What kind of cardio do you do when you’re prepping for a show?
[quote]mike hanley wrote:
CT just to let you know I took third this weekend at my show. Anyway I have six weeks until my next show and was thinking about taking on the easterneuropean workout you posted. I did legs twice today and loved the split. What is your thoughts on doing this workout six weeks out and if I do this workout I was wondering what kind of diet I should be on .
Should I Surge after both workouts? Should I have some preworkout carbs ? I want to try and keep carbs low being six weeks out. Any thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have two more clients so i wont bve able to read this til later tonight but am looking forward to some feedback. Thanks again.[/quote]
At 6 weeks out you might still be able to handle it, but be carefull. I’m all for going heavy to preserve muscle mass, but going super heavy that close to a show is not always the best idea.
As for your diet, without seing your condition or knowing how your body react to different nutrients, I really cannot make any recommendations.
[quote]Original_Demon wrote:
Have you ever used detoxification and have you seen improvements from the results?[/quote]
A naturopath friend of mine (who is also a superb bodybuilder … won the provincial overall last year) once blood tested me and recommended a specific detox program. I did stuck with it for something like 4 days as I was literally “emptying the tank” all day long and had noises reminiscent of an enraged dodo comming from my stomach.
However I do believe that detox can be helpful, especially when it comes to the liver. If one can stick to a complete program I think that it can greatly enhance nutrients and supplements absorption.
CT
I am doing your Easy Hard Gainer Program and there is no direct Calf work. Should I be added any exercises and if so how much. I am in the second phase of the program and I am making significant gains.
Thanks for fielding are questions Christian
I have just one for you or made one in two parts
Could you give me some insight into how you would use training density to order to increase total body conditioning and increase fat loss.
I am toying around with a routine now using three total body workouts a week. My goal is to lean up while increasing my conditioning levels. How might i construct such a cycle(volume, exercises, rep scheme) or is there a better way then the one I have proposed
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
cccsouthpaw20 wrote:
CT,
When I first started lifting, I used deadlifts on my back day because that is what Franco Columbo’s program recommended. Now I know techincally they are a hip dominant exercise, but I have always noticed tremendous improvement in my entire posterior chain, especially my back. Would there be any problem using them on back day so as to be able to include both squats and deads within a training week? Thanx
No problem at all, as long as your back day is at least 72 hours away from your lower body day.[/quote]
With regards to doing deads on back day…would it be better to do them first in the workout, in the middle, or last?
My instinct says last because I would be completely debilitated and unable to stabilize myself for rows or rear delt raises until at least 20min after finishing deads, which would be a waste of time. But I’m no expert and there might be other movements that should be done directly in the wake of deads. Thanks in advance.
CT you posted this in the Think Tank section about chest
“I personally believe that when someone is mechanically built to bench press, meaning that the chest, deltoids and triceps are all able to contribute to the effort maximally, he’ll be able to build a great chest by doing only bench presses/dumbbell presses (flat flat and incline”
would you be able to go into this deeper for me?
Expandining on the sleep 30-45 minutes post-workout?
Is this recommended for any high intensity training program?
Does this immediately follow your Surge?
Actually, I’d also be interested in what you prefer to do to build just the pecs since your shoulders and tri’s were so developed form Oly lifting.
I would love to know what your take would be on a problem I have with my cousin:
He can’t lift slower than 2 seconds, and he can’t lower slower than 2 seconds, so he likes a 2020 or 2010 tempo. I could aim a gun to his head and he couldn’t do it.
The thing is, that for his tempo, I have seen many people recommend him to work out with a volume of 12-14 sets per week for a given bodypart, preferably split in 2 training session,s or all in one session per muscle group a week.
Now, you once posted an article, “Game Plan” where you stated that a good working volume per muscle groups for the week should be between 80 and 120 total working reps.
So, for a 2010, or 2020 tempo fan, would that mean to go above 120 reps per week, or stay in the 80-120 reps per week zone, but work in heavy 3-5 rep sets?
Or could normal 8-12 rep sets work, or perhaps 12-15 rep sets?
Please help him out, and me too, this drives me nuts.
[quote]deshawn wrote:
CT
I am doing your Easy Hard Gainer Program and there is no direct Calf work. Should I be added any exercises and if so how much. I am in the second phase of the program and I am making significant gains.[/quote]
Simply perform 1 calf exercice 3x per week. Go very heavy once, explosive the other and high volume the third time.
[quote]nArKeD wrote:
What kind of cardio do you do when you’re prepping for a show?[/quote]
As little as needed. If fat loss slows down from the diet only I will add 2-3 low intensity 30-45 minutes sessions per week. But most of the time I stick to walks with my GF.
