Hawkes Physiotherapy Blog

So it's week 10 of training with the Compex Update: So I am nearly all recovered from my illness and I am back into good hard training but honestly I do believe that being ill has affected my strength gains as you might expect. This being said though my strength has still gone up slightly on the deadlift and amazingly so has my muscle size. I know that the muscle size has increased because my body fat percentage has dropped but I put a shirt on the other night and it was so tight on the arms that I couldn't bend the elbows! So I can not only conclude that the Compex works for strength and recovery but also hypertrophy! DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) - This has gone up due to the change in style of training but again the recovery and massage settings have helped. Strength: Only a small increase on the deadlift but the other two are no different. Week 10: Timeframe Deadlift Se...

So it's week 8 of training with the Compex Update: Unfortunately, I have been ill over the last 2 weeks with a cough and head cold so although I was training well in the first few days I got sick (the joys of having a 3 year old)! So I decided to take some time out to recover. In truth it's not such a bad thing I have trained very hard for the last 6-7 weeks and a deload week is common to take at such a time. So fingers crossed I'll be recovered soon and I can crack on with the last few weeks of hard training. See you in 2 weeks for my penultimate (Healthy) update! Telephone: 01782 771861 Mobile: 07866195914 Email: mathewhawkesphysiotherapy@gmail.com Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HawkesPhysiotherapy Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MathewHawkes YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/hawkesphysiotherapy LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mathew-hawkes/1a...

So it's week 6 of training with the Compex Update: So I got myself a new unit: The T heta Chattanooga Compex with Mi sensor leads : DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) - The training must still be hard as I'm still getting this and I am using the recovery and massage setting as required. i have noticed that lots of elite athletes use the Compex this way so why not! Strength: So still going but slowing progress at this point Week 6: Timeframe Deadlift Seated Dumbbell shoulder press Lat Pull down Start 90KG 16.5KG 50KG 2 weeks 105KG (17% increase) 19KG (15% increase) 70KG (40% increase) 4 weeks 115KG (9.5% increase from week 2) (28% increase from baseline) 21.5KG (13% increase from week 2) (30% increase from baseline) 75KG (7% increase from week 2) (50% increase from basel...

So it's week 4 of training with the Compex Update: DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) - This is still occurring although it is manageable and I haven't needed to use the recovery setting so much. Strength: So obviously I had some big gains in the first 2 week and this has slowed, which is to be expected.  Week 4: Ex Start Wk 2 Wk 4 Deadlift 90KG 105KG (17% increase) 115KG (9.5% increase from week 2) (28% increase from baseline) Seated Dumb bell shoulder press 16.5KG 19KG (15% increase) 21.5KG (13% increase from week 2) (30% increase from baseline) Lat Pull down 50KG 70KG (40% increase) 75KG (7% increase from week 2) (50% increase from baseline) So I have managed to surpass Compex's prediction of a 27% increase in strength with 28% at worst and 50% at ...

So here I am after the first 2 weeks of training with the Compex Update: DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) - So this has eased substantially but I have taken my own advice and used the recovery settings more. I was amazed with them! For example I had some mega DOMS in my Lats so I stuck it on and immediately after the DOMS had eased massively! Strength: So it is early days but I have to say yes, I have noticed some significant strength changes: Week 2: Deadlift:  At baseline: 90kg (including the bar at 15kg)  Now: 105kg Seated Dumbell shoulder press:  At baseline:16.5 kg each side (including the bars at 4kg each)  Now: 19kg Lat Pull down:  At baseline: 50kg  Now: 70kg So as you can see in 2 weeks the weights have increased. So far so good! The Compex itself: So I have been able to increase the intensity I use in the main but you have to be careful with cranking it up on 2 joint muscl...

Check out our new blog here: https://hawkesphysiotherapy.co.uk/blog So as you may have read, my last post was on the Compex muscle stimulator and was all about the research but like all things, the proof is in the pudding so I have decided to be a Guinea pig! My Training history: Now I have performed consistent resistance training for years and realistically I haven't made any real gains for years (getting older maybe?) If anything my strength has reduced! For example, the most that I have ever deadlifted in a training set was easily 5-6 years ago and was 120kg. Currently I can only 85-90kg, so not so good, to be honest. The Plan: So this week I have basically incorporated the Compex into my workout. The plan is to give you feedback on everything every 2 weeks with an ultimate goal of increasing my strength in 12 weeks Now I'm not going to measure every exercise for this blog but I will pre-select the following exercises for comparison and this is not a 1 r...