Thib's Random Thought of the Day

Training
101

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
DAY 1 LOWER BODY 1

A1. Vertical jump 10 reps

Rest 45-60 seconds

A2. Depth jumps (24-30" box) 5 reps

Rest 45-60 seconds

A3. Jump squat (20% max squat)

Rest 60-90 seconds

A4. Front squat (Ramp up from set tot set, start at 70% work up to max force point) 3 reps

Rest 60-90 seconds

A5. Back squat (same weight as front squat) max reps*

Rest 2 minutes… start over

*ONLY PERFORM ON THE LAST CIRCUIT

Perform the circuit 4 or 5 times
[/quote]

CT, for the leg complex, how many reps for the jump squat? Also, when you use the term “depth jump” do you mean the kind where you jump off a box and stick the landing or the kind where you jump off a box and then immediately jump up? Unfortunately, I’ve seen both used as a definition for depth jump.

Thanks.
[/quote]

5 reps were used for the jump squat. Depth jumps is dropping off of a box and then jumping up as high (or as far) as you can upon landing. The version where you simply stick the landing is called ‘altitude drops’.

102

[quote]tkisner wrote:

[quote]flightposite wrote:
At a top weight of 182lbs on 5’7" he had less than 8% body fat and could bench press 425lbs, full squat over 500, had a 40" vertical and was clocked at 4.17 at the Chicago Bears combines (I tested him at 4.32 electric).

[quote]

Super impressive stats. What was the name of this individual?[/quote]

Pascal Caron… there are a few pics of him in my first book (The Black Book of Training Secrets)

103

[quote]CPerfringens wrote:
Some questions:

Should jump squat be done with squatting as low as possible? I know if I wanted to jump as I high as possible I wouldn’t squat all the way down.

What the physiologic difference between jumping as high as possible when jumping down a 24"-30" box and jumping from the floor to a 3’-4’ box? Are these exercises equally good?

Is there an alternative to box jump for people that don’t have boxes at their gym?

Thanks[/quote]

Jumps squats are done exactly the same way you would do a vertical jump test.

Depth jumping (off of a box then jumping up) INCREASES the amount of force you have to absorb upon landing because the body falls from a greater height, the body thus accumulates more kinetic energy which translate into more force upon ground contact.

Box jumping (on to a box) DECREASES the amount of force upon landing this is because the box cut down on the downward path of the body, which accumulates less kinetic energy on the way down and thus leads to less force upon ground contact.

The former is thus a high intensity drill that can only be done for 3-4 weeks in a row while the later is a low intensity drill that can pretty much be done year round.

104

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

[quote]Mondy wrote:
What would the lower back spec program look like? A mixture of barbell rows, back extension and rack pulls?[/quote]

It depends on the movements you are comfortable doing… (olympic lifts for example)

Something like:

DAY 1
A. Power clean from the hang 2" from the floor
Ramping sets of 3 reps

B. Power upright row from pins just above the knees
Ramping sets of 5 reps

C. Two arms DB swing
3 x 15-20 reps

DAY 2.
A. Deadlift
Ramping sets of 3 reps

B. Deadlift 85% of A
5 sets of 5

C. Deadlift 85% of B
1 set of 10

DAY 3.
A. Romanian deadlift 1st pull (from 1" above floor to knee level)
Ramping sets of 5 reps

B. Seated goodmorning
Ramping sets of 5 reps

C. Heavy back extension
Ramping sets of 5 reps

D. Back extension - no weight
3 x max reps

[/quote]
hello coach.i write below my own lower back spec program and i want to post your comments about it.i have a weightlifting background
day1
a)power clean from 2’’ innch platform:
ramp the weight for 3 reps
b)snatch pulls from 2’’ platform:ramp the weight for 5 reps
c)clean pull to knees from 2’’ inch platform:ramp the weight for 3 reps
d)back extension:3 sets x max reps (no extra weight)
day 2
a)deadlift from 2’’ inch platform:ramp the weight for 3 reps
b)power row:ramp the weight for 3 reps
c)back extension:ramp the weight for 5 reps(with extra weight)
day 3
a)half romanian deadlift:ramp the weight for 3 reps
b)good morning:ramp the weight for 5 reps
c)clean pulls to knees from 2’’ inch platform
d)back extension:3x max reps(no extra weight.
I am looking forward to hearing for you.

