health4ni wrote:Most people I see who use them don't ever get taught and end up squatting and then standing up with a front raise. That's retarded and plan wrong.

Agree completely.

Quick update - The pain in my traps/shoulders is still there, but it's more now of an ache than a pain. I've been to the GP and they just said to take some painkillers. No other advice. I'm not surprised though, and if I'm honest, I just went so I can put my claim through.

I've been trying to get into the gym but using lighter weights, and trying to use almost exaggeratedly good form as I don't want to make matters worse. It's really surprising how challenging much lighter weights can be when doing this. Not to say that my form previously was bad, but I have been guilty of moving the weight and not really trying to place as much stress as possible on the target muscle. It's not something you could tell a difference in if you saw the two side by side, but definitely something I can feel. Perhaps it's a good thing, as I train pretty much exclusively for aesthetics.

Also, done some real ATG squatting (usually do around parallel) and boy is it a shock how much harder that is. Feels good though and places a lot of emphasis on glutes at the bottom of the movement.

Perfect form isn't perfect though, weight and good form is what you need

simon m wrote:Perfect form isn't perfect though, weight and good form is what you need

Yeah of course, but you've got to work with what you've got. I feel that trying to go heavy at the moment wouldn't be good long term due to how my shoulders are feeling at the moment.

Haven't updated this in a while - still suffering from a wbit of whiplash, mainly in the traps but what I'm more concerned about is my right shoulder - it's causing me some discomfort and I've never had any shoulder issues before so I can only put it down to the accident. I've only tried shoulder pressing once since my accident and that was with 15kg DB and even that felt very uncomfortable so I stopped after only a few reps. My solicitor has arranged some physio for me, so hapefully they can sort it out.

Other than that, I've been making it to the gym and just trying to get the blood flowing and a bit of a pump.

Roadz,, don't let the Solicitor or anyone else make you feel like a victim. Low impact whiplashj doesn't last that long, decent physio should do the trick in a couple of sessions.

Don't worry mate, I won't. I work in the personal injury field so I'm not particularly sensitive to these kind of injuries, just a bit pissed off and wish it would heal up so I can get back to polishing the guns!

Since I last updated, I have still been training, but not really pushing the boat out on certain exercises due to, for lack of a better word phrase, my delicate feeling right shoulder. Traps/upper back are still quite achey from the accident, literally can't believe it's lasted this long. Don't get me wrong, it's not excruciating pain but it is annoying and generally makes me feel tired.

For the last week, I had a week of total rest but I will resume training shortly, add in some cardio and do a little cut. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't have the genetics to be huge, so the long term plan is now to slowly add mass and look as good as I can whilst doing it (hence the little cut).

Weighed myself the other day and came in at 11st 7lbs. I've hovered around this weight for ages and maybe 18 months ago, I was more or less exactly the same weight, but I think I look at lot better at the weight now and I think I've a little mass whilst also being slightly leaner, so it's all good.

Diet is pretty good, no where near perfect but I'm pretty consistent with food. There is definitely room for improvement though.

Most days it's this, but weekends usually consist of a cheat on top of it

75g oats + whey
3 meals consisting of roughly 200g meat/chicken/fish and 225g of rice across the 3 meals + veg
Mass gaining shake (500 cals)
PWO nutrition (whey + simple sugars) on workout days

Not a huge amount of food, but my bodyweight is only around 11st 7lbs as I said

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I've given up on getting bigger. I still want to grow, but in the time that I've been training, I've realised the rate at which I grow and it's fairly slow, maybe 3ish lbs a year? Next bulk I will deffo get the calories in, but I don't want to really hammer the calories in because I've done it in the past and I didn't gain any faster, gains were the same, just got a bit fatter.

Harsh but true lol

I was eating more but that's what my current diet looks like whilst I transition to a little cut. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming my genetics on not growing, but I am saying that I feel I know my natural growth potential. I have hammered the food previously and as I said, I did put on more weight but more fat than I felt was necessary. I'm fairly content with growing slowly, as I don't plan to ever compete, I just want to look good.