[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Any tips on what you do for better digestion ?

Hi mate yeah firstly don’t eat too much haha sounds simple but you an only utilise what you can digest. So if your bloating then maybe scale back portion size a little (unless you have a food intolerance to something but that’s a separate topic).

Also glutamine roughly 20g in the morning can help along with apple cider vinegar. I also find using a digestive enzyme and a GDA help too. GDA Meaning the carbohydrates consumes are being shuttled back into the muscles as opposed to being stored elsewhere possibly adding to the feeling of bloating etc.

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Legs ????

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Thanks for the replies I think I was just looking for reassurance even though I’m quite confident in my approach and I’ve definitely got a few new ideas to try with this now.

I think I will continue what I’m doing but in each session I will change the focus so I can attack the chosen body part fully as said above. I always leave my quads till last and that’s why they are lagging behind I’ve just been so focussed on bringing up my chest that I’ve neglected quads which used to be a strong body part but I’ve not kept on top of them.

Again thanks for the replies it’s really helpful.

Cheers

No worries pal. And if kegs are a weakness just target them as a priority but don’t neglect anywhere else. When programmed correctly you can effectively improve and grow everywhere. Keep us posted on your progress mate

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

I think people (I don’t mean you specially mate) should stop looking at training as based on a weekly basis. So don’t look at it as 4 one week, 3 the next. It’s simply 1 on. 1 off. No need to over complicate it imo.

That’s great that your progressing. I think realistically doing full body push and then pull as an experienced lifter like yourself means that certain exercises will be getting pushed to the end of sessions and not necessarily ‘attacked’ as hard. I know if I started with legs and hit 3/4 working sets then tried to be progressive with upper body exercises, that would prove somewhat counter productive – or at least I think there’s more effective methods.

Personally, I would opt for either
A: a Push lull legs split with 2 cycles
OR
B: An upper/lower split with 2, or 3 cycles – this ensures decent frequency for your weak body part and allows a number of different sessions to progress alternative exercises.

Hope that helps.

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

So I just did a little list on social and thought it would be good to share here too for any of you that don’t follow me (@joeballingerfitness)

5 pointers to help with growing muscle! They’re simple BUT they’re hard to accurately apply. Apply them and you WILL progress…

➡️ Track your food! This may sound basic but if you don’t know how much you’re eating, you can’t monitor if you’re in a surplus or not, which ideally you need to be in to grow muscle.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
➡️ Ensure you can DIGEST all of your food. It’s all well and good eating 5k calories to grow but can your body utilise that food? Start just above maintenance and work up incrementally to monitor your digestive capabilities. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
➡️ Log and PROGRESS your lifts! Again, if you don’t log them then how can you monitor progression? I assure you if you’re getting stronger, you WILL be growing new muscle tissue. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

➡️ Train with INTENSITY! I see so many guys pussy around and lift way less than what they’re capable off! Train harder and learn what true failure is. The log book will help here Immensely.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
➡️ Food timing. This is key especially with regards to pre/post meals. Ideally when bulking you will have a large portion of your daily carbohydrates here to fuel the session and ensue maximum performance as well as also ensuring optimal recovery with the post WO meal. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Looks great mate. Personally in session 1 I’d look to put leg ext after your two ‘main lifts’, so slot it in after single leg press and potentially do a double rest pause instead of a back off, depending on your recovery allowance. Other than that – Looks good to me ????

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Hey mark. Yeah novorapid and yes we started on 8units pre and post.

Take 2 glycomax with all big carb meals – so most meals. Max 10 a day.

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Hey bro. You say on training days you consume 620g carbs. Are you taking any insulin or GDA to control glucose levels? What are you doing To keep insulin sensitivity ?

Hi mate

Yeah I am using Strom sports – glycomax
Also started insulin use around 3 weeks ago. Currently running 8iu pre and post workout with my meals.

Feeling awesome!

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

When you say certain times of the month, do you mean ‘the time of the month’ because (As I’m sure you know) women will naturally bloat and hold water around this time and gain weight.

If not then yeah I like he solgar digestive enzyme and also I use a GDA that I fine helps me feel better regarding food/carb utilisation .

You should also check food intolerances and see if there’s any connection between the bloating and certain types of food etc

____________________________

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Hi Joe. Can you recommend a decent GDA. I buy CNP protein products. They have a GDA. Would this be as good as any??[/quote]
Hi mate a couple of good ones I have personally used are

Strom sports – glycomax
Anabolic designs – matador
Core nutritionals – load

????

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Hey Aaron try and find out your maintenance calorie intake and track your foods based on that then pay attention to your whether you and gaining/losing weight and how you look week/week. You can the. Adjust the macros/calories based on that feedback

If your very active you may actually find you can get into great shape without going into a huge deficit – which would obviously not be ideal for performance and your football

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Ok guys so ANNOUNCEMENT (as if anyone cares) haha jokes. But seriously, checked in with JP the other day and he said I’m ready to prep soooo…. I have 5 more weeks cruising on 350mg test E, then at the end of that we start prep! Will be 14 weeks out and I’ll be doing the amateur Olympia in Portugal in bodybuilding class – more than likely super heavy so I’m damn excited!

My girlfriend is also going to compete at the same show in the figure category so it’s pretty cool that we will be prepping, travelling and competing together. Very much looking forward to it.

One of my main goals is to continue to build strength all the way into my prep! Buzzing to say the least!

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Ya sorry, I meant to also add in the numbers of weight your doing as well if possible?

What’s the current split your doing now bro ?

Ya sorry, I meant to also add in the numbers of weight your doing as well if possible?

What’s the current split your doing now bro ?[/quote
Dude I keep forgetting to bring my logbook home (always leave it at the gym on purpose) so tell me what exercises you want to know and I’ll tell you what I can do ????

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Joe now your back seems to be on form are you going to go back deadlifting? Seen some crazy numbers you were pulling 2-3 years ago.

Hey buddy ah yes the good old days. The strength stems from my powerlifting days. I honestly nearly switched back about 2 years ago after I got really strong! But I decided to pursue BB and I’m glad I did. Anyway, deadlifts aren’t much good for me personally for physique development, JP prefers me to stay off then too so not right now my man. I’ll be working my T bar and bent over row for the time being ????

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Resting today. Push tomorrow and pull weds. Got myself a new massage gun on the weekend which was awesome last night on my legs. Deffo woke up with less leg Dom’s than normal so I will keep using this on the daily to aid my recovery

What massager you got? Never actually tried one of these. Do you find it pretty beneficial?[/quote]
Hey Man I used to have the Thera gun which was awesome but realistically it was a bit ‘too much’ especially for my legs when they had doms and that’s mainly what I wanted it for. Currently I’m using a much milder ‘vibrating plate’ version one called by Dr Graeme – it’s awesome for improving blood flow and of course recovery ????

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[Joe Ballinger IFBB Pro]

Ya sorry, I meant to also add in the numbers of weight your doing as well if possible?

What’s the current split your doing now bro ?

Also my current split is
Pull, push, rest, legs, rest, repeat but I have 2 sessions for each one and just keep cycling through

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