[Marc]

Looking like an absolute unit Marc! Excited to see you make massive progress over these 16 weeks and beyond.

I believe you previously trained with the approach of more RIR and escalating set volume aggressively week-to-week. What made you change to a lower-volume, higher intensity approach?

What did you like and dislike about that approach and would you ever consider going back to it?

Thank you – looking forward to learning from you!

Thanks Scott, I’m working hard to make what changes I can in the remainder of this off season.

Yes, that’s right I had been doing RIR and escalating volume each week within the training block. Working with a different coach meant the reason for the change in approach here which is the same for the lower volume of sets, but higher intensity.

The RIR approach was very different to what I have ever done before. I had always been an athlete who gives everything to every set. What I liked about this approach is that the results were clear to see, which helped to keep me on track and following this approach. It also gave my central nervous system a chance to recover because at the time my recover wasn’t great due to external stresses. Like with anything new you have to give it a chance, I’m a great believer in that we can always learn something new, which I did.

What I found hard about this approach is that I didn’t enjoy my training as much as when I was ‘really going for it’. RIR almost made me feel like I wasn’t giving enough and leaving the gym thinking there was more on the tank.

Would I ever go back to this approach? Possibly as the results were great, so I can’t discredit what was achieved. I am in a lower body training block now and if I don’t feel I’m getting the required results, I’m not against putting my feelings to one side with RIR to make the most progress. But for me, enjoyment is a large part of my training and when I enjoy what I do I’m able to bring out the best in myself.[/quote]

Interesting. It’s something I regularly see from guys who have been training to failure the whole time and trying the RIR approach.

That being said, eventually in a RIR approach/ trainingblock you reach a point where you do train to failure with lots of sets no? Usually the week prior to a deload. How did that went? [/quote]
At the time I did the RIR approach it helped my recovery because at the time my sleep wasn’t great.

Yeah that’s right, the last week of the training block I was working to failure and adding in rest pause sets which I really enjoyed as it added in more intensifiers to my workouts

[Marc]

Final leg session of the week, back to quads being loaded as the primary muscle group today. I travelled an extra 15mins for today session (1 hour in total each way) to train with Cal at Gym Unity in Burton specifically to use the Cybex hack for this session. My other half Kerry Sexton also joined us for today’s session.

Calves to start, 3 sets, one higher rep set on the adductor, then 3 sets of quads, then 3 sets of hams.

We will eventually add back in a split squat on this day to work more out of lengthened range for quad but after a little IT band tweak a few weeks ago I’m not ready to load that end range just yet.

Friday; quads / tag on hams #2

9 working sets total

Standing life fitness calf raise x 3

Stack x 15

Stack + 20kg x 15

Stack x 20

Icarian Adductor x 1

Stack + 20 x 20

Cybex hack squat (gen 2) x 2

7 pps x 14

5 pps x 20

Low stance hammer strength horizontal leg press / single leg x 1

60 pps – L x 20 / R x 21 (L side is where IT band strain was so didn’t push for further rep)

Standing hamstring curl x 2

40 x 15

35 x 14

Really happy with how all three leg sessions have gone this week. Working sets will gradually increase as the weeks progress in this block, as will wait. The only thing I’ve noticed this week with lying leg curl, seated ham curl and standing leg curl is a slight pain behind my knees when bending my legs. I was still able to perform my sets, but this is something I will speak with Mofobodymechanic about over the weekend so I’m not feeling this at all.

Fact 6 – in my first year of bodybuilding I competed at the IFBB World Amateur Championships and in my class I came last out of around 20 competitors. Great experience nonetheless and it lit my fire more to return to the stage and move up the placings.

Strong af! was waiting for this one, Marc! really interesting how you guys approach these spec blocks, specially for legs since is a really hard muscle group to recover from![/quote]
Thanks Cesar. A point to remember here is with specialisation training blocks it’s important to pay even more attention to rest and recovery otherwise training say legs 3 times a week will become a lot harder

[Marc]

Final leg session of the week, back to quads being loaded as the primary muscle group today. I travelled an extra 15mins for today session (1 hour in total each way) to train with Cal at Gym Unity in Burton specifically to use the Cybex hack for this session. My other half Kerry Sexton also joined us for today’s session.

Calves to start, 3 sets, one higher rep set on the adductor, then 3 sets of quads, then 3 sets of hams.

