[Maddy]

Hi guys! Another busy day! Up and out for a walk and breakfast and then straight into work. Final amendments to an edit and handing it over and then some pretty boring admin. In for hams and glutes today and then to my grandmas for tea and a chat! Then back home to finish off for the day. Ready for bed and a full on day tomorrow

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hiya Antonio, Sorry to hear you’ve been injured and hopefully your more recent injuries aren’t causing you too much trouble.

A few things to address here. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with ribcage flare or arching your back for pressing movements such as chest press, incline press or shoulder press. As long as you are arching the correct part of your back. Your UPPER back not the lower.

To set up for flat press (or incline) you are totally correct in thinking of the cue to ‘keep your chest proud’ shoulders back and in result you should have some ribcage flare. This is totally fine as long as you are focusing on arching your upper back to achieve this.

To set up for shoulder press or military press (seated I assume) it’s the same deal however the focus of you arching your upper back shouldn’t be too emphasised as you’ll likely use more chest than delt to press the weight up. Particularly for shoulder press or military press, I’d think about leg drive too. It sounds to me as you may be arching your lower back (which can result in injury) but also not supporting the load from the ground up (through your legs and using leg drive to press) and perhaps not bracing with the wight effectively.

Ribcage flare is only something I truly feel the need to address for squat patterns or if it’s causing pain, not so much with pressing. I think the main things to address here are what I mentioned above; how you’re arching your back and how you are supporting the weight (through legs and effective bracing)

If you have any videos of pressing movement you usually perform, if you’re able to upload it to the app, or via we transfer we can have a look and provide move specific feedback. 👍🏼

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hi guys! Up early today and mainly spent the day editing and doing check ins. I’m ending my work day here because for the past week I’ve been working very late. Looking forward to my final meal and watching Harry Potter. Feeling a touch sore after yesterday’s session but shouldn’t bleed in to tomorrow so all good on this end!

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Heya TY, I’m pretty much here to say I agree with all the guys above! I have previously had creapure and now regularly use TBJP creatine and honestly have noticed absolutely zero difference! It’s my understanding that ‘creapure’ is simply a brand name and claims to be the purest form of creatine. In the grand scheme of things it’s not that deep and the TBJP creatine is fab to use! I personally have the unflavoured version and recommend you supplement with it daily!

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hi guys! Happy Monday! Up early for a shoot in central and managed to wrap at 3-4pm and had lunch with team fade. Had my first Bone Daddies, really good ramen. Probably not the best pre but it was pretty banging regardless. Tube back home and a quick sainsbsurys shop before heading to the gym for a late session. Haven’t trained since last Monday and so I was excited to train! Quads and glutes today. It was extremely busy in kings and so had to sub some things in e.g. sissy for leg extension. Had a pretty good session! Not fully at 1-0rir for all movements yet but feels good to train with even less SI joint pain. Still not 100% and so making do with leg pressing for now. Very much ready for bed as I have yet another early start tomorrow and likely for the foreseeable this week!

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hello hello, travelled back today and tried to get ready for a very busy week ahead. I have a shoot in central (London) tomorrow which hopefully we’ll wrap early for so I can get some training in. The rest of this week will be a little touch and go but I’ve managed before and so I’ll figure it out!

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Good morning, day 2 in Brussels today, lots of steps getting done! Yesterday we managed to find some really nice traditional Belgium food, some kind of rabbit stew and a really nice beef stew. Hopefully some other nice finds today too!

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Good morning! And early log from me today as i’ll be with my nieces all day in Belgium. No training but no doubt I’ll be walking a LOT and food will be smart estimates around what I’d usually do for a rest day 👍🏼

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hiya Joe,
What Louis and Clare mentioned above are viable options! I think adding in cardio on rest days or at least 4X a week would be a fab place to start. DO be strict on tracking the bpm. I would honestly say keeping hr between 130-150bpm will ensure it’s effective and that you consistently keep your pace especially if you opt for something like a bike or elliptical. Also make sure you track your steps separately from any cardio you start to implement!

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hello hello, another busy day and I’m starting to feel tiredness take over. Up early to absolutely blast through check ins before getting the train to Brussels. I’ll be here till Sunday with my nieces and so work will have to weave on inbetween! A little stressed as of course as I’ve left the U.K. I have orders coming through to pack for MAD. and emails coming through requesting further amendments on edits. Such is life and I’ll get it handled when I can! As for now I’m so desperately ready for bed and hope not to be woken up too early! As soon as I get really tired and stressed my digestion takes a hit so feeling a bit fucked. Food for the rest of the trip will be estimates for options that align well with my usual rest day protocol and some yummies here and there.

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

 

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

hello hello a fairly uneventful day today. Up and out for a short walk before breakfast and then a few check ins before meeting up with team FADE to drive over to a shoot. From Reigate to Harrogate was about 5 hours of driving. My SI joints screaming. A short walk to Nando’s for dinner and now catching up with some work and final check ins from the hotel. Long day shooting all day tomorrow and then driving all the way back.

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

hello hello, happy bank holiday Monday. Up and out for a walk and then breakfast and a little work. In for Quads and glutes. SI Joints (particularly left side) is still not 100% but maybe 60-70% better. After two weeks of no compounds (no spinal loading) and a significant pull back in load and intensity I do feel quite a bit better and really itching to go. I’ve been saying I’ve been ‘deloading’ but really this pull back was a lot more of a pull back than the usual for the sake of not being in pain. Today all movements bar compounds were back in at 1-0 rir and instead of hack or pendulum I’ve introduced leg press. One of the few options that don’t load my spine or require much stability. This was however causing discomfort in my groin previously so I went into it fairly light. It felt really really good and I’m hopeful that it’ll be something I can progress over time.

Training this week is going to be an absolute mess and may not even get completely done. Two very heavy days of work coming up including travel and then a trip away. While I’m itching to just knuckle down with training, I’m seeing this busy week as more time to heal and feel closer to 100%

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Heya Kian!

You’re doing a really great job tracking variables and not doing anything drastic! I think you’re in a great spot to continue as you are! A couple more weeks of dieting and I think you’ll be in a great spot to slowly start bringing up kcals and start a really productive offseason. Well done! 👍🏼

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms

[Maddy]

Hello hello happy Sunday. Totally didn’t realise that it’s a bank holiday weekend. Had a MUCH needed lie in today after a couple days of less sleep and I feel so much better. Up and out for a walk and breakfast, then straight in to setting up clients for the week and some check ins. Spent the rest of the day with family and then went out in the evening for some Georgian food. Fucking hell it was amazing. I hadn’t even finished my meal and I was already planning on coming back. If you’ve never tried Georgian food it’s an absolute MUST! Then finally got round to watching the new deadpool wolverine film. It was pretty good but I AM craving the days where superhero films were a little more serious. It was a good laugh regardless! Now ready for bed and hopefully another banging night of sleep x

Instagram - lulubellelifts
Code: LULU10 for smashing sups and fab garms