[Kiera]

This is what i do ^ squat twice, bench twice, deadlift once.

[Kiera]

I went to have my MRI read this morning. Not at the hospital with the consultant I wanted but my surgeon isn’t available until Monday and I wanted someone to take a look at the mri before then just so I could know what was going on.

I had another surgeon, who did my cortisone, take a look at him and along with another surgeon they both agreed that I have a SLAP tear on the bicep tendon. It’s exactly the same verdict that the first surgeon came to 2 months back but it’s taken this long, 2 more MRIs and other conservative treatment to fail to be able to get an answer.

I know what it is now. It does need surgery in order for the pain to go which I will be discussing with my surgeon on Monday and will hopefully be able to get it done as soon as possible.

Everything continues as normal, diet, training, cardio .. I might have a few days off to recover but until then no changes and after that point i will adapt to suite the recovery process.

[Kiera]

Agree with Meg on this one! Steps are the most simple form of cardio, they allow for the best recovery however if you are needing HIIT training or wanting your heart rate higher than 130bpm I’d opt for a different form. It also depends on what you like and your time constraints. Some people don’t have an hour/two in their day to get their steps in especially if their job isn’t an active one so steps in this case may not be for you. Personally preference comes into play as well, for example I’d much rather prefer to spend 25 mins on the stair master than an hour walking.

When i’m deep into a prep with only a matter of weeks to go – is the only time I’d switch my cardio training to walking.

[Kiera]

MRI finally done WOOHOO! man that felt like a life time haha, i have the CD already so just need to book in with my surgeon for him to go over it with me and have a look and see what is going on in there! I’m hoping to get in to see him some point tomorrow afternoon if not it will be this week.

I have switched my rest day and training day around as i didn’t realise quite how bad my shoulder would feel after the anaesthetic and the contrast, feels like a sore balloon ? Today is just cardio for me, i haven’t done it yet. Heading to the gym shortly and will train some abs while im there too!

[Kiera]

You will most Likely lose fullness this is just a fact, as training load/intensity will be reduced. Don’t worry about that, primary goal is to get as much blood into your quads as possible like you’ve mentioned / and gradually increase the ROM. Some isometric holds as well could come in handy on things such as leg extension on a weight that doesn’t aggregate the injury.

[Kiera]

Great day today, headed to strong gym to do the bench part of my push day. I worked up to 70kg (not entirely pain free but comfortable enough) for 4 working sets of 5 which i was really happy with. Headed over to B1 after the bench session for the rest of push, glutes and cardio. I tried smith machine incline bench too and my shoulder seems to respond really well to that so it will be a movement i add in to help with strength gain over the coming weeks.

i have my MRI with contrast tomorrow morning and deadlifts after 🙂

[Kiera]

I’d be concerned that you’ve still got issues 6 months down the line, I’d definitely see a physio and try to formulate a rehab protocol, to work around the issue whilst ensuring it can heal, – getting numbness is definitely not a good sign.

[Kiera]

So we FINALLY got somewhere with my shoulder MRI. The insurance wouldn’t approve the contrast and I couldn’t be bothered to argue. They approved the MRI which is one step further from last time and I’ve gone ahead and just paid for the contrast on top.. the whole procedure out here is £1000 ?‍? I paid for the first MRI (£600) and the quality was too bad for the surgeons to assess or diagnose anything so this whole process has been one long disaster so far but I’m hoping this scan on Wednesday will be the last of it.

We will know exactly what is wrong, where and how to fix it. Which I’m so released about because even if it does need surgery I just wanted to know sooner rather than later. So I can get it, heal, recover and hit the ground running for the end of the year. If not then amazing, we have already started shoulder rehab and the rehab will continue but we will have a more specific idea of what we need to work on.

Legs and squats today went amazingly. Really happy with my form on 160kg 4 x 5 – hitting below parallel on all my reps now and definitely think it’s a good idea making the smaller jumps and not compromising form.

[Kiera]

From the sounds of this I would say you’re drinking too much water, and diluting your salts. And your body is actually just urinating it out. Studies have shown that drinking to “thirst” is actually far more beneficial in a lot of cases than having a set litre target amount to drink a day. The body is exceptionally good as telling you when it’s thirsty and needs a drink.

[Kiera]

Happy Sunday Guys,

Rest day for me today, getting a few things ready before my parents fly out to visit this week. Really looking forward to seeing them and spending some quality time with them but unlike last time when they came out for Chirstmas, both Max and me are on very strict meal prep now. We have planned one evening meal out for my mums birthday and you can do that even when you are dieting but you have to plan ahead. We found this amazing restaurant called Oriental which serves Pan Asian dishes and clean meats, i phoned ahead and i can basically order what i have on my meal plan and they will cook the same gram for me, i may switch my meals around so i can have a nice cut of steak and some rice instead as its my rest day and i get steak on a rest day 🙂

Other than that this morning i have been busy so i will head to the gym later this evening to get my 25 mins of stairs in and then tomorrow is another leg day.

[Kiera]

Hi Cristian,

So egg whites do not sit right for a lot of individuals, including myself in a very large consumption. I would think that this would be the main cause if it is this particular meal that is causing the issue. If that is the case then you could change your egg whites to another lean protein source or personally i would look at changing it to greek yoghurt, protein powder and the Nut butter as long as you are still able to get your fats and required protein in throughout the day.

[Kiera]

Happy Saturday Guys, cardio hit me hard today! Today will be the 10th day in a row of doing stair master. Although my workout was unaffected my legs felt a little heavier than usual on the stairs ? It will pass and i’m already quite comfortable and at ease with the new level of intensity and extra 5 minutes that Calum added so its all going well on that front.

Weight has stayed exactly the same but its to be expected with the added GH and Primo. Usually i increase a KG when i start a cycle so i’m not surprised that my weight hasn’t gone down yet.

Training is going ok, shoulder is still in the early stages of rehab and STILL waiting for the second MRI but in the mean time doing anything i can to aid the recovery of it. Deadlifts and squats are going well and right now i’m focusing on ironing out all the creases for the smoothest prep possible.

Tomorrow is a rest day for me (other than cardio) and i plan to work and catch some sun rays.

[Kiera]

Leg day for me today, not very exciting in terms of weight right now but we are putting in the work and my form is looking pretty spot on if i do say so myself. Working up in 5kg jumps. Just did 155kg 4 x 5 today to great depth. Followed the work out with some leg press, adductor, lying hamstring curl, calves, abs and cardio. I thought i would be ruined by doing cardio (stairs) after a leg day but it was surprisingly good and i didn’t find it any harder.

I had a check in with Calum this AM just to get a starting/ first week on plan check in done, we are giving the current diet / cardio phase until next Thursday before we decide to make any changes.

[Kiera]

Few things she can do

Increase water consumption
Ensure diet is improved – reduce dairy
Supplement with DIM – to help balance out the surge of Androgens and estrogen rebound.

These will help, but some acne may still break out as it’s expected, as hormones can take a few months to balance.

[Kiera]

I still have not tried every flavour COR or protein haha. However I have tried the strawberry and cream protein and I’d suggest something like cherry bakewell or birthday cake. You could always go with vanilla too if you like vanilla, I’m not a big fan of the flavour but I can imagine it would mix quite nicely with the flavour.