Thib's Q&A

Ok cool.

Is this because the rest days are just as important as the training days?

hey coach i want to know why is lying tricep extension on a decline bench better than the one done on a flat bench?

thanks in ADV

[quote]devil007 wrote:
hey coach i want to know why is lying tricep extension on a decline bench better than the one done on a flat bench?

thanks in ADV[/quote]

EMG studies have shown a greater activation of the triceps by up to 10% when using a decline angle. Probably due to the greater stretch of the triceps.

Hello Christian,

iam a recreational cyclist that wants to train seriously. Also i train already for years with weights.

Now i want to improve my cycling i have to become leaner (and lighter). How can i find a good balance between those two i.m.o. conflicting sports.

Whats your opinion?

hey Thib

Can someone make his body to adapt to produce more testosteron longterm or is it mostly genetic?

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/diet_performance_nutrition_supplements/loading_at_the_end_of_a_diet

do you mind quickly skimming over the questions I posted in this short thread and responding here Thibs? Someone told me to just ask here

mucho appreciated

-Jeff

[quote]actionjeff wrote:
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/diet_performance_nutrition_supplements/loading_at_the_end_of_a_diet

do you mind quickly skimming over the questions I posted in this short thread and responding here Thibs? Someone told me to just ask here

mucho appreciated

-Jeff [/quote]

For the benefit of the readers this was your original post alng with my answers:

[quote]actionjeff wrote:
''If someone was finishing up a cut to a low BF and was depleted at the end, they would look a lot bigger in the muscles with the same BF if they replenished their glycogen stores right? [/quote]

Look bigger and fuller, yes. A LOT bigger, probably not. The difference will make an impact if your body fat is low, but this surcompensation effect only last a day or so.

[quote]actionjeff wrote:
Would you carb load to replenish your stores and then load stuff like creatine, glycerine (saw laroyal mention this) , water manipulation/loading? Anything else? [/quote]

I wrote a rather detailed article on this subject. Look for it, it’s called Getting shredded in 6 days or something like that.

[quote]actionjeff wrote:
Also, how much weight would you expect to gain, [/quote]

This is highly variable and depends on how much glycogen you can store among other things. Could be anywhere from 2lbs up to 15lbs if one drinks a lot (but this will blur definition). My personal record is 23lbs in 6 hours… NOT a comfortable feeling.

But for physique-enhancement purposes one should gain around 3-5lbs of scale weight. More than that would likely result in blurred definition.

[quote]actionjeff wrote:
would this result in looking significantly fatter/losing definition? [/quote]

It could, that’s the problem. If you ingest too much carbs or drink too much, you will retain a lot of water and some of it will be beneath the skin, which will blur out definition. This is called ‘‘spilling over’’.

Peaking physically is not easy as each body is different.

I often noticed that people will look better after a carb-up day THEN a low-carbs day (e.g. load on Saturday, low-carbs on sunday, look best by monday). This is because you will still hold much of the stored glycogen (muscle look full) while the low carbs day will help you flush out excess water that might make you look less defined.

[quote]actionjeff wrote:
I want to look as big as possible for a few weeks while on vacation[/quote]

  1. Why do you want to look as big as possible, to intimidate other men at the beach or to impress the girls? Trust me, they will NOT notice a 2-5 (or even 10)lbs difference.

  2. You can’t maintain a carb loaded peak for long. The surcompensation effect is quickly lost and continuing to eat more and more carbs is more likely to make you gain fat.

[quote]gigigo wrote:
hey Thib

Can someone make his body to adapt to produce more testosteron longterm or is it mostly genetic?[/quote]

It is possible to manipulate your hormone levels through training, diet and supplementation. You will not reach ‘‘steroid-like’’ levels, but you can increase your production to the high end of what is naturally possible.

Some people will have a harder time doing so, but everybody can improve.

