[Marc]

Agree with the guys response here. Something I had tried, but definitely messed with insulin resistance and made me feel lethargic. It’s not worth it in my opinion

[Marc]

I had a call today with Cal, to go over where I am at currently, the next steps and how we move forward progress wise.

I’ll break these down into areas;

Training – I have been doing 1 leg session a week since my knee injury. I’m still building strength back up here, but we are now going to add in a second leg session a week.

Food – because my appetite had taken a hit, for the next few weeks I will be pulling back on calories to help reset appetite.

Competing – when the next show will be down to how my knee progresses and what this allows in terms of what I can do exercise wise. The next few months will help determine when I will next compete. Health phase is complete so the push up will slowly begin.

Routine – I will be making some changes moving forwards with how I structure my day to give me the best runway for progression this off season (I will talk more on this as and when I update my daily logs.

I’d say these are the main points that we covered today. Over the next few weeks I will be able to explain more about how things are being implemented based on the above.

For me I know there’s room for improvement to be a better athlete. I never want to compete to make up numbers, so it was important me and a cal had this call today so we could both map out what the next steps will be and how we go about making these improvements.

[Marc]

Chilled day today with Kerry down south. Nipped over to Brighton for the day, went to a really nice Brazilian restaurant, lots of different meats and buffet food.

Saw some of Kerry’s family today also which was good as we both haven’t seen them for a while. It’s been good now we’re not on prep to do a few extra things (like travel 4 hours down south) to see family that we wouldn’t have done when on prep. Trying to get a balance this off season where possible, without compromising our routine

[Marc]

What you are able to recover from will come down to different factors such as your volume, how much sleep you are getting, structured food and so on.

If you haven’t already, like some of the team have mentioned give the workout split a try you have mentioned and see how you fair.
From what you have said with chest being an area you want to bring up, I would place a direct chest exercise in Friday delt dominant session. You have got two high incline presses (slight different in angles). I would take one out and do a direct incline chest movement. However, be mindful incline chest press will workout your front delt too. With the high incline chest press exercise in a Friday session you could go with a different exercise to Monday, perhaps using a narrow cable stack with D-handles for you incline press which will allow you to converge (bringing the handles in)at the top of the movement.

Work in different rep ranges for the two incline chest press movements over the Monday and Friday session and get stronger over different rep targets.
If you start to feel like your recovery is slower, think about whether the intensifiers from dropsets on the Friday session is needed.

Let us know how you get on.

[Marc]

Another additional point is that around the time of a females monthly cycle might dictate how programming is set up. For example my girlfriend can’t train the same as she would in terms of intensity and weight the week leading up to her cycle, so programme design needs to be mindful of this factor too.

However, as the team has said above this is person dependent but an extra point I wanted to add in here

[Marc]

Back session today down at south coast gym. This is where I would say it’s my home gym (away from home) when I’m down here with Kerry.

Happy with how the session went, I was able to do my usual exercises for pull (I didn’t do any biceps because I trained arms a few days ago). The gym didn’t have a chest supported tbar row so I did free standing. This actually went better than I imagined because I was able to load a decent amount of weight (6plates) and I didn’t feel any pressure on my knee which is a bonus considering I haven’t done and exercises which might put extra load or strain on it.

Got a call with Cal tomorrow, where we will map out the plan moving forward from next week so I am pleased about this. I’ll keep you posted.

[Marc]

Wash it with some white vinegar and rub lemon on it before you season and cook it. Usually does the trick, this is what I personally do when I buy raw meat

Thank you mr. Marc for the suggestion, I will give it a try. A question if you will, can apple cider vinegar be applied instead of white vinegar or does white vinegar work better ?

[/quote]
Hi Ousam

I’ve never used apple cider vinegar before. Growing up with my parents being from the Caribbean it’s pretty much the norm using white vinegar and lemon to clean raw meat, then seasoning it and then putting in the fridge until it’s to be cooked (unless needed there and then) is what I am used too.

