First I want to say thanks for all the insightful information you have made readily available to anyone willing to make an improvement in their training and/or physique. I also have a quick question if you find the time:
I was in a cutting phase not to long ago and I have just recently started a mass gaining phase. During the cutting phase and up in till my current �??phase�?? I incorporated a lot of BCAA’s to minimize muscle loss. Now my question is while I have increased my carb intake(mostly during and post workout) should I keep the BCAA’s throughout the day and during/post workout or are they not needed?
i dont have a squat rack (or power rack for that matter). are zercher squats, hack squats and split squats (and all their variations) good substitutes for the back squat?they are the only ones that i can do safely.
Hey coach,
I remember reading that you said one could naturally gain 2-2.5 lbs. of muscle a month. I believe you also said that along with that would be 2-4 lbs. of glycogen and water retention.
So if one gained 4-6 lbs. a month with increasing caloric intake by 20% and their nutrition and workouts were spot on, would that imply that there was little to no fat gain? Or am I completely wrong…
Obviously it’s a specific program, but knowing what you know now, would you make any changes to improve this program? I am wondering what you might add/remove since you have learned so much.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
romanemperor wrote:
Hey CT,
I took a look at your beast building program sometime ago. I am wondering if said program would be a good fit for me at this time. I just got back into training. I realized that i did not take care of myself while partying and staying up to 3 in the morning doing papers while in college. Currently, I weigh 250 pounds at a 5’8 frame. I played football most of my life and a knee injury put an end to my football career. Would the beast building program be the best fit, at the moment?
I’m curious now, being that OVT requires the heaviest weight possible for all first super set exercises, doesnt it have a VARY big impact on the CNS?
Is this one of the reasons you said its different then what you would make today?
Along with that, is there anything you can do to help with CNS recovery or does it just take time?
BTW: Great article, brownie points for you, like you said, a good coach need to take complex info and spit it back in a simpler form and you did it. Vary easy read, nice job!!!
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
kg wrote:
Coach,
I’m currently doing hss-100 specialization 3times/wk for quads and looking at your response to a previous post was wondering if in the 3rd week it would be a good idea to increase the volume by 50% and then in the 4th week cut it back or should I just leave it as it is.
Thanks
Are you stuck in a rut? Have you plateaued? If not, don’t do it. It is not necessary (or wise) to do so while doing a spec program, which is already a ‘‘shock’’ in itself.[/quote]
Coach:
When you hit a plateau, doesn’t mean that you are so fatigued that that fatigue “mask” your performance?. Wouldn’t it be better, to overcome that plateau, to do active rest (recovery week) instead of increase even more fatigue?.
P.D.: I like the most your “teaching articles” and information, instead of the classic “do this and that” without explanation that other people do.
I recently bought Flameout, and compared it to many local fish oils where I live in France. I found that all of the local fish oils have Vitamin E in them, as per the recommandation of many websites explaining that Omega3 intakes must be completed with Vitamin E to avoid lipid peroxidation. However Flameout doesn’t have any.
Also, when do you advise to take the capsules ? If I take a total of 3 capsules a day, is it better to take them evenly throught the day, or to take them all at once ?
i notice that your a big advocate of splits and training a muscle on 1, maybe 2, times per week. However i’ve also seen a lot of convincing arguments by Waterbury and cosgrove saying that for most people full body routines ARE the way to go (basically putting it down as fact) i remember one study shown by cosgrove that working a muscle with 1 set 3x a week resulted in 62% more hypertrophy than 3 sets 1x a week.
why is there such a big difference of opinions? i’m sure both can work but why is there such a huge discrepancy? you all have clients so i would think that by now it would be easy to reach through real world evidence at least a general consensus on what works best for hypertrophy.
Thanks
edit: Just so you know i am not looking for any bashing of coaches or saying who’s better as i know all of you are good trainers. I am just wondering where the controversy comes from since i’m sure both methods have been tried many times
Got a question regarding staggering ab training . In your article,you provide the example of staggering abdominal work in between pairings of upper body movements. Would you do this on a lower body day? If so, would you do it in between sets of a front/back squat, deadlift variation, or olympic lift? Thanks.
I think I read where you said you have started golfing again. Was just wondering if training to good naked has inhibated your swing to any large extent ?
“And I wont even be there in August since I’m getting married on the 9th and will be on my honeymoon up to September 4th.” WOW will need to be doing a lot of work capacity training, thats one long honeymoon!! Best Wishes
I think I read where you said you have started golfing again. Was just wondering if training to good naked has inhibited your swing to any large extent ?
“And I wont even be there in August since I’m getting married on the 9th and will be on my honeymoon up to September 4th.” WOW will need to be doing a lot of work capacity training, thats one long honeymoon!! Best Wishes
I just finished the V-Diet and would like to use the same program you gave to Gus for his NLT. I started to do HIIT during the two week transition period (running sprints twice a week and 1 day on an Eliptical for a total of 20 min, 15 min HIIT and 5 min warmup) and was wondering if I can continue doing them on one of my off days or perhaps later in the day on my training days? I’m unable to do add 30 minutes of cardio after weight training because I lift on my lunch break and have limited time.
Also, does it matter that I won’t be using the same supplements Gus was using such as Surge Workout Fuel and the other supplements Biotest provided while doing the same program?
I read your ‘First Person’ article and liked your training philosophy. Could you do a phase where you include a deadlift, squat and press variation as opposed to a deadlift/press variation only. I luke the hard/moderate/easy idea especially? What supplementary work would you recommend for this phase? Thanks for the help.
[quote]steelerfan wrote:
I think I read where you said you have started golfing again. Was just wondering if training to good naked has inhibited your swing to any large extent ?
[/quote]
I always had a short swing, even when I was playing competitive golf and was around 165lbs I had something of a 3/4 swing. So honestly my technique has not been hurt too much.
And just because someone has muscles, doesn’t mean that they lack flexibility!
[quote]steelerfan wrote:
“And I wont even be there in August since I’m getting married on the 9th and will be on my honeymoon up to September 4th.” WOW will need to be doing a lot of work capacity training, thats one long honeymoon!! Best Wishes
[/quote]
Actually I’m leaving on the 21st, so that’s 2 weeks.
I’m curious now, being that OVT requires the heaviest weight possible for all first super set exercises, doesnt it have a VARY big impact on the CNS?
Is this one of the reasons you said its different then what you would make today?
Along with that, is there anything you can do to help with CNS recovery or does it just take time?
BTW: Great article, brownie points for you, like you said, a good coach need to take complex info and spit it back in a simpler form and you did it. Vary easy read, nice job!!![/quote]
I wrote OVT 6 years ago. It is not in line with my current level of knowledge which is why I have stopped recommending it for at least 3 years now.
I’m curious now, being that OVT requires the heaviest weight possible for all first super set exercises, doesnt it have a VARY big impact on the CNS?
Is this one of the reasons you said its different then what you would make today?
Along with that, is there anything you can do to help with CNS recovery or does it just take time?
BTW: Great article, brownie points for you, like you said, a good coach need to take complex info and spit it back in a simpler form and you did it. Vary easy read, nice job!!!
I wrote OVT 6 years ago. It is not in line with my current level of knowledge which is why I have stopped recommending it for at least 3 years now.[/quote]
this isnt a jab towards you or anything, but it’s interesting to see how much a trainers methodology towards something can change in a few years. i remember reading something like “OVT is the best routine for muscle growth that i have encountered” or something like that from an old article and now you wouldn’t even recommend it. i’ve seen the same with others too. just something i noticed.