Blonde will make you STRONG

[EvilPie]

PT has got me lon ots of conditioning .. lots of ascending and descending ladders i.e.  something like 25-20-15-10-5 and reverse say 5-10-15-20-25 ...ovehead lunges with olympic bar and full chest to floor burpees..no stopping ( well a few hands on kness breathers wondering why i actually enjoy this hell ) then EMoms..basically alternating excercises changing every minute.. you complete the excercise then what ever is left of the minute thats your rest period..then you start the next excercise etc usually six rounds..12 minutes ..lastest one is goblet squats with 30kg dumbell followed by hammer curl to overhead press 12 reps each.

Its all a new kind of hell..but i flipping love it.. looking to get shredded for summer.. not doing much strength work.. my bench is pretty pitiful ( i think ..never been much of a bencher )at 100kg..seem to be a natural squatter ( low centre of gravity ..i.e im a short arse )  currently doing :

10 X 80kg
10 X 100Kg
10 X 120KG
10 X 130KG
squeezing 6 at 140KG... not too sure how far to push..i think 160kg is within range but im worried about injury.. ego over age

Looks like all kind of hell that lot.

100kg bench isn't weak at all, it's surprising how few people can stick two plates on a bar for more than a couple of reps. How many sets/reps are you doing?

Solid squat work there. Maybe rather than push the weight you could do fewer at the lighter weights just as warm ups then do 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 10 at 140kg. Those lighter sets particularly the 80 and 100kg are just warming up if you're getting up to 140kg. You're fatiguing yourself which means you can't do as much at the working weight. If you're getting 10 out at 130kg I can't imagine you really feel the 10 at 100kg so they might be a waste.

Perhaps try
10 x 80kg
6 x 100kg
4 x 120kg
2 x 130kg

Then 3 sets of 6-8 at 140kg....

Whatever you do it's bloody impressive. How much you weighing in at now?

[EvilPie]

Glad I posted that, cheers for the advice! Makes sense that as a beginner I'll gain no matter what I do, but yeah if I want to bench more probably the best thing to do is bench more. Increasing my numbers is def my primary goal atm.

Seeing him today so will let him know what you guys have said. We're doing a back session which I'm starting to think I can probably do on my own. Might be worth the £17 just to get me through the door after work though.

I think bench is one of the hardest technical movements too, outside of OL. I think people really underestimate how full body it is. So practising the motion is going to be huge. But you're right, as a beginner you are just going to grow by going. The problem lies when you become an intermediate/advanced and haven't nailed the movement pattern and you just hit the brick wall.

Completely agree with this, I've seen huge differences now that I'm able to recruit more muscles in to each press.

Currently really working on leg drive which involves glute activation as well. When I get a rep just right it absolutely flies up so I'm determined to groove the movement so that it sticks on every rep.

I have one heavy bench day and one technique day. Technique day actually hurts more as I'm using so many other muscles which aren't used to being activated whilst lying down.

[the sicilian]

PT has got me lon ots of conditioning .. lots of ascending and descending ladders i.e.  something like 25-20-15-10-5 and reverse say 5-10-15-20-25 ...ovehead lunges with olympic bar and full chest to floor burpees..no stopping ( well a few hands on kness breathers wondering why i actually enjoy this hell ) then EMoms..basically alternating excercises changing every minute.. you complete the excercise then what ever is left of the minute thats your rest period..then you start the next excercise etc usually six rounds..12 minutes ..lastest one is goblet squats with 30kg dumbell followed by hammer curl to overhead press 12 reps each.

Its all a new kind of hell..but i flipping love it.. looking to get shredded for summer.. not doing much strength work.. my bench is pretty pitiful ( i think ..never been much of a bencher )at 100kg..seem to be a natural squatter ( low centre of gravity ..i.e im a short arse )  currently doing :

10 X 80kg
10 X 100Kg
10 X 120KG
10 X 130KG
squeezing 6 at 140KG... not too sure how far to push..i think 160kg is within range but im worried about injury.. ego over age

Looks like all kind of hell that lot.

100kg bench isn't weak at all, it's surprising how few people can stick two plates on a bar for more than a couple of reps. How many sets/reps are you doing?

Solid squat work there. Maybe rather than push the weight you could do fewer at the lighter weights just as warm ups then do 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 10 at 140kg. Those lighter sets particularly the 80 and 100kg are just warming up if you're getting up to 140kg. You're fatiguing yourself which means you can't do as much at the working weight. If you're getting 10 out at 130kg I can't imagine you really feel the 10 at 100kg so they might be a waste.

