[Maddy]

Hi Angelo. This looks fine to me buddy. Just looking at legs, I’d do a Bulgarian split squat on one of the days and swap out smith machine split squats. Have you tested this out? How has it been going for you? How’s recovery and progressions so far? I’m assuming you’re in a position where you need to grow everywhere. If so, this looks like a good start 👍🏼

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[Maddy]

Day 3 in Vilnius and I’m getting the train to Kaunas today. Stopping off in Trakai as it’s a lovely day and it’s apparently really pretty there. Steps are super high and honestly food hasn’t been a bit lower than expected. Lovely and sunny but cold 👍🏼

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[Maddy]

Hiya Jonathan. I think the same applies here with your partner. If you explain to your girlfriend you obviously care about your health, have researched and you’re doing things as carefully and thoughtfully as possible she should respect it. A lot of the time fear comes from ‘the unknown’ and she herself likely won’t know the ins and outs of peds so a little reassurance and trust can go a long way here 👍🏼

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[Maddy]

Day 2 in Vilnius and so far up early for a journey to the hill of crosses. Super cool looking, a visit to a museum and hopefully try some more Lithuanian food. Steps are HIGH.

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[Maddy]

I absolutely agree with Clare. It’s very hard to make progress when your health isn’t in the best place first. I understand the gym and training is also a huge help for your mental health but often pulling back and resting for some time will mean you can actually get back to doing what you love and feeling better sooner. When I’m sick (I recently have been, you can see in my log) I rest. Depending on the severity of illness going out for walks is okay but as for training I suggest rest. When you’re sick your bodyweight may fluctuate, if you have a little time away from the gym you MAY feel like you’re losing your gains or looking like shit but a lot of that is in your head. As soon as you’re able to resume your routine pre getting sick (depending on severity of illness) I guarantee you’ll feel mentally and physically a lot better. As for now I absolutely agree that you should rest, walk if you can manage it, bring kcals up to maintenance and supplement as Clare mentioned above to support recovery. This is a very normal part of most people’s journey (managing sickness when you’ve been on a good run of training) it won’t be the end of your progress!

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[Maddy]

Hello hello! Day 1 in Vilnius and it’s been a busy day. Up for a tour to view the old town and then a cycling tour in the afternoon. Saw some really cool brutalist architecture and enjoyed some Lithuanian food. Played some pool in the evening and got absolutely smoked 💖

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[Maddy]

Hiya John. Motivation in the moment especially when you’re in the thick of a long offseason or anything that requires time can often be fleeting. One big mistake I see athletes (pro or not) making is thinking that when motivation is low, it means it’s an opportunity for a decision to be made. ‘Should I just leave it today?’ Not at all! On the days where you just don’t want to go in and train (been there myself) you really do have to tell yourself that it’s an opportunity to exercise discipline. Also an opportunity as Marc mentioned to better yourself. Having the ability to go in and get shit done to a high standard when you really don’t want to is honestly what separates good athletes from the best. Ultimately if you find more often you feel you don’t want to train and are not enjoying it then perhaps an adjustment needs to be made. So while I’m sitting here coming off like ‘go in and get shit done no matter what’ there’s also a balance. Enjoying what you do will always make the process easier and more fun especially when its going to require a lot of time 👍🏼

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[Maddy]

Echoing the above really but around 2hours! I do tend to find if I’m rushing I can get things done a bit quicker but performance suffers a little

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[Maddy]

Hi guys. Rest day today and off to Lithuania for a couple days. Usual work to be done and some travel in-between. I’ve been to Lithuania before for a powerlifting competition. My sister was competing at Euros back in 2019. It’ll be nice to see more of Lithuania again 👍🏼

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[Maddy]

I second Kuba and Meg. Peak week protocol is completely dependant on the person and Ideally nothing extreme needs to be done. People usually go wrong by overcomplicating things or taking extreme measures to try and ‘better’ a look.

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[Maddy]

Hi guys in for hams glutes and delts today. It went pretty good! Not 100% for pressing movements just yet but I’m working my way back. Felt a little pull in my right adductor. It’s nothing crazy but defo something I’m not going to be silly with as this right side has caused me so many issues over the last year. All movements completed and this session was MILES better in comparison to last week. Happy happy

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[Maddy]

Hiya Lucas. Having a/b/c/d rotation is great because it allows you to work on progressing a variation of movements and so you’re less likely to hit a wall with progressions. The runway for progress is longer. It’s not the only way to structure training though so don’t feel that scaling back to an A/B rotation will affect your progress too much. A lot of people don’t have access to a wide array of equipment and so the most important thing is honestly making do with what’s available to you 👍🏼

Your split looks good. There is room for a little more variation (I’d like to see a lunge variation somewhere for legs like Bulgarians or split squats) but more importantly how has progress been so far? How is recovery? How long have you been following this structure? I would (personally) on Training B do your leg movements first and upper after purely because if it’s heavy legs I prefer to go into the session doing the priority first.

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[Maddy]

Hello hello resting today. Meals in steps done, puppy walked and I got noticeably more sore as the day progressed. Hot bath and we’ll assess the vibes tomorrow 🫡

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[Maddy]

Hiya, totally agree with Clare. Allow for some rest and soft tissue work. Re-set load and have a look at execution. I totally agree that you’ll likely benefit from adjusting your rep range so it’s a little higher and then continue with progressions. Remember progressions aren’t limited to just adding more load. 👍🏼

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[Maddy]

Hello hello happy Monday. Today I was in again for quads and glutes. It’s been a while since I’ve done this session. I last did it pre getting ill around 2 weeks ago. Bodyweight is still down. I was 68.5ish pre getting ill and now I’m 66.7kg womp womp. Also it’s super normal to look a little shit when you’re not training, not eating and very ill. But today was actually a good session. Don’t get me wrong it was hard and in particular my strength isn’t where it was but it felt MILES better compared to any session I did last week. Let’s see if I recover ✌🏼🤞🏼

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