[Michaela]

Hamstring emphasis training day for me today!
I went over to train with Joe Bennett, which is about 1-2 hours from me depending on traffic

He had full control of calling the shots, I just executed and stopped when he told me to stop lol

Leg extension
1 straight set
1 drop set

Seated leg curl
2 straight sets

Lying leg curl
2 straight sets

Barbell rdl – I wouldn’t consider what we did here real working sets – light load and more so just going off of his execution cues
2 sets

This was the end

My typical ham day has been –
One work set each
1. Seated leg curl
2. Single leg curl
3. Adductor machine
4. Wide leg press
5. RDL
6. Walking lunge

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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Instagram: @michaelaaycock

[Michaela]

I had two hernia surgeries at the beginning of the year. They were not Hiatal, but the same concept applies, and that is I highly advise to go ahead and get it taken care of. You will recover faster from the hiatal than I did with mine, but still take as much time to fully recover as possible. It is worth it!

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Instagram: @michaelaaycock

[Michaela]

I say just try it and see how you like it!
See how you feel, digest, and respond overall. If you notice a benefit, stick with it. If not, go back to what you prefer!

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

Another non training day today!

20 min fasted cardio on recumbent bike
3 sets hanging leg raises
Stretching
Posing

Here is my daily diet
Amounts not included
Throughout prep I did a base day diet, quad day high day, ham day moderate high day. Toward the end it was day to day assessments on amounts needed.
The concept has not changed now in terms of the quad day being highest day, hams being second highest, and then a base amount all other days! Continuing to assess things and make calls for changes as needed!

Quad and ham day get higher rice amounts in all meals, along with added muffin on quad day)

Meal one
Chicken
Jasmine rice
Whole egg

Meal two (pre)
99% lean Turkey
Jasmine rice
Almond butter
Banana
(+ bakery muffin on quad day)

Intra
Sustain
EAA

Meal three (post)
Cream of rice
JP Iso Pro

Meal four
96/4% beef
Jasmine rice

Meal five
Chicken
Jasmine rice

Meal six
99% Turkey
Almond butter
(+Jasmine rice +banana on quad day)

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

This is something I honestly have to play with / go by feel for with myself!
While there are general “rules of thumb”, everyone’s biomechanics are different and you cannot force yourself into a position that doesn’t work for you.
So my advice is to really go by feel, do warm up sets feeling different foot positions and when you find a spot where you feel the intended muscle best, send it on that one!

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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Instagram: @michaelaaycock

[Michaela]

Glute emphasis training today!

BM calves

0 p x10

1 p x10

2 p x10

• 3 p x8,5,3 Rest pause
• 3 p x7, 2 p x9, 1 p x10 drop

Adductor

130 x15

190 x15

250 x10

295 x7

295+1p x5

295+2p x2

• 295 +3p x9,3,2 Rest pause

Abductor machine

70 x20

100 x20

130 x15

Smith glute bridge

135 x15

225 x7

• 315 x11
• 225 x15

Heel elevated belt squat

Nothing crazy (Michaela level crazy lol) on this as this is my second week back into training and is the first time putting this movement in this session for a little extra quad work

2 pps x20

2 pps x15

SSB walking lunches

3 sets x40 (20 per leg)

Cable kick back

2 sets x20 per leg

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

What’s your diet looking like at the mo Michaela?

I’ve touched on it on my log from Jan 1, and it hasn’t changed since
I will update as I get more sunk into regulating things post show/being sick/getting back to training fully, and getting it set 🙂

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

Based on all the info you provided, unless your legs have now become your lagging body part in comparison to upper..
If anything it sounds to me like you’d need to reduce leg volume for the sake of better recovery and more room for improvement on upper

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[Michaela]

Absolutely! I see no issue in it whatsoever. I personally keep cardio in year around even if just a very small amount. I keep it in on non training days

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[Michaela]

Non training day today!

