Do agree, it is crazy at times how much the brain pushes you through. No more of a better example of when you are enjoying it, training just seems to hit a different level.

I think your current intensity would still comfortably see me off. I got some engine work done earlier in the year which did surprise me, but I just cant keep it up.

A standard circuit would be

DL 100kg- 8
Burpees- 8
C&P 60kg- 4

Ten rounds in around 20 mins. I was training with someone so rest periods were whilst the other works but he was an animal so my rest was low. Very very tough.

The hardest we did was

5x5 DL 140kg
5x5 C&P 80kg

We did that in less than 20 mins and I didnt miss a rep. No idea how I built up to that.

The thing with strength/cardio workouts is the weight doesnt have to be too heavy. As you know heavy bars will take it out of you big time. people who dont OL will never know how hard you will be breathing after consecutive heavish lifts .

One of the best basic types is cardio machine combined with strength.. so say

500m row with 10x 70KG deadlifts

5 rounds look to go sub 15 mins

My 20year old daughter made the mistake of asking me to go to the gym with her and do one of my basic workouts with her..HAHAHAHA we only did bodyweight prisoner stepups, lunges, push ups and situps.. she was whining and dying after two rounds.. Kids lol

Agreed there is very little reason for me to do that, but I dont think I am more proud of anything I have ever done in the gym that that. I have no idea how I did it, 80kg overhead for 2-3 kills me off. I dont know how I managed to peak at that.

Hi everyone, it's been a while since i've logged into Blonde. Having taken some of Stuart Rutter's action this year i fondly remembered this thread and wanted to check in on you all. Looks like a fair few of the old faces are still occasionally active which is great to see. Hope Sean is doing well, is anyone in touch with him?

For the past several years lifting has been something which has been on and off months of consistency could be followed by months of inactivity. I never completely 'quit' nor did i ever get into a really deep flow with it either. As a result i did progress but kind of jutted along rather than consistently became stronger. I have mostly stuck with 5x5 for the main lifts and never really deviated from it too much.

It is really interesting to look back on when I first posted in this thead in August 2015 where i was a skinny thing weighing about 67kg. My current BW is 82kg which is a bit of an overshoot, think dropping the calories is a bit overdue!

Here are my current numbers (all in kg including olympic bar) - 

Squat: 70
Deadlift: 97.5
Bench: 42.5
Row: 52.5
Press: 40

Current numbers:   

Squat: 120kg
Deadlift: 140kg (1x5)
Bench: 40kg (dumbbells)
Row: 85kg
OHP: 55kg

My strengths have always been my squat and my back and i think i've got good potential to push those numbers up more. I have done 130kg squats before and if i was being really optimistic i think 100kg rows are achievable for me by the end of the year. Maybe not a full 5x5 but i think i could at least get them done a few times.

Weakness have always been shoulders and chest. Weirdly enough i tried for ages to get a good bench press. It's mental but even after hiring a PT i would literally be struggling and straining to do 1 rep of 70kg. I switched it up to dumbbells and suddenly i was making progress. I still have no idea why the bar was so impossible for me. It may be connected to pull ups which i also still cannot do. I have tried repeatedly but they are so hard and i never seem to progress with them meaningfully at all.

I am in a decent flow with lifting at the moment so i will periodically update. I want to get stronger but cutting some body fat off is also a goal for me right now as i'm probably around the early 20%. Be good to hear how the rest of you are getting on too.

That's some really good numbers now, even more at that BW. Cutting is always a tough one because you have to do a lot of effort for what seems minimal results to start with. Even more so when you haven't for a while and are getting stronger. Really solid numbers especially over the last few years with everything thats been going on! Great to see.

Thanks a lot mate. Any tips for cutting at all? Currently my diet looks something like this (on a good day) with cups of tea interspersed throughout. I train mostly in between breakfast and lunch but occasionally in the evenings if i cant get out during the day.

Breakfast -
Oats (80g)
Cup of semi skimmed milk
1 scoop of casein powder
1 tablespoon of peanut butter powder
Berries (150g)

699 calories, 51g protein, 93g carbs, 14g fat

Lunch:
Two chicken breasts
125g brown rice
2 cups of green frozen vegetables

617 calories, 72g protein, 42g carbs, 11g fat

Dinner:
Can of tuna
2 cups of green frozen vegetables

202 calories, 31g protein, 4g carbs, 1g fat.

Before bed:
2 scoops of Casein

240 calories, 48g protein, 6g carbs, 2g fat.

Food looks good but if you want to get leaner you only have two choices, calories down, or movement up. Are you still around 80kg? When I was at my leanest at 80 I did find carb cycling helped, it's kind of my woeful version of Lyle McDonald's rapid fat loss. Basically 1200kcals Monday-Tuesday and slowly build up carbs throughout the week peaking around 300-400g on Thursday/Friday to coincide with my DL session which I also made a little longer to get  some more volume in. But when you dot have a great deal of fat to lose, it's just painfully  slowly at times.

