[K-Antoni]

Hey buddy,

There will be no difference is swapping to leg presses around in the sessions as you will still be doing equal work on the single leg presses.

I personally like starting with a seated leg curl or lying ham curl then move onto your compound movements.

The best volume is what you can recover from. Start with 1-2 working sets on your compounds and 2-3 isolations exercises as your MEV and then adjust volume where needed.

@phoebegoodwin Thank you for the response,

so is the goal to do as much as you can recover from so for example theoretically let’s say I do 1 set on squats and I’m progressing weekly but I could be doing 3 sets and still be progressing. So are you saying I’d see more growth from 3 sets than I would 1 set ? So more volume is better if you can recover from it ? But my question is doesn’t that just bring more recovery demands and no additional adaptations as the adaption is me getting stronger and progressing? So should I not be trying to see how low I can take my volume and still progress?

[K-Antoni]

Hey bud so…..this all just preference again. Does this set up currently feel good? Are you progressing? Are you enjoying it?

Personally I prefer an isolation move before my compounds. For example lower A for me would run.

Seated ham curl

Leg press

BB squat (higher rep set)

Leg extension

Adductor

Calf

Or you could do the BB squat as your main compound after ham curl and then SL press as you stated. Then put bilateral leg press in lower B

Lower B – I’d potentially swap ham curl and RDL round then leg press and I would opt for a split squat variation or lunge.

Lying ham

RDL

Leg press

Split squat

Adductor

Calf

If you mean your only doing 3 sets of biceps a week. That can be more. 3 sets per session minimum twice weekly it’s doesn’t take a lot from you from a rlot covers demand or time demand.

Thank you for the response I’ll definitely swap my leg days around how you have recommended and add in a split squat on LOWER B

I’ll probably keep RDL and BB squat first as I want to prioritise just getting strong on these exercises and chasing progressive overload

[K-Antoni]

Hey bud so…..this all just preference again. Does this set up currently feel good? Are you progressing? Are you enjoying it?

Personally I prefer an isolation move before my compounds. For example lower A for me would run.

Seated ham curl

Leg press

BB squat (higher rep set)

Leg extension

Adductor

Calf

Or you could do the BB squat as your main compound after ham curl and then SL press as you stated. Then put bilateral leg press in lower B

Lower B – I’d potentially swap ham curl and RDL round then leg press and I would opt for a split squat variation or lunge.

Lying ham

RDL

Leg press

Split squat

Adductor

Calf

If you mean your only doing 3 sets of biceps a week. That can be more. 3 sets per session minimum twice weekly it’s doesn’t take a lot from you from a rlot covers demand or time demand.

I agree With Nath here and this is how I would have it laid out.

If your doing 1 all out failure set for each exercise and hitting legs twice a week then that is sufficient volume imo. [/quote]
@Hilly Thank you, and in regards to bicep volume/working sets I do one exercise at the end of upper so UPPER A is 2 sets BB bicep curl and UPPER B IS 2 sets DB preacher curl should I add an additional exercise or just do 3 sets on each of these exercises?

So is there a “MEV” so a certain amount of volume is required? Because I had the understanding that intensity of exercise was all that mattered so if I was doing 2 sets twice a week so total weekly volume being 4 sets that I’d see the same growth as if I did 6 sets or 8 sets so long as I’m progressing my lifts? As volume isn’t the driver of hypertrophy but intensity and progressive overload is

[K-Antoni]

Agreed , total rest and sleep and slow nice walks , that’s literally all I ever do, I nap on rest days , and I do my walks

Thank you for the response, once recovered from this it opens another question if I start my cut for a holiday at the end of December is bulking still worth doing if it will only be for 3 weeks or am i better off just sitting at maintenance thanks again

[K-Antoni]

I’ve been so confused as everything has been tracked and managed as I’m ocd and like everything to be tracked. So when I took a deload and was still not recovered I was confused then I upped calories and droped training volume and still saw no improvements I was sure it was something more.

So thanks for the advice and sorry for the constant spam and whining lol but explains why I’ve felt so week and like a kitten, if I have a sinus infection

[K-Antoni]

You simply need to rest

Sleep / rest and do your steps

Don’t lower calories

Don’t do cardio

Or any of the stupid shit people do when trying to “recover” that isn’t conducive to recovery

You recover more / better by doing less

Thank you, I think I may have some form of a sinus infection which will explain why I’ve been feeling this way and wasn’t aware of it I’m going to get it sorted and get antibiotics thank you for all the help

[K-Antoni]

Hey buddy is this current body comp?

Yes, those pictures are all within the last 4 daysb

[K-Antoni]

What’s your goal, What’s your ideal look do you want when going away to Dubai?

