[Clare]

LOVE my Sunday sessions.. Lower Load day and still progressing on my deadlifts. Micro loading, but matching or exceeding reps aswell, so I’ll take it. 
All other lifts up too 🙂

Bit of prep and planning for the week ahead now.

ROTATION 2 – LOWER LOAD
Seated hamstring curl – 1 set of 10-12
Snatch grip deadlift – 1 set of 10-12, increase the weight and get 6-8 reps – TOUCH AND GO REPS
Conventional Dead into a shrug– 1 set of 15-20, each reps moves into a shrug – ONE FLUID MOVEMENT
Glute bridge – 1 r/p set
Single leg Leg press – 1 set of 20
45 degree hyper – 1 set of 10-12 reps – hold at peak contraction for 2 secs with a controlled eccentric
Abductor – 1 r/p set
Back supported leg raises – 2 body weight sets of 15
STRETCH
Seated calf raise – 3 sets of 10-12.

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[Clare]

What’s the reason for you taking your blood glucose reading? If you’re having no symptoms or issues with what you’re currently doing, then don’t over complicate things. I completely agree with Jordan, people are obsessing over a reading that fluctuates naturally and adding in an extra stress that’s unnecessary.

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[Clare]

You need to weigh up your priorities. If right now training every day is helping you through your situation, then absolutely keep doing it. Just be cautious not to dig yourself into a hole where recovery takes a hit, so set up your training to accommodate this. You could always set aside a couple of days a week to do some active recovery in the gym with some steady state cardio, that way you’re body will still be recovering from your training, but you’re still in the gym.

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[Clare]

A very biased and misleading ‘Documentary’ with twisted interpretations of cherry picked studies. Yes we can all do more to protect the environment and yes eating plant based foods are good for our health, but so is eating quality meat and dairy and turning vegan isn’t going to save the world. There may well be top athletes performing well now on Vegan diets, but what initially built there physique and how about mentioning the thousands of top meat-eating athletes too.
..Oh and apparently you can get a better boner after eating one vegan meal!

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[Clare]

I would ride it out a bit longer before making any more changes. You won’t need a refeed after 3 weeks of dieting. You’re looking leaner, so scale weight is irrelevant right now. When your gym performance significantly drops or when you’ve been pushing to a point where you’ve been flat for a while, then a refeed maybe warranted. Until then keep going as you are.

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[Clare]

I’ve had a hot bath! ???? Spent most of my rest day with Michael the British Gas man.. Third time lucky and 4 new parts later, we have a working Boiler ????

Got plenty done around the house today and watched the epic England/New Zealand Rugby match, but I feel like I need to get out of the house now, so will try and get out for a walk in a bit if it gives up raining, then enjoy a cosy evening in on the sofa ????

I won’t ever take hot water and heating for granted again!

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[Clare]

I ran a couple of marathons in 2011 and 2012. I had been weight training for many years prior to this. I found my usual workouts were too much, so I reduced what I was doing to 2 full body workouts a week. I stuck to deadlifts, a squat variation, shoulder press, pullups, push ups and dips along with some explosive exercises such as plyometrics, battle ropes, kettlebell swings and box jumps. These workouts were only around 45 mins and weren’t to failure or pushing heavy weight, they were more in a circuit style.
I also made sure to include hill sprints and downhill running as part of my Leg training. As I got closer to the marathon, however and my miles increased, I reduced the weight training further and just focused more on the running and recovery.
Hope that helps.

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[Clare]

Upper body session this morning. Annoyingly I felt a bit rushed as I had to be back home in time for Mr.Boiler man. Guess what!?.. Still not fixed! I won’t bore you with the details as I’ve had enough now. So back to today. Strength still felt good, but I feel that my upper body progress has slowed in comparison to my lower body. I’m not sure if Jordan wants to alter anything yet, so I’ll speak to him and see. I know that progress isn’t linear and that grabbing extra reps is still progress, so maybe I’m expecting too much. Frustrating none the less.