I think your current intensity would still comfortably see me off. I got some engine work done earlier in the year which did surprise me, but I just cant keep it up.

A standard circuit would be

DL 100kg- 8
Burpees- 8
C&P 60kg- 4

Ten rounds in around 20 mins. I was training with someone so rest periods were whilst the other works but he was an animal so my rest was low. Very very tough.

The hardest we did was

5x5 DL 140kg
5x5 C&P 80kg

We did that in less than 20 mins and I didnt miss a rep. No idea how I built up to that.

Quick update my end:

Squat- 140 3x3
DL- 200x3
Bench-  DB 46 3x8
OAR- 50k 3x12
Pull up- 20kg 3x5
OHP- 3x6 65kg
C&P 5x5 80kg

BW 90-92kg

I am officially stronger than I am pre hemorrhage which really is insane considering I was paralysed for 5 days. I never thought I would get back to this. The DL nearly made me cry and if I am honest I think I had more. I think I will do them for 6 by the end of th year. Previous best was 200 for 1 at 80kg.

Started to do some clean and presses as I really want 100kg over my head and unsure if I can ever strict press that.

Strength wise it's bizarre how strong I have got, and the start of the year I was doing a lot of conditioning too which only helped.

Training 3-4 a week max now because of life and recovery but getting it done.

Some good numbers there.. im still hard at it.. slight setback, I was diagnosed with an AFIB heart, basically my heart is out of sync and beats too fast under load i.e excercise. Apparently its common in athletes and middle aged men who excercise a lot ( always knew I was an athelete).. for reference American Football player JJ Watt had it.. was diagnosed on a wednesday, treated on a thursday and he played on the sunday. Just waiting for the procedure, apparently they will stick something down my throat and send a tiny electrical shock to my heart to put it back into rhythum.. really looking forward to that..not . Doc said its not too serious and quite common, said if untreated it can increase the chances of heart attack or stroke but he said as I was quite fit there was little to no chance. if I had been a normal 54 year old it might have been more serious. Doc said heart was good and strong, so when you hear these body postive idiots tell you being 28 stone is fine ill point out the healthy life is the better option for when things like this crop up.

So on some tablets for now It has slowed me down but only on the basis I literally cant go all out anymore. Heart was getting up to 230 bpm.. my max heart rate should be 170..ooops. Incidently I only discovered this as I wear a decent hear rate monitor ( full strap across the chest job) when i workout. Started noticing the readings were jumping all over the place and I was struggling doing the mental things I usually do. Thought the monitor was faulty and old age was catching up with me. I ordered a new monitor with the same results. the better half has an apple watch and it has an ECG app on it. Ran that and it said i was in AFIB..ran it loads of times, same result. then got a decent ECG machine..same result. So finally went to the Doctors who confirmed it with a proper full on ECG. I suppose what I take from this is that i never wore a monitor I would probably never have know and would have assumed age was the reason i was struggling.

So still been training hard, still good and strong and by non crazy human beings standards im still very fit ( still get odd looks from fellow gym goers as i go through crossfit workouts in a non crossfit gym Loool.

Recent numbers:

Bench 130KG
Squat 170KG
Deadlift 175KG
OHP 85 KG
squat clean 100KG

I forgot you did some OL too, thats just so strong across the board.

I have worked with a few people with AFIB, weirdly all got diagnosed later in life? Not sure how common that is? Have you changed your intensity much?

Quick update my end:

Squat- 140 3x3
DL- 200x3
Bench-  DB 46 3x8
OAR- 50k 3x12
Pull up- 20kg 3x5
OHP- 3x6 65kg
C&P 5x5 80kg

BW 90-92kg

I am officially stronger than I am pre hemorrhage which really is insane considering I was paralysed for 5 days. I never thought I would get back to this. The DL nearly made me cry and if I am honest I think I had more. I think I will do them for 6 by the end of th year. Previous best was 200 for 1 at 80kg.

Started to do some clean and presses as I really want 100kg over my head and unsure if I can ever strict press that.

Strength wise it's bizarre how strong I have got, and the start of the year I was doing a lot of conditioning too which only helped.

Training 3-4 a week max now because of life and recovery but getting it done.

The creator of this thread, Sean, has been my PT for the past two months! I've gone from zero exercise in any form for 7 years to 5/6 days a week in the gym! Loving the new lifestyle! And he's still letting me eat what I want, for now...

Currently trying to get the hang of squats...

Completely missed this, are you guys still doing it? Any updates?

Haven't heard from Sean and Matt in a while, hope both are doing well!?

Hi everyone, it's been a while since i've logged into Blonde. Having taken some of Stuart Rutter's action this year i fondly remembered this thread and wanted to check in on you all. Looks like a fair few of the old faces are still occasionally active which is great to see. Hope Sean is doing well, is anyone in touch with him?

