[Alex]

Really appreciate your responses Sasan and Oscar.

Sleep has been ok, 6-7 hours a night, that’s pretty much what I’m used to.

Appetite is always high, energy through the day has been alright, and motivation is good other than my frustration with this issue at the moment.

I don’t remember the last time I took a full week off. Recently I’ve only had a couple 1-2 extra rest days when I felt I really needed them.

You’re right that I need to push food up a little more, was trying to take this surplus phase slowly to keep it going longer, but this was probably too slow.

I’ll take 5 days off, drop the shoulder compound to 1 set, and I’ll add a second rotation back in and see how that feels now. Resetting lifts when I’m back is a good idea, I’ll drop the weight and try working in a slightly higher rep range to make sure execution stays consistent.

Will see how it goes with these changes. With the second rotation and higher rep range, I won’t fully swap out any movements yet. I’ll keep that option in the tank in case I plateau again in the near future.

Thanks again to both of you, this was really helpful.