We will eventually add back in a split squat on this day to work more out of lengthened range for quad but after a little IT band tweak a few weeks ago I’m not ready to load that end range just yet.

Friday; quads / tag on hams #2

9 working sets total

Standing life fitness calf raise x 3
Stack x 15
Stack + 20kg x 15
Stack x 20

Icarian Adductor x 1
Stack + 20 x 20

Cybex hack squat (gen 2) x 2
7 pps x 14
5 pps x 20

Low stance hammer strength horizontal leg press / single leg x 1
60 pps – L x 20 / R x 21 (L side is where IT band strain was so didn’t push for further rep)

Standing hamstring curl x 2
40 x 15
35 x 14

Really happy with how all three leg sessions have gone this week. Working sets will gradually increase as the weeks progress in this block, as will wait. The only thing I’ve noticed this week with lying leg curl, seated ham curl and standing leg curl is a slight pain behind my knees when bending my legs. I was still able to perform my sets, but this is something I will speak with Mofobodymechanic about over the weekend so I’m not feeling this at all.

Fact 6 – in my first year of bodybuilding I competed at the IFBB World Amateur Championships and in my class I came last out of around 20 competitors. Great experience nonetheless and it lit my fire more to return to the stage and move up the placings.

[Marc]

These seem like the lingering long term effects of covid and you body still recovering from it, rather than just a simple case of over training and needing a Deload because of that. – I’d still run a devolume phase over the next 7-10 days potentially, and make it a priority to get all your recovery tools in check, diet, sleep ect ect. Then gradually increase volume over the coming weeks as your body gets back to full form. By devolume by the way I mean – Reduce number of back off sets and intensifiers, and prioritise top sets, so overall sets per session is reduced

I agree with Max’s points here. You may however, also want to program your deload week earlier than 12-16weeks. Say somewhere between 6-8 weeks before you over reach and your body starts to feel tired.

If appetite is low, depending how you run your nutrition set up, dropping calories down to maintenance calories when you de-load will help to re-set your appetite for post de-load

[Marc]

So today is a rest day for me, so that means non training day calories. My calories were pushed up on Monday, so they’re now at:

TD – P350 / C900 / F125 = 6125
(previously 5900)

NTD – P350 / C700 / F125 = 5325
(Previously 5125)

I’m definitely at the point where eating in a surplus is not fun, but it is inevitable there will come a point in the off-season where eating in a surplus will be more difficult so I’m embracing it and remembering the goal.

Morning weight today was 134.6kg (296.7lbs) which is 0.1kg of my heaviest weight this off-season (I reached my heaviest weight before my de-load over Christmas).

Usually one rest day a week (Thursday) I would have a sports massage but my massage therapist is ill.

I’m in a WhatsApp group with:
Cal – my coach
Mofobodymechanic – helps with injury rehab
Marc England – my sports massage therapist

We all talk regularly in this group and work together to help my progress. Each week I send over my check in video and if anything hasn’t worked well in a session or if I’m feeling a niggle it is shared in the group. This group was set up when I joined Cal and it’s proving very valuable.

Cal and Mofobodymechanic work together with my training programming. I’ve been having some issues with my scapula (scapula dyskinesis) going back a few years which has caused pain when pressing and abducting weight away from my upper body (like a dumbbell lateral raise). I’ve seen various people but never really got a good answer to help rehab the area. This is all changing now and this group is very useful and it’s showing in my training performance.

So no sports massage today, I’ll be instead working through my rehab exercises from Mofobodymechanic.

Fact 5 – my main sport growing up was athletics where I held various different titles in sprinting.

Similarly to athletics, why I like bodybuilding is that it is an individual sport – I step on stage alone so it’s on me to deliver. The support of my coach is key, but really it’s down to me. What I put in, is what I get out and I like that!

[Marc]

Hi rich, I would say legs and arms are both weak points for me!

Appreciate the feedback. I initially chucked the Wednesday in as I didn’t want to take any rest! Naive i know but felt abit better mentally having a light session mid week instead of a day off

I’m not sure whether adding an arm day in is truly necessary for development as honestly I haven’t noticed specific growth from doing an arm day previously

Hi Sam

I agree with Rich. Your body will respond and grow when you sleep, so I would think about adding in a second rest day. If you carry on with this split you run the risk of burning out 6 days in a row. It might be hard mentally to take the rest, but your body will respond better will additional rest.

