by Christian Thibaudeau

Top Olympic lifters have it, elite gymnasts excel because of it, sprinters break the speed of light driven by it, high level bodybuilders get huge because of it… THE CAPACITY TO
MAXIMALLY STIMULATE THE HIGH-THRESHOLD MOTOR UNITS! This is what separates the best from the rest. The fast-twitch fibers that compose the high-threshold motor-units (HTMU) exceed, by a humongous margin, the hypertrophy potential of low and medium-threshold fibers that too many of us rely on in our everyday training sessions.

Yes, to some extent, the capacity to activate and stimulate those powerful fibers is a genetic thing: some peoples are born with a greater number of HTMUs than others; some lucky few also have been blessed with a super efficient nervous system that’s very effective at turning on these growth-friendly fibers. However with the proper training techniques, exercise selection and movement execution, you can palliate for an “average” fiber distribution.

Tihanyi (1997) has demonstrated that with proper training it is possible for someone with only 30% of fast-twitch fibers to develop himself to the same extent as someone with 70-80% of fast-twitch fibers. This book will show you exactly how to do that!

The advice given in this book may look simple, because it’s logical and practical, but it’s exactly what you need to apply if you want to become a fast-twitch machine!


Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION


The High-Threshold training methodology ................................................................... 7

PRINCIPLE 1
Always try to generate as much force as possible........................................................ 13

PRINCIPLE 2
Take advantage of the eccentric portion of a movement.............................................. 19

PRINCIPLE 3
Precede the maximum concentric action by a prestretch of the muscle ........................ 27

PRINCIPLE 4
Training to the positive muscle failure point................................................................. 35

PRINCIPLE 5
Including some plyometric work to train the nervous system........................................ 41

PRINCIPLE 6
Including a significant amount of unilateral work ......................................................... 47

PRINCIPLE 7
Including some unstable training to activate the nervous system ................................... 51

PRINCIPLE 8
Optimize the work-to-rest ratio...................................................................................55

PRINCIPLE 9
Select the most effective exercises for each muscle group........................................... 63

PRINCIPLE 10
When trying to lose fat, add high-speed metabolic work ...........................................145

PRINCIPLE 11
Eccentric loading and deceleration training for strength, power and size .....................155

Exercises organisation..............................................................................................................171

Bonus section: Isometric training ...............................................................................185

Parting words......................................................................................................................199

Cool Tools, Equipment, Performance Store and Products that Coach Thib likes.........201