Definitely leaning into a similar thought pattern. I’m not sure a deload is really required for the average gym goer because consistency is the obstacle. For guys like us posting on a training forum though, a few days here and there can only be a good thing as long as it’s not an excuse to not go. Could be after 3 or 4 weeks, could be after 8 weeks, could be 12 weeks. Sometimes 4 days might feel like enough, sometimes it could be 10. I feel like the older my training age, the more in tune I feel with it but still surprise myself.
I think my couple of days of makeshift intermittent fasting has re-energized my body to continue taking in the extra calories for the bulk too.
Your last sentence could be the magic principle, but life is for living.
Bastardized overheads at diff height
20kg x 14
20kg x 12
RP +6
I got what I needed to but holy crap that was a tough workout. I was gassed before I even got to the gym. I simply cannot handle heat, and when the gym is so packed with no aircon it feels like the hardest thing in the world. I feel like I could have got a rep more on some exercises but I was struggling with feeling exhausted. My digestion is super off today after having a really high fat meal just before bed. My tongue is literally white with what must be acid irritation/dehydration. Need to stop the late night eating!
Was meant to do incline curls today but all the benches were taken so just did ez bar curls, Hopefully, it won’t interfere with chins on Saturday, although that’s probably me being silly thinking that. I’m sure it wont have any effect whatsoever.
Tricep exercises have become a “whatever bit of equipment I can get on” exercise so it’s difficult to track any progresssion. As long as my presses keep going up it doesn’t matter though.
Machine Shoulder Press
60kg x 9
55kg x 10 (11 rep failure)
Single arm low pull cable
42.5kg x 11, 11
37.5kg x 14 (failed 15), 15
Cable flyes
27.5kg x 14
27.5kg x 8
RP + 3
Not a great day, but I’m not sure I expected one with last weekend’s debauchery… A few -1’s, a few +1’s. I hate that single-arm low pull but everything else was taken. Handles so close to you even if you lean back, no stability whatsoever to lift any sort of weight two handed, and one handed it feels like you’re working your intercostals more than anything else. I’m actually in a little bit of pain there.
Somehow got into a debate/argument with a 17 year old who was calling a 60degree incline bench a shoulder press and that overhead stuff doesn’t work the side delt.
Had another wedding to go to this weekend just gone. Didn’t go as crazy as at the last one, but still sank 10 pints. It’s bank holiday to day and my gym is closed so just went on a long dog walk.
No events coming up now so hopefully back to consistency. No alcohol until at least Christmas.
One-Arm Seated DB Press
30kg x 7/4
28kg x 11/10
28kg x5 (just weaker wrist)
V-Handle Pulldowns
90kg x 10
82.5kg x 12ish
Dips
25kg x 8
20kg x 10
Lat raises
10kg x 15
10kg x 13
RP + 6ish
What a great day after the 2nd consecutive binge drink weekend. I think the bank holiday offset any recovery issues it may have given me! One Arm DB OHP was a bit of a “fuck it, I haven’t hit the rep range but I’m smashing the 30kgs today”. My left arm went well but the right arm (weaker wrist) was a disaster lol. I ended up adding a set at the end to make up for it. The back off-set wasn’t as much of a discrepancy so I won’t let it dishearten me.
My one arm rows are still flying up but strangely I feel I’m getting stricter each week, not using more body English. I’ve maxed out the dumbells available and it would appear I’m gonna have to switch the exercise or work my way into rep ranges i’d rather not do.
25kg Dips x 8 is a lovely PR for me which is my happiest thing about this what turned out as a very decent session!
Things felt heavier than expected today but I still grabbed the +1s and weight progressions I was after. With the inconsistency of the last couple of weeks I haven’t actually done my Lower 2 for a while. The way I see it is I get more out of Squats and RDLs than I do Deadlifts and Leg Press, and my Squats seem to go off a cliff more easily if I don’t get them in. Because I’ve been on a makeshift short-term 3x a week deal I felt this was the smart choice rather than creating large squatting gaps.
