Damian Zhang
Forum Replies Created
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I noticed in the previous gym and current gym – 4pm rather than 5pm is a good time to train and Wed/Thurs onwards the gym generally gets quieter, naturally Monday and sometimes Tuesday can be massively busy.
I moved my working hours to get to the gym earlier in the afternoon, but some people don’t have that luxury.
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Yep don’t wear a belt for atlas stones. Your spine needs to flex and extend and the belt gets in the way.
Thank you!
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Thank you all for the advice, it’s really appreciated, difficulties I am facing is c. 60 hour work weeks, as well as training 5 x a week and mental health issues with low appetite due to stress from work.
Interestingly at 78kg when shredded, I raised this with my wife yesterday who said I look better at 82kg with a tiny bit of fluff and more muscle.
In terms of strength, I agree, it’s going up really well, broke through PBs including PBs with strongman training, so it is working very well. I am in Florida for 2 weeks from Saturday so when back will keep at current diet, and check visually but also ensure strength is progressing.
I do appreciate all your help, spot on about neural connections and technique, I spoke to a few lads regarding log technique, and it really helped.
@ajbishop89 I am able to do 80kg atlas stones for 6 reps, the only tricky issue I have is, depsite having a tshirt, I am getting pinch/cuts on my abs when I get the stone past my belt, the strongman lads at my gym said either dont wear a belt at all or move the buckle to the side to stop the pinch, would this be right?
Thanks again for all your help, this forum is so good for assistance!
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I love it tbh, I am really basic, 1 scoop, hot water, mix with a chopstick, done.
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81.8kg
Strength is going up and up and up.
I am really proud my target for Atlas stones via my coach was 8 x 60kg and then try 70kg, I did a video to my coach showing 70kg, he said try 80 and I managed 80kg x 5 over yoke. It did not feel too hard.
Chap I spoke to recommended BPC-157, need to do abit more research into it (regarding healing my bicep tendonitis), I would just get really nervous how to use it, anything that could go wrong etc.
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Mate, this is quite dangerous, Adam’s spot on these are for a few days not long periods – you can also see this on Amazon Prime – American wrestlers were famous for taking pain meds and dieing, as they were popping them like a 10 years old with jelly beans. Be mindful, research, speak to the below, not a med expert, but I am 37, been in and out of hospital for mental/physical stuff for years, experienced too much already lol, should get a gold star I think..
– If you have money/medical insurance – see a private consultant who specialises in this – recommend Spire Hospital (had good results here).
– If you don’t – Ask for an urgent appointment (pref same day) with a GP, push them for a referral as well as some intervention to temporarily help.
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81.7kg
Rest day today, going to the V&A museum to see the Cartier exhibition with my wife, rest of the day is just chilling out in general.
Average weight gain for the week was 0.5kg and still have 6 pack showing, so looking good as natural.
Reduced whey intake for the past 2 weeks – Take mass gainer in the morning and vegan protein in the evening and feel fine, the rest of the time is essentially whole foods and tonnes of water.
Off to Florida in 2 weeks for 2 weeks, quite nervous around eating whole foods etc, food timing etc, availability of gyms and equipment etc, so also need the time to unwind as well, but will be mindful.
Took @Clare advice, ditched the fitbit for last month as I was getting really anxious, feel much better, as long as I am eating right etc, I am fine.
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Hi mate,
Theres a really good vid on here about this exact thing, I now monitor glucose after watching this – it’s by James Hol – check it out.
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Thank you so much everyone for the help. I will enquire around and see!
Hi mate, I shopped around quite abit, I am not loaded, have family & responsibilities, so having disposable income is limited for me at least. However, the folks here, especially @MarcHector is right, the fit with the coach is the most important, if you don’t click, or have differing views etc, it’s not going to work, cheap or expensive.
I have a strongman coach, it has limitations, limited diet advice (I use here to get assistance) and my own learning, but he’s great with the other bits, I had a strongman coach years ago and we just didnt click and I paid more than what I pay now.
Another thing to think about from experience is..people fall for big names…some great..some not so great. You need to really reflect on, can you be told what to do, is your coach happy asking about the reasoning behind things (I feel this is important), can you provide the commitment needed to meet your plan and goals?
Hope this helps.
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81.3kg
Pretty happy with the bulk so far, kinda stalling this week, work has been mental with 10+ hour days, with training at Stack in Rayleigh after work. Need to eat more and find ways just to add the calories in, strongman at the gym mentioned smoothies throughout the day helps – will look into this today.
Loving gym, loving the progress, stats so far:
– Axle deadlift – 160kg 3×3 – form good, felt I had more in the tank.
– Standard BB conv dead – 177.5kg was my pb, it was actually easy, I think 185kg is on the cards soon.
– BB back squat – 85kg 4×4 – pause at the bottom per rep – never could do this before.
– Log is 62kg 3×4, Yoke 180kg 4 runs, Farmers 130kg 4 runs, 60kg Atlas over yoke (my weakest).
Overall loving everything, macros currently:
200g protein
280g carbs
80g fats.
Take it easy guys/gals
Damian
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Hello bud, so this happens to a fair amount of people actually and it just means you need to keep slowly tapering good up.
For example I spent a lot of time around 2200-2400kcal earlier in the year due to travel and work commitments I just sat there and stayed lean. Over the passed 8 weeks I have gone from that to 4200kcal as of last week and have barely Gaines 4lb. There is nothing I am doing wrong I simply just need to be patient and keep pushing food up.
A lot of people favour putting more energy on days there body requires/demands it (training days) and we find this works over well. I would imagine for yourself doing strong man which has a huge energy demand you are going to need alot of food on these days so I would defo have higher carbs on your training days.
Super, much appreciated on the response Peter, appreciate it.
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81kg
Strongman training going perfect, very happy. Gym is really decent and speaking to a few strongmen who go there.
Was ill for a few days, was dire, but back into it and weight going back up.
Really in a good position and happy.
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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10r6tRktoE2O4UzEd5-nsk274BnGtiRul
Seems positive in terms of progress in the posing room, 1.2kg increase in bodyweight averaged from all of July 25 to end of Aug 25.
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Hi mate
On the whole, there are good trends here, obviously with the execution of your quad which has reduced by a cm. Anything that stands out as why?
Couple of things from me
1) Be patient. A month isn’t a large amount of time in the grand scheme
2) Be very accurate with your measurement placements. As an example, I would have a very different number if I measured mid thigh or top of thigh.
Morning Rich,
I was surprised about the quad dropping, thinking back over the month, I think I maybe quad focused exercises lacked more than usual.
Will ensure measurements are accurate each time!
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Thanks all! Yes, taking photos, when cutting was about every 2 weeks, now it’s generally every 3 weeks, I feel a tiny bit of fat has been added but…mainly everything else, which is positive.
Funnily enough, after I wrote this post, I got norovirus and couldnt eat, drink nothing, still recovering, lost literally 3.5kg in a day! Today I am fighting it to get calories in but do feel better.