UPPER B – ROTATION 2
Machine side raise– 3 sets of 12-15 reps
High incline machine press – 3 sets, 12 reps – increase the weight a go for 8 reps , then 15 reps
Cable cuff standing – 3 sets, 12 reps – increase the weight a go for 8 reps, stay on that weight
Z bar skull – 2 sets, 12 reps – increase the weight a go for 8 reps
Low incline DB fly – 1 rp
Single arm rope pushdown– 1 rp
STRETCH
Banded chin – 2 sets of 15-20 reps
Single arm lat row – 2 sets of 15-20 reps
Rear delts on seated cable – 3 sets of 15-20 reps
STRETCH
Dual machine bicep curl – 4 sets of 10-12 reps
STRETCH
Ab machine – 3 sets of 10-12 reps

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[Clare]

Check in day today. A chunky 60kg this morning, so heaviest weight so far this off season. I don’t feel I look quite as bloated as I did a couple of weeks ago though. Jordan’s happy to keep things as they are as I’m still progressing with my training and digestion and appetite is still really good. 

As I’ve said before, off season is all about looking at the bigger picture and remembering that how we look the next time we’re on stage is what we’re aiming for and during this period in between, when the aim is on improving, we need to accept being a little uncomfortable and embracing our bodies whatever phase we’re in ????

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[Clare]

If you can get away without the cardio or reducing it, then do so. It all comes down to how quickly you’re progressing and if you’re happy with the rate. You could always look at dropping some extra calories if the cardio is too much for you and you need to speed up the fat loss.

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[Clare]

Sam King wrote:

At the end of the day bud progress is progress, even if it isn’t 100kg extra every week. You’ve answered that you’re still progressing both sets, albeit not at the rate you would’ve hoped but they’re still going up so get stuck in, be stubborn and keep grinding. Say, you were stuck with your back off set you can add micro plates and even if it’s just 0.5kg, that soon adds up over the long haul.

Whereabouts are you placing deads in your split I’m assuming near the start of your routine?

_________________________________________

Comp history:

NPA South West 18th August 2019

– 1st: NPA South West 2019 Novice 1st Place

– NPA South West 2019 Best Male 1st Timers

– NPA South West 2019 Best Transformation Male

– NPA South West 2019 3rd place overall

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Lifetime natural – first show 18th August 2019.

Next show – 27th October 2019: British Championships

Journal – Road to First Comp

Instagram: samking104

That’s true, they are dead last in my upper day (A3) as per Dante’s 2 way DC split. Decided to do it exactly as he said and it works really well despite seeming unconventional.

Just as an aside, I find it very difficult to extreme stretch my lats after deads, feels very uncomfortable like my back is about to pop so I usually skip that

————

Just a note on the lat stretch. Don’t hang dead straight or you may well feel a strain on your lower back. Hang with your knees slightly bent a hips tilted forward and focus on getting a stretch from under the armpits.

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[Clare]

I don’t buy into this. Just train hard, with good form, selecting exercises that suit you and your goals, progress over time and stay consistent with it.

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[Clare]

Sounds like you’re still progressing on both sets, just slower on the back off. If you think logically though.. You’ve just pulled heavier on your first set, so you are likely going to be more fatigued going into your second set. However, if you’re still progressing with this, albeit slower, I’d still say that’s pretty good!

Remember too that progress isn’t always linear. You won’t be able to lift heavier each week indefinitely. Sometimes you need to take a step back to make another step forward, but whilst you’re still getting some progress, I’d stick with what you’re doing.

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[Clare]

Well it looks like another day without hot water or heating! I had to cancel clients today to sit in and wait for an engineer to arrive to fix my boiler, but now we have to wait for a new part to be collected and fitted.. so I have to cancel clients tomorrow afternoon and wait in again… Marvellous.

I couldn’t face another day without washing my hair and I didn’t fancy using a gym shower, so have just treated myself to a hair treatment and wash at my hairdressers. They didn’t charge me either.. bonus!

Check in day tomorrow, 2 weeks since I’ve sent Jordan pictures, so we’ll see his response. I’m up in weight again and looking sturdy.. haha! I’ll update you all with any changes. I’m feeling good though, so happy to ignore the back fat for a while longer and keep focusing on my training and the bigger picture.

Fortunately today was my rest day anyway and I can get my Upper session done in the morning before I have to wait in for Mr. British Gas.

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[Clare]

I personally like the Supplement Needs Vanilla Whey Isolate. I don’t drink it alone though, just mix it with foods. Taste is very subjective though.

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