[Adam Bishop]

Always best to make and plan and stick to a plan IMO. We’re looking at the long term picture in terms of progression here, not a snap shot of how you feel day to day.

Rest and be fresh for upper the next day.

[Adam Bishop]

Good pull session at physique warehouse gym today. Deadlifts felt really strong and moved a lot quicker than my last session. We are seeing some progress. Bodyweight at 138.1kg this morning

Deadlift 250×5 265×5 283×8
Hammer Strength Pulldown 184×7 154×10
Iso lateral row 125×12 75×16
Leverage pulldown 85x3x12 (rest pause)
Reverse pec dec 3×12
Cable curl triple set 3×10/10/10

[Adam Bishop]

It depends on the individual. I’ve recently been running three days on one day off and been squatting, military pressing and deadlifting on those days which has been aggressive to say the least. It has to be said the loads are sub max for me so that has been possible – now that the loads are progressing I’ve moved to 2 days on one day off.

Basically what I’m saying is there are no rules. Try it for yourself and your body will let you know pretty fast what I can and cannot handle.

[Adam Bishop]

Yeah I prep my cream of rice the night before and keep it in the fridge as I prefer it cold.

[Adam Bishop]

Great squat session today. Things are picking up weight wise now and it feels good.

Squat 175×5 195×3 215×5
Leg Press 505×12
Leg Ext 155x3x18 (rest pause)
Leg curl 120x3x14 (rest pause)
SL Calf Raise 5 reps, rolling 20” rest, x12

Tough seeing all the results coming in from the vegas comp this weekend. I really wise I was there as planned but it’s given me an internal fire to ensure I’m there and pulling something massive in 2025. I’ve not maxed my deadlift since 2021 when I pulled 454kg and I know how much I’ve progressed since then. Big raw pull in 2025

[Adam Bishop]

Rest day today. Made good use of it and got all my meals cooked up ready for the next 4 days.

Back in the gym tomorrow for legs

[Adam Bishop]

And no you will notice you have some flat DB press in the upper strength session so hit all the incline sets on that Monday session

[Adam Bishop]

Thank you for your response, it’s just standard local club rugby. I play number 8 and occasionally tighthead prop. My matches are Sunday with training Wednesday and Thursday and I can’t go to the gym them days but can any other.

Who the hell sets club training on a Wednesday and Thursday for a Sunday game!? Your coaches don’t like you haha.

In all seriousness though it does make it difficult to programme for.

Ok working off a Sunday game and your stipulated training days

M – light upper

T – lower strength

W – club training

T – club training

F – upper strength

S – off

S – game day

Light upper – all 3-4sets of 10-15reps

Incline DB Press

SA DB Row

SA DB shoulder Press

Cable face pull

Curls

Banded neck Isometrics 3×30”

Lower strength

Box jumps 5×3

Squat variation 3-5sets of 3-5 reps

RDL 3-5sets of 3-8 reps

Leg curl 3×8-12

SL Calf Iso on leg press 3×20”

Upper strength

Banded neck ISOs 3×3/10”

Military press 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps

Pull ups 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps

Flat DB Press 3×8-12

DB shrugs 3×8-13

Pressdowns

Rear delt fly 3×8-12

This would cover all your muscle groups while still including the key movements that are IMO essential for rugby ie: neck work, axial loading and Achilles tendon isometric strength. Having you squat 48 hours post game is not ideal in the slightest but it’s the best place to have your lower work with your limitations on training days. I hope this helps.

Finally fair play to you, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a number 8 who occasionally plays tight head – takes some balls to do that – good on you.

[/quote]Also how much rest between sets on the box jumps? And in this situation do you think that doing say 4 sets on incline db is superior to 2 incline and 2 flat? [/quote]
In all honestly it’s not important. I used to write the total number of jumps in on my athletes programmes and they would get some done around their prep for their first lift. 15 reps total done after your warm up split however you want. Reminder to step down from the box rather than jump down – important for the bigger lads. Ideally position lower box or bench next to the main box to step down onto.

However if you are someone who needs a direct answer then 1-2mins haha

[Adam Bishop]

Thank you for your response, it’s just standard local club rugby. I play number 8 and occasionally tighthead prop. My matches are Sunday with training Wednesday and Thursday and I can’t go to the gym them days but can any other.

