Andy
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A busy day yesterday with 1-2-1 PT, and another week without massage work due to my guy being on holiday. That’s been 2 weeks without one, and although this is not the end of the world, I could do with one – or 5
I tend to try and keep my NTD’s busy, if I don’t have 1-2-1 clients then it will be quite hard for me to reach my step count, so it’s a easy way of hitting those targets.
It’s been a while since I took a deload, I think my last one was 20 weeks ago when I went to Tenerife. I usually take one every 7 weeks, but I’ve felt great, and not felt the need to take one.
However, I’m starting to feel the need to take one now. My training partner goes on holiday on the 19th, so I’ll take one then. I’m in Sweden that weekend for the Gasp Classic, so it would tie in relatively well.
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If the urge is there to do it yourself, then do it. I’ve only had one coach where they took full reigns and I disagreed with many of his decisions, but because I was paying him, and he was a high achieving coach, I assumed that he knew better. As much as I learned and loved a lot about his training, he over dieted me, and at my lowest I almost weighed as much as I did when I was a junior 6 years prior.
My current coach is my second pair of eyes, I devise all of the plans, and he is my voice of reason if I can’t figure something out. That works best for me.
Prepping yourself is a great experience, and even though you’ll make mistakes, at least they’re your own to learn from.
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We trained legs yesterday at Future Fitness, we just wanted to crack on and get the job done, so travelling to another gym, even though it’s only 15 minutes away, wasn’t ideal.
Abductor – 2 sets, 15-20
– I’d like a little more in the way of glute development, so this has been added. I have a torn hip, so hip thrust aggravate my injury.
Cybex seated leg curls – 1 sets, 8-12, 2 back-off sets, 12-15
– Both BO sets are paused in the lengthened
Prime PL leg ex – 2 sets, 12-15 + triple drop
Arsenal Hack squat – 2 set, 8-12, 1 set, 12-15
Pendulum squat – 2 set, 8-12, 1 cluster set (4×4)
– I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the pendulum doesn’t feel like a squat to me, and I get zero lower back, so I’m happy to do it post-hack (happy is a strong word)
No Bulgarians this week as the legs were toast. I did attempt them via a warm up set, but I felt nothing. . .
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A superb push session yesterday. We actually started on time this week. My training partner has got a lot going on at work just now, so we tend to chill for a bit with a pre/coffee for 20-30 minutes and then get warmed up, but yesterday we just cracked on.
Strength was superb, a lot of movement in numbers, both reps and weight.
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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There are studies showing peak levels of GH being higher with IM shots. Personally, sub-Q is just quick, convenient and painless, so I just do that.
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A nice chilled weekend to round off last week.
I checked-in at 288.2, which is a 3lbs jump from last week, but we pushed carbs up a touch last week, so I’m guessing that’s the main reason for that.
This is the first off season where I actually like my photos. In seasons gone by, I’d take my photos, send them to Nick and then delete them.
We’ve chosen to keep things the same this week, thank god because food is becoming a real struggle!
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If you are going to tweak anything, tweak 1 thing at a time and check for the response, either by how you feel, BP etc, or via labs. Running labs for each and every individual change isn’t feasible obviously.
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I’m seeing a lot of good things already from the push (shoulders) day tweaks I made (I pulled a little bit of volume, nothing major, just basing it off how fried my shoulders feel as the session goes on).
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
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
HS PL machine side raises – 1 set, 12-15 + double drop set
Overhead rope cable extensions – 3 sets, 12-15
Straight-bar ex SS rope cable ex – 2 sets, 12-15
Check-in tomorrow with Nick will be a good one, you know that feeling you get the night before a check-in, knowing some good visual progress has been made. . .
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I’d say at 4 weeks out, if you’re using the stairs for 40 minutes, I’d be looking to swap to bike or high incline walk anyway due to the impact that stairs tend to have on the way the leg looks. So your swap to a 20/20 split would work considering that.