105

[quote]fredarn wrote:

[quote]Osmosis wrote:
HOOK GRIP

Would someone please post some step by step pics of establishing a hook grip? What I call a hook grip is where the fingers wrap over the thumb, which essentially is using the thumb somewhat like a lifting strap. Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but it feels like my thumb is going to pop out of it’s socket and therefore very uncomfortable, so I’ve never employed to any extent.[/quote]

It felt like that for me to, but it gets better with time. I guess you might wan’t to start a little light with that grip to strengthen up your thumb, but I didn’t and my thumb is still in place :P[/quote]

I also struggled with the hook grip. Here’s how I got over it - it was almost by accident. I went to an Olympic weightlifting clinic were they had us start doing drills with just the bar. We then added a little weight - like 115 tops. However, they had us use the hook grip the whole time.

One of the reasons they enfored this rule is because a proper hook grip places your arms in the optimal position - with the elbows pointed out - for doing an Olympic pull. Three hours later my thumbs were sore but I had learned to like the hook grip. Now I use for deadlifting as well - it feels more secure than the alternating grip.

When hooking, don’t just grab the bar with a regular overhand grip and try to wrap your fingers around your thumbs. Instead, approach the bar with your hand sideways and push the fleshy part between your thumb and forefinger into the bar. Your elbows should be pointing out rather than towards your body. Wrap fingers around your thumb. Then, place the remaining fingers around the bar.

Hook grip anytime you’re pulling with the bar no matter how light. Put athletic tape around your thumbs. This helps a lot with the discomfort and also makes the grip more secure.

106

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]fredarn wrote:

[quote]Osmosis wrote:
HOOK GRIP

Would someone please post some step by step pics of establishing a hook grip? What I call a hook grip is where the fingers wrap over the thumb, which essentially is using the thumb somewhat like a lifting strap. Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but it feels like my thumb is going to pop out of it’s socket and therefore very uncomfortable, so I’ve never employed to any extent.[/quote]

It felt like that for me to, but it gets better with time. I guess you might wan’t to start a little light with that grip to strengthen up your thumb, but I didn’t and my thumb is still in place :P[/quote]

I also struggled with the hook grip. Here’s how I got over it - it was almost by accident. I went to an Olympic weightlifting clinic were they had us start doing drills with just the bar. We then added a little weight - like 115 tops. However, they had us use the hook grip the whole time.

One of the reasons they enfored this rule is because a proper hook grip places your arms in the optimal position - with the elbows pointed out - for doing an Olympic pull. Three hours later my thumbs were sore but I had learned to like the hook grip. Now I use for deadlifting as well - it feels more secure than the alternating grip.

When hooking, don’t just grab the bar with a regular overhand grip and try to wrap your fingers around your thumbs. Instead, approach the bar with your hand sideways and push the fleshy part between your thumb and forefinger into the bar. Your elbows should be pointing out rather than towards your body. Wrap fingers around your thumb. Then, place the remaining fingers around the bar.

Hook grip anytime you’re pulling with the bar no matter how light. Put athletic tape around your thumbs. This helps a lot with the discomfort and also makes the grip more secure.[/quote]

good post. thanks

107

JANUARY 24TH

Today my regular partner Nick left for his vacation to Punta Cana; so my regular training schedule was somewhat disturbed. I am coming down with a cold so I decided to do a ‘‘old-school fun’’ session.

I actually worked up to a 135lbs one arm DB clean and press (I didn’t push press it either, it was a strict press with the right arm) which was fairly smooth, no grinding. Not humongeous by any means, but fairly decent for a one arm standing lift.

I also did one arm DB snatches (up to 115lbs for 3) and one arm DB swing (up to 120lbs for 2).

Then one arm power hammer curl, ramping up to 105lbs for 3 and finished off with one arm BARBELL shrugs working up to 205 for 4 reps.

Very cool session that left me energized and wanting more… so I might do some snatches this afternoon, who knows? But I first gotta train my wife… tire flips, clean and press and sledgehammer strike circuit here we come!

108

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
But I first gotta train my wife… tire flips, clean and press and sledgehammer strike circuit here we come![/quote]

I just found this photo from your wedding day. Guess your bride-to-be had to do 10 pull ups before you’d go through the ceremony. Fortunately, she passed the test!

109

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
But I first gotta train my wife… tire flips, clean and press and sledgehammer strike circuit here we come![/quote]

I just found this photo from your wedding day. Guess your bride-to-be had to do 10 pull ups before you’d go through the ceremony. Fortunately, she passed the test!
[/quote]

I wish!!! Nah, seriously, as a former gymnast she can do fine on many exercises. That’s one kickass pic though!