Perhaps try
10 x 80kg
6 x 100kg
4 x 120kg
2 x 130kg

Then 3 sets of 6-8 at 140kg....

Whatever you do it's bloody impressive. How much you weighing in at now?

Hey Mr Evil .. Hope you are well..

bench wise i do
10 x 60kg
10 x 80 kg
6 x 100kg

its ok i suppose.. just i seem to do better at most other strength items.. i think a little more practice will bring it up.. i train on my own so no spotter.. so not that happy going for it for fear of ending up with a bar on top of me i cant move looooool..

you may be right about the squats.. 100kg is pretty comy tbh..ive always be conditioned for reps over weight which is fine in most areas..

im about 14'8 at the moment looking at being about 14 stone but solid and cut ( if that possible at my age ).. i think its going to be more food than excercise and im stricting up on the diet side..more protein..less carbs and bad stuff..which is hard for a self confessed pizzaboy .. but clean for 3 weeks

[Marky147]

Glad I posted that, cheers for the advice! Makes sense that as a beginner I'll gain no matter what I do, but yeah if I want to bench more probably the best thing to do is bench more. Increasing my numbers is def my primary goal atm.

Seeing him today so will let him know what you guys have said. We're doing a back session which I'm starting to think I can probably do on my own. Might be worth the £17 just to get me through the door after work though.

I think bench is one of the hardest technical movements too, outside of OL. I think people really underestimate how full body it is. So practising the motion is going to be huge. But you're right, as a beginner you are just going to grow by going. The problem lies when you become an intermediate/advanced and haven't nailed the movement pattern and you just hit the brick wall.

Completely agree with this, I've seen huge differences now that I'm able to recruit more muscles in to each press.

Currently really working on leg drive which involves glute activation as well. When I get a rep just right it absolutely flies up so I'm determined to groove the movement so that it sticks on every rep.

I have one heavy bench day and one technique day. Technique day actually hurts more as I'm using so many other muscles which aren't used to being activated whilst lying down.

Prob why I'm struggling to get much more up then, as my legs/glutes are non existent

[Marky147]

im about 14'8 at the moment looking at being about 14 stone but solid and cut ( if that possible at my age ).. i think its going to be more food than excercise and im stricting up on the diet side..more protein..less carbs and bad stuff..which is hard for a self confessed pizzaboy .. but clean for 3 weeks

I'm aiming for the same, but might go for 13st 11, just so I can be 1lb lighter than I was on the day I passed out of Raleigh

I've not had pizza for aaaaaaaaaaaages, and think I might have one on Saturday night.

[EvilPie]

Hey Mr Evil .. Hope you are well..

bench wise i do
10 x 60kg
10 x 80 kg
6 x 100kg

its ok i suppose.. just i seem to do better at most other strength items.. i think a little more practice will bring it up.. i train on my own so no spotter.. so not that happy going for it for fear of ending up with a bar on top of me i cant move looooool..

you may be right about the squats.. 100kg is pretty comy tbh..ive always be conditioned for reps over weight which is fine in most areas..

im about 14'8 at the moment looking at being about 14 stone but solid and cut ( if that possible at my age ).. i think its going to be more food than excercise and im stricting up on the diet side..more protein..less carbs and bad stuff..which is hard for a self confessed pizzaboy .. but clean for 3 weeks

I'm wonderful thanks

6 reps at 100kg is better than 'ok' and compared to your squat which is your strongest lift it isn't out of proportion at all.

With those numbers you'd probably get 110 to 115 now with a spotter and maybe 125 to 130 with a bit of work if you really wanted to hit a 1RM. Nothing wrong with that.

If safety is a concern just take the collars off so that you can bail out if you have to. Drop the bar one way to free up that side then let gravity do the rest. It'll be noisy but at least you'll be alive.

F**king love a pizza but it's so long since I had a proper one. I miss domino's so much.

[iRaise]

PT has got me lon ots of conditioning .. lots of ascending and descending ladders i.e.  something like 25-20-15-10-5 and reverse say 5-10-15-20-25 ...ovehead lunges with olympic bar and full chest to floor burpees..no stopping ( well a few hands on kness breathers wondering why i actually enjoy this hell ) then EMoms..basically alternating excercises changing every minute.. you complete the excercise then what ever is left of the minute thats your rest period..then you start the next excercise etc usually six rounds..12 minutes ..lastest one is goblet squats with 30kg dumbell followed by hammer curl to overhead press 12 reps each.