25 min fasted cardio on recumbent bike
3 sets 20-15 reps ab mat crunch
20 min posing
Stretching

Body/massage work mid day
Followed by cryo therapy

———————————————————————

For the past two seasons my training has been
Monday – quads
Tuesday – off
Wednesday- glutes
Thursday – off
Friday – hams
Saturday – arms

There were short phases where I would add more upper via
Back & Chest (very very minimal) Wednesday as a second session OR Thursday instead of an off day
And then Delts with arms on Saturday or split in two sessions
Again this was for short stints of time If at all, majority of time was spent doing the split without the upper

All for the reason of my lower body needing to come up in balance with my upper, and pulling out the upper allowed for everything recovery, stimulus etc to be centered around lower body
Because if not my upper would still continue to take over

This is what I am currently following right now as well
As I get things established with this being my second week back to training post show I will start to see if and where there is any room and need for change and you guys will be the first to know!

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

Awesome can’t wait to follow your progress, do you still follow bro split or have you changed your views on it abit ?

I train primarily lower body. I will talk more in detail about my split and reasoning soon!

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

Thanks so much for putting your log up. And congrats on the everything you accomplished with the placings and joining the TBJP family. 🙂
I was actually curious about the handle you used for the smith-machine. I am using straps, but an attachment seems way better. Where did your gym get it? 🙂

Thank you!!

My gym is my garage lol. The attachment is called a top squat. https://www.sorinex.com/products/top-squat
That is the link you can find it at. I don’t have any affiliation with the company, but every time I post it I get a lot of questions about it so I keep the link handy lol

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

My primary piece of advice is take it slow. Don’t rush anything. The weights will be there! And progress will come initially even with low effort. Use this time to start from scratch on all of your movements nailing execution, and then progress within that same execution over time.
I know you are asking about RDL’s specifically, and I can’t speak for if you should stay away from them or not, but if you do get back to them, do the above and take it slow!
For example prior to my surgeries I could do 200 lb db’s for 20+ reps. When I got back to training, week one I did 40 lb db’s, week two 50 lb db’s, and so forth. Even if I could do more I still took it slow!

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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[Michaela]

Ok so following up on yesterdays log!
Post Olympia..
2.5 weeks post now
Typically post show I hit the ground running, right back in the gym the next day full steam ahead into the rebound phase
And regardless of weight going up, prep variables being out, food being high, etc I tend to still hold a show ready condition.
This time due to variables leading into the show such as a flare up from my previous surgeries I had, my body showing me signs of going backwards any time I would have a low diet day or a hard training session, etc
Plus getting the Vegas Virus on show day and honestly still not fully over it,
I knew this time I needed to approach things differently
So I took a full 10 days off training (not counting days pre show), ran a low diet which was lower than pre show – which I’ve realized was a bad idea – I thought the lower was warranted due to not training and just letting water balance regulate etc but it actually made me look worse lol which of course the sickness plays in there as well
Got back into training last week, bumped food back to what it was leading into the show (I was eating a lot leading in). Training with intent, but not to Michaela level lol purposely
On to my second week of training now and intend on keeping principles the same of last week that way I can form some thoughts and plans on where to go from here based on the response to this week with variables being the same as last week
For example last week I was wildly sore, but it was the first week back, so keeping volume the same this week and will see the difference.

Todays quads
Nothing to true failure yet

Light warm up 3×20
Adductor abductor
Leg ext leg curl

The last set of each movement with the (-) before it, marks the work set. The ones before are warm/ lead ups

Smith top squat
(top squat is a handle attachment)
95 x10
135 x8
185 x6
225 x3
– 275 x16

Rogers press
1 pps x15
2 pps x15
3 pps x15
4 pps x15
– 5 pps x14 1 self spot

Leg ext
10 x15
20 x15
45 x15
– 70 x12

Cybex hack
0 pps x20
1 pps x20
– 2 pps x18
I know this is child’s play lol but it lit my quads

Smith split squat
Back leg elevated
Front foot heel elevated
45 x15
95 x15
– 95 x12

Adductor
Legs extended and knees not bent
175 x20
220 x20
– 295 x15

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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Instagram: @michaelaaycock

[Michaela]

Hey Michaela just wanted to welcome you to the team here too, it’s a pleasure to have you on and I hope to meet you an one of the athlete events some day! Let’s gooo 🙏

Thank you so much!! I hope for that also!!

TBJP Nutrition: Michaela10
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Instagram: @michaelaaycock