Thib's Q&A - April 13 - 20

[quote]hotdog.350 wrote:
when it comes to purely hypertrophy, can percentage training work? I’ve been using an 80%rm on all exercises at the moment, and gains have been coming fast. To me, using this percentage puts the reps right in the meaty range for growth. what is your oppinion?[/quote]

I’m not a fan of percent training in most cases because percentages will vary in their precision from day to day.

For example, what would normally be your 80% on a normal day might feel like 90% when you are tired or not properly recovered.

However, in theory (meaning if you are always able to train in a state where 80% actually is your 80%) it is a good intensity range to shoot for, especially if you are an advanced trainee. Normally it represents something like your 8 to 10RM which is a good hypertrophy zone.

[quote]michell wrote:
Coach

I’ve seen your fat lose diets you propose less meals, even only 4 on rest days, like Amit’s die. Have the starting points of macros and meals changed respect keto and tkd diets discussed early in Thib a&q? For mass gain phase have it changed too?

Thanks
[/quote]

Not really. Understand that Amit is a specific case. I have been working with him for close to 5 years now so I know how his body works.

Hi,

Ever hear of Anutra? ( http://www.anutra.com/healthBenefits.html )

They claim to have high concentrations of lignans which I have seen recommended in some Biosignature applications.

Thanks.

Thibs a few months ago I hurt my shoulder and took some time off from the gym. Now I went back and the pain was there so I got it checked out. PT said that my left upper traps are hyperactive and my left lower traps are nott firing at all and this is pulling my scapula out of whack and causing generalized shoulder pain .

MRI of my left shoulder shows mild AC joint degeneration with the capsular productive changed and small joint effusion. I have been back in the gym a couple of weeks now and my left shoulder hurts occasionally. I am following your arm spec routine you wrote back in 2006 and throwing in lots of shoulder rehab exercises on non-arm days.

I am also trying to target my lower traps from an excellent article written on T-Nation. Can you suggest any input as to what I should or should not be doing in terms of exercises, stretching, etc? Is the arm spec routine a good idea? I get mild/moderate pain from close grip benches and I stay wholly away from seated bicep curls.

Coach,

I’m currently on a 2 week fat loss blitz (currently at ~12% BF) with less than 50 g carbs per day. I’m using glutamine and glycine to replenish glycogen. Do you still recommend a carb-up on the weekend, or should I stay very low carb the entire two weeks?
Thanks so much.

Coach,

I’m unsure how to determine proper loading for the “Cluster 5” sets in weeks 9-10 of Get Jacked. Obviously 5 reps with 10s rest between each rep will enable me to lift heavier than I would for 5 straight reps, but do you have any guidelines for selecting a proper load to start off? Would somewhere near a 3RM load be too much?

Thibs,

I typically train in the evenings (~7pm). If I were to start carb cycling, on a moderate or high (legs), would you recommend eating 3-4 meals with P+C beforehand or just the 1-2 meals preceding the workout and then 2 after, later that night?

I’m afraid I’d be overfilling glycogen early on in the day thus leading to fat storage rather than anabolism.

Thanks.

[quote]maxiron wrote:
hey coach,
please, some questions:
I’m suffering from low back pain ( i need some postural corrections, i’m working about it with my chiropractor).
I’m able to train my lower body with Front Squat, Trap-Bar,
Bulgarian Squat,Reverse Hyperextension and Single Leg Squat…Not with the Back Squat.
I have pain with squat isometric hold, jump squat(DB), power clean too…
What other movement could I do instead of those, in Isometric/explosive contrast(Beast Building program)?
Any suggestion to train my lower body and core decently?

thank you in advance[/quote]

Excuse me CT,
I post it again
please, can you give me your advice about?
thank you

I’m not CT but i think he doesn’t answer questions about injuries.

My advice: consult with your medical professional regarding alternatives. it seems like you have a pretty good menu to choose from

[quote]squattin600 wrote:
I’m not ct but i think he doesn’t answer questions about injuries.

My advice: consult with your medical professional regarding alternatives. it seems like you have a pretty good menu to choose from[/quote]

thank you
I can’t jump any squat, i can’t (Back or Front)squat isometric hold (pushing as hard as humanly possible)without pain…
I’m ok with regular reps and my “alternative” movements, but not with isometric/explosive contrast sessions
(it’s difficult for me to find a medical doctor who really appreciate hard-works with weights).

