[Marc]

It’s good that you aren’t using coffee as a pick me up, but perhaps you are building up more of a tolerance/ need to this daily especially if you are consuming 2-3 coffees a day. I agree with the comments above, so perhaps something to keep in mind.

[Marc]

Second leg session done and dusted. Another session and more progress again. Generally sticking with the same exercises across both sessions, but changing between ham and quad dominant 45 degree leg press and either seated or leg press calf raise.

Rep range generally working in higher rep ranges and keeping the tempo nice and slow to make sure I’m in full control of the weight. I’m also not using and knee supports as I don’t want to get carried away with weight by using knee supports to help me lift more when it’s not needed.

As for appetite, second day running and noticeably a lot hungrier which is exactly what was needed in this pull back on calories.

[Marc]

The guys have covered the benefits above of loaded stretching above really well. Although there might not be videos now it doesn’t mean that these still aren’t a useful tool. Different training phases require different approaches. That’s not to say he won’t include them in the future, but currently that’s not part of the program.

[Marc]

Rest day today, so like usual I had a sports massage treatment. Worked on my upper body, and some extra work into my pecs this week as they felt tighter than usual. Got some serious DOMS in my calves from my workout on Tuesday lol feel like a beginner again with legs but it’s all good.

Usual morning routine went down, cardio (steps), abs and stretching /mobility. Feeling better with this routine starting my day this way as I then feel more productive for the rest of the day.

To break my day up a little client work wise I went to Costa and got a good amount of work ticked off there.

[Marc]

Definitely buying your protein sources in bulk would be the way forward and freeze what you won’t need immediately and put into freezer bags. If you have a shop like Costco or makro I would go there for this. Alternatively go to your local butchers, explain you do bodybuilding and the amounts you are likely to use each week. I would imagine that they would be willing to give you some discount to keep your regular custom.

[Marc]

Hi guys

Push session for me today. Another opportunity for Kate to look at how my body is moving through exercises and feedback to on how things can be tweaked / adjusted.

I have an ongoing tightness in my shoulder, lat for a while which sometimes affects how well I can train.

It’s proving useful for her to see as it highlights to me what is going on then feedback is sent to cal also. This then makes things more beneficial/ targeting when I get my sports massage / deep tissue work from her. Also very useful I was want to be training with minimum pain so seeing where tweaks can be made so that I can training more efficiently is really good.

Currently not filming any sets for social media for this reason as what she is filming is for her to see where changes can be made. This is going to benefit me long term so it’s important that we do this now so I can be more effective with my training.

Feeling pretty tired today even though the load I lift is no where near what I would lift normally but again, the weight being lifted isn’t everything if not completely accurate and this is a lesson for me here. So really I’m re-learning movement patterns, working on my posture and what exercises are best for me right now.

[Marc]

I agree with all the comments above in terms of food (micronutrients and a balanced diet).

Myself recovering from a knee injury (although not meniscus) what I found useful was using regularly
Join in
Cure-coming
Osteo-pro
Omegas
Vitamin d3 + k2

…I used the above supplements twice a day and it’s helping to reduce inflammation, joint and bone support to name just a few things. Definitely stay consistent using these to see the benefits. Speedy recovery for your mum

[Marc]

Another leg session went down today. Feels good being able to get two leg sessions in a week again, even if it is with lower load / volume.

Didn’t have the best sleep last night (really not sure why) so I trained a little later today to make sure I had prioritised a nap pre-training.

Another step forwards in terms of progress, I managed to do 4pps on the 45degree leg press with quad bias. Previously I had only been using the leg press to bias my hamstrings (as this felt more manageable on my knee) but today I went with quad dominant and it felt fine. Little by little things are building up.

Appetite again is up, which is not surprising with the adjustments pulling back on food last week, so this is doing the job with helping me to regain appetite.

My session today was;
Leg press calf raise x3
Single leg leg extension x3 (left leg only)
Leg extension x2 (both legs)
Leg press x2
Seated leg curl x2
Lying leg curl x2
Adductor machine x2

[Marc]

Fully agree with Kiera’s comment about short naps. This is something I try to implement daily pre-gym and before my pre-workout meal.