110

JANUARY 25TH

OLD-SCHOOL ACTIVATION

As I often mention, I love the history of the strength game. How the strong guys from the past trained is something that interest me very much. I find that these guys were more innovative and open minded than almost all of today’s ‘‘authorities’’.

One thing that I recently ‘‘rediscovered’’ is one-armed lifts. I say rediscovered because I was using them quite extensively back in 1999 and 2000 when training for olympic lifting. At the time I started doing one-arm DB (and even barbell at one point) snatches and one-arm DB swing when I read about Alexeyev doing those as a warm-up for his training sessions.

At the time I was doing stuff without fully understanding WHY they worked and what they could bring to the table. As a result, a lot of stuff that worked, I dropped.

I recently started doing one-arm lifts again two weeks ago when I felt burned out from training. As I mentioned in another thread; my training mentality is to push as hard as I can… train as often as my schedule will allow and when I start to see signs of being worn-out or losing motivation I deload; training 3 times a week on stuff I like or have been wanting to try for awhile.

Now, the Anaconda protocol DOES allow me to train more often and harder and still recover. But I’m still only human and even in that situation I have my breaking point (not to mention that I ran out of Anaconda for a few days). So I decided to deload by doing one-arm stuff.

This is not a typical workout, but rather a collection of the lifts I tried during the deloading period:

  • one-arm DB clean and press
  • one-arm DB swing
  • one-arm DB snatch
  • one-arm DB clean
  • one-arm DB power hammer curl
  • one-arm barbell deadlift
  • one-arm barbell shrugs
  • one-arm power lateral raise
  • one-arm power DB row (as used by the olympic lifters from China)

I didn’t have any specific plan or knew which lift I was gonna be doing on each specific day. I would just walk in the gym and pick 3-4 movements and do them for sets of 2-3 reps, gradually ramping the weight.

After the week I found myself to be much leaner looking (I won’t say that I was actually a lot leaner, but I did look harder, more defined and more vascular) and super motivated to train.

I enjoyed doing the one-arm lifts so much that when I started my ‘‘normal’’ training again, the next monday, I decided to keep two one-arm lifts at the beginning of each workout to act as a dynamic activation. On monday I did a weight on the power clean that I hadn’t done in 4 years or so and it was fairly easy. And it had been 3 weeks since I even practiced that lift.

The next day I had a great bench press session (I had been in a rut for a while on that lift) and squats were very easy… better range of motion, less stiffness, more weight.

On Wednesday my partner Nick joined me and did the one-arm lifts for the first time and he beat a power clean record by 10lbs and it wasn’t even a maximal effort considering that two days later he improved that lift by another 10lbs! By Friday a nagging shoulder stiffness (nor quite an injury, but it was bothering him) was completely gone.

I really do believe that explosive one-arm lifts are:

  1. A great activation tool
  2. A fantastic way to deload after a period of heavy barbell lifting
  3. A good way to improve shoulder mobility and support strength
  4. A worthy approach of improving trunk stability
  5. An effective method to learn to learn to be more explosive with the hips on the olympic lifts

So now I start every workout with two one-arm explosive lifts. Normally done for sets of 2-3 reps per arm gradually working up to a challenging, but manageable load.

111

But I first gotta train my wife… tire flips

Tire flips for a pregnant woman…jeezzz this baby going to be helluva bodybuilder :slight_smile:

112

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
JANUARY 25TH

OLD-SCHOOL ACTIVATION

As I often mention, I love the history of the strength game. How the strong guys from the past trained is something that interest me very much. I find that these guys were more innovative and open minded than almost all of today’s ‘‘authorities’’.

One thing that I recently ‘‘rediscovered’’ is one-armed lifts. I say rediscovered because I was using them quite extensively back in 1999 and 2000 when training for olympic lifting. At the time I started doing one-arm DB (and even barbell at one point) snatches and one-arm DB swing when I read about Alexeyev doing those as a warm-up for his training sessions.

At the time I was doing stuff without fully understanding WHY they worked and what they could bring to the table. As a result, a lot of stuff that worked, I dropped.

I recently started doing one-arm lifts again two weeks ago when I felt burned out from training. As I mentioned in another thread; my training mentality is to push as hard as I can… train as often as my schedule will allow and when I start to see signs of being worn-out or losing motivation I deload; training 3 times a week on stuff I like or have been wanting to try for awhile.

Now, the Anaconda protocol DOES allow me to train more often and harder and still recover. But I’m still only human and even in that situation I have my breaking point (not to mention that I ran out of Anaconda for a few days). So I decided to deload by doing one-arm stuff.

