Another Bodybuilding Month: Results

I’ve spent the last month religiously grafting at Oldham Sports Centre trying to gain as much strength as possible. I have eaten like a monster – reasonably healthily – and worked out twice a day on most days. 

The results are in. I’m exactly the same weight – 81.4kg. Bizarre. 

I split down the workouts into chest, back and leg sessions, plus mixed in pump (weight movements in time to music) and circuit (rotating around different exercises in rounds) classes. I’ve made some serious progress. 

Close hand lateral pulldown. 

Hands close together above the head, pulling the handle down to chest level. This is my favourite movement of all of them. I started this with a PB of 70kg from April ‘25. I managed to work this up to 100kg. 

Angled leg press. 

This is a new machine that’s been added in a recent refurb. Seat is leant back, foot plate is higher than head level, with weights loaded behind it, pushing straight out. I started this at 70kg and worked it up to 190kg. 

Pec fly. 

New machine. Seated position, hands at chest level, bringing the handles together in front of the sternum. Started at 50kg, worked up to 73kg. 

Diverging Lat Pulldown. 

New machine. 2 handles on pulleys above the head, pulling down to shoulder level. Had a record of 104kg, immediately got 109kg, the highest weight on the machine. 

Quad curl.

Kicking the lower leg straight out. Had a PB of 106kg, got 111kg, the highest weight on the machine. 

Leg press. 

Seat is horizontal and moves back as you push out. Foot plate stays static at hip level. I had 136kg on this. Worked up to 186kg, the highest weight on the machine. 

Diverging Low Row. 

Seated with feet out in front on a fixed plate, 2 handles at hip level are pulled into the waist. I had 100kg, got 109kg, the highest weight on the machine. 

Wide grip lateral pulldown. 

Seated with hands on the bar above the head, angled down at the end, pulley lifts the weights as you bring your hands down to shoulder level. My record was 75kg from 2016, as far as I could see. I got up to 91kg. 

Hamstring curl. 

Before the refurb, the hamstring machine was a seated affair with handles at the hips so you could hold yourself in place. Now, the hamstring machine is prone, with a slight bend at the torso, which really isolates the hamstring muscle. You aren’t using your upper body to compensate. This time I could only get as high as 41kg. 

Converging Chest Press. 

Seated press where the hands come slightly closer at the end of each rep. I had a PB of 54kg. Ended at 73kg. 

 Chest Press. 

Standard seated machine where the hands are pressed straight out in front. This is my oldest PB of 103kg from 2013. I got close, but no PB this time and this remains my oldest record. 

So yeah. Some good progress made. I forgot to take a picture of myself before, but this is me now:

Results of a month of bodybuilding. No powders and definitely no steroids. Just good food and graft.

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— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matttuckey.bsky.social) 28 March 2026 at 17:06

And now to get drunk for the first time in a month! I've cut out junk food and alcohol and fought the cravings, hence it's a Psychology Saturday post.