christian thibaudeau - 3 ways to get big!

5/21/2018 Christian Thibaudeau - 3 Ways to Get Big!

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6/28/2014 www.t-nation.com/portal_includes/articles/2007/07-106-training.html

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3 Ways to Get Big!

by Christian Thibaudeau

When someone starts to lift weights it's usually for one main reason: to build muscle.

Almost everyone who starts lifting wants to gain muscle to some extent. They might not know it, but they do!

Even the girl who doesn't want to get big, just get "more toned," will need to build muscle to reach her objectiv

Muscle growth is the way weight training improves your appearance the most. From looking hard and defined

being downright freaky, you need to build muscle to attain what you want out of training. In that regard, it'sinteresting to know what stimulates growth. It can get pretty confusing, too!

Some big guys will tell you that you should lift big weights: "Just lift the damn bar and progressively add weight

that pumping stuff is for wusses!"

Other guys who are just as big will then say that the key is volume work: "Top bodybuilders lift in the moderat

rep ranges, so you should just leave the super heavy stuff to powerlifters!"

Others with equally impressive physiques will point out that you should focus on muscle tension, squeezing the

muscle hard: "Simply lifting the weight isn't enough. You must aim for the quality of the contraction!"

The thing is that they're all right to some extent! You can't argue with results. Some guys have been getting big

focusing on lifting huge weights on a few basic exercises. Others built their mass by doing a lot of physical wor

on several exercises with a moderate resistance. Some built great physiques "just lifting the damn weight" whil

others really emphasize the squeeze, the pump, and feeling the muscle.

It's hard to say that any of these methods don't work because for each of them we can find thousands of

successful proponents. We know that all of these methods can stimulate muscle growth, but how? And is it

important to know? Yes, it is. You should at least have a general idea about these concepts so you'll be able t

optimize your own workouts.


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You have three basic ways of stimulating growth: heavy lifting, volume work, and constant tension lifting. They

work via slightly different mechanisms so it's worth it to take a quick look at each.

Method #1: Heavy Lifting

When you're performing sets with a relatively heavy weight, you stimulate muscle growth via muscle micro-

trauma (a high force output leads to a high rate of protein degradation), neural factors (more complete

recruitment and fatigue of the high-threshold motor units) and hormonal (increase of free Testosterone) factors

This is especially true when the progressive overload principle is followed (trying to increase the weight lifted

over the weeks) since it forces the muscle to make itself stronger and bigger to be able to sustain that type of

physical demand. Heavy lifting also has a potentiating effect on the other exercises performed since it "wakes-

the nervous system, making it more efficient at recruiting the high-threshold motor units in subsequent sets.


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Finally, heavy lifting increases muscle density and myogenic tone (tonus: the muscle looks harder even at rest).

You don't need to lift your 1RM or shoot for singles or doubles to have the benefits of heavy lifting. If anythingwhen training for hypertrophy it's best to keep lifting heavy but keep the reps moderate. Beginners and

intermediates will do fine with lifting around 85% of their maximum (lifting in the 6-8 rep range to failure) while

more advanced trainees will need to go up to 90% (lifting in the 3-5 rep range).

Advanced lifters can also use high-intensity techniques such as cluster sets (sets of 5 reps with 90-92% of you

max taking 10 seconds of rest between sets) and rest-pause (perform a 3-5 RM, rest for 10-12 seconds, and

perform a few more reps).

Method #2: Constant Tension

Here we're talking about sets where the muscle doesn't relax for one fraction of a second during the execution

a set. In other words, the worked muscle needs to be kept super tense for the duration of the exercise; the

moment the muscle is allowed to relax, the set (using this method) loses its efficacy.

Constant tension sets are obviously performed with fairly light weights since it's almost impossible to maintain

muscle tension throughout every inch of every rep of a heavy set. The light weight oftentimes doesn't allow for

much muscle damage to occur, yet this type of training has been shown in studies and with bodybuilders to be

effective at building both strength and size.

So, there must be a second pathway for hypertrophy stimulation. That pathway is the blood occlusion that

occurs during constant tension sets which prevents oxygen from going into the muscle during the exercise. Wh

you perform a strength training exercise while depriving the target muscle of oxygen, several things happen:

lactate production increases, so does hGH and IGF-1 levels (two anabolic hormones).


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Furthermore, there's some evidence showing that when a muscle is being stimulated in a hypoxic state (oxygen

deprived), fast-twitch fiber activation is increased, possibly because the shortage of oxygen prevents the use o

the aerobic pathway on which slow-twitch fibers are dependent.

Here we're talking about relatively light weights being used for sets lasting at least 30 seconds, preferably 40-7

seconds (to maximize lactate production) with a relatively slow (but not super-slow) tempo.

The real key is that the target muscle should never be allowed to relax during the set. This means no pause

between reps and keeping the muscle flexed at all times. When the muscle relaxes, oxygen will enter the musc

and you lose the efficacy of the technique. Due to the nature of this method, isolation movements are your bes

choices.

Method #3: Volume/Cumulative Fatigue Training

Zatsiorsky wrote that a muscle fiber needs to be not only recruited but also fatigued to be stimulated. Heavy

lifting, while being a fantastic tool to stimulate growth, often leaves some fibers un-stimulated.

Volume work, especially when performed with short rest intervals, can increase the number of muscle fibers

being stimulated via the cumulative fatigue effect. Sure, some argue that this will lead to more slow-twitch fiber

hypertrophy (which is true), but if you're only after maximum muscle growth, it doesn't matter!

Athletes should focus solely on fast-twitch fiber development, but mass-minded individuals shouldn't shy away

from volume work. Heck, even the Westside guys are known for doing repetition method work, sometimes w

very high reps.


