First Person: Christian Thibaudeau
What the Heck is Thibs Doing Now?
by Christian Thibaudeau
It's time to flip the script on your favorite Testosterone writers
and see just what they're up to in the gym. Who's putting up outrageous
numbers? Who's leaving the cardio bunnies all hot and bothered? Who
walks the walk and who just talks the talk?
Today, we stole Christian Thibaudeau's training journal out from
under his bed, and man, are you in for a shock.
You'll Never Believe It
Me, the master of split training, the slayer of whole body training
is actually doing, wait for it... whole body workouts!
Heresy? Hypocrisy? Opportunism? Hardly! As I've mentioned several times
in the past, I don't have a
single training philosophy. I believe
that one should strive to understand the pros and cons of various types
of training and select the proper application depending on what you're
trying to accomplish.
As I said in the first part of my Beast
Building series, hitting each muscle group or movement pattern often but at a
low volume is best to develop neuromuscular efficiency. On the other
hand, for maximum growth, hitting each muscle group less frequently but
with a greater workload is a better approach. That's why I use both systems
in my own training and that of my clients.
There's no universally best program — only optimal programs for
a given individual in a specific situation.
Why am I Doing This?
Before explaining what I'm doing in the gym, I'll start off by letting
you in on my main goals.
Strength Goals
Recently, I hit a personal best of 405 pounds on the incline press and
was very pleased about that. Not that it's an extraordinary lift, far
from it, but inclines have always been a bad lift for me. Now that it's
conquered, my next pressing goal is a 435-pound floor press (performed
with a one to two second pause at the bottom). Again, I've always sucked
at the floor press compared to my regular flat bench, so reaching a high
level of performance (for me) on that lift would be very gratifying.
I also want to deadlift 600 pounds in both the conventional and sumo
deadlift. The deadlift has always been my nemesis because of my body
structure. With short legs, a long torso, and short arms, I'm built to
squat and press. But sadly, this is by far the worst body type for picking
up heavy things from the floor.
Plus, since I'd been training mostly for size and aesthetics over the
past five years, I've kinda neglected the deadlift. Wait a minute, strike
that. I
stopped training the deadlift!
So, as pathetic as it was when I was training it intensely, it's even
more laughable now. Hopefully, within the next eight weeks the problem
will be solved.
Size Goals
For now, I'm satisfied with my current overall size. I'm not Ronnie
Coleman, but I can hold my own against most
hyooge guys. At 5'8",
I'm anywhere between 228 pounds (at 10% body fat) and 212 (at 6 to 7%
body fat). Plus, I do have a small frame, if that counts for anything.
However, I do wish to increase my overall back thickness and regain
the leg size I had when I was an Olympic lifter. Because of my strong
shoulders and exercise selection when I was an Olympic lifter, when I
began training for aesthetics I had a lousy chest, as well as small biceps.
So these were my priorities.
I'm proud of the improvements I've made in those muscles, but in doing
so I neglected my legs. I reasoned that since they were my strongest
point, I didn't need to train them all that hard to still be able to
stand my ground.
So, now the pendulum has swung back to my legs and back. My legs will
come back quickly because they were once tree trunks, and regaining muscle
is easier than building it in the first place. My back has always been
a sore spot for me, so building it up to my high standards will require
some blood and sweat.
Body Composition Goals
Like my overall size, I'm satisfied with my current degree of leanness.
However, I do have one weak area. Take a wild guess. It's my damn back,
again!
Right now, according to a 12-fold body fat test, I have no more than
4 mm of fat anywhere on my body (in some areas I'm under 2 mm, which
is almost nothing). However, the subscapular (mid-back) fold is at a
whopping 15 mm! Talk about unbalanced.
Fat storage, when it's concentrated in this area more than anywhere
else on the body, means a history of insulin resistance. So, I'll use
some dietary and supplement strategies to regulate my blood sugar and
improve my insulin sensitivity. This should allow me to lose some fat
on my back without having to drastically reduce my caloric intake.
Thib's Current Training Program
My training is actually less structured than in the past. Rather than
following a chart or a piece of paper, I have a certain number of guidelines
to live by. This allows me some leeway to keep things fresh, while still
respecting a general plan. I see it as a mix of instinctive and structured
training.
What are these guidelines, you ask?
1. Train five to six days a week.
2. Train at least parts of both the upper and lower body at every session.
3. Never go below 80% of my maximum on my main work sets.
4. I don't have to go all out at every session. For example, if I don't
feel super strong I might perform only two reps with a weight that I
could do four to five times. As long as I stay at 80% or above, I'm fine.
5. Include a deadlift and press variation in every workout.
6. When I feel strong and my form feels solid, I turn on the machine!
The Exercise Bank
With my guidelines in mind, I created an exercise bank from which to
pick my two main movements:
Accueil 