Some things to consider:

  • Don’t neglect fats. Fat, or more precisely cholesterol is necessary to the production of testosterone. And increased fat intake is correlated with higher testosterone levels. I obviously recommend mostly good fats like fish oil, coconut oil, borage oil as well as the fat found naturally in the meat you eat.

  • Do not overdo aerobics. Excessive cardio has been linked to lowered testosterone levels.

  • Avoid sugars and foods that is chemically enhanced (if you can’t pronounce of the ingredients on the list, don’t eat it!)

  • Train heavy on compound movements. Lifting above 80% of your max has been shown to lead to higher testo levels than lifting lighter. Similarily, compound movements, especially those involving the hips and that put you in a ‘‘life or death’’ situation (squats, deadlifts, power clean, for example) can lead to slightly higher testosterone levels

A good supplement protocol could look like this:

WEEK 1
UPON WAKING UP
Receptormax 2 capsules
Rez-V 3 capsules

With breakfast
Panthetine supreme (www.charlespoliquin.net) 1-2 capsules
Licorice supreme (www.charlespoliquin.net) 2 capsules

With lunch
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps
Licorice supreme 2 caps
Receptormax 2 capsules

With Supper
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps

WEEK 2
UPON WAKING UP
Receptormax 2 capsules
Rez-V 3 capsules

With breakfast
Panthetine supreme (www.charlespoliquin.net) 1-2 capsules
Holy basil supreme (www.charlespoliquin.net) 2 capsules

With lunch
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps
Holy basil supreme 2 caps
Receptormax 2 capsules

With Supper
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps

WEEK 3
UPON WAKING UP
Receptormax 2 capsules
Rez-V 3 capsules

With breakfast
Panthetine supreme (www.charlespoliquin.net) 1-2 capsules

With lunch
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps
Receptormax 2 capsules

With Supper
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps
TRIBEX 3 caps

30 minutes before bed
TRIBEX 3 caps

WEEK 4
UPON WAKING UP
Receptormax 2 capsules
Rez-V 3 capsules

With breakfast
Panthetine supreme (www.charlespoliquin.net) 1-2 capsules
Androgen excellence (www.charlespoliquin.net) 2 capsules

With lunch
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps
Androgen excellence (www.charlespoliquin.net) 2 capsules

With Supper
Panthetine supreme 1-2 caps

that is exactly what I was looking for, thanks so much for the response. Great info! very helpful

I checked out that article. I figure you are probably right and such a protocol is useless for me right now. So I should just worry about coming off dieting.

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:

  1. Why do you want to look as big as possible, to intimidate other men at the beach or to impress the girls?
    [/quote]

I don’t understand the difference =)

If you don’t mind, here’s just a few others questions related to the same subject that I posted in the thread:

(1) what are your thoughts on compounds like creatine and glycerine for muscle fullness during dieting? or just after.

(2) any recommendations on how to transition to normal eating so I don’t get fat during my few weeks off. Would I skip a carb up or w/e and just slowly introduce reintroduce carbs for a couple weeks prior to leaving school?

I don’t know if CKDs require any special treatment. I basically don’t know anything, hah.

thibs, im just wondering if you have ever worked with diabetic athletes, and if u have, what are some tips that you might recommend?

hey Thib,

I have a certain muscle weakness that I can’t locate. I was wondering if you could give me any pointers on finding it and dealing with it myself.

Whenever I do chinups I peter out and breathe really heavy easily. Infact I feel slightly dizzy. I don’t feel anything like it even with heavy squats.

My biceps and lats have strength to spare, but somewhere below my chest (possibly upper abs) or some other stabilizing muscle right below the chest is weak. I don’t feel any specific muscle or burn… just a quick loss of stamina in the upper stomach area.

I know you can’t do any sort of “diagnosis,” which I am not looking for. I’m just wondering if you could give some sort of self tests for self-discovery about this weakness.

