[Marc]

Really good pull session today. All exercises felt good and the connection was spot on and energy felt high too… the exercises I did today are live on the latest videos section of me on this members site, so feel free to take a look.

Since the last diet changes last week and increase in expenditure on Sunday (via steps) my body has become really responsive and I’ve dropped 2.4kg in a matter of days. Extra details are clear to see, cal is ok with the drop my body has had. Tomorrow he wants me to send out my weight to see if I have dropped further and if I have he will add in a free meal tomorrow (rest day) ahead of my second leg day session on Friday. Free meal or not tomorrow I’m completely fine with it, I’ll follow whatever the plan is

[Marc]

As per my last post , is this just a cut to generally be leaner ? If so , don’t even think about it, get off here, and go do something with your gd instead

Just to get leaner yeah🙂 It was not because I don’t have the discipline, but after 4 months of dieting I just find it healthy mentally, especially because I don’t cut for a show or anything. What is a GD Jordan?[/quote]
4 months in a cut is quite a long time. Try and get in and out of the cut a little quicker. Look at your expenditure (steps/cardio) and make the necessary adjustments with your food to help the process along a little quicker especially if you aren’t cutting for a show. Schedule in the odd higher food day if necessary or a short diet break, but ultimately try to remember your goal.

I’d say just get back on plan and try to set a realistic end date for your cut so you aren’t dieting for months on end

[Marc]

Push session today with Haider and Zac! Really good session, I love training with these guys because they’re so driven with their own goals and equally help push me too.

I’m feeling in a good groove mentally, some changes are starting to happen to my physique and we are still scratching the surface in terms of having just over 14 weeks to still push for true stage condition.

Push today (minus triceps) we have now pulled back on extended sets expect for one exercise as cal wants to help manage fatigue here and if needed add an extra set instead. This is the same pretty much across the board now with my workouts which I am preferring because energy levels feel so much better and it’s less taxing and it’s allowing me to stay stronger on my lifts.

Exercises today;
Pec deck
Incline prime
Nautilus seated chest press
Flat smith press
High to low standing cable fly
Lying cuffed cable lat raise
Single arm standing cuffed lat raise

[Marc]

First of all great work you are look very good, the level of details in your quads is great! Overall the way your physique is in these pictures you are more than ready to go into a building phase. Where you have ended your mini cut, use those calories as a set point to start building calories up. First initial bump 300 calories and continue to work up from there. You may find with only 300 calories that you may still even drop weight or not much difference, so monitor that and creep things up slowly. In terms of cardio like you have mentioned taper this down. Output wise continue to still track steps (if you have been doing so) and a small amount of cardio so you don’t stop completely as this will help your digestion with increasing food and allow you to grow nicely without putting on excess bodyfat

[Marc]

Quad dominant leg workout today. It was a solo one lol Cal bailed on me haha he’s still got DOMS from Fridays leg session. Fortunately for me my recovery is fine, so training legs again today hasn’t impacted me at all.

Saying that though, this morning I felt a little tired for the first few hours around doing steps, abs and rehab/stretching work. Which was strange as I had a really good nights sleep. My late morning nap that I have pre training done the trick and I was well up for legs today.

Really good session, again I’m still not logging booking (see previous posts as to why I’m not) and all exercises moved well. After training I did a few rounds of posing too, which is feeling a lot more fluent with getting into each pose now bodyweight is coming down. I’m looking forward to really perfecting my posing as I know where I need to improve on from when I last competed in 2020.

[Marc]

Finished off my training week today with arms and delts. This is my least taxing session of the week and a good way to end my training week with smaller muscle groups to aid my recovery before I go again on Monday with legs. Pump was crazy today….

Todays exercises/sets;

Rope hammer curl x 3 sets

Rope cross body triceps ext (single arm) x 3 sets

Triceps rope pushdown x 3

Single arm cable bicep curl x 3

Over the shoulder triceps ext x 3

Seated machine lat raise x 2

Check in day tomorrow, I’ll update you guys tomorrow

Hi Marc, is the choice to do every arm movement on cables done to be as joint friendly as possible? Thx

[/quote]
Hi Andreea

Yes so I’ve been getting some pain on my right side (infraspinatus/bicep tendon). So I’ve not switched my arm workouts for more cable based exercises to reduce the strain I was feeling when using dumbbells or a fixed machine like a preacher curl. It feels so much better, I can still do the exercises I want too with the pain from making this switch to cables

[Marc]

I Agree with what max and Dan have both said here. You mentioned that two years is a relatively short period for an off season id disagree here. You can make lots of progress in this time with a well thought out plan, so really do maximise this time to get the most out of improving your physique.

[Marc]

Rest day today, also had my kids so I’ve been busy with them :).

Check in day today, Cal is really happy with how things are moving and with my bodyweight holding where it is just over 288lbs.

I’m 15 weeks out this weekend, at 12 weeks that’s when the plan is to ramp things up and really push on. For now keep performance high in the gym to help hold on to the muscle tissue built in the off season.

Overall I’m feeling good, for me there’s still loads of time to be stage condition ready for the Arnold’s U.K. so for now it’s simply a case of rinse and repeat.

Only change today is that steps have gone up from 12k to 13k.

[Marc]

Finished off my training week today with arms and delts. This is my least taxing session of the week and a good way to end my training week with smaller muscle groups to aid my recovery before I go again on Monday with legs. Pump was crazy today….