What I would think about as you say legs and arms are a weaker point. You currently have only 1 leg day in your training split except for tagging calves into your Wednesday workout. Have you thought about adding a second leg session? I would also consider training legs at the start of the week when your body is fresher.

As for arms you can can tag this onto your push and pull sessions. If you haven’t noticed much change in your arms from the extra session currently, it could be down the exercise selection or overtraining and not fully recovering to aid growth

[Marc]

Hi guys

So this morning started off with a visit to my local gym. 15 mins liss on the treadmill to work on cardiovascular health (I also find this helps with appetite doing this fasted), then I did 5 rounds of vacuums – I do this lying on back on the floor. I normally only do this in prep but I’m adding this in now to helping strengthen my transverse abdominals and core strength which will help with compound lifts and when posing. I then finished off with full body stretching. This routine is something that I added in recently (previous cardio was post workout) and I will be doing this 4-5 times a week.

My leg session today was with my coach cal. I travel 45 mins each way to train at Shredz fitness centre. Training alongside my coach is helping my progress a lot, both physically and mentally.

my 2nd leg session of the week. Today’s emphasis was hamstring dominant, with tag on quads that will be kept metabolic throughout this phase.

The stimulus changes on the quad work across the week as I simply wouldn’t be able to recover from this frequency otherwise and total volume progresses. So Mondays and Fridays we load the quads in the 8-20 rep range, starting the sessions with quad workload. On Wednesday we tag on quads at the end of hams and keep everything orientated around metabolic stress, slower tempos, continuous rep sets to max out metabolite build up (which in turn stimulates high threshold motor unit activation), and everything is kept north of 30 reps.

We load the adductor today too as this is a big area that needs to be filled in to bring up the front double as I externally rotate my hips out to pose my legs in that open stance.

Wednesday; hams / tag on quads #1

13 working sets total

Hammer strength seated calf raise x 3

50kg ps x 15
60kg ps x 12
40kg ps x 20 + drop set to 30 reps total

GymShop Adductor x 2

120kg x 12
100kg x 15

Cybex VR2 seated leg curl x 2
(Ankle pad: L / Seat : 2)

105 x 8
84 x 12

BB RDL (paused, first week with these in so introduction session, 2 sets with lower loading to prime for progression ahead)

140 x 8
140 x 9

Prime leg ext – loading short x 2

80 (bottom) + 20 (middle) x 30
80 (bottom) + 20 (middle) x 26

Low stance quad dominant 45 animal leg press x 2

300 x 35 (1 rep kept in the tank)
350 x 30 (all set failure)

Fact 4 – I have a foundation degree in exercise, fitness and health with management. Also a BSc (Hons) in sports science from Loughborough University.

At school I was told I would be lucky to get a G in my GCSE PE exam. I got a B! Just goes to show, when you apply yourself to something you can defy the odds!

[Marc]

Mark im really interested on your leg days, how are their layouts? Exercise selection, reps, sets… to manage all the fatigue acumulated on leg days might be really planned out! I mean, youre pretty well guided im sure and yourself is really intelligent on your approach by it seems from your yt videos! Ty in advance

Hi Cesar
I’ve posted up my leg workout on Monday. I’m just about to write my log for today which explains a little more with how I’m structuring things. Hopefully this will help you to understand how my leg training block is set up, but any further questions feel free to ask.

[Marc]

Looking like an absolute unit Marc! Excited to see you make massive progress over these 16 weeks and beyond.

I believe you previously trained with the approach of more RIR and escalating set volume aggressively week-to-week. What made you change to a lower-volume, higher intensity approach?

What did you like and dislike about that approach and would you ever consider going back to it?

Thank you – looking forward to learning from you!

Thanks Scott, I’m working hard to make what changes I can in the remainder of this off season.

Yes, that’s right I had been doing RIR and escalating volume each week within the training block. Working with a different coach meant the reason for the change in approach here which is the same for the lower volume of sets, but higher intensity.

The RIR approach was very different to what I have ever done before. I had always been an athlete who gives everything to every set. What I liked about this approach is that the results were clear to see, which helped to keep me on track and following this approach. It also gave my central nervous system a chance to recover because at the time my recover wasn’t great due to external stresses. Like with anything new you have to give it a chance, I’m a great believer in that we can always learn something new, which I did.

What I found hard about this approach is that I didn’t enjoy my training as much as when I was ‘really going for it’. RIR almost made me feel like I wasn’t giving enough and leaving the gym thinking there was more on the tank.