As for boredom, I don’t think any of us are doing cardio for excitement, it’s just a tool. If said boredom is impacting discipline, then that’s a different story.
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I decided to train legs at a different gym yesterday, I’m getting a little tired of my gym to be honest. Not in a bad way, but when you’ve spent an entire morning PT’ing, you kind of want to get away for a bit.
We went to the new Muscle Hut in Glasgow, which is a superb facility!
Abductor – 2 sets, 15-20
– I’d like a little more in the way of glute development, so this has been added. I have a torn hip, so hip thrust aggravate my injury.
Watson seated leg curls – 1 sets, 8-12, 2 back-off sets, 12-15
– Both BO sets are paused in the lengthened
Prime PL leg ex – 2 sets, 12-15 + triple drop
Cybex Hack squat – 2 set, 8-12, 1 set, 12-15
Arsenal leg press – 2 set, 8-12, 1 cluster set (4×4, no racking)
BSS – 2 sets, 12-15
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Standing pin-loaded calve raises – 3 sets, 20
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All 3 (+T4) have all been taken together for a very long time. As Clare said, taper them up accordingly based off of your progress. I’m sure each coach has their upper limits for each, as well as many seasoned users knowing how much they can tolerate of each one before sides kick in.
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I’m one who can put my mind into a horrible space to get aggressive for a set, but like Jordan said, being aggressive just doesn’t sit well for some, and it is a simple case of doing it until you can’t.
I’m also “motivated” by knowing how annoyed I’d be at myself if I left anything in the tank.
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A great start to the week, and return to the logbook/structure – much to Chris’ surprise.
As I’ve mentioned before, I like taking time away from a structured training plan, throw some weight around, and just have a bit of fun really, and not be chained to XYZ. I know how to train insanely hard, I don’t need a logbook to be accountable to myself all of the time.
Seated d-handle cable flys – 1 working set, 8-12, 2 back-off sets, 12-15
Incline DB press – 1 working set, 8-12, 2 back-off sets, 12-15
Prime incline PL press – 1 working set, 8-12, 2 back-off sets, 12-15 + double drop set
Prime peck deck – 1 working sets, 12-15
– Torque no. 3
Prime rear peck deck – 3 working sets, 15-20
– Torque no. 2, weight remained the same for the 3 sets
SA d-handle 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
Seated iso-lateral cable curls – 2 sets, 12-15
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I decided to ask Greg Taylor to write me up a pull session, as he’s been running an interesting setup – similar to JP – and a style I’ve tended to stay away from – anything under a 8 rep range. The session was great, very different to my usual “grip it and rip it” back sessions. Chris and I are going to run it again this week and see if it’s something we should pursue.
It wasn’t “harder” than my sessions, as the oxygen demand was a lot less, but there was far more emphasis on the eccentric than I’m used to.
I’m quite lucky that my back grows relatively easily, I wouldn’t say I’ve ever struggled to bring it up or improve it.
HS SA PL pulldowns – 2 sets, 5-8, slight pause in the stretch
Prime PL mid-back row – 2 sets, 5-8
T-bar Kelso shrugs – 1 set, 5-8
– This were probably the weirdest exercise as the range is so small, but it felt good.
SA lat pulldown – 2 sets, 5-8, 1s in the stretch
– Hated this, forearm felt terrible, still does. . .
SA cable low row – 2 sets, 5-8
SA HS low row – 1 set, 5-8
Paused RDL – 1 set, 5-8, 2s pause in the stretch
Have a look at my IG to see the session in full. . .
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A superb push session yesterday. I’ll be slowly transitioning back to the training plan, now that I’ve had a good bit of time away from following a plan rep for rep.
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
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
HS PL machine side raises – 1 set, 12-15 + double drop set
Overhead rope cable extensions – 3 sets, 12-15
Straight-bar ex SS rope cable ex – 2 sets, 12-15
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