I was reading all of Christian Thibaudeau’s articles on specializing like the HSS-100 programs. I lack size in my back shoulders and arms, but i have size in my chest (born that way). I want to do Chris Thib’s HSS-100 specialization routines in my ARMS, BACK and SHOULDERS, so that I can lock in some size gains with those areas. Because my chest dominates my landscape and i need to fill out the other areas lol.
My question is, IN WHAT ORDER shall i do Thib’s specialization routines to gain size in my back, shoulders and arms???
I was thinking BACK first, because if my arms get to strong, then wont it take away from my back exercise whenn i get to them? As for arms and shoulders i have no clue what would be better to do first.
Also i was thinking that i could do Thib’s shoulder and arms rountine specialization routines at the same time by packing more exercises in per day…is that a good idea??
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Unless you are 5 feet tall or something, Honestly I don’t think you need to be “specializing” anything at 188lbs and 20% bodyfat.
Just my opinion.[/quote]
Despite being the one who wrote the spec series, I agree with this 100% and said pretty much the same thing many times in my thread.
Specialization is a technique that should be left to those who already have built a solid foundation of overall muscle mass.
AND it always puzzles me that NOBODY asks how to specialize on their legs.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Specialization is a technique that should be left to those who already have built a solid foundation of overall muscle mass.
AND it always puzzles me that NOBODY asks how to specialize on their legs. :)[/quote]
Funny you should mention that, because when I very first began picking up weights I was the opposite of most. I wanted to make my thighs bigger and stronger to supplement my martial arts training at the time, and I stumbled across your Pillars of Strength routine. I loved it and wanted to do it, but of course I was too inexperienced for a leg specialization routine.
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Specialization is a technique that should be left to those who already have built a solid foundation of overall muscle mass.
AND it always puzzles me that NOBODY asks how to specialize on their legs.
Funny you should mention that, because when I very first began picking up weights I was the opposite of most. I wanted to make my thighs bigger and stronger to supplement my martial arts training at the time, and I stumbled across your Pillars of Strength routine. I loved it and wanted to do it, but of course I was too inexperienced for a leg specialization routine.
Maybe one day in the future I’ll give it a whirl[/quote]
Same for me! My first two years of training I only did legs… I actually trained legs every day. I was 13 and was just starting to play football and was a receiver.
I’m 5’10" 185 now and my plan is to lose about 15-20 pounds of fat by eating healthy and drinking only protein shakes after lunch for food, circuit training on M W F and interval traing on T R S, rest Sunday.
After I drop 15 I wanted to do these specialization routines because at the moment I only want to work out for aesthetics and I wanted to add size in my arms back and shoulders as quickly as possible.
So here are some pics, would you say that i have a solid foundation or no and even if i did… still dont do specialization routines?
So here are some pics, would you say that i have a solid foundation or no ?
Not to be an arse… but not even remotely close.
And pull-up your pants![/quote]
this might be the single best post I have ever read on T-Nation.
I have spent the last week reading just about every article Thibs has wrote for this site for the past two years. Just about every one that is either advanced or “specialized” he states it is not for beginners or people who need to build a base first. Its as if people respect his knowledge enough to follow his programs but not his advice.
I dont want to be mean but just look at your physique. now imagine you put 2 inches on JUST your arms. Does that make the rest of it look any better?
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
mr popular wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Specialization is a technique that should be left to those who already have built a solid foundation of overall muscle mass.
AND it always puzzles me that NOBODY asks how to specialize on their legs.
Funny you should mention that, because when I very first began picking up weights I was the opposite of most. I wanted to make my thighs bigger and stronger to supplement my martial arts training at the time, and I stumbled across your Pillars of Strength routine. I loved it and wanted to do it, but of course I was too inexperienced for a leg specialization routine.
Maybe one day in the future I’ll give it a whirl
Same for me! My first two years of training I only did legs… I actually trained legs every day. I was 13 and was just starting to play football and was a receiver.
[/quote]
I actually had reverse mirror syndrome. I started lifting for wrestling, my first two years were spent pulling 90% of the time. DLs, rows and pulls ups were all I really did. My chest and quads are still playing catch up.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
undeadlift wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
AND it always puzzles me that NOBODY asks how to specialize on their legs.
I did. I asked you months ago how to specialize for leg strength. You gave a nice answer.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
undeadlift wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
undeadlift wrote:
Hi CT. You told us that specializing a certain bodypart for a short time will increase its muscle mass for a long time. Can the same be said in terms of strength?
Yes, but not to the same extent. Specialization can increase long-term strength potential by stimulating muscle growth (all other things being equal, a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle) and by improving neural efficiency (training a muscle often improved your capacity to recruit that muscle).
I see. So how would a leg specialization program look like when you want to improve strength and explosiveness?
Lower body is trained 3x a week, with different exercises each of the 3 workouts and different intensity zones:
workout 1: 1-3 reps for the main movement(s), 4-5 reps for the secondary movement(s)
workout 2: 4-5 reps for the main movement(s), 6-8 reps for the secondary movement(s)
workout 3: 6-8 reps for the main movement(s), 9-10 reps for the secondary movement(s)
The volume for the rest of the body has to be drastically reduced.[/quote]
OP, this is what CT told me. This might come in handy once you look good enough to specialize.
HAHAHA Heyyyyy thanks for the reality check Thib and others…the pants are up…
OOh and Waittz, I dont mind Chris Thib making fun of me but the not you little man so watch how you phrase things, not to be mean you look like a 14 year old on roids.
[quote]YadgaJacK wrote:
HAHAHA Heyyyyy thanks for the reality check Thib and others…the pants are up…
OOh and Waittz, I dont mind Chris Thib making fun of me but the not you little man so watch how you phrase things, not to be mean you look like a 14 year old on roids.[/quote]
I wasn’t making fun of you. You asked if you had a good base and I simply said that you didn’t even come close to having a good base. Coaches are to be honest, not cheerleaders.
And Waittz has a pretty good physique and didn’t make fun of you. He simply said that even IF your body would respond well to spec training (which it wont because of where you are at right now) adding too much size to your arms would just look foolish because the rest of your body would lag behind.
Honestly you look pretty ‘‘balanced’’, nothing seems to be way out of whack with the rest. You just need a lot more muscle mass and a lot less body fat.
A lot of people don’t understand that the goal of a spec phase is not to bring up A DESPERATELY LAGGING BODY PART. NOT to train more of what you LIKE to train.
This is the reason for my leg spec comment. If anybody on these boards have a glaring weakness, 90% of the time it’s legs. So anybody who wants to go the spec route, should first prove his mettle by specializing on his legs first.
