Thib's Q&A

Training
1621

Hey Coach,
I posted here a while back (it was my first post ever on the forums) and I didn’t know any of the rules (my fault) and I posted the same Q. twice, so I would like to apologize for that again.

Anyways, this girl I really like has asked me to help her cut a bit of bodyfat (she has seen the knowledge I have gained from T-Nation, so thank you for that!) and I put her on 5 meals a day with 2 MD completes between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, making 5 meals a day. I also put her on 2 scoops of MD complete before bed. I told her she could have low fat ice cream (that eddy’s slow churned stuff) with 40 or so grams of whey after she works out for her post workout (since she won’t drink Surge.)

I gave her all the basics, lean meats, fish oil, if she’s gonna have carbs make them complex whole grain etc. and to try to have them early in the day, good monounsaturated fats like nuts and oils. Let me know if you would revise any of that. The problem is she’s a runner, and she refuses to run for less than 30 min. a day. I gave her the calculations of calories for the V-Diiet for women (under 35 pounds of needed weight loss obviously), and I told her that with that amount of caloric intake, running would be detrimental.

I also gave her 2-3 full body wokrouts to do a week. Again though, she wants to do 30 min. of pretty intense cardio 3 times a week at least. Is there a number of calories you could tell me to add to her current diet on cardio days, or something I can put in that calculation to assess what she needs? I would tell you her weight, but she won’t tell me.
Thanks in advance,
Joel

1622

[quote]Joel_Wildberger wrote:
Hey Coach,
I posted here a while back (it was my first post ever on the forums) and I didn’t know any of the rules (my fault) and I posted the same Q. twice, so I would like to apologize for that again.
Anyways, this girl I really like has asked me to help her cut a bit of bodyfat (she has seen the knowledge I have gained from T-Nation, so thank you for that!) and I put her on 5 meals a day with 2 MD completes between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, making 5 meals a day. I also put her on 2 scoops of MD complete before bed. I told her she could have low fat ice cream (that eddy’s slow churned stuff) with 40 or so grams of whey after she works out for her post workout (since she won’t drink Surge.) I gave her all the basics, lean meats, fish oil, if she’s gonna have carbs make them complex whole grain etc. and to try to have them early in the day, good monounsaturated fats like nuts and oils. Let me know if you would revise any of that. The problem is she’s a runner, and she refuses to run for less than 30 min. a day. I gave her the calculations of calories for the V-diet for women (under 35 pounds of needed weight loss obviously), and I told her that with that amount of caloric intake, running would be detrimental. I also gave her 2-3 full body wokrouts to do a week. Again though, she wants to do 30 min. of pretty intense cardio 3 times a week at least. Is there a number of calories you could tell me to add to her current diet on cardio days, or something I can put in that calculation to assess what she needs? I would tell you her weight, but she won’t tell me.
Thanks in advance,
Joel [/quote]

i always find with girls (ina non professional way) that ask me for help, i bring them to the gym and do the weight training session with them and let them feel for themselves.
because she has it in her head that to burn fat she has to do aerobic training.you cant tell her where the light is you have to bring her there

1623

Thib,

What are your thoughts on throwing in periodic “fun” outdoor workouts using things like Prowler pushes, sandbag lifts and sandbag carries, blast strap exercises, sled dragging, rope climbing, etc?

Would they potentially interfere with a current program or would they be acceptable if kept as a very small percentage of overall training volume.

Lastly, would such workouts have application for any group of trainees: bodybuilders, athletes, weekend warriors, etc?

1624

Hi Christian,

I was wondering what ur take is on how mass and strength are related to eachother in terms of repranges?

1625

Hey Christian,

I’m reading through gustavopacho’s physique clinic and you wrote:

“The best time to do strength-based training is around 3 hours after you wake-up as this is when testosterone levels are at their highest point and you’ve been awake long enough for your CNS to be ‘‘awake’’.”

Because of work and family obligations, I have to workout at 6AM before I go to work after waking up at 5:30. Is there anything I can do to awaken my CNS? Any supplements?

For the most part I feel fine - I always drink a scoop of whey in ice-water with 5 grams of creatine on my way there… sometimes I take a vivarin if I went to sleep late.

Please advise,
-I

1626

[quote]IvanTheTerrible wrote:
Hey Christian,

I’m reading through gustavopacho’s physique clinic and you wrote:

“The best time to do strength-based training is around 3 hours after you wake-up as this is when testosterone levels are at their highest point and you’ve been awake long enough for your CNS to be ‘‘awake’’.”

Because of work and family obligations, I have to workout at 6AM before I go to work after waking up at 5:30. Is there anything I can do to awaken my CNS? Any supplements?

For the most part I feel fine - I always drink a scoop of whey in ice-water with 5 grams of creatine on my way there… sometimes I take a vivarin if I went to sleep late.

