Happy New Year, gents!

May the gyms stay open for the whole year, and he rona not disrupt us too much

Happy New Year pal...

This didn’t age well lol

I’m currently resigned to Yoga at home and running 5k 4 times a week. I’m laying off any upper body stuff apart from yoga for 2 weeks from the 1st so will start with pull ups & push ups on the 15th then go from there.

Anyone Nottingham based who can't get to a gym.   i signed up to a semi ok gym in Oakham (rutland tier 3 10 miles the other side of Melton) today at a posh school complex.   No questions asked with a tier 4 address after joining online prior to initial attendance.

https://www.sll.co.uk/catmose/

Happy new year to everyone.  The wheels fell off for me with covid.   Been training hard since first lockdown finished.  Put on three stone from March-July though!  Loved the WSM btw.  The huge jock must win it next year.   He made two huge fuckups this year and still came 2nd.   So young and so huge naturally.   Love WSM more than ever.   Eddie v Thor is booked in for Nov 2021 in vegas in the ring.  Eddie has some great traning and lifestyle videos on his youtube channel.   He has just bought a huge mansion and basically turned it into a monster training den with outdoor sauna/steam/ice bath and hot tube and a huge gym in the basement.  Worth a watch.   Shaw has similar on his channel.   Both have 1.5m sign ups on youtube.  They must be killing it revenue wise away from the day job to afford these mansions.  

Eddie is such a natural in front of the camera for the tv work and you tube channel.   A lot of the boys who are copying him streaming just can't deliver it like eddie does quality wise for me.

Happy New year to you too pal.. 3 stones in a few months? That’s crazy, did you have any cardio issues? Walking, jogging and daily stuff like bending etc?

WSM has gone mainstream which I’m really pleased about, I think in the right territories it’ll be as big as wrestling.

Eddie was born for media, either that or he watched a lot of WWF while growing up because he reminds me of old school WWF gimmicks..

Back in the home gym for me today probably for a good few weeks.

Had a great session getting up to 128kg for 3 x 3 on the bench. It's harder than the set up at the gym as you can't get locked in quite as well and can't get leg drive so really pleased with that.

It's actually where my max had got to before going back to the gym so I'm really happy with that.

Bench progress has been flying the last few weeks so hopefully this bit of a change will actually work in my favour and keep things fresh.

I've put about half a stone on in the last couple of months so that'll certainly have something to do with the gains. Starting a mini cut soon so expecting a possible drop back....

Squats are steady although I've popped my hip out of it's socket again. Booked in for physio on Monday so that'll get sorted out quickly. I dug out my squat shoes and used them today for the first time in ages. I didn't used to get on with them that much but today they felt great. So planted on the deck and the squats felt solid. Will definitely be using them for every squat session moving forwards.

Hope everyone does okay through the latest s**t storm.....

Mate you are smashing it at the moment. Great bench and I agree with squat shoes, I always use squat shoes, even to do OHP I find it helps..

Training still going well for me especially bench with another PR yesterday.

3 sets of 5 then an AMRAP of 7 at 125kg so up to 127.5kg next week. Serious risk of not hitting the 7 next week as this was an absolute max. Tried for 8 and failed so there was nothing left.

Still sticking to 5 days per week as the gym is open through Christmas and new year which is working well. I'm benching twice per week which I think is helping Saturday big bench day. I've got the confidence now to go straight from 100kg warm up to 120kg without a spotter which means I'm getting in the region of 40 reps in per week over 120kg.

Would love to do a 1RM programme to see if I can beat my 145kg PR. Feels like I'd smash it with a bit of prep to get back in to the low volume stuff but we won't find out until they allow spotters again.....

Not allowed spotters? My gym is definitely not sticking to that rule.

If you want to 1rm you can come over to my Nuff in Mapperley and I’ll spot you. Just give me a heads up.

Had a great impromptu workout today...

Missus was painting with the kids and I thought I’d do some cardio... Got to the gym and all the cardio machines where taken so got my lifting bag out the car and started

Back (No deadlift)
Cable rows
Cable pull down
Pull ups sets of 8 x 5

Legs
Squats - up to 140kg as my knees still feel a little funny (although the heavier I went the less they hurt)

Chest
Went up to 140kg on bench
Dumbbell incline x 3 sets

Shoulders
OHP went up to 90kg

3 x 50 push ups 

Felt great, maybe because half way through the workout I had a amino drink thing that someone at the gym brought me.

Anyway after I took the kids to Gedling park & Rakki Rakkas for a takeaway... If you’re a fan of grilled meat and live in Nottingham I couldn’t recommend Rakkis Rakkas more...

Great work there Matt, I’m always motivated by knowing that others are motivated, if that makes sense.

Dumbbells are always enough. As long as you’re moving @Marky (Canelo 😱)

Unlucky Ledders.. let us know how you get on with the push ups..

Need some advice, I’ve started getting severe cramp in my left foot and also knee pains, I’m sure it’s connected but haven’t been to see anyone yet. Has anyone else had these types of issues? If so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Thanks mate and yes I get that completely as I'm the same.

Can't help with the injury unfortunately as it's one I've never had. I do know that with knee pain it's very rarely your actual knees that are the problem. Perhaps try some foam rolling on your quads, hamstrings and calves to see if that helps at all.

Could it possibly be linked to that insane squat session you did a couple of weeks ago?

I definitely think it’s linked.

I’ll get on the foam roller tonight, I’ve been a little slack with recovery stuff lately and hardly foam rolled this week.

Thanks for the advice 💪🏾🙏🏽

Great work there Matt, I’m always motivated by knowing that others are motivated, if that makes sense.

Dumbbells are always enough. As long as you’re moving @Marky (Canelo 😱)

Unlucky Ledders.. let us know how you get on with the push ups..

Need some advice, I’ve started getting severe cramp in my left foot and also knee pains, I’m sure it’s connected but haven’t been to see anyone yet. Has anyone else had these types of issues? If so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Not sure if any of you guys have ever used an air bike ( echo bike) but it is literally the devils invention... ended the PT session today with air bike sprints.. 10 calories at maximum pace X 5 ..3 minutes rest between each sprint ( believe me you need it ).. done 13 seconds..13..14...14...14 doesnt sound a lot but it is absolute destruction and this from someone whose la over of this stupid type of stuff.. a minute after the 5th round my quads were screaming... i was in actual pain.. still feeling it 5 hours later.. its ridiculous how one minute 18 seconds of all out can destroy you for so long.. cue love making jokes

We have them at my gym but never tried, I’ve heard good/bad things though. Might give them a spin on Sunday. I’ll report back or send you a vid on Instagram 😂

Oh and Viagra connect over the counter 😂😂

First time in a long time I failed on a deadlift today but feel like going as heavy as I did was completely unnecessary. Failed at 265 which I put on after 3 reps of 250kg. I can do 260 so thought I would increase by 15 instead of 10 like I would normally do...

Did you forget your aminos in cranberry juice?........

Hahaha had water, Even forgot my creatine this morning

Breakfast of champions

My lovely cleaner came over this morning at 5am to do the ironing, she asked me if I was eating as the missus is away and told me to get ready and she’d make breakfast for everyone.

She made me 3 poached eggs on toast with avocado and a savoury porridge which was a lot of food for me but absolutely delicious.

Dropped the kids off to school went straight to the gym no preworkout necessary as I felt ready

Did a huge back session including deadlifts and weighted pull ups, my shoulder session earlier in the week was lack lustre so really pleased.

First time in a long time I failed on a deadlift today but feel like going as heavy as I did was completely unnecessary. Failed at 265 which I put on after 3 reps of 250kg. I can do 260 so thought I would increase by 15 instead of 10 like I would normally do...

A few people commented that I look physically slimmer today which I was pretty pleased with, I’ve decided that I want to increase the cardio mid Jan so I’m going to see if I can get some swimming lessons, I can swim but not great.

Mentally I’m getting bored of the gym so I might join David Lloyds or a spit and sawdust to get a change of scenery, not sure yet but will wait to see what deals the gyms do in the next few weeks before Jan.

Supps- Creatine
Preworkout - Nuts and beetroot juice
Intra workout - Cranberry juice

Legs today and I’m dead

Warmed up stretched off my hips with some yoga stretches

Hip breakers with kettlebells - these are brutal, it’s not even the weight just the movement

Bulgarian lunges x 20 each leg - 4 sets

Squats
60 x 20
80 x 10
100 x 10 x 3 sets
120 x 5
140 x 5
150 x 3
100 x 8

Leg press because my training partner wanted to do more, not sure how heavy

Walking lunges with the Olympic bar 60kg

Leg extension, again not sure how heavy but I work up to the whole stack.

Then some interval running for 15 minutes of which I did 10 was completely done.  I didn’t even stretch just walked home and foam rolled.

Was supposed to go sparring tonight but definitely going to give it a miss.

Shoulders tomorrow. Yikes

That's some insane leg volume. Do you always work your legs to that sort of level?

