[Andy]

A nice chilled day spent with the Mrs, managed to make a risk and shave my hair the shortest it’s been in about 15 years, but I think I pull it off. I also got a look at my client Ali who’s competing in 7 weeks at the PCA Scottish and he’s looking excellent. It makes a nice difference from 2 years ago when it was a bit of a struggle to get him into condition due to his starting point, so this prep has been nothing but a doddle.

Another NTD tomorrow, just what I needed after a fairly battering week, a long with the fact that next weekend is going to be very busy travelling down to Twickenham for the Scotland England game.

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[Andy]

Agreed with the above, you’ve not been on long enough, and the dosages you have used haven’t been anything ridiculous.

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[Andy]

Back logged and ticked off today, and I’m in the bin!

I’m starting to notice recovery drop a touch, nothing too drastic but enough to notice. It’s been the case where I’ve been needing a week off every 8 weeks – week’s off do more for me than deloading sessions – it feels as if that will be coming around shortly.

Neutral grip lat pulldowns – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

T-bar rows – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

HS SA PL row – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

SA DB rows – 2x 8-12 (the first set I hit 15 reps though)

Deadlifts – 1x 8-12 (back up to 280kg)

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[Andy]

I agree with both of the guys here. I tend to not programme biceps in with pull just due to the amount of indirect work they get, however, if they need brought up, then IMO frequency is key when it comes to bringing up lagging biceps/arms, so both sessions would be best here.

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[Andy]

A very good shoulder bias push session in the bag tonight! This is definitely the biggest and strongest I’ve ever been in my life. I’ll be checking in with Nick this weekend, rather than tomorrow, but I’m very interested to see where the visuals are landing.

I think in your health phase there will be the need to pull back food a touch, maybe dump some of that easy weight prior to the prep, but as always I’ll put that past Nick first to see what he’s saying.

Lying Y raises – 2 working sets, 12-15

Cuffed cable rear delt raises – 3 working sets, 15-20

High incline DB shoulder press – 1 working set, 8-12, 1 back-off set, 12-15

HS flat PL chest press – 1 working set, 8-12, 1 back-off set, 12-15

HS PL side raise machine – 3 working sets, 12-15 – I’ve not used this in years, it felt great!

Straight-bar cable triceps extensions – 1 working set, 12-15

Overhead rope triceps extensions – 3 working set, 12-15

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[Andy]

I would not recommend winstrol / Stanazol for any female, if she isn’t competing she doesn’t need any androgens

I would explore non adeogenic compounds

Gh / L carnitine / insulin / clenbuterol.

Fully agree here[/quote]

Seconded!

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[Andy]

A pretty stress free NTD today. I finally managed to get in with Ricky and get some of the aches and pains drilled out of me. He said everything feels nice and healthy so that was good. I’ve spoken about Ricky a lot in this forum, and if anyone in the central belt of Scotland has any pains or issues I highly recommend him. I’ve used a lot of massage therapists and physios in my time, and no one comes close to him.

I also had my mobility session with Charlene today, where we covered a bit more in the way of hip mobility. I’m trying to stay disciplined with these sessions, ensuring I’m getting them done at least every 2 weeks, but as I’ve mentioned before, it’s sore and boring, so it makes it a bit harder to stay excited to do it.

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[Andy]

I agree with Clare, try taking Unwind PWO so that is has it’s effects by the time you go to bed.

Also, are you basing how you good your sleep is purely from a sleep tracker, or is there any biofeedback added into your evaluation of your sleep? Do you feel rested in the morning, are you recovering well, is your training progress increasing?

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[Andy]

Last night’s chest dominant push was a great session, although I felt a few things suffered from being sat in a car for 4 hours, but it was still a good session with PBs in a few movements.

I haven’t seen my physio for 2 weeks, so my shoulders are feeling pretty tight and beat up, but nothing so extreme that it’s massively impairing me.

I mentioned a few blogs back that my strength was flying, and that it was climbing at a rate I’ve never seen before. . . well I think that’s starting to calm a little bit now, but the progression is still there, so that’s what matters.

Seated cuffed cable flys – 2x 8-12, 1x 12-15

Incline DB press – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

HS incline PL chest press – 1x 8-12, 1x 12-15

Standing cable flys – 1x 12-15

SA cable side raises – 3x 12-15

SA cable rear raises – 3x 12-15

High incline EZ-bar cable curls – 1x 12-15 (pyramiding up to the failure/working set)

Standing cable curls – 1x 12-15 (pyramiding up to the failure/working set)

Shallow decline sit-ups – 3 working sets, AMRAP

Legs today should be a great one, especially more so because I slept so well last night!

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[Andy]

I wouldn’t put definitive numbers on what is “best” week to week, month to month.

As the boys mentioned, visuals, BW, training performance are your 3 main progress markers. I, like Sas, feel and perform a bit better being a little bit softer, but over the years, I’ve kept things tighter and tighter, purely because the more muscle you have, the easier it is to stay leaner, plus, adherence tending to be better as you become more experienced.

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[Andy]

A great NTD wrapped here in Liverpool. I swapped out one of my meals for pancakes. It’s funny how mediocre off plan eating is in the offseason. I mean it was certainly better than turkey & rice, but when you’re packed to the rim, you don’t get the full enjoyment.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to another big week of training!

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[Andy]

As mentioned above, if you have a “lower” rep range of say 6-10, then using the same weight for that given exercise for a 2nd set probably isn’t feasible, dropping the weight and extending the range would allow for another set to failure to occur.

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[Andy]

A great session ticked off at Prophecy with my mates James and Fraser. It was only of those sessions where we just had a play around with kit we’ve not tried before, but as always it was a cracking session.

We stuck to the same structure of split, pulldown > lat bias row > upper back bias row > row > upper back bias row

I also got a look at James prior to ending his offseason. He’s away to step into the super heavies/class 1s for the first time and he’s looking insane!

A great day out with the team!

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[Andy]

I like to use a 1ml insulin pin and pin my weekly doses across Monday-Friday. I think I speak for everyone, but I fucking hate pining, so 2 days off at the weekend gives me a break – more mentally than anything else.

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[Andy]

A very hectic day wrapped up, with a morning full of 1-2-1 PT and then driving down to Liverpool to spend the weekend with the Mrs, and to also catch up with a few mates at Prophecy for a back session.

I checked in with Nick today, I’ve not heard back from him yet, but my weight has dipped by a pound, certainly nothing to worry about or feel the need to compensate. I’m delighted with my look – I’ll put some of my check-in shots up with my stories on Monday.

I would like to push the envelope with PEDs, but I think that’s just the “more is better” part of my personality that’s wanting me to do that, there is no need just now in my opinion.

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