[quote]phatkins187 wrote:
Thibs,

I typically train in the evenings (~7pm). If I were to start carb cycling, on a moderate or high (legs), would you recommend eating 3-4 meals with P+C beforehand or just the 1-2 meals preceding the workout and then 2 after, later that night?

I’m afraid I’d be overfilling glycogen early on in the day thus leading to fat storage rather than anabolism.

Thanks.[/quote]

Most of your carbs should indeed be focused peri-workout. So have 1 regular carb meal 2-3 hours prior to your workout. Have some carbs (shake) pre, during and post-workout and have one last carb-containing meal 90 minutes later.

[quote]jstines wrote:
Coach,

I’m unsure how to determine proper loading for the “Cluster 5” sets in weeks 9-10 of Get Jacked. Obviously 5 reps with 10s rest between each rep will enable me to lift heavier than I would for 5 straight reps, but do you have any guidelines for selecting a proper load to start off? Would somewhere near a 3RM load be too much?[/quote]

Normally 3-4RM is a good starting point.

[quote]agent9041 wrote:
Coach,

I’m currently on a 2 week fat loss blitz (currently at ~12% BF) with less than 50 g carbs per day. I’m using glutamine and glycine to replenish glycogen. Do you still recommend a carb-up on the weekend, or should I stay very low carb the entire two weeks?
Thanks so much.[/quote]

If you are doing only a blitz lasting two weeks, do not carb-up as it takes 10 days or so to be maximally fat adapted. And in two weeks you normally don’t have time to suffer the negative effects of constantly be in a deprived state.

Thib,

I’m currently having around 50-75g carbs a day, with a 200-225g carb-up every 7 days (mostly clean). However I have an Army fitness test coming up in a week (2 min. push-ups, 2 min. sit-ups, 2 mile run), and I don’t want my carb depletion to affect my score, but I’d also like to stick to this diet as close as possible. Should I have a carb-up the day before the test, and also have some carbs on the morning of the test? Or should I have just a regular amount of carbs a couple days before the test? Thanks, appreciate it!

  • Andy

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
agent9041 wrote:
Coach,

I’m currently on a 2 week fat loss blitz (currently at ~12% BF) with less than 50 g carbs per day. I’m using glutamine and glycine to replenish glycogen. Do you still recommend a carb-up on the weekend, or should I stay very low carb the entire two weeks?
Thanks so much.

If you are doing only a blitz lasting two weeks, do not carb-up as it takes 10 days or so to be maximally fat adapted. And in two weeks you normally don’t have time to suffer the negative effects of consta ntly be in a deprived state.[/quote]

Thank you kindly. I feel that I’m in a deprived state or more like a zombie state right now shortly after my workout, but I’m sure I’ll recover!

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
Thib,

I’m currently having around 50-75g carbs a day, with a 200-225g carb-up every 7 days (mostly clean). However I have an Army fitness test coming up in a week (2 min. push-ups, 2 min. sit-ups, 2 mile run), and I don’t want my carb depletion to affect my score, but I’d also like to stick to this diet as close as possible. Should I have a carb-up the day before the test, and also have some carbs on the morning of the test? Or should I have just a regular amount of carbs a couple days before the test? Thanks, appreciate it!

  • Andy[/quote]

Time your carb-up so that it happens the day before the tests. The day of the test go with fruits only, until the test. You want to keep your body light and feed it only easy to digest foods. Do not eat anything 90-120 minutes prior to the test so that no blood will be diverted to the digestive system during the tests.

Hey Coach,

Welcome back, and as always, thanks for just being such a great resource for everyone on here.

I’ve got a bunch of questions, so let me apologize in advance -lol. I’m several weeks out of my first BBing show, and plan on following your “shredded in 6 days” article for my last week. It makes amazing sense, and this is probably the simplest way I have ever seen anyone lay out a guided plan to manipulate water and carbs to get the full, yet dry look on stage. I do have several concerns, and questions that I’m hoping you can clear up, or just clarify for me.

