[Marc]

A different session for me today. With me dropping down to 2 leg days this week instead of 3 (due to still feeling DOMS) Cal suggested the below session as it will be lower in fatigue, but still good volume.

Good session, arms felt huge. This is the first time I’ve trained biceps and triceps together in a very long time, so that was very different for me.

Today’s workout was;

cross body triceps extension
3 x 3-12 L/R

high elbow hammer preacher curl (huge fan of this machine, really hits the biceps peak)
3 x 8-12 L/R

over shoulder rope triceps extension
3 x 12-15 L/R

low cable d-handle curl
3 x 12-15 L/R

machine seated lateral raise
2 x 10-15
1 x 15-20

incline lying cuffed lateral raise
2 x 10-15
1 x 15-20

[Marc]

It is very sad, I agree. Cedric was a big personality and great bodybuilder. We must unite and talk about best practices to look after overall health in the safest way.

[Marc]

Solo leg session today, I travelled to a gym further away today so that I could do cybex hack squat. I’ve not done this exercise for a while due to the gym being further away and me having some slight hip pain on my left side after doing this exercise.

Today I started pf with the abductor machine. The new osteopath Chris Knott that I am working with suggested I do this machine first. I used to do the adductor machine first in this session but Chris has said this is not a good option for me as it’s not a good movement pattern before going into a squat.

My session was good today, slight pain in my left hip but nothing like what it used to feel like. I’ll feedback to Chris on this and see what he suggests moving forwards.

Today’s workout was;

Abductor:
2 x 15

Seated leg curl:
1 x 10+2
1 x 12

Cybex hack squat:
6pps x 13 – 2seconds pause at the bottom
6pps x 12 – 2 seconds pause at the bottom

Leg extension:
1 x 12
1 x 20

Lying leg curl:
1 x 9
1 x 13

Standing calf raise:
1 x 15
1 x 12
1 x 15

[Marc]

Hi David

I personally don’t use mass gainers and I haven’t for quite a few years now.

I prefer to use whey isolate protein. Mass gainers are generally very high in sugar too which is something I want to avoid.

For higher carbs, I prefer to use cream of rice for example because it is a fast acting carb source and digests really well, so no stomach upset there.

[Marc]

So today should have been legs, quad dominant. Still feeling DOMS in my quads from Fridays session, so after speaking with Cal we agreed to switch my workout today and also my training split for this week to accommodate the change in my session today.

So today was back focused and mainly unilateral work and went as follows:

Single arm pullover
2 x 12

Single arm pulldown
3 x 8-12

Single arm cybex row
1 x 8-12
1 x 12-15

Single arm dumbbell row
3 x 8-12

D handle upper back row
3 x 10-15

I’m happy with how today’s session went, I preferred this change instead of going for a de-volume leg session. This week I will only be doing 2 leg sessions, instead of my usual 3 sessions. When prep starts I’ll only being doing 2 leg sessions, so it’s less taxing on my body so you could say this week is giving me a feel for what that will be like.

[Marc]

It would be good to see what your current training split looks like. Also are you able to upload some physique shots too?

[Marc]

Rest day today. Spent some time with my family and Kerry. Went for an short evening walk with Kerry, we were talking about prep for this year, our goals, how we can further improve daily habits to bring the best out not only in ourselves but collectively. I always like talks like this, always good to put things in perspective.

Caught up with Haider today too, he’s one of my closest brothers deffo miss not having him in the U.K.

Chilled evening, finished watching Top Boy (I hardly ever used to watch Tv so ended up binge watching here and there to watch all the series).

Early night, two in person posing clients tomorrow early morning looking forward to helping other bodybuilders perfect their craft

[Marc]

Hi guys

Pull session early doors today close to home. It was my youngest daughters 6th birthday yesterday, so today I’ve been celebrating with her and my family for the day…lots of steps have gone down today lol.

Really feeling the DOMS in my legs today after yesterday’s session. An early night is definitely on the cards, I’m not far from my bed after today’s antics.

Pull exercises today were:
Single arm latpulldown
Cybex seated row (resistance machine version)
Panatta t-bar row
Rear delt seated row
D handle cable shrugs

[Marc]

Hi David
Agree with Rhea it depends on where you are with your cut. What is your rate of weight loss each week? How long have you been cutting for, have you slowly increased this? Are you tracking your steps too?

As for when you bulk, you can reduce your time or even opt to do some HIIT

[Marc]

Legs today with cal, quad dominant. Jheeze, the higher rep ranges along with time under tension done us today. Note here a total of 5 exercises and 11 working sets was more than enough to get the job done. If I was to compare this to a few years back I’d do as many as 8 exercises with double the amount of working sets. Just goes to show less can be more, when applied correctly.

Cal just about made it through the session without being sick lol (he bailed on the last exercise lol).

Today’s session was;

Standing calf raise – tru squat
1 x 12
1 x 15
1 x 20

Leg extension – 2 seconds hold at the top
1 x 17 – all loaded in the middle
1 x 16 – all loaded in the middle
1 x 20 – Loaded middle and top (dropset during set, weights removed from middle pin)

Pendulum – 3 seconds down, 2 seconds up
2 x 15

Split squat – 3 seconds down
2 x 20

Adductor
1 x 15

[Marc]

There’s lots of good coaches on the tbJP team from the athletes to coach/educator. If you follow the team of Instagram you will see their results speak for themselves

[Marc]

Rest day, usual sports massage treatment today and focused on my lower body.

My supplement order arrived today from tbJP , so pretty pleased to get my hands on the new prepare pro! I tried some yesterday at the gym and it definitely gets you in the zone and more. It beats the old prepare, which is saying something.

Prep starts first week of May. That gives me just over 18weeks in prep, which I think will be more than enough time. Slow and steady this prep. My last prep in 2020 I did 14 weeks into my first show, calories went as low as 1750 and cardio was 2 x 1hours on a treadmill.

I personally think this prep will be very different. No prep is ever the same and I’m prepared as ever to do whatever it takes to bring my best to the stage. But speaking with Cal and knowing his approach in contest prep, I’m very confident that this prep will be a lot different.

A few more weeks and it’s go time, I’m on countdown!

[Marc]

Session at Shredz today with Cal. It’s the first session we’ve trained together in a fews weeks because of how our days have been.

Good session, worked in the higher rep ranges today as building back into my workouts after majority of the last week no training because of ill.

We also spoke about prep which will be starting the first week of May. I’ll update you guys on that a little more in the next week or so with what changes will be made to my training split, food, steps etc. Can’t wait to get started!

Today’s session was;

Single arm cable bicep curl:
2 x 15-20

Single arm dumbbell hammer curl:
2 x 15-20

Seated Leg Curl:
Stack x 7
1 x 20

Lying Leg Curl:
1 x 15
1 x 20
1 x 12

Leg Ext:
1 x 15
1 x 25

Adductor:
1 x 13

Seated calf raise:
2 x 30

[Marc]

Hi Jack

Have you ever had any scans on your shoulder, been to see a specialist or done any rehab work.

It sounds like you’re doing the sensible thing with time under tension training. It would be worthwhile like Oscar said finding out the root cause, as this injury could be fixed then your load exposure could be greater

[Marc]

In person bodybuilding posing clients this morning, really enjoying helping clients perfect their posing before they step on stage to compete.

Push session today, a solo one close to home. Still moving through the gears since being ill last week. Exercises today:
Pec fly
Incline hammer press
Converging chest press
Cuffed laterals
Cross body cable extension
Cuffed over the shoulder extension

Legs again tomorrow, likely to be session close to home until I’m back to 100%.