Would I ever go back to this approach? Possibly as the results were great, so I can’t discredit what was achieved. I am in a lower body training block now and if I don’t feel I’m getting the required results, I’m not against putting my feelings to one side with RIR to make the most progress. But for me, enjoyment is a large part of my training and when I enjoy what I do I’m able to bring out the best in myself.[/quote]

Thank you very much, Marc! I appreciate the insight. I too have found that approach to be difficult to manage and found myself “overthinking” a lot. I strike a balance now by managing session “hype” / nervous system activation and not going for 50/50 reps on big movements like RDLs, Hack squats (pretty much everything else I just “go for it”

Interestingly, I’m also trying to bring up my lower body a lot and have landed on a higher frequency split of alternating Push/Hams, and Pull/Quads:

A: RDL, Incline DB press, lying leg curl, cable chest press, overhead tricep extension, cable lying lateral raise, lumbar-focused back extension on GHR

B: Hack squat, unilateral pulldown, unilateral leg extension, pull-ups, Y-raise, cable curl, seated calves

C: Seated leg curl, incline machine chest press, glute-focused 45′ extension, cable clavicular fly, behind the back lateral raise, x-body tricep pressdown

D: BB back squat, hammer step-back lat row, unilateral leg press, facing stack cable curls, unilateral leg extension, unilateral lat pullover, standing calves

rest days as needed, typically 6 on, 1 off

[/quote]
That’s ok Scott.

If you can take away the thought process so you aren’t overthinking you will definitely enjoy the process a lot more. It sounds like you have managed to find a good balance, which is key for mindset and progress.

It sounds like you have a good set up with training to help bring up your lower. The only suggestion I would give is be mindful that you don’t overreach / burnout from training 6 days in a row and having 1 day off. Remember when you rest this is when your body is growing.

I’ve been there before when I was in Kuwait having 1 day off a week from weight training. Sooner or later it will catch up with you like it did with me. I’d advise scheduling in a rest day after either your second or third day off training. Also think about at what point will you need to de-load which is equally important. Somewhere between 4-6 weeks is what I suggest before your body starts to pay the cost for not having enough rest.

[Marc]

Tuesday 4th Jan ; Week #1 Push

Solid push session today. I’m happy with how the weights moved today for my first week back after my de-load. 18 total work sets

Prime plate loaded incline x 3
90kg ps (middle) x 11+1
80kg ps (middle) x 10+2
60kg ps (top) + 20kg ps (middle) x 14

Nautilus seated chest press x 2
(Seat : 3 / back pad : 2)
80kg ps 10
70kg ps 13

Cable d handle costal press x 3
32.5 x 15
37.5 x 14
27.5 x 20

Lying cuffed laterals x 4
12.5 x 20
17.5 x 20
20 x 15
20 x 14

Cable cross body triceps ext x 3
15 x 16
15 x 14
15 x 12

Cable overhead triceps ext x 2
15 x 20
15 x 20

Fact 3 – I put off competing in bodybuilding for quite a few years because I never wanted to wear trunks on stage in front of hundreds of people. Safe to say, I couldn’t prevent the inevitable competing

[Marc]

Can you post more infos about your diet and gear please ?

I’ll be posting about my diet on my rest day, which will be Thursday for me

[Marc]

I completely agree with Clare here. ZMA products are massively under dosed and to get the required dose from the ingredients you will end up having to buy the products individually to reach the required dosage. Dream Sleep has it all in one product, you can’t go wrong here.

[Marc]

It’s amazing to learn more about you, Marc. I’ve been following you for a long time and admire your work ethic. You will be at the top of the sport??

Hi Jorge

Thanks so much, truly appreciate your message ??

[Marc]

Hi Marc. What show are you aiming for?

Hi Ste

I’ll be applying for the Arnold’s U.K. and also look at some shows around Europe around that time

[Marc]

Excited to follow you along, Marc! really liked your videos from youtube, you could documment a little there tho if possible!! damn that full focused leg split looks hard to recover! lets see how it goes, have a great year!

Hi Cesar

Thanks for your message. YouTube is definitely a platform I’d like to re-start and be more consistent with this year, so I’ll see what I can do on that front.

I’ve done a similar 3 day legs split before and I manage well, so I think with regular de-loads I have scheduled that I’ll be ok.

Thank you, all the best for your year too