Hey Thibs,

I’ve been going hard for 12-14 weeks without a deload. For the past 4 weeks I’ve been “stale” and not progressing really at all… Anyways so this is end of deload week #1 and my question is,

do you believe/heard in dramatically increasing calories by 30-50% for 3 days to help combat this? I eat 3,000 on workout days, about 300-350g in carbs so thinking 4,000-4,500 range for 3 days. If yes, I’m kind of scared to throw in more carbs, so I was thinking if I normally have 350g on workout days, do just 270g and up the healthy fats by a ton? I’m not sure, just kind of scared of upping the carbs when I’m only lifting 60-70% of my normal weight…

And my other question is directly related. I have low testosterone (doc says - going to endo soon) - could this be why I seem to overtrain easier than most? I’ve been stuck on doing low volume 3 days a week for a while and wanting to change it up to a 4 day split of some kind with a bit more volume.

Thanks a lot for your time Christian!

(strong first post ha)

Thib,

I found the article excerpts below online and was wondering if you generally agree with the numbers given in the excerpts and at the end or if these estimates are way off the mark.

Excerpts

"As few as 15 grams of carbohydrates per day has been shown to limit nitrogen loss and 50 grams of carbohydrate per day severely limits the need for the body to use amino acids for gluoconeogenesis. Not only will it maintain blood glucose and insulin at a slightly higher level (thus inhibiting cortisol release), it directly provides glucose for the brain, limiting the need to break down protein in the first place.

Ketosis (if desired) will generally still develop under those conditions. So although the physiological requirement for dietary carbohydrates is zero, we might set a practical minimum (in terms of preventing excessive body protein loss) at 50 grams per day. I realize that most ketogenic diet authors use 30 grams/day as a starting point but, frankly, I have no idea where that value came from."

“In general, assuming zero or very low levels of activity, an intake of 100 grams of carbohydrates per day will prevent the development of ketosis, just providing the brain with enough carbohydrates to function ?normally?. So, for folks who want (or need) to just avoid ketosis, 100 grams per day will act as a practical limit.”

“Summing up so far, we?ve set a practical minimum of 50-100 grams of carbohydrates per day depending on whether or not you function well in ketosis. I want to mention again that this shouldn?t be taken as a recommendation that such an amount is ideal; it simply represents a minimum intake value.”

"Let’s sum up, looking at both practical minimum and maximum carbohydrate intakes under different circumstances. For the g/lb recommendations, I’ll use a lifter with 160 lbs of lean body mass and put gram amounts in parentheses

* Physiological requirement: 0 g/day
* Practical minimum to avoid excessive muscle breakdown: 50 g/day
* Practical minimum for individuals who function poorly in ketosis: 100 g/day
  Note: all above values assume no exercise.


* Additional amount to sustain low intensity exercise: minimal approaching zero
* Additional amount to sustain weight training: 5 grams carbohydrate/2 work sets
* Typically recommended amounts by bodybuilding experts: 1-3 g/lb (160-480 g/day)
* Typically recommended amounts by mainstream nutritionists: 2-3 g/lb (320-480 g/day)
* Average intake for endurance athletes: 5 g/kg or a little more than 2 g/lb (320 g/day)
* Recommended intake for endurance athletes: 7-10 g/kg or 3-4.5 g/lb (480-720 g/day)
* Practical maximum for non-carb loading individuals: 8.8 g/kg or 4 g/lb (640 g/day)
* Maximal intakes for carb-loading: 16 g/kg or 7 g/lb (1120 g/day)"

Hey Christian,

I am training for a couple of years now and on the moment i am on the anabolic diet for 6 weeks (excluding metabolic shift period).
I am a lean person and the reason why i started ad is to gain a lot of lean muscle.
After being on the diet for a couple of weeks i notice a couple of things:

  • more energy during the day
  • better recovery (high protein)
  • strenght decrease
  • a bit leaner
  • a lil bit of muscle gain
  • higher testosterone
  • being flat almost the whole week exept weekends

I am a strenght athlete and fighter so strenght is my #1 priority and after that i would like to add as much muslce as possible. So i am a bit dissapointed about the diet. On carbs i was much stronger and added muscle mass quicker but on the other hand i love the energy and increased levels of testosteron(a bit more agression and libido).

