[Andy]

As great as they are (10g -20g intra), they’re the icing on the cake supplement wise, especially if diet has been nailed. As above from the team, look to exhaust your health support stack first.

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[Andy]

First leg session in 2 weeks dusted off yesterday afternoon. The volume we’ve set in the plan is relatively high, however, we decided to scale it back to 1 working set for the hack and pendulum. The session still ended up destroying the 2 of us.

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 thrusts 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 – 1 set, 8-12

Pendulum squat – 1 set, 8-12

– 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)

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[Andy]

Agreed on all of the above – I also haven’t had my organs screened, but a decent knowledge of family history of diseases and underlying health issues would help.

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[Andy]

A very chilled out Sunday yesterday, made all the better by one of my clients winning the overall at the Fit X Manchester.

My training partner is back from his holiday today, so that will add another dimension to my training.

Looking at my timeline, I’ve only got 3 weeks left of this offseason, and as much as I’m delighted with the results, I still want to make the very most of the rest of this phase.

I’m looking to start prep the 4th of January, which gives me a 8 week health phase prior to the prep.

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[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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