[quote]cpcloud wrote:
Coach,
Are there any trainers in New York City that you would recommend to teach the Olympic lifts? I am really interested in learning them, but I don’t want to teach myself because I think I’ll end up doing it wrong. Thanks.[/quote]
Mike Hanley, but I think that he is in Jersey.
Coach Thibs,
Is low dose glycine with meals effective for all cortisol modulation, or only at times when it needs to be lowered?
Thanks
Any chance you’ll be at BioSig in Tampa this September?
[quote]ThorsHammer wrote:
Thib,
I already have the bar pictured above in my home gym, but would it be a good idea to invest in a “football bar”, as well, since the angled handles would offer even more variety? It seems like such a bar would be especially good for reverse grip bench presses since it would not be as extreme on the wrists as a straight bar.
I was also wondering what you thought of asymmetric lifting with such bars? Do you have any guidelines for when, how(in terms of fitting them into a program), and with whom(competitive athletes mostly or exclusively?) to use these implements in this uneven/offset fashion?
Thanks for your time and help, coach.[/quote]
Actually, I was curious which bar you feel is better as well.
Thib, found your chart and article, no need for a responce to prior post.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
HawkeyePierce wrote:
Thib,
I believe in the past you’ve said that 10-20 pounds of muscle/year is a reasonable expected rate of muscle growth once a person reaches the intermediate to advanced stages,
No I didn’t. I said that 10-20lbs of pure muscle tissue is the most that a non-beginner, natural trainee is likely to achieve in one year if everything is done right.
[/quote]
My apologies coach. I did not mean to misinterpret you or to attribute words to you that were not exactly in line with something you may have said in the past.
Coach,
is there anything you recommend for better sleep?
I almost never get 8 straight hours of sleep. generally its about 7.5 hours which i wouldn’t worry about but i always wake up at least once about 5 hours in or earlier to go to the bathroom. I limit water in my last meal to small sips or none at all but i still end up going to the bathroom in the middle of the night which gets very annoying. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot
Coach, I also meant to ask this about your current training program…is the 1/2 close grip bench press in power rack used instead of board presses because it requires even more starting strength per rep and activates even more HTMUs?
Also, on a completely different note. What should your chin up to pull up ratio be? Even? Slighting more chins? Slightly more pull ups? Should I not worry about it?
I ask because I’ve been focusing on my lats and upper back (first couple years of training I did literally nothing but benching, curls, and overhead pressing) and I can do 6 chin ups but I can only force out 3 good pull ups.
[quote]ksommer wrote:
Coach Thibs,
Is low dose glycine with meals effective for all cortisol modulation, or only at times when it needs to be lowered?[/quote]
I prefer to take it only with the evening meals and post-workout in most cases. You actually want some cortisol early in the day as it is necessary for energy mobilization.
[quote]ksommer wrote:
Any chance you’ll be at BioSig in Tampa this September? [/quote]
Not likely.
[quote]David1991 wrote:
Coach,
is there anything you recommend for better sleep?
I almost never get 8 straight hours of sleep. generally its about 7.5 hours which i wouldn’t worry about but i always wake up at least once about 5 hours in or earlier to go to the bathroom. I limit water in my last meal to small sips or none at all but i still end up going to the bathroom in the middle of the night which gets very annoying. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot[/quote]
If you do not have any trouble getting to sleep, the source of the problem is either:
Liver toxicity (I would suggest a liver clansing protocol)
Reactive hypoglycemia (when is your last meal before going to bed and what are you eating? Are you hungry when you wake up?)
[quote]HawkeyePierce wrote:
Coach, I also meant to ask this about your current training program…is the 1/2 close grip bench press in power rack used instead of board presses because it requires even more starting strength per rep and activates even more HTMUs?[/quote]
It is different than a board press. The board press has more transfer to the bench press because it doesn’t involve as much starting strength. Why? Because there is actually a force transfer to the chest when the bar hits the board. So in that sense the force production pattern better mimics the one of an actual bench press, but with a shortened range of motion.
The pin press (1/2 bench in the power rack) has less transfer to the bench press BUT it is a better triceps builder because there is less force transfer at the beginning (as you pointed out it requires more starting strength).
