[Andy]

A very hectic and demanding day helping my girlfriend move up from Liverpool to Glasgow today. I’m glad I’m not in the furniture removal game, that’s horrific, and I live on the top floor of a tenement, so there’s no lift and she filled a transit van full of stuff. . . and luckily for me I had a shoulder session to do today as well where I definitely noticed the drop in energy from doing all of that!

Regardless, I got it done, and it was still a very very good one!

Lying Y raises – 2 working sets, 12-15

Cuffed cable rear delt raises – 3 working sets, 15-20

High incline DB shoulder press – 1 working set, 8-12, 1 back-off set, 12-15

Prime flat PL chest press – 1 working set, 8-12, 1 back-off set, 12-15

HS machine PL side raises – 3 working sets, 12-15 + double drop

Bent over rope triceps extensions – 3 working sets, 12-15 + double drop

Overhead rope triceps extensions – 3 working sets, 12-15

Across the body cable triceps extensions – 3 working sets, 12-15

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[Andy]

3/4 sessions ticked off this week, with yesterday’s one filmed for YT, and I’ll complete the training cycle with shoulders tomorrow after I get back to Glasgow from Liverpool – for the last time as the other half is moving to Glasgow.

This week has been excellent, and although my training partner has been absent, it’s bee a brilliant week of training!

It’s also nice to see a good layer of fat that’s come off the physique as well.

Next week I expect to have caught up with my logbook and get everything back into place on a strength front

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[Andy]

Just curious what does your diet look like right now?

Hi Nick,

Yeah, that looks spot on, I can see the Tuor influence in that

[/quote]
Also do you think its fine just doing a protein shake post workout and no CDX shake post workout 15 minutes after like Patrick normally does?[/quote]

Hi Nick,

I’ll post my updated diet with tomorrow’s blog, yeah, so long as there’s a big carb meal PWO then that’s fine. HBCD intra would be my first choice before a PWO dose of it.

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[Andy]

I don’t think that actually answers your question haha, what I meant was, as much as I like the appetite effects of EQ, it doesn’t allow for the scalability of primo due to BP rises (for me)

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[Andy]

Smart. Nothing is worth a pec tear 😂

Just out of interest, what do you like about EQ vs Primo alone at a higher dose? You don’t see many people running it these days.

Do you tend to end up switching to lower risk movements when you get deeper in to prep, and things don’t feel as stable in those heavy free weight movements? Or do you like to stick to what put the muscle there in the first place?

Hi Ellis,

Yeah, I usually pull all free weight pressing out for a machine alternative, usually around the 6-4 week mark if we’re putting a definitive time on it. I think it’s the style of training that is more important than the movement itself[/quote]

[/quote]

Primo just due to it’s scalability, and EQ does wonders for my appetite too, but I can’t run it long if I’m escalating test due to BP rises

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[Andy]

Just curious what does your diet look like right now?

Hi Nick,

Yeah, that looks spot on, I can see the Tuor influence in that

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[Andy]

Do you tend to end up switching to lower risk movements when you get deeper in to prep, and things don’t feel as stable in those heavy free weight movements? Or do you like to stick to what put the muscle there in the first place?

Hi Ellis,

Yeah, I usually pull all free weight pressing out for a machine alternative, usually around the 6-4 week mark if we’re putting a definitive time on it. I think it’s the style of training that is more important than the movement itself

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[Andy]

A pretty decent chest bias push yesterday. Much like legs, endurance was down a touch, as was strength a tiny bit, but nothing worth crying about. It’s one of those ones where if I haven’t touched X weight in a while, my joints just feel a touch less stable, nothing outrageous, but I notice it, especially with DBs.

I tried the Cybex PL the last time I trained chest, and I’m always a bit indifferent with it, it’s like I like it, but I also don’t. So, I tried a small incline SM press yesterday, and I think I’ll run with that for the foreseeable. I’ve not run a SM chest press regularly since my shoulder op.

Seated cuffed cable flys – 2x 8-12, 1x 12-15

Incline DB press – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

Small incline SM chest press – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

Prime rear peck deck – 3x 12-15

SA cable side raises – 3x 12-15

Standing EZ-bar cable curls – 3x 12-15

High incline EZ-bar cable curls – 3x 12-15

Shallow decline sit-ups – 3 working sets, AMRAP

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[Andy]

First leg session back post-flu. Strength was down a bit, it was more I was gassing out a lot quicker, but I’m certain that I’m now in a good place, and I’ll get a good run at getting my strength back prior to the prep starting on the 2nd.