Who the hell sets club training on a Wednesday and Thursday for a Sunday game!? Your coaches don’t like you haha.

In all seriousness though it does make it difficult to programme for.

Ok working off a Sunday game and your stipulated training days

M – light upper
T – lower strength
W – club training
T – club training
F – upper strength
S – off
S – game day

Light upper – all 3-4sets of 10-15reps
Incline DB Press
SA DB Row
SA DB shoulder Press
Cable face pull
Curls
Banded neck Isometrics 3×30”

Lower strength
Box jumps 5×3
Squat variation 3-5sets of 3-5 reps
RDL 3-5sets of 3-8 reps
Leg curl 3×8-12
SL Calf Iso on leg press 3×20”

Upper strength
Banded neck ISOs 3×3/10”
Military press 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps
Pull ups 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps
Flat DB Press 3×8-12
DB shrugs 3×8-13
Pressdowns
Rear delt fly 3×8-12

This would cover all your muscle groups while still including the key movements that are IMO essential for rugby ie: neck work, axial loading and Achilles tendon isometric strength. Having you squat 48 hours post game is not ideal in the slightest but it’s the best place to have your lower work with your limitations on training days. I hope this helps.

Finally fair play to you, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a number 8 who occasionally plays tight head – takes some balls to do that – good on you.

[Adam Bishop]

Hi Noah

You play 3-4 times a week? I assume this is 5 a side stuff?

Or do you mean that you have football practice 3-4 times a week and no games at the moment?

What kind of standard are you playing at?

What is your current programme. All this information will help the guys on here help you.

[Adam Bishop]

Today’s push session:

Military Press 92.5×5 105×3 117.5×5
Incline DB Press 50×10 30×15
Dips +12.5x3x13
DB Lateral Raise 17.5x3x18 (rest pause)
Pressdowns 32.5×8 22.5×18
OH Cable Extension 20x3x18 (rest pause)

Reintroduced Incline DB Press today and completed the sets without issue. Rest of the session was pretty standard. Food has been upped again from tomorrow. More fats added.

[Adam Bishop]

Personally I would move that sleep stack closer to bedtime. 30min is fine. Also I’d be tempted to drop the melatonin from this and only use it when absolutely necessary. IMO melatonin shouldn’t be used every day.

It sounds like you are very diligent with your sleep schedule but here are a couple of things to check:

1. Same wake and bed time every day.
2. Black out blinds may help
3. Ensure the bedroom is cool

Finally it does sound like you’re overthinking it. As in you wake in the night with your mind racing probably thinking why am I awake again and I’ve got to get to sleep otherwise I’ll have a shit day. I suspect that thinking about getting to sleep and worrying about it is what is keeping you awake later in the night.

For you it might be a case of get all the basics in place as stated above but then just go with it. If you have a bad nights sleep it’s not the end of the world – you will survive. I think if you can get into this headspace your sleep performance will improve. Don’t sweat the small stuff

[Adam Bishop]

Hi Billy how has the last couple of weeks training gone?

Surgery still scheduled for late October?

Just a reminder to get that joint as strong as possible before surgery in a months time. Build the muscles around your shoulder as much as you can in the pre op time and it will make rehab on the other side so much easier trust me.

[Adam Bishop]

Load that smith up and feed the ego.

Haha but seriously use what you have available. If it feels right and movements performed on it hits the target muscle then you’re GTG.

The equipment available is massively overrated these days. You don’t need certain brands of kit to go. Barbells and Dumbbells should still make up a portion of everyone’s training programme IMO.

[Adam Bishop]

Just some follow up information more for anyone reading this from the search function.

All the info from the guys above is spot on and the OP is on the right path.

When dealing with larger imbalances or strength deficits sometimes additional work may be needed to be done on one side in order to bring it up. Volume can be increased on this side or frequency, or both. Here’s an (extreme) example from my training.

Currently working my way back from an Achilles rupture. Large amounts of strength and size lost in the calf. During the early stage of rehab where this deficit is more pronounced I’m training it daily on my injured side only. Super low intensity so volume and frequency is higher. Progressing on to now where I have around a 25% deficit I’m training the calf every other day vs twice a week on my non injured side. Intensity has increased to the other two factors must go down.

Just an extreme example to illustrate that the size of the imbalance dictates the size of the intervention you must use to eliminate it.