Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

Just about to go to bed, but great to have you back, and that things have turned out well on the most part.

Can't imagine how rough that must have all been, especially all happening at once and not knowing wtf the prognosis would be, beyond making it out the other side,

Cliffs from memory.

I've fluctuated between 240-200 over the last 18 months, and was 221 yesterday morning, but did have a massive burger at Charlie's Bar & Grill a couple hours ago

Arb lost a ton, and strong AF.

Matt is still strong AF.

Prob missed a few, but it's late

Let's not get too carried away Marky.   I am still a 19 stone fat fucker just not as fat as i was.  My 19 stone is a much better make up muscle/fat % wise than it used to be and fingers crossed once i get down to 16/17 stone i will be able to have a strength cycle which i really miss going for 1 rep max's etc which is hard to do when you are eating to lose weight.

Put's into perspective my shit year relatively when you hear what you have gone through.   I wish you all the best on the recovery and like Marky says 'Stay Strong bud'

Europe's strongest man was on c5 last night if you can see it on five catch up on their website its worth a watch.   Felix breaks the world record at age 52 for the hold.   His grip strength is just unreal.

Got all the strongman recorded, can't wait to watch it. Annoying now because I kind of know what happens because I follow it throughout the year, but still can't wait to see the coverage.

Definitely puts life into perspective, in a weird way I guess I was lucky I had it at 26, I get to hopefully spend many more years with a better outlook on how fragile and temporary this all is!

[iRaise]

So quick round up of current numbers.

My legs really struggle in certain movements, they definitely haven't fully recovered, and on day 7 in hospital I had so much pain go through them for about 6-8 hours I thought they were going to have to amputate (true story, and looking back slightly ambitious) but the pain rivalled the haemorrhage, I had to go into another scan to check I didn't have a secondary one in my legs.

So squats have had to go, I can't do them properly and I wobble around a lot. So leg press and DL are my main leg movements.

DL peaked at 3x3 175kg last week and happy to just hover a little lower now and build up some reps and confidence.
Bench press is 3x6 80kg. I really struggle with it, but my DBs are 3x12 36kg, so I have no idea why yet. I put anything I struggle down to something neurological that I'm not smart enough to understand.
OHP 3x6 52.5kg

I am not far away from the numbers I used to do on a few of them, and DB bench I am the same.

I am obviously really pleased with how its going as I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to go to the gym again let alone get back to somewhere where its fun.

My volume has gone down a lot, so I try and focus the best I can on reps. But some days when my brain is tired, its like I go in drunk. I just can't control it and I just have to go back home. Which is mentally so annoying, but more than happy to do it.

[arbboy]

So quick round up of current numbers.

My legs really struggle in certain movements, they definitely haven't fully recovered, and on day 7 in hospital I had so much pain go through them for about 6-8 hours I thought they were going to have to amputate (true story, and looking back slightly ambitious) but the pain rivalled the haemorrhage, I had to go into another scan to check I didn't have a secondary one in my legs.

So squats have had to go, I can't do them properly and I wobble around a lot. So leg press and DL are my main leg movements.

DL peaked at 3x3 175kg last week and happy to just hover a little lower now and build up some reps and confidence.
Bench press is 3x6 80kg. I really struggle with it, but my DBs are 3x12 36kg, so I have no idea why yet. I put anything I struggle down to something neurological that I'm not smart enough to understand.
OHP 3x6 52.5kg

I am not far away from the numbers I used to do on a few of them, and DB bench I am the same.

I am obviously really pleased with how its going as I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to go to the gym again let alone get back to somewhere where its fun.

My volume has gone down a lot, so I try and focus the best I can on reps. But some days when my brain is tired, its like I go in drunk. I just can't control it and I just have to go back home. Which is mentally so annoying, but more than happy to do it.

Amazing numbers given what you been through.   Plenty of relatively strong and 100% healthy guys have never DL'd 175kg.   Don't under sell yourself.

[EvilPie]

Agree with Arby on that. 175kg is my PB and that was only for 1 rep.

I could possibly do 140kg for 3 x 3 on a very good day and I wouldn't be surprised if I could barely walk the next day.

Awesome stuff to recover as far as you have. I imagine you'll squat again at some point if you really want to but it's hardly a travesty if you don't.

