[Marc]

Carbs: bagel, sourdough bread, rice, tbjp cream of rice, fruit, granola, rice cakes, raisins

Protein: steak, fage yoghurt, lean beef mince, lean turkey rashers

Fats: nuts, dark chocolate, avocado, seeds, nut butters

Whatever you like that’s good food whole foods within your set macros / calories

[Marc]

First training session this week ticked off. I’m at the point now where training wise I’m trying to stick as close to the weights that I’ve been lifting in previous weeks or slightly lowering the weight but still working within my rep ranges whilst keeping good form. No forced reps as this would be counterproductive and impact my training session and recovery.

Overall today was a tough but good pull session followed by 3 back to back hard posing rounds. These are the days that truly count.

Full session was:

Prime chest support row x2
Single arm nautilus row lat bias x2
Single arm cable pulldown x2
Upper back pulldown x2
Seated rear delt row x2
Db preacher curl x2
Nytram bicep curl x2

[Marc]

Hi guys, Check in pics sent over to Kuba after yesterday’s extra 125g carbs. Bodyweight creeped up yesterday back to where is has been sitting before big drop off on Saturday, but overall bodyweight is down 1.3kg on average compared to last week.

8 weeks out this weekend, plan is to be ready 10 days out so can back off completely. Still a way to go, but time is on our side and regular daily updates continue to ensure we land on the money come show day

[Marc]

Agree with all that Adam has said. If you are in a lean bulk phase and bodyweight is going up it’s often the case that your joints start to take a bit of a hit. It might mean you need to change a few movements or even have a de-load / some rest days and come back fresher and then re-set your lifts again

[Marc]

Be mindful here when doing rdls it’s a hip hinge exercise so your lower back / erectors will be worked. Be mindful to keep a braced core throughout to limit and lower back pain

[Marc]

Progress in lifts here I would only say is relevant if your physique is progressing. If you aren’t seeing progress on your physique I would strongly consider changing your rep ranges. If you are training for bodybuilding these low reps won’t be sufficient. If you want to do powerlifting then by all means continue as you are

[Marc]

Well… new prep low today. 0.7kg down from me previous lowest bodyweight landing me at 119.7kg this morning. Kuba said no steps to today, try to keep them as low as possible and also an extra 125g of carbs from rice and cream of rice going in today across my 5 meals.

I trained legs this morning, very good session followed by posing rounds. Posing rounds felt tough today but these are the rounds that need to be done even on days where energy is down.

Moving at pace with no changes. Check in tomorrow so I will see what Kuba says then

[Marc]

Something i would think about here is trying to maintain a strong core / bracing position. Sometimes if foot position isn’t comfortable or using too much weight then your back might round which would then cause lower back pain so I would record your sets and look to see if this happens. If so lighten the weight and adjust feet position if needed

[Marc]

Usual Thursday rest day for me. Check in pics taken today for feedback tomorrow, some feeling done today to announce a new sponsor of mine, in person posing client, client work.. all round a busy but productive day. Oh and a new prep low by 0.1kg today bodyweight was 120.4kg. Deffo feel like my body is responding fast recently with no changes other than a high food day last week Sunday

[Marc]

Hello mate, when you lift the weight on the leg ext do you watch your posture of chin and neck?

Don’t put chin too up or down, keep it normal and look in front of you, otherwise you create tensions into it and cervicales

I usually push my neck down if you know what I mean and I think that’s what causes it, but for now I needed help how to decrease the pain[/quote]
This sounds like a form issue that’s breaking down. I’d say to keep your head in a neutral position to avoid the neck pain you are feeling

[Marc]

Very good leg session this morning. Progress across every lift from last week and this was the second week with me doing slightly lower training volume, so I’m pleased to be progressing and setting new numbers in this session.

Full session was;

Leg ext x3
Hip leg press x3
Lying leg curl x4
Toe press x2

[Marc]

You go to the gym for you. Lock in and get your workout done. Simply tell them you are training, I will catch up with you at another point (that’s if you want to) when you are not training. If they need advice, direct them to a PT at the gym or tell them to look into online coaches. People will soon respect your time!

[Marc]

Lowest bodyweight of prep so far today, weighing in at 120.5kg. I could feel a weight drop coming, yesterday with me getting back to baseline food and also higher steps I felt really lean before going to sleep. Check in feedback from Kuba today he’s very happy with how I am looking. No loss of fullness, but a huge step forwards in condition. No changes to plan, business as usual. Again I can’t stress how well Kuba is at managing my body from a fatigue standpoint and the results are showing.

Today was a push session for me and it was really good. It was filmed for my YouTube channel, so watch out for when that drops!

[Marc]

Hi mate,

I’m sure everyone in the forum will have a different approach, but mine involves slowly bringing food back up, typically 200cals per week via carbs. If training, the scales and/or visuals improve/go up, then I tend to stay there. In a dieted state it won’t be long before a change is made so during my last reverse the longest I went without a change was 2.5 weeks. Cardio tapered down by 5-10 minutes depending on where it ends up at, as well as tapering down PEDs (I know some don’t bother with this). Also, I don’t know the severity of your diet, but I like to give my gut a break from high protein for the duration of the reverse, so I’ll pull out 50-75g of protein and replace the calories with carbs as well. Once the reverse is done I’ll put protein back up.

I fully second this approach, this would be my preferred method too. Just to add to this, a little extra veggies without going overboard will help too

[Marc]

I always say with all poses, what feels most natural to you but also shows your strengths / hides an glaring weaknesses. The likelihood is then you will present your best physique in the most comfortable way and the judges / crowd will feed of your confidence which is key