[quote]Sliver wrote:
Also, on a completely different note. What should your chin up to pull up ratio be? Even? Slighting more chins? Slightly more pull ups? Should I not worry about it?
I ask because I’ve been focusing on my lats and upper back (first couple years of training I did literally nothing but benching, curls, and overhead pressing) and I can do 6 chin ups but I can only force out 3 good pull ups.
[/quote]
It is highly individual. The chin-up involves the biceps a little more, the pull-up uses less of the biceps but more of the brachioradialis and brachialis and the neutral (hammer) grip pull-up involves the brachialis the most.
So depending on the strength ratio of your main arm flexors your chin-up/pull-up/neutral pull-up ratios will vary.
Most people will be at their strongest in the neutral-grip pull up, then the chin-up and finally the pull-up.
The strength ratio of those lifts should closely mimic the ratio between your DB curl with a supinated (palm-up) grip/DB curl with a pronated (reverse) grip/DN hammer curl.
Coach Thibaudeau,
Are you still accepting applicants for the Physique Clinic? I submitted my story and profile back in November and never heard anything back.
Thank You.
Coach,
Regarding pull-ups and chin-ups, while no one version should ever be used exclusively, would chin-ups be superior for lat growth due to the biceps and forearms taking longer to fatigue in this version, as well as the emphasis on humeral extension, or would pull-ups be superior since the biceps would be much less involved(even though the brachioradialis and brachialis are quite involved in this version?
And do you feel that besides stressing different portions of the arm flexors more or less that using various grip types and grip widths can shift the stress to different portions of the lats as well as the other musculature involved?
Coach Thibaudeau,
I see a lot of articles on T-Nation re:light workouts and light weeks but I can’t recall seeing an actual design for a light week…I typically go by the 60/60 rule during unloading phases - 60% volume and 60% load/intensity. Do you recommend any other type of light weeks?
Thanks.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
David1991 wrote:
Coach,
is there anything you recommend for better sleep?
I almost never get 8 straight hours of sleep. generally its about 7.5 hours which i wouldn’t worry about but i always wake up at least once about 5 hours in or earlier to go to the bathroom. I limit water in my last meal to small sips or none at all but i still end up going to the bathroom in the middle of the night which gets very annoying. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot
If you do not have any trouble getting to sleep, the source of the problem is either:
Liver toxicity (I would suggest a liver clansing protocol)
Reactive hypoglycemia (when is your last meal before going to bed and what are you eating? Are you hungry when you wake up?)[/quote]
what would cause liver toxicity?
my last meal is about 1 hour before bed and lately has been cottage cheese and nuts. before 2 weeks ago it was cottage cheese, 2 eggs, and some vegetables. and when i would wake up then i would get hungry within about 20 min. in the last 2 weeks when i get up (even in the middle of the night recently) im starving.
Hi Christian,
I have been looking about for an answer to shift work training. I live in a small mining town the majority of work is shift work.
5 day on 5 days off.
It easy for me to get my training in as i have access to a fully decked out facility 24/7 but for the majority of my mates they can only train on there 5 days off.
My training partners always seem to end up falling into this category.
I we are currently working on the following:
Day 1
A1 Flat Bench Press 10s x 3r
A2 Weighted Chins 10s x 3r
B1 Incline Bench 6s x 6r
B2 Pull Ups 6s x 6r
C1 Push Press 6s x 6r
D1 Hanging Pikes 3 x max
D2 Extension Pulls 3 x max
Day 2
A1 Squat 6s x 6r
A2 Dead Lift 6s x 6r
B1 Split Squat 4 x 12
B2 King Dead Lift 4 x 12
C1 Box Jumps 6s x 6r
C2 Calf Raise 4 x 8r
D1 Windmill Side Bend 4s x 8r
Day 3 Off or MMA related Training
Days 4 & 5 Repeat 1 & 2
Day 6 - 10 Off.
D2 Renegade Row 4s x 8r
Any ideas changes would be most appreciated
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Sliver wrote:
Also, on a completely different note. What should your chin up to pull up ratio be? Even? Slighting more chins? Slightly more pull ups? Should I not worry about it?
I ask because I’ve been focusing on my lats and upper back (first couple years of training I did literally nothing but benching, curls, and overhead pressing) and I can do 6 chin ups but I can only force out 3 good pull ups.