Please advise,
-I[/quote]

I have the same issue although I’ve noticed after 1-2 weeks you start to feel normal. I do 1 scoop Surge+2 hrx+little bit of black coffee before hitting the weights. This gives me a good boost. Just thought I would throw in my .02 since i’m in the same situation.

After the weights i do 1 scoop of Surge+5-10g creatine. I wanna see what Thib has to say about this. Shugart said once (I think) that your body will adapt over time. I believe it because now I love training early. Try taking a full dose (4 tabs) of TRIBEX the night before. I do this and I wake up ready to do some damage the next morning

1627

CT, I was wondering what your thoughts on powder vs. meat is…does it actually take a significant more amount of energy to digest a solid meat than a shake of casein and whey?

Also, a long time ago you mentioned doing research on whey isolate vs. concentrate. I was wondering if you found the concentrate has added benefits?

1628

[quote]sarah1 wrote:
CT, I was wondering what your thoughts on powder vs. meat is…does it actually take a significant more amount of energy to digest a solid meat than a shake of casein and whey? [/quote]

Yes it does. Plus, real food:

  1. Makes you feel fuller, for a longer period of time
  2. Provides you with several micronutrients not found in powder
  3. Besides the post-workout shake, realy food will always be superior to a powder. The main advantage of a non-post-workout shake is convenience: either because you have a hard time fitting enough meals in your day or because you simply can’t get enough protein from real food (which should never be the case with a 120lbs female).

[quote]sarah1 wrote:
Also, a long time ago you mentioned doing research on whey isolate vs. concentrate. I was wondering if you found the concentrate has added benefits? [/quote]

Yes, it has several microfaction not found in an isolate which confer immune system boosting properties to the concentrate.

1629

Coach,

Do you recommend always dropping the bar between reps of Olympic lifts and their variations to prevent excessive wear and tear on the AC joints, or do you feel the bar should only be dropped in certain instances and/or only if absolutely necessary?

1630

Coach,
I’ve been reading up a lot on diets that follow an intermittent undereating period followed by an overeating (at night) period. I know TC did an article years ago abot such a diet. I was curious as to whether or not there is any validity to these positions. I’ve been a fan of low-carb, if not outright ketogenic diets and I’ve seen excellent results and this just seems to fly in theface of that. Thanks in advance!

1631

[quote]BoSoxFever wrote:
Coach,

Do you recommend always dropping the bar between reps of Olympic lifts and their variations to prevent excessive wear and tear on the AC joints, or do you feel the bar should only be dropped in certain instances and/or only if absolutely necessary?

[/quote]

Only if you have bumper plates :slight_smile:

Seriously though, there is some value in NOT dropping the weight and actually making an effort to lower it down under control. This ‘‘creates’’ an eccentric phase to the movement and will make the OL more effective at building mass.

On a sidenote, Alexeyev trained this way… during a set he would never allow the bar to touch the floor. So not only would be lower the weight under control, not dropping them, but when doing several reps on the clean or snatch he would stop the bar 1-2’’ above the floor instead of putting it on the floor at the beginning of each repetition. He credits much of his strength to training this way. Sultan Rakhmanov, another elite former Soviet SHW switched to this method and immediately saw a huge increase in muscle mass and strength.

Note that prior to the 70s, most lifters trained this way because they didn’t have bumper plates. And when you look at the physique of these lifters you can see that they are much more muscular than modern lifters, especially in their upper body.

1632

[quote]83atg wrote:
Coach,
I’ve been reading up a lot on diets that follow an intermittent undereating period followed by an overeating (at night) period. I know TC did an article years ago abot such a diet. I was curious as to whether or not there is any validity to these positions. I’ve been a fan of low-carb, if not outright ketogenic diets and I’ve seen excellent results and this just seems to fly in theface of that. Thanks in advance![/quote]

There is a lot of litterature on what is called the famine/overactivity and feast/underactivity cycle; supposedly the way our ancestors ate.

Anthropological studies have shown that on average the ‘‘caveman’’ was more muscular and leaner than his modern counterpart. The proponents of the intermittent fasting/undereating way of dieting (the warrior’s diet for example) use that fact to prove the superiority of their diet.

However one can question whether the lower body fat and higher muscle mass in ‘‘cavemen’’ was due to their type of dieting or rather to the fact that they were extremely active during the day (10-14+ hours of physical activity or various intensities). By the same token we can question the logic that eating accoridng to a famine/feast cycle WITHOUT the 10-14 hours of daily physical activity would lead to similar results.

