View All Posts: Sparksy

Martin1956 said:Not trained in over two weeks. A week away commentating in Estonia, follow by a week of falling asleep every afternoon this week. Felt a bit better today, so just a strength test before I get training again properly next Tuesday.

Bar for 10 x 3 sets
40 for 6
50 for 5
60 for 4
70 for 3
80 for 2
90 for 1
100 for 1
110 for 1
120 for 1
Finish.

Expected 110, maybe 115, so delighted to get 120. Hopefully I can hit a decent training block now. Need to get my mojo back...

Billwest said:Tuesday

Squat
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 1

155kg x 5
155kg x 5
155kg x 5
155kg x 5
155kg x 5

SLDL
60KG X 5
100KG X 3
130KG X 3

155kg x 6
155kg x 6
155kg x 6


Plank
1 min 20 secs

Bar Hang
1 min (upstairs)


This was a killer of a session on squats, but despite this I never felt like I was going to fail a rep. In fact the last set was more controlled the previous 2. This is my best 5 x 5 since Spring 2016, so I'm claiming it for a 60 plus volume PB. I even had the energy for 1 more stiff leg deadlift@155 than last week. Leg extension machine was in use so I left them alone. Just need to recover from this by Friday (92.0)

Billwest said:Copenhagen planks are to strengthen my adductors, which have been giving me grief on and off for more than 5 years.

The_Lone_Wolf said:Happy New Year one and all!!!

Update 897...

During my previous appointment with the Endo, she ordered me to take another bloodtest.

I booked in and had a bloodtest just before Christmas. It was my 3rd blood test of the year.

The results eventually came back with my test at 9, which is still just above the NHS treatment range. I called and emailed to try and speed up a follow up phone call with the Endo to see what her thoughts are of the results.

When she muttered the line that my test still was not classed as low, my heart sank. BUT, she said due to my long list of issues, she was going to start me on a 3 month trial of TRT gel. I was over the moon!
Yesterday I finally picked up the gel and I started today. Let's see what happens now!

Billwest said:I can make no claim to be an expert in knee rehab, before this year I had had no real issues.

The main thing I do is touchdown squats (got this from squat university on Youtube) One leg on a box, squat back to engage glutes and touch the other leg to the floor. When that becomes comfortable (i.e no knee pain), raise the height of the box. Do these 3 x 10-12. I do these before any type of squat

Also I try and stretch my quads. Physio told me that a lot of knee pain comes from tight quads

Another exercise I found which limited pain when knees were sore at the end of a session was to set up for a leg extension (with one leg) and apply maybe 40-50% effort for 30-45 seconds (without moving the weight). I did this for 3 times per hurting knee. This seemed to work. This was another one from the physio


The sled pushes I did as an exercise for conditioning which I hoped would not hurt my knees, because if you use the right weight your knees are moving through a decent range of motion, but slowly. They did not seem to hurt, but I have not used them much.

The_Lone_Wolf said:
Jackpot! Delighted for you pal.

Billwest said:Saturday

Comp day British Masters Classic 2023 Hilton, TemplePatrick

The last week or so before this I had been feeling a bit knackered, so the fact that I went to a festival last weekend and had friends to stay during the week was positive as it distracted me.

Got into Belfast Friday night. Weighed in at 8AM. Only 91.0kg, which seemed quite low. Only 3 lifters in my group, and I was a kilo lighter than my main opposition, Mark.

Squat- warmed up to 150 - felt reasonably smooth
Lift 1 - 160 - This went up very smoothly - 3 whites
Lift 2 - 170 - This was harder than expected though still went up -3 whites
lowered my final lift to 175 -This was a bit of a grind, but never in doubt - 3 whites

My main opposition, Mark, matched me exactly, which was bad news as he had a better bench

Bench - warmed up to 100 - again felt quite easy
Lift 1 - 105 - Went up with no real problems - 3 whites
Lift 2 - 110 - went up, but was quite hard work - 3 whites
lowered my final lift to 112.5 - Fail!!

Bench was a disaster. Wanted 115. Mark lifted 117.5, so I was trailing by 7.5
Needed something special on deads and I was not sure I had it

Deadlift - warmed up to 170 - ended up sacking off 180
Lift 1 - 190 - Went up very smoothly - 3 whites
Had to force Mark to lift well if he was going to beat me, so I went up 15kg
Lift 2 - 205 - went up ok, felt quite hard, near my limit
Was still 2.5kg behind as Mark had lifted 200 on his second attempt. On his final he only went for 202.5, leaving me needing 210 to win. I had already nominated 212.5 so stuck with it. What the hell, I didn't think I had it in me anyway

Lift 3 - 212.5 - Hit it as hard as I could, as soon as it left the ground I knew I had it
3 whites!!! That was it! I had won! M3 U93

In the end I totalled 497.5kg, to win by 2.5kg.

Great comp - watched loads of great lifting. It was a great venue, even if it was stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

The_Lone_Wolf said:Update 451...

Yesterday I had my phone call with the doctor to review my test results, and it was a rollercoaster!

Firstly, my results only came up on my NHS app in the morning, and when I saw that my test was coming in at 11 instead of the previous 9, I was already on edge.

The Dr on the phone was a female Dr who I had not spoken too before, and she was not a happy bunny.

She opened the blood test review with this... "I can see that your testosterone is normal which means you are fine and we don't need to do anything there!"

From there is was an uphill battle to try and make the Dr understand it may be slightly higher than the previous test result, but the overall result is still low for an active man who is just 40. I then reeled off the list of issues I am facing in a daily basis and said thet they need to be investigated. The brain fog and lethargy was causing issues at work and home, and the lack of libido was a real concern.

Eventually, she agreed to refer me to an endocrinologist. Fingers crossed that from here on I am find a more understanding human and get some help.

The Dr also said my iron levels were high and so was my Cholesterol, and that I needed to lose weight as my BMI makes me obese. She offered me statins which I refused, and then said I needed to go to weight watchers hahahaha.