RDLs I went in planning for 145kg x 8, sometimes on the day though on certain exercises I’m just feeling something slightly different than the plan. I didn’t want to do 8 reps on my top set, so I added weight and got 7. This kind of autoregulation helps me enjoy my training and progression is still easy to measure and manage.
Leg extensions I had to drop the weight mid set a couple of times because my grip was compromised. I might actually start using straps on leg extensions! I’m not talking resting between reps as I regripped and went straight back to it, so talking barely even a second. I imagine that’s actually harder work going from a dead stop so I’m happy with that really.
Seated OHP
57.5kg x 6
52.5kg x 11 (grind for 12th maybe gave in too soon)
47.5kg x 14
DB Bench
36kg x 8
34kg x 10
Chin-ups
25kg x 6
20kg x 7 (3/4 way there almost 8)
Machine Shoulder Press
62.5kg x 9
57.5kg x 10
Cable row straight bar
95kg x 11
95kg x 12 (ROM not great on last two reps)
Cable flies
27.5kg x 15
27.5kg x 10
Free-weight presses continue to move slowly. After not getting a +1 on the first two seated OHP sets, I was determined to get one on the last set. Cue a 4-5second grind with the bar not moving but got it up in the end. DB Bench I feel disheartened by but it’s all in my head because of my old numbers. I got a +1 and just need to trust the process.
Seated machine press still going up piss easy. Another machine I’m only 2.5kg away from maxing out for 10 reps on.
Almost forgot to mention the chin-ups. Another great milestone. I was meant to hit 22.5kg x 7 today but I just wasn’t feeling it. Planned for 25kg x 5 but got 6!
Leg Press
140kg x 10 (hurting my torn adductor)
130kg x 13
Leg curls
70kg x 7ish
62.5kg x 10 (11+12 rep partial)
Incline DB Curl
16kg x 11
16kg x 10
RP + 2 (gave up way too early, should have got 3rd)
Slow tricep overheads
22.5kg x 8
(Switched where and how I was doing them)
20kg x 12
RP + 8
Lunges
40kg one leg at a time 12, 12
44kg alternating x 16 (8 each)
Haven’t done a “Lower/Limbs 2” session in a LONG ass time with all my weekend antics recently. I fancied SLDL so I did them. It’s shocking how insecure I am with them though. Love the movement but am worrying whether all my gym dudes realize I’m doing an SLDL and not a conventional one. Embarrassed that that was my thinking. Leg Press feels great until I get to the money reps, felt a couple of painful twinges in my torn adductor. Not much to say really as this session hasn’t been done in a while so there’s not really any +1s to talk about. I’m hoping now I’m back on the straight and narrow these lifts will go up quick. Got physio to speak about my adductor on Monday. I can’t imagine anything good will happen because as I’ve said before, my adductor is literally half a cricket ball at the top of my thigh right now lol.
One-Arm Seated DB Press
30kg x 8/6
28kg x 12/11 (bad ROM last couple of reps with weaker wrist)
28kg x 4 (a little untimed rest pause for weaker wrist)
V-Handle Pulldowns
95kg x 7
85kg x 11
Dips
27.5kg x 8
22.5kg x 9
Lat raises
10kg x 15
10kg x 10
RP + 5 (+2 partials)
Had a lot on yesterday, fell asleep early and missed out on around 200-300cals to reach my surplus. Had a brilliant session though! +1s and +2s everywhere! Only expected 8 on the back-off set of pulldowns and got 11 which was strange. Not as strange as adding 2.5kg/5lbs to my Dips in a bulk whilst staying in the same rep range though! Awesome.
Seated DB Press with one-arm is still a bit weird 'cause of the discrepancy and my form is a little inconsistant. I hope to go back to doing both arms together at some point but it’ll be a weird transition and I’m not sure how comfortable I am getting them into position with my wrist yet. I lost reps on lat raises but it was super hot, I didn’t bring water, and the big movers all went up so yeah, I’m happy.
