Live Q & A: Charles Staley

Hi Charles. I have two questions.

1)I have ligmanet problems with my knees. I have been doing high reps on legs for a long time and there not much difference. Do you have any experience of this sort of problem?

2)I am currently unem ployed and money is tight. I have currently access to, basically two adjustable 45lb dumbells for the next few weeks. Do you have any cool routine ideas? My main goals are mass gain (unlikely with this amount of weight I imagine) and strength gain.

Thanks for you time.

[quote]adonail wrote:
Hello Mr.Staley, first I want to thank you for this great oportunity.

Here are my question:

I have a powerlifting meet in 5 weeks and here are my lift (in pounds)
bench press 245RM stuck at middle
bent-over row 210RM
Seated front press 145RM
Squat 450RM
Deadlift 550RM

My problem is I have very weak front delt, trapezius and infraspinatus/teres minor (if you see other possible weakness please tell me)

I currently train 4 times a week on that split:

monday:rows and ext.rotation
tuesday: squat
thursday: bench and front delt
friday: deadlift/traps and hips stuff

I wonder simply how should I prioritise since I have a meet in 5 weeks and want to be at my best. I don’t think a 245 bench press fit very well with a 550 deadlift.

Thanks in advance, adonail[/quote]

I think you’ve got about a month of training followed by a one week taper. I’d start weeding out the aux exercises and focus on the 3 competitive events. Try 85-90% for 10-15 sets of 1 with one minute rests. The key is to lighten up a bit and work on speed/domination of the movement. Stay safe: in the last few weeks before a meet, there’s not that much you can do to improve fitness, but there’s a LOT you can do to screw things up!

Hi Charles,

Great newsletter today! One of my favorites ever.

The workout sounds butal and I really like the friction-free ideas for nutrition.

I always fill up a bunch of baggies of mixed pistachios and almonds that I keep pre-bagged and ready to go in the kitchen when needed. Just another friction-free idea to minimize those ice cream indulgances.

On to my question:

If Jerry Seinfeld was a Strength Coach what would he say about all of this ‘Functional Training’ being touted by many people in the fitness industry now a days?

Kyle Battis

[quote]Tergon wrote:
Charles what are your thoughts on the recent resurgent talk of HIT on this web page and how do you view HIT?

I have recently start this kind of training and I am seeing amazing results.[/quote]

It can be useful when used wisely but in general I dislike it. Certainly, the advantage is that you don’t “save” yourself for future sets- in that sense it makes you work harder. But in general, no matter what set/rep scheme you use, flipping the numbers will yeild better results. If you normally do 3x10, 10x3 with same weight is better.

That’s tough to say. If I had to guess, I’d say 16- 20 weeks.

Do you offer training in your Gilbert location or do you only offer the group training now?

Since you are not a certian team’s strength and conditioning coach, have you ever had any problems with an athlete’s team strength coach. If so, how did you deal with the situation? Thanks for doing this live Q&A, I look foward to reading all the questions and answers.

[quote]Mad Irish wrote:
Hi Charles. I have two questions.

1)I have ligmanet problems with my knees. I have been doing high reps on legs for a long time and there not much difference. Do you have any experience of this sort of problem?
[/quote]

Yes. I’d suggest having them repaired if possible. Depends on nature and severity of the problem, but ligaments are slow to heal, and many/most tears will not heal w/o surgery

Yes, get a large tractor tire (FREE) and flip it. Also push your car (FREE). carry a big rock for distance (FREE)I.e., strongman events.

[/quote]

I think Jerry would say (imagine comedic tone)

“What is the DEAL with this functional training huh? I mean, is it functional, is it training, I mean, WHAT IS THE DEAL?”

[quote]kbattis wrote:

If Jerry Seinfeld was a Strength Coach what would he say about all of this ‘Functional Training’ being touted by many people in the fitness industry now a days?

Kyle Battis
[/quote]

Charles,

What’s your favorite Seinfeld episode?

Oh yeah, what advice would you give to an aspiring Strength Coach?

[quote]CharlesStaley wrote:
Well I certainly appreciate your attention to detail! As for question one, I’d back off a bit and relax for a few weeks. My gut intuition tells me you’re stressing too much. Result: high cortisol. Just a guess.

Question two: Strict attention to biomechanics. Videotape yourself. Look for clues. I can’t do that for you unfortunately. Might be due to a prior injury, or to everyday habit patterns.

