[Marc]

Hi guys… I hit a push session today, first session since Friday because I haven’t been feeling 100%. Still not quite a 100%, walking getting steps I feel a little breathless, not like I’m heavy but more so because I have this cold that hasn’t shifted.

But anyway, gym session today was good I was happy with how it went to be honest and it felt good to train. I dropped a set on most exercises to ease myself in and not trash myself. Strength was still really good so another plus.

I’ve been instructed to take tomorrow as a rest day and back in on Thursday so that’s the plan for tomorrow.

Tried the DNFM pre workout in candy today, gets the thumbs up from me lol

[Marc]

Pretty crap day to be honest. Not felt great, slept a fair bit and appetite hasn’t been good but still trying to get meals in. I didn’t train today, my training is 4 days a week, so I’m praying I will feel better asap and get all sessions completed this week

[Marc]

Day celebrating Kerry’s nans 90th birthday today. Really nice day seeing her nan and also the rest of her family as it’s been quite a long time seeing them with us living like 3 hours drive away.

En route back home now, looking forward to getting in bed and sleeping lol and hopefully also waking up fresher than what I’ve felt the last few days

[Marc]

I will usually throw additional carbs anywhere from 100g carbs over 2 meals upto 300/400 over 4 meals. All clean. I put these in sporadically when needed using my eye. So if a client looks a little fatigued or has run flat (glycogen depleted) for a long period of time I will implement additional carbs. It’s rare I will give a cheat meal off during a prep but I may do if we are far enough out from a show or if the client really needs a night off socially and is on or ahead of schedule.

That’s what I’m actually noticing works really well with me. I’ll add an extra 100g of rice a meal. When I refeed in my last meal only I feel like my body rips through it to fast n I go flat sooner. When I have a whole day n I slowly add the extra in it’s like my body stays fuller longer with it. I dropped having a cheat meal now just because I know it’s my inner desire for food n its not optimal for my progression over all.[/quote]
Having the refeeds will help from a data standpoint too, as you can see what the food does to your body and is a better way to monitor as it’s a calculated amount of food. Spreading the carbs over meals won’t give you big spike in carbs either in one sitting, which sometimes can make you feel sluggish afterwards

[Marc]

So from looking at the pictures, the one with no writing on your shorts I would say your physique looks harder and more defined at this weight.

Going by what you have said regarding performance in the gym is good, but like Peter has said the other variables is important to look at.

Rest/ recovery

The correct macro split for you, you mentioned protein you hit at least 170, for your bodyweight likely in a growth phase this could have been higher

Do you get regular bloodwork, this is important also for natural athletes to see if there are any imbalances

How consistent are your meals

Do you track your rate of gain weekly

… lots of questions here but don’t let this define you this phase. As invested as you are in your progress, maybe a coach could be the next step to dive further into things.

For what it’s worth you are in great shape!

[Marc]

Rested today, had a rough nights sleep with headache and cough. Feel a little better as the day has gone on today. Rest day food but appetite has been firing today so I’m happy with that.

3hours drive down south today split between me and Kerry. Not what we both wanted to do with how we felt, but it’s her nans 90th birthday party tomorrow so we will showing our face (from a distance).

Followed some of the streaming for the Ben weider show today to keep up with the results.

[Marc]

Not felt 100% today, headache between hot and cold. Had to have a battle with myself not to train because I still wanted to get my last session for the week ticked off but I didn’t. Made sure I kept hydrated and food has gone in. Today protein sources have been fish and whey iso. It’s Good Friday and I’ve always done this from my upbringing in a Christian home, so few adjustments today with food to make sure I still stayed on track. Off to bed pretty soon, hopefully a good nights sleep will do the trick

[Marc]

I agree with what the team have said above, keep the rotation that is working, try not to get caught up thinking anything needs changing. You have found your groove stick with it.

For iso movements I generally have a rep range target, but really pushing these iso movements working to failure. A top set of back off isn’t necessarily needed when you train with intensity here

[Marc]

Is it hard behind the nipple ? If it’s hard it’ll need surgery. If puffy some drugs could potentially get rid of it

No it’s soft, feels like fat tissue[/quote]
Out of interest have you had any blood tests done recently? It would be useful to see if there any hormones out of balance.

[Marc]

Out with my daughters today and Kerry, we went bowling to celebrate my youngest daughters 7th birthday a few days early. Had a great time, nice to be with my loved ones having fun and being in the moment.

My daughter loved her gifts, highlight was a unicorn that’s probably as big as her lol.

Been a long day travelling on the motorway, but it was definitely worth it to see how happy she was.

[Marc]

Hi Dario

With your macro split, I would think about reducing your fat intake here. I always like to favour food as protein sources (1-2servings of whey iso a day max) so chicken, lean red meat, salmon. Hopefully your emergency is ok now and you can eat more protein throughout the day.

Steps if part of your usual routine is fine. If you are going to go into a cut like the team has advice, introducing some direct cardio will help the process too.

[Marc]

3rd training session of the week today. Trained a little earlier today after two meals (instead of three) as I had a sports massage booked in a later afternoon/early evening.

Today was another really good session. More so in terms of improving my form, and not weight. I’m someone who likes to train hard, but I also know there’s always room to improve and my exercises / form is something I’m really working hard on right now. I’m feeling / seeing a difference and I’m confident as this continues to improve I will see greater progress in my physique which really matters to me.

[Marc]

Even on a diet I can’t eat my fish or chicken, I replace it with protein isolate, do you think that can be counterproductive?

How many meals are your using protein isolate? For me, 2 servings max a day try to you use whole protein sources such as red meat, salmon as there will be additional nutrients in these foods such as omegas and iron

[Marc]

Push workout today, which I was happy about. Few pointers / cues from my session last week that I point into practice today. Likely still some tweaks to be made but I’m happy with how the session went.

My workout today was;

Single arm cable pull over: 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Single arm cable curl -: 2 sets of 8-10 reps,

Cable y raise: 3 sets, 2 sets of 8-10, 1 set of 10-12 reps.

Cybex eagle chest press : 1 set of 8-10 reps, 1 set of 12-15 reps

Bravo flat cable chest press : 1 set of 6-9 reps, 1 set 12-15 reps

Assisted dip machine -: 2 sets 12-20’reps

Incline Cable fly: 3 sets of 10-15 reps,

Cross body tricep extension: 2 sets of 10-12 reps – 1 second pause in short.

overhead the shoulder triceps extension: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

[Marc]

You’re in a great spot still mate, absolutely no reason here to cut. I can still see veins in your abs here in your pic! Keep this push up phase going, steady increments in food and rinse this push up some more. Keep us updated with your end look here because you look great