[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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[Andy]

Back yesterday was superb, albeit a bit interrupted as all of the boys were training at the same time, but the session was still a massive success

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

– Using a 4s negative and a 2s pause in the stretch

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[Andy]

I’m sure everyone on here has different approaches, and each approach will differ on circumstances. I like to do the following;

– Lower protein initially and replace calories with carbs.

– Add 30-50g of carbs per week depending on bodyweight and look

– If weight climbs (I don’t have a set number) then hold for a week. If weight stalls or drops, add another 30-50g the following week

– Cardio is tapered down from peak by 5 minutes a week.

– I lower my training volume, and I might even pull a day out (going from 4 to 3 per week).

That’s the basics of it, there’s then the PED side of things where compounds are either tapered or pulled out immediately.

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[Andy]

A fantastic weekend at the PCA Manchester, with 2 of my clients coming away with 2 wins (Jr BB and Tall BB). Both of them have been my clients for years, so it was incredible to see them lift up 1st place. They are both venturing into new classes (James going from classic to open, and Josh going from teens to juniors)

They both have a good few shows in the pipeline, and they’re both only getting better.

As for myself, I checked in with Nick on Saturday morning at a new high BW of 288.4 (only a 0.2lbs increase, but I’ll take it). We’ve decided to push NPP up by another 200mg, bring the total to;

Test E – 1000mg

Primo – 600mg

NPP – 600mg

GH – 8IU

(lantus, novorpaid {pre}, T4, telmisartan, metformin are all in there too)

This is the biggest androgen load I’ve ever done, but it’s only for a short period until the end of this push phase.

Hi Andy,

Not sure if you work the same as your coach but when do you decide to bump up the total mg as oppose to food? Is it a look? Is it bodyweight?

In your case, what was the reason behind bumping up the NPP?[/quote]

Food isn’t a struggle, but it also isn’t easy either. My blood pressure is good considering the current load, training output, body weight etc, and there’s room to use a bit more compound. More test would probably raise my BP, and I don’t want to push primo just now given sourcing issues, so NPP it is

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[Andy]

Agreed with Jordan, it’s not really something you’d want to touch in an offseason if you’re pushing food, but not in the composition to do so.

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[Andy]

Another brilliant push (delts) session yesterday. A few things have climbed in the logbook, but the pump was improved on last week so that made the session that little bit better.

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 – 3 sets, 12-15

<font face=”inherit”>Across the body cable tricep </font>extensions<font face=”inherit”> – 3 sets, 12-15</font>

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</font>

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[Andy]

Another horrible leg session yesterday, following the same plan as last week. A lot of volume, so my legs were pretty cooked. My training partner spewed, which never happens.

Both the hack and the pendulum went up in weight, so the “hit” from the session was far worse than last weeks.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>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)

Seated PL calve raises – 3 sets, 20

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[Andy]

Cyp and E are very similar esters, so switching between the 2 won’t do much.

Have a look at dosing your test more frequently and see if that helps. Having less peaks and troughs in blood levels can stem off certain sides.

The initial cycles shouldn’t really be compared in terms of sex drive as even if you’re taking 1 shot per week of say 250mg of test, it’s still a great deal higher than your natural output, so sex drive will be through the roof, and as dosages escalate over time, you become more and more used to a higher drive, so then when you for what ever reason go back down in dosing, you’ll notice less of a drive on the same amounts that initially gave you a lot.

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[Andy]

I’ve been rotating both this push phase. EQ does skew my bloods a touch, so I’ve ran that at 6 weeks stints from the start to middle portions of my push phases. NPP I tolerate fine (bloods wise) so I don’t mind running that a bit longer. Until this past Saturday the load was 1000/600/400 (test/primo/NPP)

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[Andy]

A fantastic weekend at the PCA Manchester, with 2 of my clients coming away with 2 wins (Jr BB and Tall BB). Both of them have been my clients for years, so it was incredible to see them lift up 1st place. They are both venturing into new classes (James going from classic to open, and Josh going from teens to juniors)

They both have a good few shows in the pipeline, and they’re both only getting better.

As for myself, I checked in with Nick on Saturday morning at a new high BW of 288.4 (only a 0.2lbs increase, but I’ll take it). We’ve decided to push NPP up by another 200mg, bring the total to;

Test E – 1000mg

Primo – 600mg

NPP – 600mg

GH – 8IU

(lantus, novorpaid {pre}, T4, telmisartan, metformin are all in there too)

This is the biggest androgen load I’ve ever done, but it’s only for a short period until the end of this push phase.

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[Andy]

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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[Andy]

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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