Hope that helps…
[/quote]

  1. When you mean back off do you mean stop training? or just cut back on the amount?

  2. Will do! I even have a video camera, now I can use it for something other than filming me and my girlfri…never mind…

Also, where did you get those sunglasses? They aren’t from Saskatchewan, I know, I have relatives there, and there isn’t a seal to be had anywhere in that Province.

Is It about what you’d do.

Monday: 20min PR: squat 10-15185-90%RM

Wednesday: 20min PR: bench press 10-15185-90%RM

Friday: 20min PR: deadlift 10-15185-90%RM

And cut all auxiliaire exercises or still keep weakness on? And what about abs?

Thanks again coach!

Coach Staley,
For someone interested in functional hypertrophy and working out 3 times a week doing full body workouts what type of EDT parameters would you recommend in terms of exercises per session, RM and length of PR zones.
Thanks in advance

Hey Levi, yes, we’re re-organizing over here and I’m finishing up my book for Rodale, so I’ll be able to accept clients after November 15th. And I appreciate you asking!

[quote]Levi1 wrote:
Do you offer training in your Gilbert location or do you only offer the group training now?[/quote]

Hey Coach…
Just one question: I’ve been wanting to introduce new exercices into my routines such as the power clean, clean & jerk and snatch, but I still haven’t find a good way to start doing this exercices. Could you recommend me any approach to this type of exercices?
Btw my stat is:
16 years old
6ft 1
159lb
10% bf
Bench: 155
Squat: 225
Deadlift: 255 (without straps)
Thanks

Charles,

How is EDT best incorporated?

  1. EDT for lagging muscle groups, with maintenance work for remaining muscle groups. (Presumably the EDT targeted muscle groups can be changed to prevent plateaus)

  2. EDT full-body program. (Could you provide a “beginner” EDT full-body program?)

Thank you!

-Thad

Well, I guess I can say this publically since I won’t mention any specifics, but typically the team coach has no idea that I’m working with the athlete in the first place. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a challenge. Often the team coach wants a higher training volume than I do. So we need to find creative ways for the athlete to skip the team workouts… doctor’s notes, etc.

[quote]ckeller14 wrote:
Since you are not a certian team’s strength and conditioning coach, have you ever had any problems with an athlete’s team strength coach. If so, how did you deal with the situation? Thanks for doing this live Q&A, I look foward to reading all the questions and answers.[/quote]

Thank you for this opportunity for Q&A…

  1. I injured by lower back about a year ago and have rehabbed it since. But before injuring myself I didn’t do a lot of core strengthening, that having always been one of my strengths from numerous sports I played competitively. I’m currently doing a three day full body workout, and was wondering if you could suggest several exercises for core work. That I could add in. The workout is Chad Waterbury’s Strength Focused Mesocycle

  2. I’m currently training in Krav Maga and BJJ, and was wondering if you had any advice on Mobility Drills mainly for the hips, hamstrings, and lower back. Also if there are any lifts that can help me really learn to turn my hip over in my kicks.

Thank you,
Max

[quote]vroom wrote:
Hi Coach, I have a fairly short question for you.

I like to vary intensity or volume as needed to get at least some soreness in at least one muscle group after every workout. Usually this means I’m doing extra sets or another exercise targeting previously worked muscles.

Am I impeding my progress by doing this at all? Off the cuff I’d guess I may be increasing my need for rest and recovery, but it’s hard to feel effective in the gym without that good “I’ve worked hard” feeling.[/quote]

If you were my client, and my career was on the line to get a good result for you, I wouldn’t allow it. Most of my clients don’t complain about too little soreness however…

Hey there coach, great to have you here.

I?ve always wanted to try your ?Periodization That Works? here at t-nation as part of the off-season for football, but can?t make it to the gym twice a day (Phase one). Is there any other way I can perform the program? I?m interested in mainly increasing max strength and power.

Thanks for you time.

Paul

[quote]ungarn wrote:
Charles,

How is EDT best incorporated?
[/quote]

As needed for hypertrophy/local muscle endurance needs.

???

[quote]

  1. EDT full-body program. (Could you provide a “beginner” EDT full-body program?)[/quote]

Not in the time I’ve got here, but sign up for my newsletter, we’ll be published workouts soon…