Even though it’s still a shit situation, still a lot of good news. Surgery won’t be needed which is great, and she thinks I can improve the situation over time with consistent rehab. She’s not sure if the mass/lump/messed up fibers will ever go but believes I can regain full range of motion. Sadly it’s hard to say if I’ll ever be able to properly kick a ball again or anything like that.
My biggest worry was my left leg looked to have a big gap where the tear was, making me inclined to believe the muscle was all torn and pretty much…not there. Which of course would mean not a lot could be done. After a thorough inspection, she reckons it to just be severely atrophied due to the injury. It still sucks but right now feeling optimistic and like I have something to aim for.
Also, I can continue with all the exercises I’m doing… just don’t be daft.
Wish my gym had an adductor machine. Might have to try and get creative to see if I can manipulate something with a cable or resistance band.
RDL
150kg x 6 (wanted one more, straps were giving out)
140kg x 10
Leg Extension
97.5kg x 9
90kg x 11
Ez bar curls
42.5kg x 11
42.5kg x 9
RP + 2
Tricep pushdowns
32.5kg x 12
32.5kg x 9
RP + 5
Squats felt HEAVY. I was quite psyched out of them though. Two things; I ended up watching a couple of squat form videos last night through YouTube recommended, and having a different understanding about my adductor after seeing the physio. I was disappointed with on the top set and really had to grind for 10 on the back-off… and feel my depth was not great even with allowing myself a few inches because of the injury.
RDLs are still flying and that 6th rep on the top set was piss easy. Again, the straps were feeling like they were about to slip so I put the weight down instead of getting the 7th. With that said though, I may not have got 10 reps on the back-off set if I had gone closer to failure. I train with the mindset of “at least one set pushed for maximum safe effort”.
It’s nothing spectacular. I need to do a lot of stretching to try and get some more range of motion and figure out a way to do strengthen hip adduction without a hip adduction machine. Yes I can do it with bands but I need to progressively overload very slowly which causes a ballache that would otherwise be really simple. I’m considering trying to rig something up on the cable machine.
Lots of hard massaging. She basically said I almost need to keep restraining the muscle to try and break up some of this tissue and that intermittent bruising is very possible.
I’m not sure I’m ready for Copenhagen planks, but it’s awesome to see someone doing adduction on the cable machine. I will do that exact setup and hope to progress.
I should have done it at the end of my workout today. I get so lazy with all this stuff. I need to be consistent though if I’m to see any real improvement.
I just tried some Copenhagen raises at home to see how hard they were and Jesus they are hard. Although one side was a lot harder than the other which is another story.
Hopefully you can build up to those as I think that’s be easy to load with the techniques in the article.
Just did a 2.5mile walk, and weighed myself for the first time since I re-entered the bulk (~6 weeks ago). Yes, I know most people like to weigh themselves weekly, or even every day… And I feel that’s great and probably the best way to do things for most people. I feel I am pretty in tune with my calorie needs after a few bulk/mini-cut cycles, and my body seems to give me signals if I haven’t eaten quite enough. My lifestyle has stayed exactly the same as my last bulk where I was also very sporadic with weighing myself and I managed to maintain close to ~0.5lb a week, which I am happy with. Shaving 150-200 calories off my TDEE after losing 20 lbs I believe will put me at a similar rate.
I never actually logged down where I completely finished my cut. I put in my log 177.8lbs on July 12th but I’m sure continued a little longer than that, and I got ill after the stag do where my diet wasn’t great. I can’t remember my actual last weigh-in before I started bulking. I am sure I recall seeing 176lb on the scale though, maybe even slightly lower.
Anyway… I’m 179lbs now after 6 weeks. Accounting for water weight of a couple of pounds I feel I am anywhere between 0.25-0.5lb/week and my strength is going up. So I’ll say so far so good and keep eating how I’m eating. I will try to weigh myself over the next few weeks though to be sure.