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To be effective, this method should be performed with sets ranging from 8-12 reps (up to 15 or 20 on some

exercises) with short rest intervals (45-60 seconds). Advanced lifters can also use high-density techniques suc

as pre/post-fatigue (superset of two exercises for the same muscle group), drop-sets (perform 8-12 reps to

technical failure, drop the weight by 15-20% and continue to perform reps), and double contractions (one and

half reps).

Arranging the Methods into a Workout

Here's a good rule: You should always put the more CNS-demanding stuff early in the workout. Heavier

exercises and more complex exercises involve the CNS more. So in a workout using all three methods you

should use this order:

1. Heavy movement using a big compound exercise (bench press, squat, Romanian deadlift, military press,

rowing)

2. Intermediate movement (dumbbell press, leg press, lunges, reverse hyper, glute-ham raise, wide stance leg

press) for sets in the 8-12 reps range

3. Isolation exercise using constant tension for sets lasting 40-70 seconds (12 to 15 slow, tensed reps)

The second rule is that the lower the reps per set, the more sets you do. Good arrangements for each muscle

include:

CHEST BEGINNER

A. Decline bench press

5-6 sets of 6-8 reps2 minutes of rest between sets

B. Incline DB (dumbbell) press

4-5 sets of 10-12 reps

90 seconds of rest between sets

C. Cable crossover

3-4 sets of 12-15 constant tension reps60 seconds of rest


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CHEST INTERMEDIATE



2 minutes of rest between sets

B. Incline DB press



C. Cable crossover

3-4 sets of 10-12 constant tension reps

60 seconds of rest

CHEST ADVANCED


5-6 sets of 5x1 cluster (sets of 5 reps with 10 seconds of rest between reps)


B1. Flat DB press


no rest

B2. Flat DB flies with a pronated grip



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90 seconds of rest

C. Cable crossover


60 seconds of rest

BACK BEGINNER

A. Chest-supported DB rowing or chest-supported T-bar rowing with a parallel grip

5-6 sets of 6 to 8 reps


B. Lat pulldown



C. Bent over DB laterals



D. Straight-arm pulldown


60 seconds of rest

*Note that we do one more back exercise so that we can work on both lats and mid-back equally.

BACK INTERMEDIATE


5-6 sets of 3 to 5 reps


B. Lat pulldown


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C. Bent over DB laterals





60 seconds of rest

BACK ADVANCED


5-6 sets of 3-5 + rest-pause2 minutes of rest between sets

B1. Lat pulldown


no rest

B2. Rope lat pulldown


90 seconds of rest

C. Seated rowing to abdomen with a pronated grip

4-5 sets of 8-10 reps + drop set




60 seconds of rest

QUADS - BEGINNER

A. Front squat

5-6 sets of 6-8


B. Close-stance leg press


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C. Leg extension


60 seconds of rest

QUADS INTERMEDIATE

A. Front squat

5-6 sets of 3 to 5


B. Close-stance leg press



C. Leg extension


60 seconds of rest

QUADS ADVANCED


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A. Front squat

5-6 sets of 3 to 5 + rest-pause


B1. Close-stance leg press


no rest

B2. DB squat



C. Leg extension


60 seconds of rest

HAMSTRINGS BEGINNER

A. Romanian deadlift

5-6 sets of 6-8


B. Leg curl



C. Three-fourth DB Romanian deadlift (stop 3-4 inches short of lockout to maintain tension on hams)


60 seconds of rest

HAMSTRINGS INTERMEDIATE


5-6 sets of 3 to 5


B. Leg curl




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60 seconds of rest

HAMSTRINGS ADVANCED


5-6 sets of 3 to 5 + rest-pause


B1. Leg curl


no rest

B2. Wide stance/feet-high leg press





60 seconds of rest


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DELTOIDS BEGINNER

A. Military press



B. Neutral (hammer) grip seated DB press

4-5 sets of 10-12 reps90 seconds of rest between sets

C. One-arm cable lateral raise


60 seconds of rest

DELTOIDS INTERMEDIATE

A. Military press


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B. Neutral grip seated DB press





60 seconds of rest

DELTOIDS ADVANCED

A. Push press



B1. Neutral grip seated DB press


no rest

B2. Incline lateral raise





60 seconds of rest

BICEPS BEGINNER


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A. Preacher curl (close grip)



B. Incline DB curl



C. Low-pulley cable curl


60 seconds of rest

BICEPS INTERMEDIATE




B. Incline DB curl





60 seconds of rest

BICEPS ADVANCED


5-6 sets of 3-5 reps + rest-pause


B. Incline DB curl





60 seconds of rest


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TRICEPS BEGINNER

A. Close-grip bench press



B. Decline DB triceps extension

4-5 sets of 10-12 reps90 seconds of rest between sets

C. Rope cable pressdown


60 seconds of rest

TRICEPS INTERMEDIATE



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60 seconds of rest

TRICEPS ADVANCED


5-6 sets of 5x1 cluster







60 seconds of rest


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If someone wanted to build a routine from this example you could use a split looking like this:

Monday: Chest & Back

Tuesday: Quadriceps

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Biceps & Triceps

Friday: OFF

Saturday: Hamstrings & DeltoidsSunday: OFF

Conclusion

The examples given above are merely there to illustrate how the three types of hypertrophy training can be use

in a training session for each muscle group. The real objective is to show you three effective ways to make you

muscles grow. The more approaches to hypertrophy you know, the better your chances of getting the results y

desire!

1998 2007 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

christian thibaudeau - 3 ways to get big!

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