[quote]brotzfrog10 wrote:
Thanks for fielding are questions Christian
I have just one for you or made one in two parts
Could you give me some insight into how you would use training density to order to increase total body conditioning and increase fat loss.
I am toying around with a routine now using three total body workouts a week. My goal is to lean up while increasing my conditioning levels. How might i construct such a cycle(volume, exercises, rep scheme) or is there a better way then the one I have proposed
[/quote]
For that purpose I like to use circuits or half-circuits. Gradually decrease the time between stations OR try to do as many total stations as possible within a set time frame.
[quote]dond1esel wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
cccsouthpaw20 wrote:
CT,
When I first started lifting, I used deadlifts on my back day because that is what Franco Columbo’s program recommended. Now I know techincally they are a hip dominant exercise, but I have always noticed tremendous improvement in my entire posterior chain, especially my back. Would there be any problem using them on back day so as to be able to include both squats and deads within a training week? Thanx
No problem at all, as long as your back day is at least 72 hours away from your lower body day.
With regards to doing deads on back day…would it be better to do them first in the workout, in the middle, or last?
My instinct says last because I would be completely debilitated and unable to stabilize myself for rows or rear delt raises until at least 20min after finishing deads, which would be a waste of time. But I’m no expert and there might be other movements that should be done directly in the wake of deads. Thanks in advance.
[/quote]
First, otherwise your back might round up and you would end up injuring yourself. OR you can use a “double” … perform half your deadlift sets first in the workout andthe other half as the 3rd or 4th exercice.
OR last solution you can stagger deadlift sets. For example alternating between one set of deads with one set of rows.
[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
CT you posted this in the Think Tank section about chest
“I personally believe that when someone is mechanically built to bench press, meaning that the chest, deltoids and triceps are all able to contribute to the effort maximally, he’ll be able to build a great chest by doing only bench presses/dumbbell presses (flat flat and incline”
would you be able to go into this deeper for me?[/quote]
Some peoples like myself have naturally dominant deltoids and triceps. So bench pressing does little to build up my chest. Others who have delts and triceps on par (or even proportionally weaker than the pecs) will be able to stimulate the pecs fully from the bench press.
[quote]Robert Monti wrote:
Actually, I’d also be interested in what you prefer to do to build just the pecs since your shoulders and tri’s were so developed form Oly lifting.[/quote]
Lighting up a lantern and praying to the iron Gods!!!
In all honesty I do have a hard time building up my chest. Declines, dips, and various cable movements (I know, I know) have improved it a bit, but it’s still lagging behind. Oh well, I’m going back to pure strength training soon and that will take care of that problem.
The “game plan” article was just to show how one can split up the weekly training volume. The actual number of lifts are mostly fictitious.
I strongly doubt that he cannot lower the weight slower than in 2 seconds. He is probably only using too much weight for a slower tempo. Otherwise, if he’s really weak eccentrically I suggest adding some isometric work in his regimen.
Hey CT,
If I wanted to lose fat without losing muscle (knowing that I have my diet and supplementation all down), would cardio for 3 sessions a week, 45-60 minutes each session, equal to 20-30 minutes a session if cardio were to be done 7 days a week? Such as, same results and no muscle lose?
Oh and also, why don’t people take in Surge after an intense cardio session (at least I know it’s not recommended) and take it only after intense lifting sessions? Thanks!
[quote]drew-aych wrote:
Hey CT,
If I wanted to lose fat without losing muscle (knowing that I have my diet and supplementation all down), would cardio for 3 sessions a week, 45-60 minutes each session, equal to 20-30 minutes a session if cardio were to be done 7 days a week? Such as, same results and no muscle lose?
Oh and also, why don’t people take in Surge after an intense cardio session (at least I know it’s not recommended) and take it only after intense lifting sessions? Thanks![/quote]
CT; I posted over on your article page that I wasn’t trying to start an argument but you mentioned sports and running in your #2 reason for working legs.
now my question on OVT; would a 2 wo of 3 ovt sets then 2 wo of 4 ovt sets then 5 wo’s of 5 ovt sets with a backoff week of 3 ovt sets then 1 week rest and start over.
I know lengthy but any comment??..
Thanks
CT you said at the other post that it might be asking a bit much to do the isolation exercises in a westside template. I dont follow a strict westside at all. Here’s an example of what a week might look like.
Day 1
floor press- work up to 1RM
pullup- work up to 3RM
speed bench- 6x3 at 50%
speed chins- 6x3, with BW
incline fly- 2x5,5,5,5-rest pause
cuban press- 2x5,5,5,5- rest pause
Day 2
bench press- 8x3 with around 80-85%
CS row- 8x3 with around 80-85%
reverse curl- 3x8
lying extensions- 3x8
cable crossover- 2x12
rear delt raise- 2x12
Would this be too much volume?