It is highly individual. The chin-up involves the biceps a little more, the pull-up uses less of the biceps but more of the brachioradialis and brachialis and the neutral (hammer) grip pull-up involves the brachialis the most.
So depending on the strength ratio of your main arm flexors your chin-up/pull-up/neutral pull-up ratios will vary.
Most people will be at their strongest in the neutral-grip pull up, then the chin-up and finally the pull-up.
The strength ratio of those lifts should closely mimic the ratio between your DB curl with a supinated (palm-up) grip/DB curl with a pronated (reverse) grip/DN hammer curl.[/quote]
How does your grip width (wide vs narrow) affect muscle recruitment?
[quote]FISTFULL_O_STEEL wrote:
Hi Christian,
I have been looking about for an answer to shift work training. I live in a small mining town the majority of work is shift work.
5 day on 5 days off.
It easy for me to get my training in as i have access to a fully decked out facility 24/7 but for the majority of my mates they can only train on there 5 days off.
My training partners always seem to end up falling into this category.
I we are currently working on the following:
Day 1
A1 Flat Bench Press 10s x 3r
A2 Weighted Chins 10s x 3r
B1 Incline Bench 6s x 6r
B2 Pull Ups 6s x 6r
C1 Push Press 6s x 6r
D1 Hanging Pikes 3 x max
D2 Extension Pulls 3 x max
Day 2
A1 Squat 6s x 6r
A2 Dead Lift 6s x 6r
B1 Split Squat 4 x 12
B2 King Dead Lift 4 x 12
C1 Box Jumps 6s x 6r
C2 Calf Raise 4 x 8r
D1 Windmill Side Bend 4s x 8r
Day 3 Off or MMA related Training
Days 4 & 5 Repeat 1 & 2
Day 6 - 10 Off.
D2 Renegade Row 4s x 8r
Any ideas changes would be most appreciated
[/quote]
i wouldnt do that
"VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE
For professional reasons I will not answer questions regarding:
a) often people ask those questions to gain ammunitions for online debates on other sites or forums. They end up misquoting me and this puts me in a bad situation.
b) you can’t argue with results. If a system has produced results it means that it works. Now, nothing works forever, so I am not ‘‘pro-systems’’ in that I think that sticking to one precise methodology blindly is a mistake over the long run. I feel that it is much more important to understand the underlying principles that make training effective.
This is my answer to ‘‘is the XWZ system effective?’’: if it’s based on systemic progression, yes it will be effective. But every effective program needs to be changed or cycled to progress over the long run.
c) I think that every successful authority, writer or coach in this field has something to contribute and we can learn from all of them. Some have more to contribute than others and with some you have to weed through more BS to get to the good part. BUT I feel that it is a big mistake on my part to burn any bridges by critiquing a colleague.
Anabolic steroids and other drugs: they are illegal and I do not want to be associated with them. I’m a trainer and a coach, not a pharmacist.
Complete program critics: understand that a thorough program analysis actually takes me more time than writing a new program! My schedule is way too busy to critique every program sent my way, and answering only to a few would be unfair to others.
Furthermore, it is a paying service that I offer so it wouldn’t be fair to my paying clients.
Question reposts: I mentionned this a million times already… I DO NOT respond to people who repost their questions. I feel that this is rude… kinda like saying in a somewhat aggressive voice ‘‘dude, answer me now’’. As I mention I have a limited schedule. I do try to answer as many questions as I can but I sometimes have to make choices. So if I don’t answer you it doesn’t (always) mean that I don’t like you or that you can’t ask other questions. BUT if you repost a question you can be sure that I will be much less tempted to answer you in the future.
Injury questions: I feel that it is irresponsable to answer specific injury questions without being able to assess the individual myself.
I WILL PERIODICALLY REPOST THIS MESSAGE TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS FORUM RUNS SMOOTHLY AND THAT EVERYBODY ENDS UP SATISFIED."
Coach Thib,
Wanted to boost my energy expenditure before lowering calories as i’m currently on a fat loss diet and its starting to slow down a little. Decided i would cycle to work 3x week and per day this works out to 40 mins, split in to 10 minutes 4 times (i go back home for lunch on the bike).
My question is, is this inferior to doing 40 minutes straight and if so, am i better off just considering this as a non-exercise activity?
Thanks