So my question is, how can i get the best of both worlds? The energy and testosterone of a fat diet and the strenght and fullness(thick muscles) of a carb diet?

I thought about a few things that maybe can help me:

adding more carbs during the day, increase to 200gr? at the moment i am getting only 30gr or less.

Adding 60 gr dextrose pwo (i train 3 times a week fullbody)

50% carbs 50% fat energy nutrients? (what is the best time for carbs/fat)

At the moment i am not fighting because of a couple of injuries.
Do you have any experience with fighters or endurance athletes with fat diets, if so how do they respond?

Its a pitty that there are no good strenght coaches like yourself in the Netherlands.
Cause i would love to be coached by someone with the knowledge like you.

I hope you have the time to answer my questions.

Greetings

Tom

Christian,
are you a fan of organ meats?some times they get a bad rap because of a fat called purines,
what do you feel yourself?
lambs liver is a bit of an old irish cuisine that was forgotten in the “low fat” era

Hey Thibs,

I preemptively apologize if this is a dumb question. Well here it is: A little over a year ago I did your HSS-100 program and I enjoyed it and got good results. Would it be ok to do the program again soon or should I not since I have already performed it once before? If its a bad idea, do you have any other programs similar to this that you would recommended?

Thank you very much for your time.

CT, with your metabolic pairings (yes, I’m still doing them), all of the Combo 1 pairings use burpees, but my lower back does not like burpees because of forward flexion when I drop down and then stand up. Can I used any of the other secondary exercises from the other combos instead of the burpees for the Combo 1 secondary exercise, such as swings for instance, or do you have a particular move you recommend?

BTW - I know you hate it when people tinker with your programs and substitute exercises, but try not to get too pissed off here. I have a ruptured disc that’s two years old that’s healed very well on its own, but still gets angry with any forward flexion. Squats, DLs, and cleans are no problem as long as I maintain a tight arch.

Thanks, CT.

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:
CT, with your metabolic pairings (yes, I’m still doing them), all of the Combo 1 pairings use burpees, but my lower back does not like burpees because of forward flexion when I drop down and then stand up. Can I used any of the other secondary exercises from the other combos instead of the burpees for the Combo 1 secondary exercise, such as swings for instance, or do you have a particular move you recommend?

BTW - I know you hate it when people tinker with your programs and substitute exercises, but try not to get too pissed off here. I have a ruptured disc that’s two years old that’s healed very well on its own, but still gets angry with any forward flexion. Squats, DLs, and cleans are no problem as long as I maintain a tight arch.

Thanks, CT. [/quote]

No problem! The basic concept is simple… one strength/resistance exercise + one bodyweight ‘‘energy draining’’ exercise + one abs movement.

Feel free to mix and match the exercises you want

[quote]Stone101 wrote:
Hey Thibs,

I preemptively apologize if this is a dumb question. Well here it is: A little over a year ago I did your HSS-100 program and I enjoyed it and got good results. Would it be ok to do the program again soon or should I not since I have already performed it once before? If its a bad idea, do you have any other programs similar to this that you would recommended?

Thank you very much for your time.[/quote]

AS long as you had a ‘‘wash-out’’ period (i.e. been away from this specific program for a while) you can repeat it.

[quote]NiallC wrote:
Christian,
are you a fan of organ meats?some times they get a bad rap because of a fat called purines,
what do you feel yourself?
lambs liver is a bit of an old irish cuisine that was forgotten in the “low fat” era[/quote]

I personally never use or recommend organ meat. I’ve never liked them taste-wise, so they never really came up to mind when planning diets.