Don’t forget that physical activity increases insulin sensitivity (so more of the ingested nutrients are stored in the muscles and less as body fat) as well as burn a lot of energy/fat. Better insulin sensitivity = less chances of storing the ‘‘feast’’ as body fat. Higher activity level = more chance of ‘‘burning up’’ excess calories consumed during the feast and stored as fat.

The modern man, even one who trains hard, might be physically active for 2-4 hours per day on average. One can doubt that the effect of the famine/feast cycle would be different in that situation.

Another point to consider is that ‘‘cavemen’’ didn’t have junk or processed food. When he feasted, he did so on meat, eggs, fish, fruits (mostly berries), nuts and honey in some places. Again, the modern man who might follow the same pattern but using modern foods might be in for a shock!

One last point is that our digestive system is in much worse shape than it was in the days of our ancestors. Digestive problems abound, gastric acid deficiency is rampant, etc. It is my opinion that modern man is not as well equipped as the caveman to digest and absorb huge meals.

Now, this type of diet might be effective at lowering body fat (but only if quality foods are used and activity level is high), and it does have certain health promoting benefits (intermittent fasting has been shown to increase the lifespan of animals… but is it transferable to humans?). And most importantly what are the effects on muscle mass? Very few people can actually gain a significant amount of muscle by eating this way.

There ARE exceptions though. Serge Nubret used to eat one huge meal at night and trained basically all day. However Serge was a genetic phenom, so how applicable is it to the average man?

The people who might be able to build muscle to a significant degree eating this way are those with a SUPER SLOW metabolism. In their case, the fasting/undereating period will not be as catabolic as for someone with a fast metabolism.

But for 90% of the population interested in building a muscular physique, this is not the best way to eat.

1633

Coach,

I know you don’t comment on other training programs but I would like to ask a question about the Anabolic/Metabolic diet if that’s possible. Would your low-carb post-workout recommendations interfere with the weekend carb ups as glycogen is restored through glutamine/glycine etc?

Also, what do you think of the diet in general?

Best wishes,

1634

[quote]JJP wrote:
Coach,

I know you don’t comment on other training programs but I would like to ask a question about the Anabolic/Metabolic diet if that’s possible. Would your low-carb post-workout recommendations interfere with the weekend carb ups as glycogen is restored through glutamine/glycine etc?

Also, what do you think of the diet in general?

Best wishes,[/quote]

I commented several times on the diet in the past. The main problems with the ‘‘original’’ anabolic diet, from my experience, are:

  1. The carb-up is too long and not controlled enough. The human muscles can normally store up to 500g of glycogen, maybe 600g if you are a really big guy. It MIGHT be possible to surcompensate the glycogen stores by using a carb deplete/loading strategy (like the AD), but even in that case we can’t stuff much more than 600-700g of carbs in our muscles.

Many people will go hog wild on the weekend carb-up and consume 750-1500g of carbs PER DAY! This is… oh … about 800-2300g more than your body can store as glycogen and that will undoubtably be stored as fat.

And that is IF your glycogen stores are completely depleted, which they never are… so the excess is likely even greater.

You need around 300-400g of carbs MAX to replenish muscle glycogen in that situation, anything more than that increases the risk of ‘‘spilling over’’ and storing those carbs as fat. I have seen many people screw up their progress by going wild on the weekend and negating any fat loss they accomplished during the week.

For most people a 2 days carb-up is excessive and will make the diet less effective. Only those who are very lean can carb-up for two days.

  1. There is no recommendation on the type of carbs to consume… a lot of people end up stuffing themselves with bad carbs like sugar, pastries, donuts and other worthless junk. To quote Dr. Berardi, ‘‘a carb is not a carb’’ … in other words not all carbs are equal (this is mostly due to the insulin response). 400g of carbs from sugar and junk will not have the same physiological effect as 400g of carbs from fruits, veggies, yams, etc.

  2. The diet, at least the original AD, doesn’t differentiate between the types of fat consumed during the week. For example, the original work of Dr. Dipasquale not only permit the consumption of a lot of saturated fat, but actually recommend it (indirectly). It does so by saying not to ‘‘mix diets’’ by consuming foods like fish and chicken instead of fatter cuts of meat. In other words the emphasis is placed on making sure that you get all your fats in, not on the quality of those fats.

The thing is that ‘‘good fats’’ have physiological properties that are beneficial to body composition while other fats don’t (and can even have a negative impact). For example omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. fish oil) increases insulin sensitivity (which makes your body more efficient at storing nutrients in the muscles and not as fat and improve your capacity to tolerate carbs) while saturated fat have the opposite effect.

Coconut oil increases metabolism by increasing thyroid hormone production.

Omega 3s are anti-inflamatory while saturated fat is pro-inflamatory, etc.

1635

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
JJP wrote:
Coach,

I know you don’t comment on other training programs but I would like to ask a question about the Anabolic/Metabolic diet if that’s possible. Would your low-carb post-workout recommendations interfere with the weekend carb ups as glycogen is restored through glutamine/glycine etc?