White vinegar is super cheap to buy though

[Marc]

Hey Marc. Sorry to hear about your knee issues. I’m a physician from the US and sports medicine falls under the umbrella of my specialty. Thought I’d chime in here. From what you’ve described, it does sound like meniscus tear or irritation (since the imaging hasn’t shown gross abnormalities). In the absence of hemarthrosis and gross instability, the initial management of a meniscal tear is usually conservative with gradual progression back into activities. So what you’re doing is spot on. Conservative management tends to be successful in someone your age and the history you describe (no trauma like severe twisting injury) as long as the knee isn’t locked or severely restricted (your locking seemed more intermittent). Hope this gives you some reassurance.

Hi Steve

Thanks for your message and taking the time to give your input. The initial opinion was that I had either a meniscus tear of partial quad tendon rupture.

I had two mri scans done (one mri scan was through the National health system, but they would have took months for me to get my results back. The private scan showed major inflammation to be the main cause of my symptoms. I was deep into prep, with steps and cardio both being high so this could have had an impact. I’m still building back up with my leg training as strength has definitely decreased and I’m making sure I’m doubling up on my tbjp supplements to help the inflammation (join-in, fish oils, cure-coming, osteo-pro).

The locking I had the consultant described it as pseudo locking. This has stopped now. For now building back up without rushing the process.

Thanks again

[Marc]

As usual, Thursday is a rest day for me. I usually get a sports massage today but with me being away at Kerry’s place down South that hasn’t happened today. I can really feel the difference when I don’t have treatment, even with the mobility work that I do daily I can still tell that I need that little bit more.

There’s a really good chiropractor down here though so I’m waiting to hear back from him if he has any availability to get me in the next day or 2.

Still unable to give you guys updates on my next steps with food being pulled back / plan moving forwards. I have heard from Cal but I think he must be super busy since returning back from Dubai.

[Marc]

Wash it with some white vinegar and rub lemon on it before you season and cook it. Usually does the trick, this is what I personally do when I buy raw meat

[Marc]

Morning session for me today. Travelling down south to Kerry’s for a few days, so with the 3.5hrs drive it made sense to train in the morning.

I went with training arms and Abs today, instead of my usual usual pull session today because my body felt a little tired.

In the past I would have pushed through this feeling, but now I’m trying to be more in tune with my body and how I’m feeling to have the most effective sessions. So the session today was almost like an active recovery day with me training smaller muscle groups.

Awaiting updates from Cal on my next steps (on the back of the info I said yesterday in my log).

[Marc]

From people who I know who have tried Both sarms and peds, there preference has been to stay using peds. Not something I am interested personally, rather stay with what I know

[Marc]

Full leg session today. Some progress was made with weight with what I could lift today. Worked up to 4pps on leg press, over the last 3 weeks I’ve been able to add an extra plate each side so that’s a positive.

Although I can see the progress, I can’t help but feel frustrated. Legs was a bodypart I spent a long time last off season working on improving and I know again this off season it’s still a priority, so this seems like a setback for how I know I want to be training but I’m trying to remain positive.

Had a chat with Cal today, my appetite has taken a hit recently. We will be looking at pulling back on calories for a short period so as and when things get mapped out here I will keep you all updated.

[Marc]

Thanks for the replies yeah I think once I have a routine going for a couple weeks it will get easier.

On the diet planner and on most plans it’s 6 meals a day does this matter much if it was 4 meals etc so higher carbs can be used each meal ? I could work my macros into meals easier then

If 4 meals works better for your structure and routine try this approach. If you have training day and non training day calories, you could perhaps have two different food plans here with different food sources to add some variety.

Another option have a think about what foods you enjoy, work it into a meal plan(s) and simply go with a set plan you want for that particular day.

As someone who has macro tracked for just over a year I have staple meals that I eat, but i rotate food sources every so often also,

[Marc]

Today ended up being a forced rest day, woke up with a migraine that I just couldn’t shift so I’ve slept a far bit today. Hoping I’m back to normal tomorrow so get back to routine and crack on with my week.

Blood test results came back today and all good, improvements on last time too. I’ll be speaking with Cal tomorrow with where we go from here in all aspects to get a solid plan in place.