[Adam Bishop]

Bit of a late night for me. My nap during the day ended up being too long so I’ve stayed up late to get all my meals in as it pushed my day back a bit.

Solid press session today with a delt focus.

Military press 122.5×5 112.5×5 100×5
Paused Military Press 87.5x3x5
DB Lateral Raise – 2 work sets
Seated DB Press – 2 work sets
Incline DB Fly – 2 work sets
Push Ups – 1 rest pause set

[Adam Bishop]

Hi Jake how long have you had this pain for and was there a specific event that brought it on?

If it were me personally and I was dealing with an unknown injury I would always seek the opinion of a medical professional such as a physiotherapist while training around the injury (keeping to pain free movements and limiting load).

It’s hard to know the right course of action without a proper diagnosis.

[Adam Bishop]

Today was a rest day. Did my morning walk with the dogs and then it was all about resting, eating and recovery work.

I’ll finish off the day with some contrast baths then it’s bed.

[Adam Bishop]

Squat and Lower session:

Squat 242.5×5 220×5 195×5
Paused Squat 170x3x5
Narrow stance Leg Press – 3 sets
Back Extension – 2 sets
Banded Leg Curl – 3 sets
Calf Raise Series – 3 sets

Pretty decent session. Slowly increasing the weight on squats as I’m still managing some tendinitis issues in my knee and hip flexor.

[Adam Bishop]

Bodyweight sitting at 334lbs this morning

[Adam Bishop]

The off season commences.

Back in the gym today for the first press session of the off season. My split has now shifted as I drop out the strongman events for the next 12 weeks:

M – Incline Bench Press & press 1
T – Squat & Lowerbody
W – Off
T – Military Press & press 2
F – Deadlift & Pull
S – Arms
S – Off

I’ve also worked with TrainedByJP Nutrition to sort my diet out with an end goal of getting my bodyweight up to 355-360lbs in time for next year’s WSM. I’ll update my log with the changes soon.

Here’s how today’s session went down:

Incline Bench Press 147.5×5 135×5 120×5
Paused Incline Bench Press 105x3x5
Pec Dec – 2 work sets
Chest press – 2 work sets
Cable Facepulls – 2 work sets
Rear Delt Fly – 2 work sets

All nice and easy today as it should be.

[Adam Bishop]

BRITAIN’S STRONGEST MAN 2021

It’s been a long time coming this comp. I’ve held the title for just over 18months now and going into this year’s show I wanted the repeat.

I knew this competition would be between 4 of us. Myself, Tom Stoltman, Luke Stoltman and Graeme Hicks – it would come down to the fine margins.

Event 1 – Circus DB Ladder 80-120kg
I went out last in this and had the advantage of seeing what the other guys hit before me. I knew that hitting the 80/90/100/110kg dumbbells would be good for top 3 so that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t even attempt the 120 but looking back maybe I should have as my 110 rep was comfortable. 3rd place.

Event 2 – 400kg Super Yoke 20m
I knew this was my event. I’m super fast at this wanted to make a statement. I ran the 20m in a time of 9.54sec to win by 2 seconds. 1st Place

Event 3 – 350 Axle Deadlift for reps
The mark to beat was 8 reps by Hicks and Tom. I rattled through the 8 and then just hit the 9th all wrong. Bit of a technical error but more worryingly my back was super pumped after this. Joint 1st place.

Event 4 – loading (4 implements)
This event had been going really well in training however my back pumps were crippling and I struggled a bit. Dropped some points here. 5th Place

Event 5 – Atlas Stones 100-180kg
Out last here against Tom and we were neck and neck till the last stone when my hand got caught in the ring which slowed me down. 22seconds – 3rd place

I finished up 2nd overall behind Tom Stoltman. I knew going into this I would need to be perfect to beat Tom since he is the reigning WSM and unfortunately I dropped some points in the latter stages of the comp. I will need to look at my comp day nutrition strategies a bit more as I’m not getting enough food in prior to these evening shows.

Still I know who I need to beat in order to achieve my goals and lucky for me I won’t have to wait long for revenge – we do BSM 2022 in February so 16 weeks to make the changes I need to.

A big thank you to TrainedByJP Nutrition for all the support – all the other guys were dipping into my Sustain and JPre 2.0 for most of the show. That’s the sign of a great product when athletes who are sponsored by other supplement companies what your product instead!

I move into my short off season now so a switch up in programming from tomorrow. Time to make Bish Bigger!

[Adam Bishop]

We made it to Sheffield.

Popped in at the SBD office and factory to meet the workers and see how the manufacturing process goes down. Very cool to see how it all works and the level of detail that goes into every product. All of SBD’s products are 100% made in the UK which is amazing.

I then headed back to the hotel for a hour’s soft tissue work from my therapist and did the athletes meeting.

Tomorrow is go time! Retain the title and hear the words “and still….”

Let’s do this.

[Adam Bishop]

Yep I echo Rich’s points here.

The vast majority of my deadlift work is in those rep ranges as well.

[Adam Bishop]

Solid rest day today.

Got everything packed and ready to go, got all my meals in and finished with some contrast baths before bed.

Tomorrow we drive up to Sheffield ready to compete on Saturday.

[Adam Bishop]

Final session before Brits today.

Worked up to a medley on the DB press of 78/97/100kg all done in around 25sec.

Finished with a very very fast run with 240kg on the yoke.

Rest day Thursday then I’m up to Sheffield on Friday. It’s finally game time!

[Adam Bishop]

I’ll stretch this out to competition as well and say my 1000lb (453.5kg) Deadlift from this year as it was a milestone I’ve been after for a while. Onwards to the World Record….

Actually in training in my gym I was most satisfied with my 3 reps at 180kg on the log press as historically it’s been a weakness of mine.

[Adam Bishop]

I feel a slew tracker could be a useful tool here to get some insight.

I started using a Whoop band to track everything and I was amazed at the difference between my time spent in bed and what I actually got as meaningful deep or REM sleep. You naturally spend some time awake at night so going to bed for 8 hours doesn’t equate to 8 hours of sleep

You’re doing plenty of things correctly with your sleep hygiene which is good.

[Adam Bishop]

Recovery day.

Well rested and kept the food going in today, not much else to report really.

I just have one more session tomorrow before Brits on Saturday.

[Adam Bishop]

Yep I drink it after Rich put me onto it while I was needing to push my carb intake.

I mix 150g COR with 400ml of water and it is easy to drink and digest from my experience. I also include 60g of whey and use it as my post workout shake now.