I’ve not checked in with Nick in a while, and thus haven’t taken photos of myself, I kind of don’t want to, but I know I’ll need to at some point. Nor have I weighed myself. I’m usually quite head strong, but maybe it’s the lead up to the pro debut that’s throwing me.

I know I’m not big enough to do any damage yet, and I think that’s playing on my mind a bit.

Prime PL lying leg curls – 1x 12-15

Prime PL leg extensions – 1x 12-15

HS horizontal leg press – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

Pendulum squat – 1x 8-12

Cybex seated leg curls – 1x 12-15, 1x 15-20

Seated calve raises – 3x 20

Decline sit-ups – 3x AMRAP

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[Andy]

Hi Jordan,

1. It’s just something I’ve never done, and I’ve overdone set cardio so many times, probably through not realising how active I actually am.

2. I’d like a top 5/6 in at least one show, but so long as I am better than when I won my pro card, I’m happy.

3. When I say I don’t measure everything perfectly, if it’s 100g of rice, and I measure 102g, it’s not that big a deal, but no, I genuinely don’t think I’d be better if those things were nailed 24/7 in the offseason

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[Andy]

A pretty uneventful NTD today.

My current step count is 10k per day which is quite easy for me to tally up with 1-2-1 clients. At the weekend it’s a little harder to get that but my weekly average is still sitting at 10k.

Steps isn’t something I’ve ever monitored on a prep before, and I am notorious for over cooking cardio on prep, so I’m hoping that now I have a point of reference I can curb activity a bit more.

The next 3 weeks of May will be a period where I transition my mind – I know how that sounds – into prep. I’m disciplined year round, however, this small amount of time allows me to zone into things like: making sure I’m measuring exactly to the gram, always doing my mobility work, always doing my posing work, cutting out wee bits of junk here and there (which is quite rare anyway).

If I’m 100% about a prep – which you always should be, never less – then I’m locked in very very quickly. I’ve not done a prep since 2014 that I wasn’t mentally, physically, socially, or financially ready for.

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[Andy]

A nice and easy NTD for me today. I didn’t check my weight this morning, I’d like to get 1 solid week under my belt before I do.

So that’s actually the end of my health phase. It only lasted 6 weeks which is less than I wanted but due to having to move shows and what not, it was the most time I could ideally give myself. My last HP was 14 weeks and I felt incredible by the end of it.

As of Monday this is the PED plan;

Test E – 500mg

EQ – 200mg

Primo – 300mg

GH – 3IU (pre-bed)

Lantus – 10IU, but I imagine this will be dropped by next week

Telmisartan – 40mg

Metformin – 500mg

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[Andy]

Agreed with Clare here, nutrition across the workout – alongside it’s immediate benefits – allow for meals through the day to be smaller, which can be a real problem when pushing hard and appetite starts to take a bit of a tanking.

If I consume 100g of carbs across my workout via HBCD then that means that’s 100g less carbs via whole food.

As I start to diet down, I may start to pull a few carbs from the carbs distributed across the workout and put them into whole foods.

Essential, no, useful, very much so. . .

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[Andy]

I’m finally starting to feel a bit more human again, with a semi-decent back session today. My strength wasn’t quite where it was, where for example I was t-bar rowing close to 9 plates, but today 7 was a struggle, but I’ll still take 7 for sure.

I’ve got 3 weeks until I potentially start prep, so I need to make sure that every day is squared away and for me to know that I’ve left nothing in the tank.

The last of my struggles is eating. I’m getting all of my meals in, but my throat is in agony, and I’ve got massive ulcers across my lips too which is causing me more pain – don’t eat pineapple when you have an ulcer by the way, I’d rather take a tequila shot to the eye next time. . .

Rope pullovers – 3x 12-15

Neutral grip lat pulldowns – 1x 8-12, 1x cluster

T-bar rows – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

HS SA PL low row – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

SA DB rows – 2x 8-12

RDLs – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

It’s coming back for sure, but dysmorphia is definitely screaming at me just now!

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[Andy]

So I managed to get back into the gym today – I feel I’ve been so stop start recently!

The session was good though, just a minor drop in strength, but when you spend 3 days not eating or drinking, that’s bound to happen.

I was just glad to be back in the gym.

Eating is still a hassle because my throat is so sore, and my gums are covered with ulcers, but I’m just grinning and bearing it.

I’m sure another few days of rest and recuperation that my body will be back to 100%

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