Todays exercises/sets;

Rope hammer curl x 3 sets
Rope cross body triceps ext (single arm) x 3 sets
Triceps rope pushdown x 3
Single arm cable bicep curl x 3
Over the shoulder triceps ext x 3
Seated machine lat raise x 2

Check in day tomorrow, I’ll update you guys tomorrow

[Marc]

I’m completely in agreement with kuba and Marc here. I mean with where you are there is no way of getting out of it – it’s going to be hard. It will for anyone getting into true condition. Getting shredded is difficult. Some people have to go 0 carb and high drugs … they do it because maybe they’re better at dealing with these shit times ? Do they want it more ? Are they willing to be feeing dizzy and low etc ? Maybe ? Or maybe you need to back off refresh and go again.

Ultimately you have to ask yourself how much u want this because to get peeled from here it’s going to be v v hard and is it worth it to you ?

I want to thank each and every one of you for your responses. At 44 years old, my health, relationships, kids and job are more important than this show. I talked to everyone, except my coach, I will do that tomorrow, and decided to pull out of the show. I truly love bodybuilding but not like this. Like Kuba said, I need a proper off-season and I need to get a coach that thinks more like I do. I am a planner, I like short and long term goals and I understand that the plan can change based on circumstances, however, that’s now how this is going. He may be a great coach for some people but this just isn’t working. So again, thank you for helping me see the right thing to do. I will go back to TRT tomorrow, and up my calories to a maintenance level and then in 8 weeks, get my bloods done and begin a productive off-season.

Kevin

[/quote]
Hi Kevin

I believe based on what you have said to us you have made the right decision for yourself and also your family.

The stage will always be there should you want to compete in the future with the guidance of a different coach. Most importantly look after your health for now and also be proud of how far you have come with hanging in so long with prep, that’s some going!

Keep us all posted on how things go speaking with your coach and also your next steps. We are here to help and advise you the best we can.

All the best!

[Marc]

Full legs today with Cal, this one was recorded for his YouTube. Good session today, really happy with how it went. I mentioned the other week I’m no longer using a log book, I’m
Basically going on bio-feedback as to how I’m feeling in my sessions. Legs I was getting a pain in my hip, this varies from sessions, but it’s a lot better from the shockwave treatment I’ve been having and backing off the load, changing exercises and working in the higher rep ranges. There’s always a way to get things done!!!

So todays session was one of my better leg sessions for sure as every exercise connected well and no hip pain.

Exercises today were;

Prime Lying leg curl
2 x 6-10 (middle and top)
1 x 10+1 (top loaded)

Prime leg extension
1 x 20+1 (5plates middle)
1 x 16+1 (loaded mainly at the top 4 plates, some in 2 middle)
1 x 21 + 1 (top 6 plates)

Seated leg curl
1 x 11+1
1 x 20 + 1

Pendulum
6 plates x 17

Adductor
1 x 20
1 x 17

Tru squat standing toe press
1 x 20
1 x 12
1 x 20

[Marc]

Hi Kevin

I have read through your question and the response from the guys regarding feedback as to your next steps.

I do think you have a little more to come off to get really nice stage condition and with 6 times you have enough time.

But I fully agree with kuba’ a reply here. You have to weigh up how far you are now willing to push further. Each coach has different approaches, but this based on how you’re feeling is physically and mentally very hard. You don’t want to dig yourself into a further hole.

Prep is tough, there’s no doubt about that but equally health is more important and you’re a family man.

Have a think about what you truly want to do in terms of continuing or backing off, maybe even doing a later show.

Ultimately, make the best decision for you and your well-being.

[Marc]

Rest day today. Fasted steps, posing, vacuums and rehab work was done early morning.

I mentioned yesterday there has been some tweaks to my nutrition a few days ago as my appetite had been lower following a bug last week.

Information for this is below;

TD: 325P 500C 60F / 3840 Kcals
(Previous 350P 600C 60F / 4340 Kcals)

NTD: 325P 400C 60F / 3440 Kcals
(Previous 350P 450C 60F / 3740 Kcals)

I can now confirm 3 days on this set up and my appetite is now through the roof lol haha typical. But it’s all good as I’m looking forward to seeing some changes ahead of next check in. Visually I can see some more details starting to creep through and I still have plenty of time until my first show.

Steps are still at 12k, I’m getting a good chunk done fasted as it helps my morning routine.

Today rest day, I did some client work, get back to some people who I will doing posing coaching with at the free 2brosPro posing seminar next week Sunday, had my standard nap (I do this daily without fail, usually around midday before I train early afternoon) and had an upper body sports massage.

[Marc]

I agree with kamara and Kiera here, going to see a specialist for expert advice would be the first point of call. I’ve have various shoulder pain over the years (and still) alongside specific rehab exercises for me, the best treatment that has helped me is shockwave therapy. This could be an option depending on what the specialist you go to see says.

[Marc]

Really good session today, I did pull today with Kerry for the members site filmed by magic eye. Finished the session with a full round of posing with me 6 weeks into prep this week. Looking forward to that content coming out for you all to see.

Also got some cool pics for the new tbJP clothing range dropping in a few days, if you need a discount code Marc10 is there for you to use (lol a little plug there).

Some adjustments to my macros today, but I’ll fill you all in tomorrow as it’s my rest day so a little more to talk about then.

Overall I’m feeling good, enjoying the process of prep and even though this is a much longer prep for me I’m really not thinking about the weeks just go day by day and doing the necessary.