[Andy]

If you’ve hit a bit of wall, then I’m going to assume you’ve been pushing hard with this phase, and the total food has eventually caught up you. So on that, I like to literally half my carb portions of each meal for a week, by the time the week is over my appetite has reset slightly, and then I’m usually good to push for a good bit of time before I have to do it again.

As for getting 3500cals in without eating shit, I’d say eating shit shouldn’t even be a consideration. You can get that amount in with 5-6 meals/shakes across a 16-18 hour window using all clean sources. Source selection, meal timing and discipline is what is going to prevail here.

Not knowing much about you, if you were trying to bolster calories, then additional healthy fats will make that a lot easier.

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[Andy]

The last session of the week ticked off, and what a session it was;

Rope pullovers – 3 sets, 12-15 reps

HS SA PL pulldowns – 1 set, 8-12, 1 back-off, 12-15

– The back-off is performed with a 2s pause in the stretch

Chest supported t-bar rows – 1 set, 8-12 followed by a triple drop set

SA DB rows – 2 sets, 5-8

– Using a 4s negative with every rep

Prime PL row – 1 set, 8-12 + forced reps, and 1 negative

Prime pin-loaded low row – 1 set, 8-12

– Torque set to 5 to overload the lengthened

RDLs – 1 set, 5-9

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[Andy]

We’re back after a week off, and everything felt excellent. Not 1 pain or niggle. My tricep tendonitis is gone, as well as my shoulder and forearm tightness. This is always the result of taking time off, and once again, I need to remind myself how I feel post week off when it’s time to do one again.

I kicked things off with shoulders;

Small incline Y raises – 1 set, 8-12, 2 sets, 12-15

– Reps performed with a pause in the lengthened portion for the back-off sets

Prime rear peck deck – 3 sets, 15-20 + double drop set

HS iso PL shoulder press – 1 set, 8-12 + triple drop set with lengthened negatives

HS PL machine side raises – 1 set, 12-15 + double drop set

Back supported cable flys – 1 set, 8-12, 2 sets, 12-15

– Reps performed with a pause in the lengthened portion for the back-off sets

Overhead rope cable extensions – 3 sets, 12-15

Straight-bar ex SS rope cable ex – 2 sets, 12-15

I felt double the size when I left. . .

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[Andy]

I’m still getting over the weekend, I had such a great time at the Gasp Classic in Stockholm. My client James Murphy came 3rd in the super heavy class which was an incredible result for a guy stepping into his first pro Q, and an excellent one at that.

As for my week off, I’m feeling brand new, I can’t wait to get back to training on Thursday.

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[Andy]

Yeah, pre-last meal, so it’s doing it’s job when your head hits the pillow

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[Andy]

A superb day wrapped up with my client James, 1 day out from the Gasp Classic. I’ve always wanted to see this show in person. James is looking on point – check my and his socials for more.

A win with my client Josh Bogdani in classic D at the Gritness Grand Prix. This guy was only a teen 2 years ago, and now he’s beating guys 10+ years older than him.

Nothing much to report from me, I’m slightly out of routine, for instance, my last meal will be 11:30pm, 3 hours later than usual, but show weekends usually throw my routine.

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[Andy]

Nothing much to report this week, yesterday was my first day from training. I’m always surprised by how much free time I have when I don’t train – I get easily get used to that life.

Obviously, I’m not going to see much in terms of wellbeing or physical changes after 1 day off, but I know for a fact I’ll be a new man come next Thursday.

I weighed in at 288 this morning, so weight is holding well.

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[Andy]

Hi Andy,

Can you explain how you work up to those working sets on legs?Are you doing many warm up sets on each exercise before reaching that peak top working set?

It’s something I’ve always struggled to find the right balance with. For example say a top working set on leg press is 7 plates a side. I might start at 3 a side and do 6-8 reps then the same again for 4 a side etc etc

Hi Mark,

I’ll start by using 6 reps, and then 4 reps, and then I’ll do 1 or 2 reps as I move up to my previous working weight, or if I’m going for a PB, I’ll test the new proposed working weight for 1 rep.

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[Andy]

Yes, some of that weight will be fat, a lot of it will be water, as you’ve seen from the 3kg drop. I personally would drop back down, rid the body of as much of water as possible, and then start again.

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[Andy]

A decent push (chest) session yesterday. I went into it sore, tired, and feeling weak, but despite that, I still pushed a few good numbers. I tweaked my peck on the incline DB press, it was tight going into the session. It niggled for the rest of the session, but I woke up without any pain, so all good.

Seated d-handle cable flys – 1 working set, 8-12, 2 back-off sets, 12-15

– Both back-off sets paused

Incline DB press – 1 working set, 8-12, 1 back-off sets, 12-15

– Back-off set paused

Prime incline PL press – 1 working set, 8-12, 1 cluster set

Prime peck deck – 1 working sets, 12-15

– Torque set to 3

Prime rear peck deck – 3 working sets, 15-20

– Torques set to 2

SA cuffed cable side raises – 3 working sets, 12-15

Standing EZ-bar curls – 3 working sets, 12-15 + double drop

SA DB concentration curls – 3 sets, 12-15

Standing EZ-bar cable curls – 2 sets, 12-15

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[Andy]

I’ve heard good things about 1 Fit, I know a few guys in here use Google Sheets, I’m sure a few have apps. I’ve done all 3, but I always come back to using Excel + WhatsApp for communication/visuals.

I done computing studies at school and used excel extensively. So I’ve got my own template for all of my plans, timelines etc.

So long as the plans are presented well, clean & crisp, they’re not too overwhelming to look at – I’ve seen some that just give me a headache – then you’re golden.

A good client cares what they can achieve and what they can learn, those who care about how flashy your sheets/app/platform is, 9/10 will end up being a poor client.

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[Andy]

I’ve decided to take a week off from training. All of the usual signs are there: cold, never feel 100% rested, sleep is very broken, DOMs are taking longer to recover.

I’ll still train Monday and Tuesday, and then pick things back up from next Thursday.

I always look, feel and perform better after a week off. . . I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

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[Andy]

Agreed with Clare, you have to give it more than the 1 session to determine if you’re not progressing or going backwards. If everything is locked in, then it’s perhaps just a bad session.

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[Andy]

If you’ve got a coach telling you what to do then you need to ask him for the reasons for doing so if you’re looking for justification. If he think this is the best way to do things, then you need to trust their judgement

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[Andy]

Checked in with Nick yesterday, sitting at 287.6, so a slight drop. My blood glucose was 4 which isn’t unusual, but it’s been sitting around 4.5-4.7. I’ve also been feeling very hungry between meals since Thursday. Again, nothing wrong with that, but when you’re on 6200cals it does raise an eyebrow.

I’ll see how my appetite plays out this week.

Visually, I’m really happy with the look just now!

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