Personally in your situation I'd push more towards the aesthetics side rather than strength. I know you enjoy moving big weights but the old 4 sets of 10 at 65% of your 1rm doesn't half do a lot for your muscles.

[arbboy]

I watched the video last night of me DL'ing 200kg for 1 rep for the one and only time i did it in the 21st century nearly a year ago.  I might never be able to do it again so i am glad i videoed it.   I was 2.5 stone heavier then than i am now and look much better now than then even though i don't think i could even get 200kg off the floor an inch now never mind do a rep with it.   Agree with Matt when he said you know you can lift chunks of weight but maybe channel that nutter element (i have it as well) into looking good and feeling healthy rather than just how much you can shift.   I am definitely getting to that point now at 45 next month.   The ego of doing it is wearing off and you just value being able to lift be fit and lift at 45.   So many people have injuries/illnesses etc that just enjoy what you can do easily and don't worry about squatting.   No one but you will ever know or care.

[arbboy]

2019 America's Strongest man on c5 tonight 7pm.

[vegaslover]

So I will try to keep the reintroduction as brief as I can, but firstly sorry for the sudden disappearance. I have no real reason why I haven't come in sooner for an update to be honest, and I am happy to talk about any part of it if anyone is interested (there's just some bits that are still a blur)

So July last year had a brain haemorrhage, luckily didn't die, and on the whole pretty well recovered.
Couldn't walk or move my legs for the first 6-7 days which was a little scary, but slowly and surely we managed to pace together a few steps at a time, and pretty much of all needed uses back.
My left eye wouldn't open for 1 month, and when it did it was lazy for 2 months. I was expecting to never have it return, and have to have a few operations to make it look somewhat cosmetic, but a trip to Lake Bled and 80,000 steps seem to have been the cure, as I got back to the next day, went for a nap and it pretty much came back.
Obviously with the eye, I didn't think life would remotely be the same again as I wouldn't be able to drive and do so many other things. I was genuinely worried I could never go to the gym again, and was warned off for 2 years by the surgeon (I may have not followed this rule too closely, but I'm still breathing).
For the first year I pretty much slept to try and recovery the best I could. My memory is still pretty shaky at times, and sometimes it takes me far to long to process things, but if you never met me before, you would have no idea.
Slowly but surely over the last 12 months I have been back in the gym, I can only really do 3 sessions a week now as my recovery takes a lot lot longer, which is annoying because right now my life is built for recovery.
I moved to London to be closer to all my friends and try and enjoy the fact i didn't die, and have had a pretty weird and amazing last few months.
2020 I have to try and figure out what I am going to do with my life now, I still love fitness, but don't quite have the drive and energy to do what I once did, and I am kinda looking forward to trying out something else. I still stay very close to the fitness world, and still read the research etc which even surprised me.

Happy to answer any questions anyone might have, nothing is really off limits if I remember it, and will try and post now and again with what I am doing. It will be less frequently as I don't do as much, and I am unsure if the numbers will get back to where they were (they are well on their way).

I will have a look through what I have missed to try and catch up

Hi Harvey

Glad to hear you are recovering after the hell you have been through. Certainly puts a perspective on how fragile life really is.
Training numbers you put up already put a lot of people to shame.
Good to have you back posting

[arbboy]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7805879/Competitors-Britains-Strongest-Man-reveal-10-000-calorie-daily-diet.html

[arbboy]

Maximuscle got an incredible boxing day sale online.   Just ordered Maximuscle promax lean at £13 a tub (in bundles of 3 min) when its normally £20-25 a tub even buying in bulk.   Most of their major products are all discounted as well as being on 3 for 2 deals on top of the discount.  Worth having a look and stocking up.   Impossible to buy these cheaper at any other time of the year.

https://www.maximuscle.com/sale/

[RED-DOG]

So I will try to keep the reintroduction as brief as I can, but firstly sorry for the sudden disappearance. I have no real reason why I haven't come in sooner for an update to be honest, and I am happy to talk about any part of it if anyone is interested (there's just some bits that are still a blur)