The teams comments around sleep quality, types of food you are eating etc are equally important too. Try where possible to structure your clients so you can accommodate looking after yourself too.

[Marc]

So I mentioned yesterday about going through my training plan with Kate looking at the niggles / impingements that I’ve been feeling.

So today was pull and it was more of her looking at work exercises I do across both of my pull workouts, how my muscles are working and if I feel any discomfort. It was useful for her to see as she does my weekly sports massage treatments, so to now see why certain areas are tighter and how tweaks can be made was useful.

Videos were taken, adjustments made to my body’s alignment and then feedback will put together to speak with cal on some suggestions moving forwards.

This to me is really important. I want to improve and by improving this attention to detail is necessary. Being able to train without restrictions and more effectively is always the goal so I’m glad this happened today. This will also help with my posing where last year when competing I had some noticeable tightness which needs to be corrected.

[Marc]

Big point here is the enjoyment you get from playing basketball. If this is your chosen method of cardio I’d say roll with it for now. If you were to compete in bodybuilding I wouldn’t say this would be optimal, but like the team have said manage basketball alongside your calorie intake and look after your joints and you should be good.

If you start to see any issues in terms of recovery or joint pain, you may have to scale back. But give it a try!

[Marc]

Rest day for me today and also check in day. Lots of information sent over to Cal about how this last week has been with the pull back on food, performance in the gym, my routine, and sleep.

Visually Cal is happy with where I am currently. There is still work to be done with bringing my legs back up to where they were pre-knee injury and then to add more size also, but we already knew that and progress has been made training wise again this week.

Food, my appetite is definitely increasing since the drop in food this last week. I’m ready for more food now, but the process was to get my appetite back and it’s not over yet so I’m still spending more time here before food is increased.

I’ve still got a few niggles upper body training this week, so between cal and the person who does my sports massage (Kate) we have agreed to look at my training plan and see where this can be revised. The plan is to do my upper sessions with Kate to see how my body is moving and if any tweaks need to be made to my exercise selection. The emphasis here is longevity and progress, so if there is a more efficient way for me to train right now we will work with that.

Steps are at 10k instead of 8k to help with cardiovascular management, which is easy enough for me hit daily.

As the coming week progress I’ll be able to let you guys know more about how my training will be tweaked moving forwards.

Mentally I feel in a good place and I’m determined to do all I can to make this off season the best and productive ever. Actions speak louder than words, so it’s head down and do what is required.

[Marc]

Firstly well done with getting so far with coming down in weight. I agree with all the teams comments above. Something to think about as you food is fairly low, if you did go for a diet break like Peter said, afterwards or even during, think about having a training day and non- training day for plan for when expenditure is lower

[Marc]

Ended my training week with push today instead of pull because I didn’t train push on Monday due to feeling very tired.

Switched up my training location today, I trained at shredz because I was in the area. I had a really good session, it was good to be back using the prime Incline chest press (no gyms in my area have this machine) and it was my first time using the gymleco chest press which I thought was a good machine with the way how it converges.

Appetite wise this is still up, since my food has been pulled back at the start of the week. Another week or so like this then start to get calories back up again.

[Marc]

Hi Alireza

I agree with Jordan’s feedback.

Also in answer to your questions. With your pressing movements (which you said stalled first) did you increase your working loads in small increments for example 2.5kg and not a 10kg increase. This could be one factor as to why progress on your lifts could potentially fall if the working weight was increased by too much too soon.

Your recovery between workouts will act as an indication for when to add more volume. If you are recovering quickly, then the potential to increase volume could be used. However, I would say work on this first aspect of progressing your lifts before you think about incorporating intensifiers.

Which then leads to what is your rest/recovery like between your workouts. Are you going in to your session feeling recovered or fatigue? If perhaps you are feeling fatigue or lower in energy this would have a bearing on your lifts.

You could potentially strip back on your pressing weight in terms of load and look to reset your starting point with this lift and slowly build back up.

If other movements are also stalling, could this be because you have over reached? When was your last de-load week?