Also, what do you think of the diet in general?

Best wishes,

I commented several times on the diet in the past. The main problems with the ‘‘original’’ anabolic diet, from my experience, are:

  1. The carb-up is too long and not controlled enough. The human muscles can normally store up to 500g of glycogen, maybe 600g if you are a really big guy. It MIGHT be possible to surcompensate the glycogen stores by using a carb deplete/loading strategy (like the AD), but even in that case we can’t stuff much more than 600-700g of carbs in our muscles.

Many people will go hog wild on the weekend carb-up and consume 750-1500g of carbs PER DAY! This is… oh … about 800-2300g more than your body can store as glycogen and that will undoubtably be stored as fat.

And that is IF your glycogen stores are completely depleted, which they never are… so the excess is likely even greater.

You need around 300-400g of carbs MAX to replenish muscle glycogen in that situation, anything more than that increases the risk of ‘‘spilling over’’ and storing those carbs as fat. I have seen many people screw up their progress by going wild on the weekend and negating any fat loss they accomplished during the week.

For most people a 2 days carb-up is excessive and will make the diet less effective. Only those who are very lean can carb-up for two days.

  1. There is no recommendation on the type of carbs to consume… a lot of people end up stuffing themselves with bad carbs like sugar, pastries, donuts and other worthless junk. To quote Dr. Berardi, ‘‘a carb is not a carb’’

… in other words not all carbs are equal (this is mostly due to the insulin response). 400g of carbs from sugar and junk will not have the same physiological effect as 400g of carbs from fruits, veggies, yams, etc.

  1. The diet, at least the original AD, doesn’t differentiate between the types of fat consumed during the week. For example, the original work of Dr. Dipasquale not only permit the consumption of a lot of saturated fat, but actually recommend it (indirectly).

It does so by saying not to ‘‘mix diets’’ by consuming foods like fish and chicken instead of fatter cuts of meat. In other words the emphasis is placed on making sure that you get all your fats in, not on the quality of those fats.

The thing is that ‘‘good fats’’ have physiological properties that are beneficial to body composition while other fats don’t (and can even have a negative impact). For example omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. fish oil) increases insulin sensitivity (which makes your body more efficient at storing nutrients in the muscles and not as fat and improve your capacity to tolerate carbs) while saturated fat have the opposite effect.

Coconut oil increases metabolism by increasing thyroid hormone production.

Omega 3s are anti-inflamatory while saturated fat is pro-inflamatory, etc.

[/quote]

thats great to know because i ve been reading his “radical diet” it is a bit more updated…
thanks or that bit of info aswell.

in fairness to the diet, it was 14 years ago nearly that it was first written, our info has def grown since then, the anabolic/metabolic diet,and the atkins diet were both a good start and an eye opener to fats and carbohydrates for the general public.

many thanks and good luck next week

1636

Coach-

this is a kinda silly question but I’m interested in what you’d say.
If you had to be a gym teacher at ur local highschool for a week, what kinda warm ups would you make your class do before they hit the weight room?

I was thinking start with a general warm up like 2-3 laps around the gym and then something like T-push ups, Static lunges and some dynamic warm ups like trunk twists or hip circles. Idk…

1637

Coach that was an unreal post on em comparing us to our ancestors. By sheer coincidence i just finished reading Art De Vanys article which you and Berardi made alot of good points.

Besides the praise, i need some advice.

I am doing Berardi’s Get Shredded Diet along with your Destroying Fat: War Room Strategies to Maximize Fat Loss

I am on Day 13 now, but i have a small problem. My quads and calves are permantly SORE, i just cant get rid of the soreness.

After the sprints and leg day my legs are toast and they seem unable to recover period.

Is this a sign, im not eating enough calories ?? Or is it just a side affect of cutting and just put up with it ?

Once i warm up it seems to subside but after the sprints i get the pain plus extra for good measure.

Any help appreciated, and i wish you a very happy marriage i saw it on your past posts. Wish you best of luck and a good holiday !

1638

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

Coconut oil increases metabolism by increasing thyroid hormone production.

[/quote]

Thib,

Roughly how much coconut oil per day is needed to elicit this boost in thyroid hormone production?

And since you made mention of muscle glycogen capacity, it got me wondering about approximately how much liver glycogen and capacity for creatine storage a typical person has?

Thanks, coach!

1639

thib, what are some of the tricep excersises that you most commonly use with clients

1640

Coach, I recall in your refined physique transformation that you recommend glycerine/glycerol to help with muscle hydration and the pump while carb restricted.

So, in the case of that article or any carb restricted plan, would you count glycerine/glycerol in your daily carb allowance?