coach,

Just wondering what you would recommend as a morning/pre-workout booster. I’ve been using Spike, but I’m sure I over-did it as I was taking it almost every day straight for 6 weeks and I think it just all built up and I was ‘ass to the grass’ in the sense that i was shattered all the time.

Do you have any kind of everyday protocols and pre workout one with stimulants and when to cycle on/off.

Your help is always appreciated.

1313

[quote]crod266 wrote:
hey Thib, I had a question about curls and your new article, you say in one of your recent articles that you should always preform an isolation movement with constant tension on the muscle but if your using dumbells and your doing seated alternating db curls how can you possible keep constant tension on the muslce or is that a variation of the movement? Also starting with your hand neutral and supinating it during the curling motion help the bicep at all?[/quote]

  1. I don’t like alternating biceps curl, for the reason you mention. Currently, when I use it with clients (which is not often) I take the pause in the peak contraction position, not in the stretched position.

So it kinda looks like this:

  • In the starting position both arms are fully flexed.
  • Lower the ‘‘working arm’’ than curl it up.
  • Then you switch (alternate) arms, but as you lower the working arm, the ‘‘non-working arm’’ stays in the contracted position (not in the stretched position).

The only time that I will use regular alternating curls is as a way to prolong the set past failure:

  • Start the set by curling both arms at the same time. When you reach failure, or a point close to it, switch to a regular alternating pattern. The short rest and unilateral activation will allow you to pump out 2-3 more reps.
  1. Suppinating only helps if you are using an offset grip (do a search for offset dumbbell curls).
1314

[quote]joseway1979 wrote:
Hey Coach,

Just wondering what you would recommend as a morning/pre-workout booster. I’ve been using Spike, but I’m sure I over-did it as I was taking it almost every day straight for 6 weeks and I think it just all built up and I was ‘ass to the grass’ in the sense that i was shattered all the time.
Do you have any kind of everyday protocols and pre workout one with stimulants and when to cycle on/off.

Your help is always appreciated.

[/quote]

No stimulant or ‘‘pick-up’’ protocol should be used everyday. In fact I never recommend using these methods more than twice or three times a week. It can easily lead to adrenal fatigue or even burnout and this takes A LOT of recovery time to come back from.

1315

Coach,

How long should a newbie wait before lifting in the absolute strength zone (3-5 reps) and functional hypertrophy zone (6-8 reps)?

1316

If someone is following a TCD and eating 3500+ calories a day how much do you think one should be getting from fat? Are we talking around 100g or as high as 200g+ ?

1317

Thib… i always have trouble with pull ups.
at the moment i m using semi supinated chins my aim is for 8… say in the 3rd set i fail at two, i finish the set with eccentric reps lowering for 6-10 seconds.
is this ok to use and should it help develop my pull up ability?

1318

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
crod266 wrote:
hey Thib, I had a question about curls and your new article, you say in one of your recent articles that you should always preform an isolation movement with constant tension on the muscle but if your using dumbells and your doing seated alternating db curls how can you possible keep constant tension on the muslce or is that a variation of the movement? Also starting with your hand neutral and supinating it during the curling motion help the bicep at all?

  1. I don’t like alternating biceps curl, for the reason you mention. Currently, when I use it with clients (which is not often) I take the pause in the peak contraction position, not in the stretched position.

So it kinda look like this:

  • In the starting position both arms are fully flexed.
  • Lower the ‘‘working arm’’ than curl it up.
  • Then you switch (alternate) arms, but as you lower the working arm, the ‘‘non-working arm’’ stays in the contracted position (not in the stretched position).

The only time that I will use regular alternating curls is as a way to prolong the set past failure:

  • Start the set by curling both arms at the same time. When you reach failure, or a point close to it, switch to a regular alternating pattern. The short rest and unilateral activation will allow you to pump out 2-3 more reps.
  1. Suppinating only helps if you are using an offset grip (do a search for offset dumbbell curls).[/quote]

thanks alot Thib

1319

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
joseway1979 wrote:
Hey Coach,

Just wondering what you would recommend as a morning/pre-workout booster. I’ve been using Spike, but I’m sure I over-did it as I was taking it almost every day straight for 6 weeks and I think it just all built up and I was ‘ass to the grass’ in the sense that i was shattered all the time.
Do you have any kind of everyday protocols and pre workout one with stimulants and when to cycle on/off.

Your help is always appreciated.

No stimulant or ‘‘pick-up’’ protocol should be used everyday. In fact I never recommend using these methods more than twiceo or three times a week. It can easily lead to adrenal fatigue or even burnout and this takes A LOT of recovery time to come back from.[/quote]

Tell me about it. I guess I figured it out the hard way. I think it’s taken me just under 2 months to recover and that was not taking any kind of stimulant + a cycle of Mentzer’s 2 workouts every 7-10 days.
Moral of the story is just use something like Spike before seriously hard sessions if needed.

1320

Hi Coach!

After I conviced the studio staff of letting me perform squats and bench presses with jumpstretch bands and weigth releasers (it was a very hard work) I have another problem:
The time I visit the gym I am normally alone, so I don’t have a spotter or someone who can help me.

So I am asking if there is a alternative for the 2 boards press? An exercise whereby I can achieve the same results?

The first idea that came to my mind was to put a 5kg weight(or something else) on my chest but I think this is way too dangerous.

Thanks a lot!