-Mon through Thursday are pretty self explanatory, <50g carbs, and 3 gallons of water. My question is in regards to overall cals ingested. I’ve been on a rotating approach, very similar to your carb cycling codex (intake based on what will be done in the gym that day). So far, I have been scheduling my ‘low’ intake days for when I rest from the weights, and do my interval work. They have involved <50g carbs, and my lowest overall cals throughout the week (usually no more than 2000 - 2100 cals). Should I keep my numbers this low all through the last week, or can I get away with a more moderate intake (2300?) because of the low carbs?

-On the Friday before the show (Sat), you say to cut water at 4pm, when you have the fourth carb meal for the day. The article then advises to have either 1, or 2 more carb meals to be consumed during the remaining portion of the day. My question is this: Will those two meals be all that I will be eating for the remainder of the day, or is it only two P+C meals but I can have a 3rd so long as it is P+F and contains no more than maintenance cals?

-Also on Friday, you recommend taking a hot bath in Epsom salts before bed. My concern is the Pro-Tan. I know some folks apply it, let it ‘dye’ the skin for a few hours, then wash it off and repeat. Others, however, will allow the coats of dye to build up from Thursday night through Sat morning, and achieve a nice dark ‘tan’. What are your thoughts on how necessary the salt bath is vs the darker tan?

-Saturday before the prejudging, you mention ingesting a sugar soda 45 mins prior. I was wondering if it is simply the sugar I would be after, or if the carbonation will have some extra positive effect. I typically get very gasy from carbonated beverages, and the last thing I imagine I would want on stage, is a bloated gassy stomach. (I read of guys taking rice cakes and jam, jelly beans, chocolate bars, even wine.)

-Also on Saturday, I am curious what your thoughts are as far as eating between the prejudging and actual evening show. My prejudging is scheduled for 11am, and the evening show for 5pm. I hear about a lot of competitors going out and downing a burger and fries, thinking that the contest is already decided. A lot of my friends, and folks from my gym are coming out to see me in my first show, and the last thing I want is to look like some fat bastard in the evening show. What would you suggest?

-Thoughts on Creatine also seem to be all over the spectrum. I know that creatine supposedly forces more water into the muscle, but just want to make sure it won’t interfere with the flushing effect we’re going after.

and Lastly…

-I picked up an herbal, OTC diuretic like you suggest, and it instructs to take twice a day. Your article says to use it Friday, however a few competitors say that I should be taking it every day for the last week so it will start to take effect. Will this approach be helpful, or work against the flushing of water by the body?

Thanks Thibs, I know I just threw a lot at you!

S

Hi Thibs,

Hope you had a good holiday, after finishing Get Jacked I holidayed in Thailand for two weeks and am now raring to go.

On your designing a good programm article, when employing a quad/push, and ham/pull four day split, how many exercises would you recommned for each quad/ham movement and for each push/pull movement per session, with the primary emphasis being on strength development?

Many thanks

Scott

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
PB Andy wrote:
Thib,

I’m currently having around 50-75g carbs a day, with a 200-225g carb-up every 7 days (mostly clean). However I have an Army fitness test coming up in a week (2 min. push-ups, 2 min. sit-ups, 2 mile run), and I don’t want my carb depletion to affect my score, but I’d also like to stick to this diet as close as possible. Should I have a carb-up the day before the test, and also have some carbs on the morning of the test? Or should I have just a regular amount of carbs a couple days before the test? Thanks, appreciate it!

  • Andy

Time your carb-up so that it happens the day before the tests. The day of the test go with fruits only, until the test. You want to keep your body light and feed it only easy to digest foods. Do not eat anything 90-120 minutes prior to the test so that no blood will be diverted to the digestive system during the tests.[/quote]

Thib, on the day of the test are you saying eat fruits only as a carb source or fruit only as food (no protein/fat since it’s heavy) until I’m done with the test? Much thanks.

  • Andy

Hey CT, I was wondering about in your book Black Book of Training Secrets. The set/rep schemes you use in the bench press specilization program you use rep/sets like
3x5, 3x4
also
1x3, 1x2, 1x1, 1x3, 1x2, 1x1

What kinda percentages should we be workin with for the 3x5,3x4
Are these straight sets for 3x5, and moderately heavy (7-8RM)
and then bump the weight up a bit for 3x4
Same question goes for the 1x3,1x2,1x1, repeat.

Also would this program be beneficial for me because I am quite close to a 405 bench, and I want to hit that 405 and was thinkin of using this program to seal the deal. What do you think
Thanks!