[Marc]

In person fasted check in with Cal early morning. Kerry is competing this weekend in the bikini pro show, so she went over for Cal to look at her and it also made sense for me to do the same.

Cal is very happy with where I am at, with just under 9 weeks out from the Arnold’s classic U.K. … He said with where I am currently I could be ready for a show in 4 weeks, but we remained focused with the original plan.

High food day today, so that was nice lol my appetite is sky high right now so the food didn’t stand a chance haha.. I’ve also cut out whole eggs from yesterday as I was feeling bloated and gassy the last few weeks and I’m certain it was from the eggs. I’ve still got egg whites in, but I’ve removed the yellow. Second day with this protocol and I’m feeling loads better for it already.

I trained local today for my solo quad session. Exercises remained the same and I had a really good session;

Leg extension x3

Pivot leg press x 2

Single leg 45 degree leg press x 2

Split leg lunges x 2

Adductor x 3

Standing calf raise x 3

[Marc]

Hi sir… what about your ped protocol..?

This IS a part of the game in bodybuilding and i think a lot of us Would be really happy to learn

This is an area that has been answered already by @Jordan_peters if you scroll back through my log

[Marc]

Rest day today, it’s definitely not felt like one lol keeping my 6year old daughter busy but it’s all good. .

I know that feeling, i have a 13, 11, 4 and 2 year old so rest days are non existent.. think i get more rest being at work and then going to the gym haha.

Good luck for this prep!

[/quote]
Lol deffo agree with more rest being at work and the gym…I’ve also got a 12 year old daughter but that’s a lot easier as she’s older. My 6 year old is literally non stop lol 😂…

Thanks mate, appreciate the message

[Marc]

Ultimately if cardio is requires the deeper you get into prep to help you reach true stage condition then it will have to be done. But trying to phase the cardio in on leg days like you have mentioned would be best. So initially cardio fasted on leg days and then if you need to cardio post workout on leg days too.

I’d avoid more impact cardio like the stairmaster on leg day though and ensure you keep your heart rate between 120-130bpm. If you aren’t already, track you daily steps as this is a variable that can be increased before having to opt to adding in cardio on leg days.

[Marc]

I agree with all of the guys here comments above. Black coffee will be the better option here with money being tight

[Marc]

Rest day today, it’s definitely not felt like one lol keeping my 6year old daughter busy but it’s all good.

9 weeks out this weekend, stepping things up a little as from today. I no longer have TD and NTD food plans, this is now changed to High, Medium and Low days which will be used as and when need. General idea from what me and Cal have spoke about, high days will be for my 2 x leg days, medium days for my other 3 x training sessions and low days for rest days.

Day 1 of rest day food was today and I could feel the hunger, but this was the same as yesterday when food was higher. It is what it is, the weeks are going by quick so we need to keep the momentum going and close the gap and I’m on track for doing that.

[Marc]

I would recommend keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone so 120-130bpm. Going higher than that will certainly be putting extra fatigue on your body.

You mentioned adding 1-2hour walks throughout the day. Do you track your daily steps currently? If not this is something you should definitely do and your coach should be setting you a step target.

Ultimately the deeper you get into prep you will generally get fitter. This doesn’t mean you should be increasing your heart rate higher than 120-130bpm, but instead the level you were working at previously may need to increase to keep your heart rate in range.

It’s worth speaking with your coach if there is an alternative piece of cardio equipment you can use that could help with reducing fatigue. For example the stairmaster can be very taxing on the body.

[Marc]

Morning guys

Up early, 30mins cardio on the recumbent bike has been boxed off. Currently getting some steps in to take make a small dent in my 13k step count.

My parents duties this weekend, so I’ll get my last session of the week arms and delts done local to save time here. It’s a balancing act with bodybuilding and family life but I always try my best to manage both effectively so I can be present for my kids, after all they are a huge driving force for me wanting to succeed.

Anyway, weight this week has seen a moving average of 0.6kg weight loss. Checked in with Cal, visually I am a lot fuller this week. I will
wait for his feedback.

[Marc]

Full leg session today, trained solo this week with the odd spot with my sessions. It’s good when I do have cal or another training partner (who I have trained with in off season as I’m very selective who I train with) but it’s important for me to still be able to take it there when training solo and I’ve definitely done that this week.

Full legs another really good session. One more session tomorrow to finish off this weeks training. Feeling fuller this week and visibly seeing more details coming through. Still waiting for the hammer to be dropped, but when it does I’ll be ready to dial it right in.

[Marc]

The level would be person dependent as we have to take into consideration the persons level of fitness as to where heart rate would fall. Generally I would say shoot for a heart rate of 120-130bpm. Personally I’d want to be able to track this so I would use another piece of cardio like the exercise bike where this can be tracked.

Ultimately if continue on the stairmaster without tracking heart rate don’t fall into the trap of increasing the level even higher as this could impact recovery and downsize your legs.

[Marc]

Agree with the replies above. In my opinion i think 30mins stairmaster is a little too much. Instead I would focus on keeping a good amount of daily steps, and opt for a reduce time/less taxing form of cardio like the exercise bike. Alternatively for cardiovascular help some HIIT training where the duration is a lot less but will help improve overall fitness

[Marc]

Rest day today, if I could call it that I’ve been getting quite a bit done… from fasted cardio, haircut, in person posing clients, deep tissue, getting steps in, parental duties now it’s the summer holidays – but it’s all good.

In an ideal world I would do the bare minimum on a rest day but it’s not as straightforward as that so managing my time as best as I can and being grateful for being able to do the above.

My next YouTube video I’ll either drop that tonight or tomorrow, I’ll see how my evening goes with my daughter as to whether I’ve got time to get the final edit sorted…

A busy day, but that’s life!

[Marc]

There’s definitely been a shift with using casein protein from a years back. It can be used and there’s nothing wrong with it, but you could also using whey isolate instead (saves you buying more than 1 type of protein) and add some fats to your drink to whey isolate to slow down the digestion

[Marc]

I Agree with all the comments above. I’d still have some intra carbs during workout, but lowering the amount will give you a greater amount of carbs pre workout, especially if hungry. Then when calories get even lower you could also switch carb source from white rice to say white potato for example as this will give you greater food volume due to the carb difference between rice and potato.

[Marc]

3rd session of the week, solo pull session. Felt a little tired going into todays session, so played it smart and made sure I didn’t bury myself. I still had a really good workout, this is where not logging booking for me worked in my favour. I still made sure I moved good weight, but going with how I feel psychologically was a major plus today.

Exercises today;
Single arm nitro pulldown
Single arm xpload row
Chest supported t-bar row
RDL
Rear delt fly
Shrugs
Single d handle arm cable bicep curl (facing in)

As usual here no than 2 working sets, 1 top set and 1 back off set