An aesthetic physique, lean and muscular

[K-Antoni]

Honestly its getting so old repeating ourselves bud – your mad lean – keep bulking right till Dubai – based on the 999 pics you have posted so far your not going to get fat at all and will go away looking great to Dubai

Thank you for the help

[K-Antoni]

Honestly its getting so old repeating ourselves bud – your mad lean – keep bulking right till Dubai – based on the 999 pics you have posted so far your not going to get fat at all and will go away looking great to Dubai

My apologies

[K-Antoni]

Hello mate

First of all thank you for trusting us enough to share your inner feelings

It’s not an easy journey for anyone of us. And sometimes the “lower batteries” can occur and that’s totally normal.

Secondly, you are still very lean imo, so you have a margin to increase food, you will not sez much progresses if you don’t eat enough for your needs.

It goes with accepting that you may be a little less lean for some time, but your shape lools very good so as I said: you got a decent margin.

Don’t be afraid to eat more, and also you can reduce the volume of workout and focus on your recovery, massages, or things that makes you feel good physically and mentally.

As you wanna be lean, you may be a little impatient to see progresses, and I understand but this impatience is making you not objective at all, and probably it drains your energies even more.

If all the weights seems too heavy at the gym, take more rest btw sets also, and eat more.

You def have more kcals than average bodybuilding practitioners, and on the paper it seems huge enough, but as you are still lean, that’s not enough for you

I’ve left it a couple days and just trained legs today feeling like a kitten in the gym haven’t got blood work done yet not going to lie I can’t afford it at the moment.

So I’m seeing if I can fix it my self I’ve dropped my volume down to one working set to see if this helps.

And I’ve also upped my food an additional 200 calories.

my performance has dropped and body fat has gone up which is frustrating and kind of hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of eating more as I worked very hard to take all the body fat off so I want to make sure I’m not over eating and just putting unnecessary body fat on.

If the drop in volume and increase in food doesn’t shift this feeling of being drained and weak in the gym I will take a deload week.

If this again doesn’t work I’m going to go to get blood work as it is clearly a bigger issue.

Is there anything else anyone would add or recommend for me to do thanks. @Jordan_peters @Hilly @Maddy Lulu-Belle Daniel

[K-Antoni]

Get some blood work done

Okay thank you.

[K-Antoni]

Hello mate

First of all thank you for trusting us enough to share your inner feelings

It’s not an easy journey for anyone of us. And sometimes the “lower batteries” can occur and that’s totally normal.

Secondly, you are still very lean imo, so you have a margin to increase food, you will not sez much progresses if you don’t eat enough for your needs.

It goes with accepting that you may be a little less lean for some time, but your shape lools very good so as I said: you got a decent margin.

Don’t be afraid to eat more, and also you can reduce the volume of workout and focus on your recovery, massages, or things that makes you feel good physically and mentally.

As you wanna be lean, you may be a little impatient to see progresses, and I understand but this impatience is making you not objective at all, and probably it drains your energies even more.

If all the weights seems too heavy at the gym, take more rest btw sets also, and eat more.

You def have more kcals than average bodybuilding practitioners, and on the paper it seems huge enough, but as you are still lean, that’s not enough for you

Thank you so much for the response and understanding it really means a lot. I will continue to push up body weight and just do a mini cut for my holiday but for now I’ll add 200 calories and see how my body responds.

In regards to lifting like tempo/form if I train with perfect form pausing in contraction and stretch for a second and controlling the negative is this better than a still controlled but more explosive style training as I can lift about 10-15kg more on my compound lifts if I change to a still controlled but more explosive style vs the other one thanks. As I feel that the explosive one puts more tension as I lift more but the other one is safer and I feel or isolate the target muscle better

[K-Antoni]

Heya Kian, 10 weeks is not a long time for an offseason/push up phase. Please understand that when you’re in a position where you need to grow, you will likely need to accept that you will gain some body fat. Don’t look at pro athletes or seasoned amateur athletes as they are likely not in a position where they need to grow so much. In my opinion, you need to continue growth. If you have taken a break from training (not just for a few days but for a few weeks even) and you’re still struggling, don’t underestimate how this can be something more mental than physical. It’s so very normal to go through phases of not wanting to train and feeling a little less pumped and excited about it. What separates people who are athletes and perhaps people who just enjoy training, is the ability to get training done regardless of emotion.

As you mentioned you have a runny nose, feeling run down and tired (all physical) I suggest you continue with reduced training and focus on rest and recovery until you feel completely better. In the long run for you, you need to focus on growth for an extended period of time (years not months or weeks)

Thank you for the response I appreciate it a lot

[K-Antoni]

Are you a competitor or lifestyle trainer?

Not competing no but still want to maximise muscle
Growth/appearance