[Adam Bishop]

Hi Will

Yes you could certainly replace the whole milk with lactose free milk or almond milk. Obviously the macros of the almond or lactose free might be different if the fat content is different so this should be considered.

Eggs should be fine as they don’t contain lactose…

[Adam Bishop]

Depends on your training age, strength level etc.

For the vast majority of people I would say conventional deadlifting from the floor once a week is best practice. The deadlift is a heavy and taxing exercise on the body. You’ll need plenty of recovery time between sessions hence why once a week works for most people when the deadlift is pushed load-wise

[Adam Bishop]

Very difficult question to answer without seeing how you press in person. It could be one of a magnitude of reasons:

Muscle imbalance
Technical difference left to right
Scapular position
Dumbbell angle
Neural issues
Previous injury/scar tissue

Does it also happen on bilateral movements like a bench press or incline bench press?

[Adam Bishop]

Yeah it would be good to see your press/chest exercise list first.

Straight away with rotator cuff issues I would be looking at machines rather than free weight but let’s see what you’re doing first…

[Adam Bishop]

Wednesday session 1

Splitting my sessions up again to get the balance between technical work on my strongman events and my strength/hypertrophy work in the gym.

Morning session consisted of multiple singles on the 90kg circus Dumbbell drilling technique before I addressed some of the issues I found on those sets with 3×3 on 68kg.

Followed that up with some dinnie stone handles walk as I need to prepare my thumbs for this event in 10 days. Brutal event carrying two rocks with very thin handles for max distance. I use a hook grip on this so it takes some getting used to.

I’ll rest up and eat before going back into the gym tonight (hopefully when it’s cooler) to do some press volume.

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day today.

Ended the evening with some cold water immersion before bed. Had to use a ton of ice to get the water down to temperature in this weather!

Double session tomorrow so it’s going to be a big day.

[Adam Bishop]

Assuming you mean the front leg of course…

I tend to go for a soft lockout on the front leg as it feels more comfortable in that position.

[Adam Bishop]

Lowerbody session

Leg Press – 5 sets
GHR – 5 sets
SSB Squat – 3 sets
Good mornings – 3 sets
SL calf Raise – 5 sets

Good to get back to some lowerbody today. Easing back into it so the reps were high as the intensity lowered a bit.

All went well so looking forward to pushing these movements over the next few weeks

[Adam Bishop]

Thanks for the info Craig.

I would look at increasing your carbs around your training time for sure. With you pre workout meal sometimes a long time before your session and then no carbs directly post either, you’re setting yourself up for a sub-par gym session.

I would recommend an intraworkout carb based drink. I personally use JP’s Sustain and think it’s brilliant. Two scoops gives me 50g of carbs that I consume during my session.

Secondly I would add in some simple carbs post session especially if your next meal is 1-2hours away. Fruit would be a good option. I would start off by consuming a banana with your whey or even adding some honey to your whey post session. Aim for another 50g of carbs IMO.

[Adam Bishop]

Hi Craig. Couple of questions for some insight into this:

1. Generally how long are your sessions in the gym?

2. When do you have your preworkout meal and what does this consist of?

[Adam Bishop]

Thanks guys. Back in the gym tomorrow to do some light training. Time to get ready for Brits in 7 weeks!

[Adam Bishop]

Straight away I’m initial thought is there is a lot of weight gainer in there and not too much traditional food.

Weight gainers are sometimes a necessary evil to get calories in but they can also ruin your digestion and leave you bloated and full especially if they are full of thickening agents.

I’d personally start with seeing how you appetite goes with dropping them out and replacing the calorie equivalent with another of your rice and beef meals. Salting your food will also help you to feel hungry later.

Not saying that would be the finished article with your diet as there are other areas to change but I would personally start there and build more food in from there over time. The first step is getting your appetite to a place where you want to eat regularly.

[Adam Bishop]

Could you post your daily diet for us to see what you’re currently eating please?

[Adam Bishop]

Unfortunately things didn’t go my way tonight.

I blacked out on the log press and the shield carry. Clearly I’m not recovered from the Shaw Classic last weekend. This was my 4th competition in 5 weeks and clearly it was a step too far.

Need to work out if my blacking out issues are down to blood sugars or blood pressure or maybe something else but I do know I need a rest if I want to retain my Britain’s Strongest Man title in 7 week.

Plan is to rest up until then and get myself sorted out.

Disappointed is an understatement but I’ll bounce back.

[Adam Bishop]

I’ll throw in a strength guy answer here…

For my main strength lifts I regularly use an autoregulatory programme I devised that progresses next week’s loads depending on the current week’s performance. If I have a good week and lift several reps over my “goal” then the programme adds more weight to my working weight next week. If I only just hit my goal reps the programme will increase the minimum amount next week (in this case 2.5kg total)

The load for my accessory movements is based off a percentage of my main lift load for that week and any other volume work is just beat the previous week’s load, reps or both.