So July last year had a brain haemorrhage, luckily didn't die, and on the whole pretty well recovered.
Couldn't walk or move my legs for the first 6-7 days which was a little scary, but slowly and surely we managed to pace together a few steps at a time, and pretty much of all needed uses back.
My left eye wouldn't open for 1 month, and when it did it was lazy for 2 months. I was expecting to never have it return, and have to have a few operations to make it look somewhat cosmetic, but a trip to Lake Bled and 80,000 steps seem to have been the cure, as I got back to the next day, went for a nap and it pretty much came back.
Obviously with the eye, I didn't think life would remotely be the same again as I wouldn't be able to drive and do so many other things. I was genuinely worried I could never go to the gym again, and was warned off for 2 years by the surgeon (I may have not followed this rule too closely, but I'm still breathing).
For the first year I pretty much slept to try and recovery the best I could. My memory is still pretty shaky at times, and sometimes it takes me far to long to process things, but if you never met me before, you would have no idea.
Slowly but surely over the last 12 months I have been back in the gym, I can only really do 3 sessions a week now as my recovery takes a lot lot longer, which is annoying because right now my life is built for recovery.
I moved to London to be closer to all my friends and try and enjoy the fact i didn't die, and have had a pretty weird and amazing last few months.
2020 I have to try and figure out what I am going to do with my life now, I still love fitness, but don't quite have the drive and energy to do what I once did, and I am kinda looking forward to trying out something else. I still stay very close to the fitness world, and still read the research etc which even surprised me.

Happy to answer any questions anyone might have, nothing is really off limits if I remember it, and will try and post now and again with what I am doing. It will be less frequently as I don't do as much, and I am unsure if the numbers will get back to where they were (they are well on their way).

I will have a look through what I have missed to try and catch up

I don't open this thread too often but..

A - WOW!

B - Good luck to you. what an amazing story.

[celtic]

Aye, what Tom said.

Welcome back.

[nirvana]

Interesting reading and sounds like you're well down the recovery path, I don't know you so was just interested to know how old you are ?

[EvilPie]

Interesting reading and sounds like you're well down the recovery path, I don't know you so was just interested to know how old you are ?

I'm sure he'll come on at some point with the exact answer but I believe he's mid twenties. Certainly too young to go through this sort of shit that's for sure.

As a related side note, shortly after finding out about Harvey's near miss there was a girl who I know via others who got the same thing and sadly didn't make it, she was about 30. From my research (not extensive, just wiki etc.) it's an incredibly fine line between making it and not. Such a horrible condition that there really is nothing you can do about. You can't predict it, just have to hope that if you're one of the ones who're afflicted that on the day it hits you happen to be having an otherwise lucky day.

It really is incredible what Harvey has done. Just to still be here is amazing but to be pulling 175kg off the deck is a borderline miracle.

[nirvana]

Interesting reading and sounds like you're well down the recovery path, I don't know you so was just interested to know how old you are ?

I'm sure he'll come on at some point with the exact answer but I believe he's mid twenties. Certainly too young to go through this sort of shit that's for sure.

As a related side note, shortly after finding out about Harvey's near miss there was a girl who I know via others who got the same thing and sadly didn't make it, she was about 30. From my research (not extensive, just wiki etc.) it's an incredibly fine line between making it and not. Such a horrible condition that there really is nothing you can do about. You can't predict it, just have to hope that if you're one of the ones who're afflicted that on the day it hits you happen to be having an otherwise lucky day.

It really is incredible what Harvey has done. Just to still be here is amazing but to be pulling 175kg off the deck is a borderline miracle.

Thanks matt and you're right.. Seems so young to have to get through something like this. Fantastically resillient

[EvilPie]

Solid volume PR today for my last bench session of the year which sets 2020 up nicely.

It was 'light' day which means working up to an 8RM and I managed to hit 120kg. I've managed 6 reps at this weight before but to hit 8 was amazing so I'm really happy with progress. Wasn't easy by the way, the last rep was one hell of a grind but thankfully I have a great spotter who knew he could let me complete the rep myself.

It's doubles next week so it will be interesting to see where they go. I like to think 135kg is possible but it will depend on the day.

As far as my full year goal goes it's looking like it won't quite squeeze exactly in to one year. Given a couple of missed weeks for holidays we're probably looking at February before I'm doing heavy singles on what will be the 4th run through the programme. Not too worried about this of course, there's no time limit on this just aiming for a year or so to fit the programme.

Anyone else got any specific targets for us to follow?