[Martin]

Congratulations Sas! Nice to see you getting that qualification!

[Martin]

Hey man, hope all is well!
I just purchased magnesium and ashwaganda, I was going to use it as a budget version of unwind.
I take ”the one”, omegas, k2 d3 in the morning and ”the one”, omegas, k2 d3, zma at night.

My plan was to take magnesium and ashwaganda after workout, but some days I train before work, would it be better to take it immediately after work then instead? My work is pretty physical. Do you also think I need an extra pill of magnesium with the zma?

Thanks!

[Martin]

Okay, thanks guys!

[Martin]

5g a day is fine. No need to try and take more, particularly if you get unwanted side effects.

Got it, thanks!

[Martin]

I like rest pause sets or widow makers as set extensions

I never like the idea of lower loading in any case so drop sets imo don’t do the job for this

I would always look at adding more straight sets if volume allows then possibly set extensions towards end of a training block

Thanks Kuba!

[Martin]

Hi mate

I assume you’ve got pretty good at stopping the set at 1RiR

If you’ve been doing that for a while, and progressing, I wouldn’t be adding in any intensifiers now you’ve increased frequency.

Give yourself opportunity to adapt to the more frequent sessions, then you can assess whether there is merit in adding additional sets or intensifiers

Thanks for the advice!
If I can tolerate more volume after running this for some weeks, would you look to increase for example in upper more straight sets in the pressing movements before looking for intensifiers?

[Martin]

Keeping on top of your recovery will mainly come down to your training set up, diet, hydration, stress management and sleep.

In terms of supplementation, the basics for me would be D3 & K2, Omega Pharma Pro, Cure-Coming, Creatine and, if possible, Love Heart and a decent multi vit/min or greens supplement to cover micro nutrients. These would be taken everyday.

If you need additional support with sleep and post workout recovery, then Dream Sleep and Unwind would be useful supplements.

For natural hormonal and training performance support, the NED Stack is excellent.

A question about the natural stuff, I was going to try Turk and trib with either natural progress or physique due to budget, which one do you recommend? And should it be taken all year without breaks?

[Martin]

In the first scenario you’re using momentum to get the weight back up. Whereas you’re using the quads to get the weight up. Which one do you think will build more muscle?

Powerlifters only care about getting A to B. Bodybuilders care about how it gets there

Yeah sure, I understand all that but you still have the weight difference, it’s a different kind of stress in the muscle than the time. I mean in the powerlifting squat you don’t drop it from the top, you still control it 70%(around that, I guess) before you drop it. Let’s say a powerlifter squat 200kg for 8 reps and a bodybuilder squat 160-170kg for 8 it’s still 30-40kg difference. Couldn’t that compensate ?

[Martin]

I’ve had mine operated on. It never hurt but it was big and the doc advised I have it operated on. I never avoided anything and trained as normal right up until my surgery

Did the doctor tell you it wasn’t a big deal for the hernia to keep training or you just trained anyway? Everywhere I read they tell you not to lift any heavy stuff.
The question I keep asking myself is that how big of a chance is it to make it bigger, like how fragile is it really…

[Martin]

Hey Martin,

Have you heard from the doctor ?

I also got hernia and I’ve seen a doctor on Tuesday who told me it won’t be operated on NHS because it’s too small…

Really annoying because I know it’ll only get worse

How do you approach you upper body training ?

I just stick with PPL but I always pre exhaust my chest / back and stick with machines rather than free weights

Hello!
Yes I got a letter, I will get an appointment within 8 weeks, not surgery but to check it with ultrasound?

Yours was to small? Does your hurt?
In my opinion it won’t take long for it to tear up bigger if you keep training hard and heavy?

I do almost the same as before, for example one of my upper sessions goes:
Incline bench
Sitting shoulder press
Close grip bench
Incline dumbbell press
Skull crushers
Side lateral
One arm lat pulldown
Lat pulldown close grip
Upright row
Spidercurls with dumbbells.

Some exercises there I normally use belt for more support/strength which I don’t at the moment to not get the extra pressure. I stay away from extra “stretchy” movements such as chins and ab training. I don’t do any heavy standing movements, but when I do like upright row I try to keep my air in the chest and not the stomach to not get that pressure. This makes it harder and you get weaker but you can still do the movements.
That’s how I do stuff at the moment.
Right or wrong, I don’t know but it works for now.

[Martin]

Hi Martin,

How is this all panning out?

Is there anything you want to run by us?

Sure!
Nothing has happened here yet, still haven’t heard from the doctor.
Almost no pain, and as I said earlier, it just feels weird.
Upper body training is working like 95% but leg training is light, but still happy to be able to do something for the legs.

[Martin]

Hey Martin,

Have you considered getting this looked at for potential surgery?

This can be very person dependent as I know many athletes whom trained as normal but was conscious when training particularly with heavy loading and bracing, but again they was still able too.

Do movements that don’t hurt, if you haven’t had this looking into then I would recommend that.

Yes , met the doctor and he sent me of to the next step, probably surgery, but I’m waiting for that appointment.

And this can probably take some time since it’s not urgent.

And while I’m waiting I don’t just want to skip legs for mabey a few months. [/quote]

Yeah I get that totally.

You could :

Hip Thrust

Leg extension

Single leg extension

Leg curl

Single leg curl

Maybe look for a leg press to buy could do that dual and single leg .

I’m not saying you have to do it in that order but create sessions from those movements and have the volume from your current workouts made up into these lifts

I know @york had a couple of hernia surgeries she may be able to support even more [/quote]
Okay thanks!
I just did legs yesterday and I did leg curl , light rdl, light squat , both 50kgs, a bit higher reps but deep stretch and paus in stretched position, then leg extension and calves. It all felt fine so I think I’ll stick to that. I have another leg session later this week and there I will include some lunges as well. So I’ll rotate between these workouts.

[Martin]

Hey Martin,

Have you considered getting this looked at for potential surgery?

This can be very person dependent as I know many athletes whom trained as normal but was conscious when training particularly with heavy loading and bracing, but again they was still able too.

Do movements that don’t hurt, if you haven’t had this looking into then I would recommend that.

Yes , met the doctor and he sent me of to the next step, probably surgery, but I’m waiting for that appointment.
And this can probably take some time since it’s not urgent.
And while I’m waiting I don’t just want to skip legs for mabey a few months.

[Martin]

It all depends on how you are sleeping and how good you feel the next day. If you are tired the next day and slept poorly then you might want to make a change.

Try a bottle of Unwind for a month and see if you feel it benefits you.

I got a small kid so I wake up about 1-2 times per night, but when I sleep I sleep good. But is there such a thing that can make your sleep more effective if you know what I mean when I actually sleep, since I wake up a few times a night ?

[Martin]

How do your Warm up sets look like with each exercise?

Do you raise the weight to fast in the first couple of Exercises?

My hamstrings sometimes cramp up if i jump up with the weight too fast/quick.

I usually do 5-7 warmup sets in the first 3 exercises. I increase the weight pretty slow. I want to be 100% warm when I hit my working set on the squat.

The first warmup sets are higher in reps, 8-10 and the closer I get to working set the reps go down. The last warmup is just 1 rep.