Christian Thibaudeau on Power Training Complexes and Athletic Skill Development

Today’s show is with Christian Thibaudeau.  Christian has been a strength coach for nearly 2 decades, working with athletes from nearly 30 sports.  He has written four books and has pioneered multiple educational courses, including the Neuro-typing system, which goes in-depth on how to train athletes in the weight room (and beyond) based on their own individual dispositions. I have had Christian on the podcast many times talking about neuro-typing, but more recently I’ve been digging into his knowledge of various types of training repetitions (Omni-rep) which we talked about on podcast 221.  As per any strength coach I am aware of, Christian has the greatest knowledge of set-rep schemes and combinations available for training, and, as such, I have really enjoyed the chance to speak to him on the terms of training complexes and schemes. On the show, Christian gets into power training complexes, and the possibility of utilizing sport skills in the total framework.  He also talks about how to periodize and assign the use of complexes, as the method “costs” more in terms of the adaptive resources of the athlete. Finally, Christian spends time talking about training stimulus, and how to create the “purest” possible adaptation for an athlete with the minimal amount of noise in the system, ending with a description of his double and triple progression systems. The interesting thing with this talk was that it was almost more about what not to do, than what to do.  In times like these, where coaches are armed with a massive arsenal of possibilities at their fingertips, the need for wisdom on how to actually utilize and progress the methods, without adding excess noise to the system, is at a premium. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:45 – Recent insights from Christian on watching his children grow and mature in regards to sport preference, behavior and physical abilities 13:30 – Christian’s thoughts on introducing specific sport skills into power training complexes 25:45 – Why more movements in a complex is more neurologically demanding, and how to choose how many exercises in a complex, based on the type of athlete you are working with 32:15 – Christian’s take on when to use (or not use) power complexes in a training year, based on the athlete 47:45 – How to increase training stimulus, and how to progress in training without adding volume, or even weight 59:45 – Why it is important not to give a client what you, as a coach, are currently in love with in terms of training methods 1:05:45 – How to make training the “purest” it can possibly be, reducing all un-necessary noise in a program to help athletes adapt in as direct of way that is possible 1:12.00 – Christian’s take on using bar-speed monitor units for athletes in light of adrenaline increases and intensification factors 1:22.00 – Using very simple lifts, such as a leg press, in order to put minimal stress into a training program where an athlete is doing a non-strength sport 1:28.00 – Christian’s simple-strength progression method, the “triple progression method” that offers a low level of noise and a long-term progression potential for an athlete “The simple fact that it feels lighter (doing a light set, after doing a heavy set), it will make you more confident, and you will produce more force” “The closer both movements are together, the easier the brain will connect both (for the brain to transfer to sport skill)” “That’s one of the issues with complexes is that they will raise adrenaline more than any training benefit you can find; which is a benefit in the short term… the downside of that is the more adrenaline you produce in training, the more likely you are to suffer from training burnout” “I prefer top range of motion (lifting) in the transfer phases; studies have shown that partial squats have much more impact on speed and jumping capacity than full squats” “The more stations you have (in a circuit) the easier the transfer is” “If you have the natural capacity to transfer gains easily, athletes who can take the gains in the gym and transfer them to the field, well you only need two stations because transfer is easy for you, you might not even need to do a complex.  But the reality is that many athletes are not that gifted when it comes to transferring the gains they make in the gym to the field.  They will need more stations in the complex, or periodizing their complex” “Remember, the more stations in the complex, the harder it is on the nervous system, so if I can get away with only two stations in a complex, I will take that option” “I’ve had people who will increase 5kg on their squat and jump higher and run quicker.  Others will increase their squat 30kg and not improve… those who are naturally explosive are normally those who transfer strength very easily to sporting movement.  People who are naturally less explosive, they will need a lot more time to transfer skills” “For those who don’t transfer strength easily (to skill) they need to use complexes as early as possible” “The harder (your brain) has to work to perform the workout, the more adrenaline you release” “The more different tasks you have in a workout, the harder your brain needs to work” “If you want to use more than one type of training in a training session; you need to factor that in and increase the number of rest days” “You need time to stabilize the gains from the complexes (if an athlete gains skill transfer easily I would wait until 6-10 weeks out from peak competition)” “If you are not good at transferring, you could add a sport skill to your complex” “Most people see adding weight as the only way to progressively overload, and that is not the case” “Most people do not get good results from progressive overload because they increase weight too much or too quick” “The least amount of volume you can do, and progress at a satisfactory rate, the better off you are” “When your body is not ready for that increase in load, you will have compensatory mechanisms going on” “Crossfit checks all the boxes when it comes to increasing adrenaline; cortisol will actually increase adrenaline” “(I use bar speed monitors) to teach an athlete how a fast squat should feel; I want them to know what fast enough feels like.  I found that, if you try to beat the machine every time, which is great for performance, but bad for recovery…. I need to decrease other variables to compensate” “Science is cool, but there is such as thing as “too scientific… the more you can focus on the movement instead of something external, the better results you have”” “Instead of doing 60 meters, do 58 meters, or 63 meters, or a distance nobody trains… focus on the activity instead of the end-goal” “Going from a front squat to a leg press, you know what it’s a much simpler movement so it will allow you to recover” “In season, an athlete does not need an exercise with a high-transfer capacity…. in season I look for using the least neurological stress movement possible… in season what we (did) for the legs is pushing a heavy sled, let’s push a heavy sled forward and backward with a load that is challenging for 30m… with a heavy sled push, I tend to look at 10 meters = 1 rep… the main strength movement we have in season is the prowler push” About Christian Thibaudeau Christian Thibaudeau has been involved in the business of training for over the last 18 years. During this period, he worked with athletes from 28 different sports. He has been “Head Strength Coach” for the Central Institute for Human Performance (official center of the St. Louis Blues). His specialty: being a generalist. He assists his athletes to develop the necessary qualities to increase their performances (eg: muscle mass, power, explosiveness, coordination). His work method enabled him to lead several successful athletes in a multitude of different disciplines. Christian is a prolific writer with three books published, each of which translated into three languages (The Black Book of Training Secrets, Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods, High Threshold Muscle Building). In addition, Christian is co-author with Paul Carter in a new book, which will soon be released. He is also the author of two DVDs (Cluster Training, Mechanical Drop Sets). Christian is also a senior author and head writer for the E-Magazine T-Nation his articles are read by over 200,000 people every week. He competed in weightlifting at the national level as well as bodybuilding, He was also a football coach for 8 years. As a lecturer, he has given conferences and seminars in both the United States and Europe, to audiences ranging from amateur athletes to health professionals and coaches of all types. Christian Thibaudeau popularized the Neurotyping system. Neural optimization supersedes hormonal optimization because the neural response affects the hormonal response. This is essentially the founding principle and inspiration behind Christian Thibaudeau’s Neurotyping System. The bottom line is simple: you are more likely to train hard, be focused, and stay motivated if you like the type of training you are doing, and a training that goes against your nature causes a greater stress response that hinders optimal progression. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein