Blonde will make you STRONG

[the sicilian]

looked like a grade 2.. 3 weeks since the tear and have just completed second session in the gym..just bike and row ..bit of bench and overhead press.. benched up to 100KG and strict pressed 70KG so strength only dropped off a bit.. bike and row were quite strong but i know fitness is down.

30 mins on the bike every 5 mins out the saddle for a minute climb..covered 11 miles so a deece outing... rowing intervals were nice and strong and pulling as hard as i was pre injury. Knee feels a bit sore next day but nothing major

almost walking normally..at least another week before i ramp it up..i want the knee to feel totally normal before i go at full output..

Yeah I have been lucky fingers crossed with injury..  im 51 now so have to look after dem knees lol

Solid work with an injury.

How many reps do you get for your 70kg strict press? I'd be 4 or maybe 5 on a very good day when I was working towards a max on those.

That's another one I'm avoiding now whilst I'm on hypertrophy. It's a great exercise but the injury risk just isn't worth it compared to the effect I get from seated machine press.

 5 reps @70.. went from 10's at 40 and 50...5 at 60.. pre injury id been up to 80 for 3 i think.. i dont do a lot of strict pressing tbh.. its not something thats usually in the workouts i do..more push press and thrusters etc.. but i done it just for something upper body

Very similar numbers to me on those. Don't think I've managed more than a double at 80kg and my max is 85kg. It's one of the hardest movements to improve at I think as any slight increase in weight can completely screw you.

I'd imagine all the push press and thrusters help with the strict press as you'll be more accustomed to the heavier weight over head. I only do (did) strict press so never had anything heavier above my head from one of the 'assisted' movements. I tried push press but really couldn't get the hang of it at all.

to be fair you have probably further to go over head as youre about a foot taller than me 

but yeah do quite a few different lifts that get weight above the head, although not heavy weight usually, snatches, clean & jerk etc

being out of action for a few weeks put a touch of timber on so we are entering high protein calorie deficent mode.. looking to beast up properly once full pace is achieved

[EvilPie]

18th July 2020 28kg x 10, 32kg x 10, 34kg x 10

25th July 2020 32kg x 10, 36kg x 10, 36kg x 10

Technically I should've gone up to 38kg after I hit 36kg for 10 but it was a tough set and I felt a few little shoulder grumbles so stayed as I was. Second set of ten was very close to failure so it was definitely the correct thing to do.

New routine is going really well so far and I'm definitely settled back in to it now.

I reckon another 4 weeks and I'll be back up to somewhere near full strength and heading in to the 40+ range. After that I just have to stick at it and see where it leads.

Fun times ahead

[EvilPie]

Half reasonable bench day today but having problems with the shoulder still.

Managed to get up to 110kg for my 4 but I reckon without the shoulder concern I could've got a bit more. Certainly wasn't a 4RM that's for sure but not far off.

Back in Feb I hit 130kg for 4 and that seems a long way off right now..... Stability is nowhere near what it was particularly in my wrists and it feels like that may take a while to come back.

I'm back on the same 16 week bench programme and just finished week 4 so hopefully by the end of it when it's 1RM time I'll be somewhere near 100%

I'm feeling reasonably lean at the moment which is good. Weight is around 15st 3lb with my waist at just over 34" and training belt on hole 6 which is as tight as I've ever had it. I was 14st 10lb last time my belt went to hole 6 so it looks like I've gained a bit of lean mass somewhere in the last year or so.

I'm especially pleased to have got 2 full weeks training in. I can safely say that I'm back on it now after a dodgy few weeks since they re-opened.

[iRaise]

Half reasonable bench day today but having problems with the shoulder still.

Managed to get up to 110kg for my 4 but I reckon without the shoulder concern I could've got a bit more. Certainly wasn't a 4RM that's for sure but not far off.

Back in Feb I hit 130kg for 4 and that seems a long way off right now..... Stability is nowhere near what it was particularly in my wrists and it feels like that may take a while to come back.

I'm back on the same 16 week bench programme and just finished week 4 so hopefully by the end of it when it's 1RM time I'll be somewhere near 100%

I'm feeling reasonably lean at the moment which is good. Weight is around 15st 3lb with my waist at just over 34" and training belt on hole 6 which is as tight as I've ever had it. I was 14st 10lb last time my belt went to hole 6 so it looks like I've gained a bit of lean mass somewhere in the last year or so.

I'm especially pleased to have got 2 full weeks training in. I can safely say that I'm back on it now after a dodgy few weeks since they re-opened.

Lovely bit of pressing though. Is there a difference in pain with DB compared to BB?

[iRaise]

Some poverty squats yesterday, managed 2x8 at 90. Unsure on depth, so I do need to start recording at some point and I think I my have to jump back into my squats shoes on the heavier days. I struggle to have the awareness of where my feet are at during and I'm guessing they aren't in a great position even going barefoot as I don't feel as in control as I think I should.

Trying to find my belt too, although doing some more direct core work to help with it all, lower back still gets quite stiff on certain days. Although I am still doing full body, each day I push one body part to failure/as close as I can too without a spot.

Food is good but I just keep finding myself in front of cake which is annoying because my will power is terrible. Need to get on the scales out of curiosity more than anything but dont mind doing it to give me a rough idea of where I want to be in the next few months.

[EvilPie]

Half reasonable bench day today but having problems with the shoulder still.

Managed to get up to 110kg for my 4 but I reckon without the shoulder concern I could've got a bit more. Certainly wasn't a 4RM that's for sure but not far off.

Back in Feb I hit 130kg for 4 and that seems a long way off right now..... Stability is nowhere near what it was particularly in my wrists and it feels like that may take a while to come back.

I'm back on the same 16 week bench programme and just finished week 4 so hopefully by the end of it when it's 1RM time I'll be somewhere near 100%

I'm feeling reasonably lean at the moment which is good. Weight is around 15st 3lb with my waist at just over 34" and training belt on hole 6 which is as tight as I've ever had it. I was 14st 10lb last time my belt went to hole 6 so it looks like I've gained a bit of lean mass somewhere in the last year or so.

I'm especially pleased to have got 2 full weeks training in. I can safely say that I'm back on it now after a dodgy few weeks since they re-opened.

Lovely bit of pressing though. Is there a difference in pain with DB compared to BB?

Yeah I'm pleased with it overall.

Did DB today and they felt pretty much pain free. I was very tentative on Saturday with BB but felt loads more confident today.

I threw a ball for the dog yesterday and it felt like my arm had removed itself from its socket so that may have pushed something back in line. Also did loads of foam rolling over the weekend which was so painful it had to help.

I've tried some different 'pull' movements today which didn't seem to aggravate things overly. Only went light but it was taxing enough to have an effect.

If you'd asked me on Saturday I'd have said I was in for a couple of weeks minimum before it felt better. After today I think I may be okay for the weekend.

[EvilPie]

Some poverty squats yesterday, managed 2x8 at 90. Unsure on depth, so I do need to start recording at some point and I think I my have to jump back into my squats shoes on the heavier days. I struggle to have the awareness of where my feet are at during and I'm guessing they aren't in a great position even going barefoot as I don't feel as in control as I think I should.

Trying to find my belt too, although doing some more direct core work to help with it all, lower back still gets quite stiff on certain days. Although I am still doing full body, each day I push one body part to failure/as close as I can too without a spot.

Food is good but I just keep finding myself in front of cake which is annoying because my will power is terrible. Need to get on the scales out of curiosity more than anything but dont mind doing it to give me a rough idea of where I want to be in the next few months.

I really think you under sell yourself on your squats. 90kg for 8 isn't 'poverty' if you ask me although I accept that in the power lifting world it's barely a warm up.

I don't see many people squatting more than 100kg properly and most, including myself just avoid it altogether.

[EvilPie]

18th Aug 2020 28kg x 10, 32kg x 10, 34kg x 10

25th Aug 2020 32kg x 10, 36kg x 10, 36kg x 10

1st Sept 2020 36kg x 10, 40kg x 10, 40kg x 10

Forgot to check what I did last week so accidentally skipped 38kg and went straight to 40kg. Other than getting the bloody things off the floor it was reasonably solid so very happy.

Going to stick to the steady approach hopefully staying fairly linear all the way up to 50 in a couple of months.