What Matt said ^

No my training partner is a bit of a beast and wanted to do more then normal. Plus having aminos in cranberry juice really aided. Usually I stick to 5 max reps on squats working up to working sets then move on to accessory work including calves.

Supps- Creatine
Preworkout - Nuts and beetroot juice
Intra workout - Cranberry juice

Legs today and I’m dead

Warmed up stretched off my hips with some yoga stretches

Hip breakers with kettlebells - these are brutal, it’s not even the weight just the movement

Bulgarian lunges x 20 each leg - 4 sets

Squats
60 x 20
80 x 10
100 x 10 x 3 sets
120 x 5
140 x 5
150 x 3
100 x 8

Leg press because my training partner wanted to do more, not sure how heavy

Walking lunges with the Olympic bar 60kg

Leg extension, again not sure how heavy but I work up to the whole stack.

Then some interval running for 15 minutes of which I did 10 was completely done.  I didn’t even stretch just walked home and foam rolled.

Was supposed to go sparring tonight but definitely going to give it a miss.

Shoulders tomorrow. Yikes

My PT has started working f/t as a scaffolder since they gyms shut, and we're going to have to work around that.

Was going to train on Friday afternoon, but have to go and do my car handover, or I will have to wait another week.

Think I should be good for 4 next week, providing he isn't working too far out of town, and he'll meet me at the gym right after work, if we can get slots.

Another week of rest ☹️ 

Please do not pay for the AJ card this weekend, they’ve put Wach vs Hughie Fury on there and in the history of sh*t fights it has the makings of a classic 😂

Smash it next week mate look forward to reading the updates

Happy to be back at the gym and it's going pretty well so far. I had Wednesday off but then trained Thursday, Friday and today doing almost my normal routine.

Bench today was fun but the set up felt so weird after getting used to my home gym for a month. New programme is a basic 3 x 5 at a fixed weight then an AMRAP to finish. If you can only do 5 you drop the weight down 2.5kg next week, if you do 6 you stay as you are, 7 or more you go up 2.5kg.

I'd planned to go at 120kg but with the change of set up it felt quite tough so just did 110kg. By the 4th set I was finding the groove and managed a pretty comfortable 10 which means I go up next week. I'll go off programme and skip straight to 120kg but will stay strict at that.

Did a few squats as well. 3 x singles at 100kg with a very slow descent and nice pause. Getting so much better and more confident with those.

100kg squat is such a sweet spot, must be my favourite weight at the movement, I always get a sense of euphoria at 100, below is usually to easy and above starts getting taxing.

Good going... looks like everyone is on for a strong finish to the year .. I need to start getting at it too..

So good to be back fitness and strength both down and the PT gave me some brutal stuff to benchmark current status such as

2k row for time which was 7.30 PB IS 7.15.. at that time I was looking to go sub 7.. for context an Olympic rower does this a shade under 6 mins but early 7’s is a good time
 9 minutes used to be a CrossFit regional  qualifying time.. how times have changed
Then
 5 rounds / 3 min rest between each round
20 pull up's
30 push up's
40 sit up's
50 air squats

Pull ups and sit-ups are the sticky points here.. but still 700 reps lol

Then some 1 rep benchmarks

Went 140kg for squat.. 150 is  PB .. there was more there but didn’t want to push my knee first time doing  a heavy squat in maybe 6 months.. I’m not particularly fussed for 1 rep max at my age as injury is more likely now.. reeling in the ego can be hard especially when a couple of pretty girls are in the vicinity 😄 but I’m learning they wouldn’t be interested anyway looool

170kg deadlift.. previous  PB  was 150 but that was before I learnt some decent technique and was literally bending over and picking it up using my arms.. once again there was some left and I think 200 could be obtainable with a bit of practice but I’ve never been much of a deadlifter using them more in WOD’s at much lighter weight and higher repetitions

Finished off with 5 rounds of 500m row 15 burpees which was 15.42.. not bad and it’s a good sweat and aerobic test

Looking to lean up a little but Xmas obv in the way 😥☺️☺️

That is crazy... I’d struggle doing half of that.

To do a heavy deadlift after all that is insane.

Going heavier with squat will have a direct impact on your deadlift too, it’s great because you’ll improve both lifts simultaneously and deadlift will help you burn fat for Christmas (not that you need to) haha

My old trainer always told me Cardio, Core, legs, then everything else, so I’m going to strip down to basics again and get my cardio right I feel like I’m not doing enough and it’s going to catch up to me soon.

Also inspired by all the above. Good going...!,,