[Adam Bishop]

Woke up feeling good today. No training but I used the time to get some stuff done in the garden including giving both my grills a proper clean. Summers is coming and I have a lot of meat to grill and smoke haha.

Used the game ready on my knee and elbow and spent some time in the hot tub to finish the evening.

Another training day tomorrow with some stones and hopefully some loading of the weather drys up later in the day

[Adam Bishop]

If I were to tweak your current split I would switch it to:

M – upper
T – lower
W – off
T – pull
F – push
S – legs
S – off

This split would probably best fit into your work week.

Gives you a rest day after your two heaviest sessions and puts your legs session on the Saturday when you don’t work at all.

Yep have a look at the diet planner first as it’s a good tool to make a plan with.

[Adam Bishop]

Hi Benjamin

What’s your current split?

What’s your current bodyweight?

Straight away I’d be looking to train before work while you’re fresh.

Have you had a play with the diet planner on the app?

[Adam Bishop]

Here’s a follow up thought that is more general but may help you or others.

The SLDL is a fantastic exercise for erector thickness and overall development of the posterior chain. It is however more complex and harder to master than a conventional deadlift.

When selecting an exercise the individual needs to be honest with where they are at with their technical mastery of the lifts they want to utilise. For most I would say that they haven’t got the mastery to get the most out of a SLDL and a conventional deadlift will give them more bang for their buck as they can load it in a safer fashion than a SLDL.

Now I’m not saying that people shouldn’t learn to do a SLDL, far from it. For a lot of lifters I would use the conventional deadlift as their main posterior chain lift where they are looking to get as brutally strong as possible and shift some weight. Alongside that I would drill the technique on the SLDL with a light load until that individual is able to brace their core, stabilise their lats and get into a safe start position to initiate the lift.

This approach would give progression to the lifter while they develop the skills needed to safely use a more complex movement like the SLDL.

Once again not directly targeted at you but more of a general thought point which came to my attention due to the recent popularity of the SLDL.

[Adam Bishop]

That looks to be a pretty stiff bar with not a lot of slack to pull out of it to be honest.

Yes I would say you need to get your lats engaged better on these to promote a better start position. Imagine you are trying to “bend the bar” by turning the inside of your elbows to face the front.

IMO I would raise the bar up on blocks to a height that you can get into a neutral lumbar spine position and work there for a couple of weeks to get comfortable. Once you have that nailed you can return to the floor.

[Adam Bishop]

Had a physio session this morning then hit my events in the afternoon. Body is feeling good after yesterday’s truck pull which is good.

Aim today was to get some quality work on while keeping the total volume down.

Sandbag toss – singles up to 30kg then a run of 18/20/20/21/23/25/26/27 all over 4.5m barrier
Fingals finger – several flips of the light finger then a really good quality flip of the heavy one
Conans wheel – 5 full revolutions going from 1-5plates per side (one rev per weight)

Everything felt good today and my body felt good. Tapers are always tough as you want to do more but you have to resist the urge to do more sets when things feel good. Got to play that long game

[Adam Bishop]

Glorious sunshine this morning for some truck pull.

Got a couple of runs done and an additional 5m start as I wasn’t 100% happy with my first run uphill.

Difficult to hold back on doing more but there just isn’t time to recover from a full on uphill truck pull.

Got my usual rehab bits done and my knee and hip are feeling great. Bring on some more events tomorrow

[Adam Bishop]

Much of the same today. Got my walking done, two mobility sessions and spent some time in the hot tub.

Knee and TFL feeling much improved today so I’m feeling good for a couple of sets of truck pull tomorrow.

[Adam Bishop]

Had an active recovery day today. Tried to stay proactive with my knee and hip as I really need them clear asap.

A couple of basic mobility routines done morning and night and a long walk with the dogs this afternoon.

Used the game ready on my knee and spent some time in the hot tub in between.

Also added some additional anti inflammatories and the combination of all the above seem to be having the desired effect and I’ve seen a difference from waking this morning.

I’ll repeat this process tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be settled down ready for truck pull on Friday

[Adam Bishop]

Pretty standard press session yesterday. The weather was good so I log pressed outside as it’s important to practice looking up at the sky during the log press ready for WSM. It’s amazing how much it affects your balance.

I stuck to strict presses as my knee and TFL are still a little hot from the weekend. Big push to settle them down ready for this weekends training.

Log Strict Press – up to 153×1
Circus DB – 10 singles at 80kg

[Adam Bishop]

Back into training with some of the more dynamic events for WSM. Back is still a little tender so nothing too crazy.

Bag toss – worked up to 30kg for a single then a couple of runs of 20/20/25/27kg
Sandbag runs – 100kg for 18m plus a 18m sprint back EMOMx8
Truck push – 3x25m uphill with the handbrake on 2 clicks

Good to get back into it. Log press and DB tomorrow

[Adam Bishop]

Hi Cooper. I actually prefer to take my breath at the top of each lift as I find it easier to get my air in and brace in an upright position – much like you would do in a squat. Obviously for a SLDL you will have to take your first breath at the bottom but from there on I like to take a breath at the top and hold it for the duration of the lift.

I find this way I keep to a constant rhythm in my deadlift for reps and don’t struggle with breathing or gas out.

[Adam Bishop]

No suit on the deadlift and noone mentioned it. Will you be wearing one at worlds?

Great performance considering its not your goal

Yeah that’s correct no suit for a couple of reasons:

I’ve been training raw to build strength for later in the season for a big big pull. Things need to be periodised to get the most out of the suit.

I believe my deadlift for reps is actually better without the suit – most of my best performances have been raw in the past actually.

Suits take a lot of time and energy to get into and the other guys suffered for it. They restrict your breathing and we do not have a lot of time to warm up between events. In fact my warm ups sets went 120×1 220×1 270×1 310×1 and was it.

I’ll be pulling raw for WSM then around July I’ll be introducing the suit in prep for the World deadlift championships in September

[Adam Bishop]

Looking forward to following this log Kiera! Get that 300 pull nailed!

[Adam Bishop]

Europe’s Strongest Man 2023

Went into this comp feeling good but a little fatigued from this weeks training – this was planned though as I aim to peak for WSM in two weeks time.

Log ladder was the first event and it don’t go to plan, I missed the 160kg press which cost me big points. A couple of things to iron out before WSM not noting to lose sleep over

I had good performances in the loading and the conans wheel and I won the 350 deadlift with 9 reps. A 10th rep was there but I decided against going for it as it would make things harder to recover from. Finished up with a mediocre stone run due to tacky issues but everything felt ok.

Made it through the comp with no injuries and some money in my pocket for placing 5th.

I move into my final taper towards WSM now so back on the farm tomorrow for some focused events.