This is not a typical workout, but rather a collection of the lifts I tried during the deloading period:

  • one-arm DB clean and press
  • one-arm DB swing
  • one-arm DB snatch
  • one-arm DB clean
  • one-arm DB power hammer curl
  • one-arm barbell deadlift
  • one-arm barbell shrugs
  • one-arm power lateral raise
  • one-arm power DB row (as used by the olympic lifters from China)

I didn’t have any specific plan or knew which lift I was gonna be doing on each specific day. I would just walk in the gym and pick 3-4 movements and do them for sets of 2-3 reps, gradually ramping the weight.

After the week I found myself to be much leaner looking (I won’t say that I was actually a lot leaner, but I did look harder, more defined and more vascular) and super motivated to train.

I enjoyed doing the one-arm lifts so much that when I started my ‘‘normal’’ training again, the next monday, I decided to keep two one-arm lifts at the beginning of each workout to act as a dynamic activation. On monday I did a weight on the power clean that I hadn’t done in 4 years or so and it was fairly easy. And it had been 3 weeks since I even practiced that lift.

The next day I had a great bench press session (I had been in a rut for a while on that lift) and squats were very easy… better range of motion, less stiffness, more weight.

On Wednesday my partner Nick joined me and did the one-arm lifts for the first time and he beat a power clean record by 10lbs and it wasn’t even a maximal effort considering that two days later he improved that lift by another 10lbs! By Friday a nagging shoulder stiffness (nor quite an injury, but it was bothering him) was completely gone.

I really do believe that explosive one-arm lifts are:

  1. A great activation tool
  2. A fantastic way to deload after a period of heavy barbell lifting
  3. A good way to improve shoulder mobility and support strength
  4. A worthy approach of improving trunk stability
  5. An effective method to learn to learn to be more explosive with the hips on the olympic lifts

So now I start every workout with two one-arm explosive lifts. Normally done for sets of 2-3 reps per arm gradually working up to a challenging, but manageable load.[/quote]

Thib:

Could you please elaborate on the One Arm DB Power Row as done by Olympic Lifters in China?

Is this where the DB is in front of body slightly towards the working side, start from ground, use a bit of leg drive and pull DB up?

Thanks,
M

113

Marc my trainer gives me one arm deads…people at the gyms comes and see me all the time and they are like what the f…K!!

Its amazing for the grip and forearms…good for the core also…amazing strenght enhancement. Can t believe how the way you train coach and the kind of exercices my trainer gives me are the same. Probably you guys are from the same school of toughts and same background. I have always one arm lifts(snatch, cleans, swings) in my workouts…

114

[quote]Mutsanah wrote:

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
JANUARY 25TH

OLD-SCHOOL ACTIVATION

As I often mention, I love the history of the strength game. How the strong guys from the past trained is something that interest me very much. I find that these guys were more innovative and open minded than almost all of today’s ‘‘authorities’’.

One thing that I recently ‘‘rediscovered’’ is one-armed lifts. I say rediscovered because I was using them quite extensively back in 1999 and 2000 when training for olympic lifting. At the time I started doing one-arm DB (and even barbell at one point) snatches and one-arm DB swing when I read about Alexeyev doing those as a warm-up for his training sessions.

At the time I was doing stuff without fully understanding WHY they worked and what they could bring to the table. As a result, a lot of stuff that worked, I dropped.

I recently started doing one-arm lifts again two weeks ago when I felt burned out from training. As I mentioned in another thread; my training mentality is to push as hard as I can… train as often as my schedule will allow and when I start to see signs of being worn-out or losing motivation I deload; training 3 times a week on stuff I like or have been wanting to try for awhile.

Now, the Anaconda protocol DOES allow me to train more often and harder and still recover. But I’m still only human and even in that situation I have my breaking point (not to mention that I ran out of Anaconda for a few days). So I decided to deload by doing one-arm stuff.

This is not a typical workout, but rather a collection of the lifts I tried during the deloading period:

  • one-arm DB clean and press
  • one-arm DB swing
  • one-arm DB snatch
  • one-arm DB clean
  • one-arm DB power hammer curl
  • one-arm barbell deadlift
  • one-arm barbell shrugs
  • one-arm power lateral raise
  • one-arm power DB row (as used by the olympic lifters from China)

I didn’t have any specific plan or knew which lift I was gonna be doing on each specific day. I would just walk in the gym and pick 3-4 movements and do them for sets of 2-3 reps, gradually ramping the weight.

