[Adam Bishop]

No sets done here warrant an attempt at 180. Even going off a predicted max you’re at 175 at best.

Trying to pull this maximally so often is not helping you even if you have those noobie gains.

Strip it back and start again. Focus on the 6-12 rep range and build strength so that you’re predicted max of those 6-12 rep sets sits above 190-200 before you attempt 180 again.

Think about reducing your frequency on deadlifts to every other session.

If you are looking for a decent rep scheme to work in look at wendler’s 531. Focus on quality reps and don’t even think about attempting 180 again until you’re ready to rep it.

[Adam Bishop]

Great day at the lake. Survived the big winds and rain and bagged a new pb fish at 43lbs. Proper buzzing.

It’s definitely well into autumn now as last night was the first time I’ve had to sleep in the sleeping bag, so far this year I’ve been sleeping on top of it but it’s way way colder now.

One more night with the rods out fishing then I’m packing up in the morning and heading to the gym for squats

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day.

20mins stairs this morning, all steps done then headed to the lake in the cater for a couple of nights fishing. Tucked up in the Bivvy as the rain falls and buckled down ready for some mega winds forecast for the night and tomorrow.

[Adam Bishop]

Started off with Circus DB and stone work today. Managed to smash my tripod in the process of doing my singles. Also decided to switch to using my left arm after it feeling a lot more solid on the lockout. Plenty of work to do to get it feeling more natural over the next few weeks.

Afternoon session was a deload for my incline press session. Decided I needed another deload session to get me feeling back to normal.

Incline Bench Press 77.5×5 95×5 115×5
Incline Bench Press 3×10
Seated Cable Row 3×10
EZ Bar Skullcrushers 3×10
Cable reverse fly 3×15

[Adam Bishop]

Looks overkill to me personally. Not even sure how you’d measure out this tiny doses.

The vast majority of people just start with the low dose of 0.25mg daily and stick with that.

[Adam Bishop]

Absolutely pissing it down this morning making hill sprints sketchy to say the least so it was swapped in for some prowler sprints at the farm. Sled loaded up with a 160 sandbag for 10m sprints, 20 reps done EMOM style.

Back in the gym later in the day for my deadlift session and warming up I knew I needed a deload. Worked up to 320 and it felt piss poor so deloaded for the session. Lowered weight and reduced sets across the board. I don’t see a need to deload my incline bench session tomorrow unless it also feels heavy. I’ll get an early night, get some good sleep and see how I feel tomorrow. I much prefer this approach over the arbitrary fixed deload every 4 or 6 weeks which I think is overkill and leaves a lot of progress on the table.

Block Pulls 230×5
SLDL 140x3x10
Bulgarian split squat 3×10
SL Calf Raise 3×10
BB Curl 3×10

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day.

20mins on the stair master then a couple of walks before the rain set in to hit my step count.

Wife’s birthday today so cooked her a nice dinner this evening.

Back in the gym tomorrow for deadlifts after some morning hill sprints

[Adam Bishop]

Morning session at the farm today for yoke and sandbag runs. Both improved on last time and felt good. A bit beat up upon wake this morning so took some time to get going but it was a good one:

Yoke 320x20m
Sandbag 2 sets of 3 reps

Then afternoon press session in the barn:

Military Press 95×5 110×3 122.5×5
Military Press 78.5x5x10
CG Pulldowns 5×10
Pressdowns 5×10
DB reverse fly 3×20

[Adam Bishop]

Looks good from an ankle point of view. I would up the balance work to 3 times a week prior to your strength work.

How many single leg standing calf raises can you currently do compared to your right leg?

[Adam Bishop]

What was the injury? Has lower limb strength and ROM returned to pre injury levels? Have these been measured?

Hi adam,

I had a lateral stabilization and arthroscopy of my left ankle.

Swelling is still noticeable a year post surgery and feeling hasn’t fully returned to the foot – as I believe the surgeon nicked a nerve.

Rom is still slightly limited on both dorsiflexion & plantarflexion. Im still prone to inversion on Uneven ground

[/quote]
Ok my check list from a rehab point of view:

1) Get the ankle ROM back as close to other side as possible. Knee to wall sets of 15-20 multiple times a day. Coming back from my Achilles reattachment I did this every time I went into the kitchen to get my meals and it made a huge difference.

2) Get stable. Are you currently doing proprioception exercises as part of your ongoing rehab? single leg balance work to strengthen ankle stability. You mentioned that your job requires running on uneven ground. I would suggest that getting your ankle resistant to inversion would be a must. It’s boring AF but I think it is super important in your case.

3) Get strong. Single leg, closed chain exercises for your strength work. SL leg press, step ups, skater squats etc. Get your ankle strong through its full range of motion.

All of the above should be recorded and compared to the non injured side. You are basically trying to get them back completely even or at worst case within 5%.

I hope this helps, I know it’s not the exact question you asked but understanding WHY your ankle is swollen is the real key here.

Also while you are working on the above you have to expect some inflammation to exist. Be mindful of how your ankle is when you wake up. I expect it to have some swelling at the end of each day but this should go down over time. Don’t be afraid to manage swelling with icing if necessary – while I don’t agree with icing soft tissue injuries such as muscle tears, I find it very beneficial to manage swelling in joints especially when trying to maintain function to keep training. Bucket of ice water is best here. 15-20mins at a time.

[Adam Bishop]

What was the injury? Has lower limb strength and ROM returned to pre injury levels? Have these been measured?

[Adam Bishop]

Started off with hill sprints this morning – 7x50m with walk back recovery.

Then got home and ate meal one before heading off to Physique warehouse gym for my squat session. Felt really good today, squats moved really well and my recovery between sets is amazing right now. Very confident that things are moving forward in the right direction.

Squat 277×8
Squat 176x5x10
Seated Leg curl 5×10
Standing calf raise 5×10
Cable curls 3 sets

[Adam Bishop]

Proper rest day today. Just got my steps in and had a physio session.

Hill sprints and Squats tomorrow.

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day. Spent most of it sitting in front of a laptop but managed to get all my steps done and did my 20mins stairs.

Another rest day tomorrow then a new training week begins on Friday.

[Adam Bishop]

Really solid couple of sessions today. Felt great, a lot of energy and super fast recovery between sets. Kicked things off with Circus DB and some atlas stone complexes this morning then back into the barn in the afternoon after my sports massage at lunch time:

Incline Bench Press 152.5×3 162.5×3 172.5×4
Incline Bench Press 115x5x10
Seated Cable Row 5×10
EZ Tricep Extensions 5×10
Cable Rear delt 3×20