[Marky147]

Nice going mate, be back on the 50s before Xmas!

I've not been this week, was shut yesterday, and just trying to get my work squared away before I go away.

Got one session on Thursday, so going to see if he'll let me extend it a bit and do a decent full body workout.

I'm down 8lbs from when they opened, and haven't really been watching what I eat that much, other than using MFP again.

[vegaslover]

Just got back training after missing a couple of months. Had a fence post fall on me and leave a decent gash and a month long concussion. Then once back to work flat out catching up.

Weights seem so heavy atm, not overly surprising when i'm restricting calories atm, put on a stone whilst vegetating on the sofa recovering..lol
Gym still closed at work so no treadmill atm

[EvilPie]

Just got back training after missing a couple of months. Had a fence post fall on me and leave a decent gash and a month long concussion. Then once back to work flat out catching up.

Weights seem so heavy atm, not overly surprising when i'm restricting calories atm, put on a stone whilst vegetating on the sofa recovering..lol
Gym still closed at work so no treadmill atm

Weights feeling heavy is more likely down to the missed months rather than the restricted calories, unless you're severely restricting of course.

Stick with it mate, muscle memory is a real thing so you'll find yourself back where you were much quicker than it took to get there in the first place.

The most important thing is that you're back on it, now you just have to stay on it.

[iRaise]

Just got back training after missing a couple of months. Had a fence post fall on me and leave a decent gash and a month long concussion. Then once back to work flat out catching up.

Weights seem so heavy atm, not overly surprising when i'm restricting calories atm, put on a stone whilst vegetating on the sofa recovering..lol
Gym still closed at work so no treadmill atm

Weights feeling heavy is more likely down to the missed months rather than the restricted calories, unless you're severely restricting of course.

Stick with it mate, muscle memory is a real thing so you'll find yourself back where you were much quicker than it took to get there in the first place.

The most important thing is that you're back on it, now you just have to stay on it.

All very relevant, and of course the concussion. Depending on how severe it was, thats gonna really impact how you recruit muscle mass in the gym (and life) for a bit while it recovers. Hopefully its all good now, I would ease back in pretty cautiously.

Few weeks of training though and things should feel pretty normal again (maybe a bit quicker).

Just to back up Matts point, I think people really overestimate the strength/energy loss during low KCAL, 100% it happens, but when it happens your thought process is more 'is the 6pack worth keeping' etc. Even if you fasted for 2-3 days I am back most people being able to do a full progressive session if push came to shove. The psychological outweighs the physiological here a lot. But to go back to the earlier point, I think the arguement is more should you train normally due to concussion as opposed to KCALs.

[Ledders]

I had a good August but a bad start to September tweaking my back squatting a couple of days ago. I'm annoyed with myself as I still had some residual fatigue and had slept badly but decided to 'man up' and push through. Gotta listen to the body, lesson learnt (again).


I like the idea of volume over weight for now. Muscle memory to come back and then bigger stuff should shift easier down the road.

[EvilPie]

I had a good August but a bad start to September tweaking my back squatting a couple of days ago. I'm annoyed with myself as I still had some residual fatigue and had slept badly but decided to 'man up' and push through. Gotta listen to the body, lesson learnt (again).


I like the idea of volume over weight for now. Muscle memory to come back and then bigger stuff should shift easier down the road.

I've lost count of the number of times I've done this but I never seem to learn.

Manning up and pushing through aren't great ideas for any of the big compound movements especially if you're not competing. The risk/reward just doesn't stack up when you give it any degree of thought.

High volume is working brilliantly for me at the moment and I'm seeing some great improvements in my physique. I really can't see me ever wanting to go back to low volume other than for my bench pressing.

[EvilPie]

Pretty decent on the bench today with hardly any shoulder pain. It's still not right but feels planted and not like it might suddenly go pop in a bad way.

Managed 105kg for 7 good reps and had a bit left in the tank. Could've probably have gone to 110kg but backed off a tad to avoid risking shoulder aggravation.

I'm really pleased with this as it's now within 15% of my max and I'm reasonably lean at the moment. Pretty confident that I'll be back to full strength within a month now.

Buzzing for training at the moment and hoping for a good few months.