After the week I found myself to be much leaner looking (I won’t say that I was actually a lot leaner, but I did look harder, more defined and more vascular) and super motivated to train.

I enjoyed doing the one-arm lifts so much that when I started my ‘‘normal’’ training again, the next monday, I decided to keep two one-arm lifts at the beginning of each workout to act as a dynamic activation. On monday I did a weight on the power clean that I hadn’t done in 4 years or so and it was fairly easy. And it had been 3 weeks since I even practiced that lift.

The next day I had a great bench press session (I had been in a rut for a while on that lift) and squats were very easy… better range of motion, less stiffness, more weight.

On Wednesday my partner Nick joined me and did the one-arm lifts for the first time and he beat a power clean record by 10lbs and it wasn’t even a maximal effort considering that two days later he improved that lift by another 10lbs! By Friday a nagging shoulder stiffness (nor quite an injury, but it was bothering him) was completely gone.

I really do believe that explosive one-arm lifts are:

  1. A great activation tool
  2. A fantastic way to deload after a period of heavy barbell lifting
  3. A good way to improve shoulder mobility and support strength
  4. A worthy approach of improving trunk stability
  5. An effective method to learn to learn to be more explosive with the hips on the olympic lifts

So now I start every workout with two one-arm explosive lifts. Normally done for sets of 2-3 reps per arm gradually working up to a challenging, but manageable load.[/quote]

Thib:

Could you please elaborate on the One Arm DB Power Row as done by Olympic Lifters in China?

Is this where the DB is in front of body slightly towards the working side, start from ground, use a bit of leg drive and pull DB up?

Thanks,
M
[/quote]

Yes

115

Power DB row

116

Here’s a documentary on Chinese weightlifters (yes, I am really that geeky). If you like OL, it’s interesting to watch all the way through. Otherwise, you can see the Chinese-style power DB row at 5:06.

117

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:
Here’s a documentary on Chinese weightlifters (yes, I am really that geeky). If you like OL, it’s interesting to watch all the way through. Otherwise, you can see the Chinese-style power DB row at 5:06.

Great video. Kind of makes the pulls and strains of recreational lifting seem pretty insignificant compared to winding up in a coma!

118

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

[quote]Mondy wrote:
What would the lower back spec program look like? A mixture of barbell rows, back extension and rack pulls?[/quote]

It depends on the movements you are comfortable doing… (olympic lifts for example)

Something like:

DAY 1
A. Power clean from the hang 2" from the floor
Ramping sets of 3 reps

B. Power upright row from pins just above the knees
Ramping sets of 5 reps

C. Two arms DB swing
3 x 15-20 reps

DAY 2.
A. Deadlift
Ramping sets of 3 reps

B. Deadlift 85% of A
5 sets of 5

C. Deadlift 85% of B
1 set of 10

DAY 3.
A. Romanian deadlift 1st pull (from 1" above floor to knee level)
Ramping sets of 5 reps

B. Seated goodmorning
Ramping sets of 5 reps

C. Heavy back extension
Ramping sets of 5 reps

D. Back extension - no weight
3 x max reps

[/quote]

I am highly considering doing this routine after I finish my current routine. One question though.

Would you recommend another day on top of this sort of how the current I Bodybuilder SPEC is set up where you have a day where you work all the other muscles?? So something to hit the arms, chest, shoulders, etc… more directly??

Thanks Coach

119

That’s really interesting. So the core and shoulder work I can see helping with the lifts…Do you know what it is about 1-arm lifts in particular that would help more than other exercises in activation, allowing one to lift more weight in a given session?

120

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I find that the key to improving a lagging or stuck bench press is to improve overhead lifting strength.
[/quote]
Well Thib! sucks to be me for not reading this before i worked out today. I’m doing ‘Dave Tate’s 6 week Bench Cure’ but I’m getting furious with my self for not making the gains I want.

Whoa! Other people knew about this too eh? I guess I’m the site idiot. I got pissed off at a failed 1RM that I’ve already hit once a week ago, and proceeded to do dozens more bench variations with lighter weights for speed. Multiple singles with a heavy weight, and work with the bands pulling the bar down to work on increasing my explosive force. I did 105% 1RM slow negatives. Sounds like all that was garbage and a waste.

I have a bottle of Alpha-GPC sitting in my dresser and 2 of the whey proteins from Biotest but I dont want to crack this stuff open until I know that I can over come my weaknesses my self (this sounds retarded I’m sure). Once I know I’m moving in the right direction I will used the Biotest supplements to simply speed up the process.

So to the overhead press I go!