Its all a new kind of hell..but i flipping love it.. looking to get shredded for summer.. not doing much strength work.. my bench is pretty pitiful ( i think ..never been much of a bencher )at 100kg..seem to be a natural squatter ( low centre of gravity ..i.e im a short arse )  currently doing :

10 X 80kg
10 X 100Kg
10 X 120KG
10 X 130KG
squeezing 6 at 140KG... not too sure how far to push..i think 160kg is within range but im worried about injury.. ego over age

Looks like all kind of hell that lot.

100kg bench isn't weak at all, it's surprising how few people can stick two plates on a bar for more than a couple of reps. How many sets/reps are you doing?

Solid squat work there. Maybe rather than push the weight you could do fewer at the lighter weights just as warm ups then do 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 10 at 140kg. Those lighter sets particularly the 80 and 100kg are just warming up if you're getting up to 140kg. You're fatiguing yourself which means you can't do as much at the working weight. If you're getting 10 out at 130kg I can't imagine you really feel the 10 at 100kg so they might be a waste.

Perhaps try
10 x 80kg
6 x 100kg
4 x 120kg
2 x 130kg

Then 3 sets of 6-8 at 140kg....

Whatever you do it's bloody impressive. How much you weighing in at now?

Hey Mr Evil .. Hope you are well..

bench wise i do
10 x 60kg
10 x 80 kg
6 x 100kg

its ok i suppose.. just i seem to do better at most other strength items.. i think a little more practice will bring it up.. i train on my own so no spotter.. so not that happy going for it for fear of ending up with a bar on top of me i cant move looooool..

you may be right about the squats.. 100kg is pretty comy tbh..ive always be conditioned for reps over weight which is fine in most areas..

im about 14'8 at the moment looking at being about 14 stone but solid and cut ( if that possible at my age ).. i think its going to be more food than excercise and im stricting up on the diet side..more protein..less carbs and bad stuff..which is hard for a self confessed pizzaboy .. but clean for 3 weeks

For someone who's not focused on strength you're pretty fucking strong 

[iRaise]

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

[muckthenuts]

Glad I posted that, cheers for the advice! Makes sense that as a beginner I'll gain no matter what I do, but yeah if I want to bench more probably the best thing to do is bench more. Increasing my numbers is def my primary goal atm.

Seeing him today so will let him know what you guys have said. We're doing a back session which I'm starting to think I can probably do on my own. Might be worth the £17 just to get me through the door after work though.

I think bench is one of the hardest technical movements too, outside of OL. I think people really underestimate how full body it is. So practising the motion is going to be huge. But you're right, as a beginner you are just going to grow by going. The problem lies when you become an intermediate/advanced and haven't nailed the movement pattern and you just hit the brick wall.

Completely agree with this, I've seen huge differences now that I'm able to recruit more muscles in to each press.

Currently really working on leg drive which involves glute activation as well. When I get a rep just right it absolutely flies up so I'm determined to groove the movement so that it sticks on every rep.

I have one heavy bench day and one technique day. Technique day actually hurts more as I'm using so many other muscles which aren't used to being activated whilst lying down.

Definitely found this interesting. When i'm struggling to force out a bench rep i tend to find my feet lift off the floor. Gonna have to think about trying to use them which in turn will keep them firmly grounded.

Speaking of bench, we pyramided up then i did 3 reps of 65kg independently plus 2 assisted reps of 70kg. Was very fucking hard but it's progress. 

[muckthenuts]

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

4x8 at 150kg is just phenomenal.

[Marky147]

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

Savage!


Tenerife is nice any time of year, and only a  4 hour flight.

[Marky147]

Get yourself in here when you go to Vegas, Matt http://pizzarocklasvegas.com/

I'm reserving 3/4 lunch/dinners, so I can work through the whole menu.

[iRaise]

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

4x8 at 150kg is just phenomenal.

Its a lot of volume thats for sure.

[iRaise]

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

Savage!


Tenerife is nice any time of year, and only a  4 hour flight.

Some awesome places within a 4 hour window though isn't there. We are off to Madrid for the last bank holiday of May. I really fancy Barca but not sure if I will be spanished out. I do kinda want a beach/sun combo.

[Marky147]

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

Savage!


Tenerife is nice any time of year, and only a  4 hour flight.

Some awesome places within a 4 hour window though isn't there. We are off to Madrid for the last bank holiday of May. I really fancy Barca but not sure if I will be spanished out. I do kinda want a beach/sun combo.

Can't go wrong with Spain, in fairness.