18/22 weeks out

With the second week of prep coming to a close, I am reminded of why I choose to step up to the challenge. Without fail, when your time becomes more structured & focused, all other areas, work, family life etc seems to thrive. The effort you put into this journey really does spill over into "life".

Another fantastic week of training & in these early stages of prep, performance should absolutely be increasing, you'll feel fitter, stronger & better recovered than your slightly more "relaxed" offseason. This phase is all about gaining momentum before the performance starts to level out and recovering from each session becomes a battle.

A drop of 0.5kg this week, putting my bodyweight at 180lb (15lb or so over stage weight) there really is no need to be dropping any faster than this, the aim is to keep food where it is, getting to about 11lb over stage weight by the 12/16 week out mark in 6 weeks time. 5lb in 6 weeks is easy work.

once per week (sat or sun) - I swap out my typical evening meal for a nice steak or salmon fillet w/rice & vegetables as a nice weekly change. I'm not someone who likes cheat meals during prep, but a nice meal like this can do wonders mentally during a long prep.

Training:

- as always I go into each session with 2 things in mind 1) progress my lifts & 2) tear it up.

Monday: Legs/Abs

X2 squat - 180kg 7, 160kg 13

X2 leg press - 450kg 12,11 (taping the bottom of the rep lightly)

X2 pendulum squat - 100kg 6, 60kg 15

X1 single leg extension - 45kg 13,11 rest pause 4 rest pause 4

X2 lying leg curl 65kg 12,9

X2 stiff leg deadlift 160kg 12, 140kg 20

X2 standing calf raise 220kg 12,10

X2 seated calf raise 120kg 12,10

X3 hanging leg raises (5kg dumbell between feet) 15,15,15

Wednesday- Chest/Arms

X2 decline bench - 130kg 8,6

X2 incline DB press 52.5kg 9,5 (stability gone on set 2)

X2 chest press (hammer strength) 100kg 8,6

X2 pek dek 65kg 11,9 rest pause 4 rest pause 3

X2 dumbell curls 30kg 9,7

X2 1 arm machine curl - 22.5kg 11,9

X1 rope hammer curl 45kg 10, 35kg 20

X2 weighted dip +60kg 9,7

X2 tri extension machine - stack+30kg 7, stack +10k 12

X1 pushdown 52.5kg 12 rest pause 4 rest pause 2

Friday: Back/Shoulders

X2 deadlift 215kg 7, 200kg 9

X2 1 arm DY row - 80kg 11,10

X2 Pullups BW - 15,12

X2 seated high row - 100kg 11,8 rest pause 3 rest pause 2

X2 seated smith press - 100kg 7,6

X2 1 arm machine lateral 60kg (30kg) 12,10 rest pause 3 rest pause 2

X2 reverse pek dek - 50kg 12,9

all in all, a good week of training & looking forward to some safety bar squats, heavy dumbell press & more deadlifting next week.