[Adam Bishop]

Solid shoulders session today. Dropped the secondary chest work this week as I’ve had to condense the training week down a bit.

Military Press 125×5 112.5×5 100×5
Paused Military Press 90x3x5
DB Lateral Raise – 2 work sets
Seated DB Press – 2 work sets
Front/lateral/rear raise – 3×10/10/10

[Adam Bishop]

Leg session at physique warehouse today. Progressed all my lifts well and had near to no hip pain which is a first for many weeks. I think I’ve found the right combo of mobility work prior to squatting to avoid the pain. Also managed to add in another hamstring curl variation as was planned for this block.

Squat 250×5 225×5 200×5
Leg Extensions – 2 work sets
Hack squat – 2 work sets
Seated leg curl – 2 work sets
Prone leg curl – 2 work sets
Seated calf raise – 2 work sets

[Adam Bishop]

Back from Dubai this evening – great couple of days in the sun.

Moved my days around this week to accommodate the travel today so it’s squat and legs tomorrow

[Adam Bishop]

Final hotel gym session as i head back home tomorrow. No rack here so used the smith machine instead which was cool.

Incline Smith Press 155x3x5
Paused Incline Smith Press 107.5x3x5
Machine Press – 3×12-20 (light stack)
Cable fly – 2 work sets
Cable decline press – 2 work sets
Cable face pulls – 2 work sets
Reverse Cable Fly – 3×15

[Adam Bishop]

Saturday’s Arms session.

The the joys of the hotel gym. This is where you get the two characters I tell you! Both times I’ve been in there this week there’s been the same guy doing his entire session just using the double cable stack. Bizarre. Also had a guy training in full GB triathlon kit (I assume he stole it looking at the state of him) while not swimming, cycling or running haha.

Anyway here’s how Saturday’s Arm focused session went down:

Rope Cable Pressdowns – 2 work sets
BB Curl – 2 work sets
DB Rolling Extensions – 2 work sets
Seated DB Curl – 2 work sets
Straight bar Pressdowns – 2 work sets
DB Hammer Curl – 2 work sets

[Adam Bishop]

Really interesting log Adam. I’ve found myself getting more into the powerlifting and strongman side of things over the last couple of years.

Interested in what your full recovery protocol looks like, I know you’ve mentioned hot / cold and soft tissue but anything else you implement?

Hi Martin I’m glad you’re enjoying following the training log.

My recovery schedule varies depending on the intensity of my training block.

I prioritise Sleep and Nutrition first as these have the biggest impact on recovery IME.

On top of that I will walk 30-45min every morning utilising this as a form of active recovery.

Those 3 things remain in my programme every day, all year round.

I’ll then add in cold water immersion and/or contrast baths on rest days when I feel I need them and once we get into a very heavy training block I will do CWI and/or contrast baths everyday to manage inflammation and aid blood flow.

I have been looking at getting a hyperbaric chamber for the lead up to WSM this year but unfortunately they are looking a bit too expensive at the moment.

Soft tissue wise I get work done with an osteopath once per week all year round focused on my back and hips which seem to take the biggest battering.

[Adam Bishop]

Fridays session

So I’m out in Dubai for a couple of days with the Mrs and the goal is to relax as part of this off season. I’m sticking as close as I can to my usual diet but I’m also not letting it get in the way of spending some quality time with the Mrs.

Same goes for training. I’ll be training in the hotel gym rather than going out to one of the “proper” gyms in Dubai. This week is a deload anyway so I’m not sweating it if I have to modify a movement etc. It allows for both a mental and a physical break.

Back session (no deadlifts)

CG Pulldown – 2 work sets
Seated machine row – 2 work sets
Smith machine bent over row – 2 work sets
DB monkey shrugs – 2 work sets
DB Reverse Fly – 2 work sets

[Adam Bishop]

Pressing Session (deload)

Military press 90x3x5
Paused Military Press 60x3x5
DB Lateral Raise – 2 work sets
Seated DB Press – 2 work sets
Incline DB Fly – 2 work sets
Banded Decline Press – 3×12

Bags packed and off to Dubai for a couple of days rest and recuperation. I’ll still be training out there with some modifications and trying to stick to my diet as close as possible.

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day today.

Getting my shit together for a quick holiday to Dubai, we leave tomorrow. Looking forward to some sun and pool time.

Got some soft tissue work done on my back and hip flexor. It made a big difference last week so here’s hoping that my hip especially continues to improve.

[Adam Bishop]

Deload Lower body

Squat – 170x3x5
Paused Squat – 120x3x5
Hack Squat – 2 work sets
Leg Extensions- 2 work sets
Prone leg curls – 2 work sets
Standing calf Raise series – 3 sets

Solid enough session. Hip flexor is still giving me some issues on the squat even with the lighter load. I think I’ll get it scanned to see what’s going on in there.

Everything else was great, progressed on all my work sets so happy days.

[Adam Bishop]

Monday Press session

On a deload week this week so reduced load on my main lift of the session however no change in my assistance work intensity or volume. The goal of this deload is to reduce the overall neural stress and the stress placed on the joints from the heavy compound lifts.

Incline Bench – 105x3x5
Paused Incline Bench – 75x3x5
Flat DB Fly – 2 work sets
Hammer strength chest press – 2 work sets
Standing Banded flys – 3×12
Seated Facepulls – 2 work sets
Standing banded reverse flys – 3×15

[Adam Bishop]

You are using decline for the same reason I would – managing pain.

I would always prefer an incline for flat press variation but when training around a shoulder issue sometimes a decline is beneficial in aiding with setting the scapular into the bench and reducing the range of motion at the shoulder joint.

I would add that you should find out what the cause of your shoulder pain is and work to return to lifting pain free but the above advise is for training around the issue while you work to correct it.

[Adam Bishop]

Difficult question really – everyone is different so you can’t say one is better than the other. It Depends what you want out of the lift as part of the whole session.

I would say this – if your form is not effected too badly by the accumulated fatigue of the session I would always prioritise load. However if your form is breaking down with the RDL later in the session then a paused option is a great way of increasing the difficulty of the movement while lifting a manageable weight.

Another option could be to perform a heavy set of RDL then use paused RDL on your back off sets with a much lighter load.

[Adam Bishop]

Sunday Rest Day.

Had a great morning taking a strongman/lifting seminar at a gym this morning. It reminded me how much I love coaching people in person and seeing how the improve.

After that it was back home for some food and an afternoon walk with the dogs before watching the F1.

Ready to kick off a new week tomorrow ??

[Adam Bishop]

Solid arms session today – body is feeling like it handled the deadlift session pretty well which bodes well.

It’s a deload week next week for my main lifts but I’ll still be pushing the assistance work. I’ll be using the deload as more of a way of protecting my joints from the heavy compound lifts. Anyway here’s today’s session:

Long rope push downs – 2 work sets
BB curl – 2 work sets
DB Rolling Extensions – 2 work sets
Seated DB Curl – 2 work sets
Reverse Grip Pressdowns – 2 work sets
Hammer curl – 2 work sets