For the past several years lifting has been something which has been on and off months of consistency could be followed by months of inactivity. I never completely 'quit' nor did i ever get into a really deep flow with it either. As a result i did progress but kind of jutted along rather than consistently became stronger. I have mostly stuck with 5x5 for the main lifts and never really deviated from it too much.

It is really interesting to look back on when I first posted in this thead in August 2015 where i was a skinny thing weighing about 67kg. My current BW is 82kg which is a bit of an overshoot, think dropping the calories is a bit overdue!

Here are my current numbers (all in kg including olympic bar) - 

Squat: 70
Deadlift: 97.5
Bench: 42.5
Row: 52.5
Press: 40

Current numbers:   

Squat: 120kg
Deadlift: 140kg (1x5)
Bench: 40kg (dumbbells)
Row: 85kg
OHP: 55kg

My strengths have always been my squat and my back and i think i've got good potential to push those numbers up more. I have done 130kg squats before and if i was being really optimistic i think 100kg rows are achievable for me by the end of the year. Maybe not a full 5x5 but i think i could at least get them done a few times.

Weakness have always been shoulders and chest. Weirdly enough i tried for ages to get a good bench press. It's mental but even after hiring a PT i would literally be struggling and straining to do 1 rep of 70kg. I switched it up to dumbbells and suddenly i was making progress. I still have no idea why the bar was so impossible for me. It may be connected to pull ups which i also still cannot do. I have tried repeatedly but they are so hard and i never seem to progress with them meaningfully at all.

I am in a decent flow with lifting at the moment so i will periodically update. I want to get stronger but cutting some body fat off is also a goal for me right now as i'm probably around the early 20%. Be good to hear how the rest of you are getting on too.

That's some really good numbers now, even more at that BW. Cutting is always a tough one because you have to do a lot of effort for what seems minimal results to start with. Even more so when you haven't for a while and are getting stronger. Really solid numbers especially over the last few years with everything thats been going on! Great to see.

Thought Novi had it after that truck pull but then he completely effed it on the stairs and stones.

The lightest guy in the field won the truck pull a few years ago as well. Can't remember who it was but he was tiny in comparison to the rest.

I think Licis will give Tom a good run next year. He's already said he won't be doing the Arnolds so that he can focus on worlds which will make a huge difference.

If Licis can stay injury free throughout a year of training I don't see much between the two of them really.

100% agree that Shaw needs to quit although you could say that about Mark Felix and he seems to keep going.

Felix knows he will never win, but he is setting WR every year. Surely he is thinking about the 60 mark and setting that one. He could be the biggest freak out of them all!

I still think Tom has improvements to make. The vehicle pull being one, he is so dynamic he has to get better. Maybe he doesn't get to train it as much? He is in that boat of Thor of knowing the one even thats always in it, he will just always win. He is getting the good at stones he's going to drop one at some point and still win.

Bus Pull
Athletes had to pull an 18.5-ton bus down a 30-meter course in the fastest time possible.

Oleksii Novikov — 41.51 seconds
Martins Licis — 42.18 seconds
Tom Stoltman — 44.5 seconds
Brian Shaw — 44.69 seconds
Trey Mitchell — 45.72 seconds
Luke Stoltman — 47 seconds
Maxime Boudreault — 47.2 seconds
Mitchell Hooper — 49.24 seconds
Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 51.32 seconds
Gabriel Rhéaume — 53.22 seconds

How a man that light wins that event in this field is purely insane.  Defies science.  Maybe mass doesn't move mass anymore!   For Tom  to destory a fully fit Novi and Licis is amazing.

Kieliszkowski is another who is far lighter than the other guys and sickeningly strong. I did think he was a shoe in for WSM at some point! Nov is out of this world with his strength and he is quite fat too, so he must have a distinct lower level of muscle mass than some of the other guys but they just must work double time. I do think he will keep getting stronger for the next 5, he is a real challenger to Tom.

Licis too although he feels more injury prone?

Shaw needs to retire now he clearly can't win a 5th.   He is close to goat status.  Needs to lose weight and focus on his family and businesses.   He has nothing to prove.   The greatest business man in strongman in history and it isn't even close.   Eddie close 2nd.  the best 7 in the world were top 7 no injury excuses this year.  Luke S thats his level at his age and natural size finishing 7th in wsm with those 6 in front of him.   He is a legend for making the freak of Tom what he is.   Retire luke run the business to fund it be toms training partner and make him the GOAT of all GOAT's.

Thats an interesting one, feel like Eddie and Thor maybe bigger in terms of worldwide fame? I guess Shaw must be pretty big in the US. Either way it feels like he definitely doesn't need the money, but I can see if he's posting good numbers in practice how hard it would be to quit. The event days must be so long and brutal it takes way more out than you think at that age. Even more so if he is doing media/youtube throughout. Agree tough if Tom is like this, unsure how he can wi unless there is a string go injuries.

https://barbend.com/2022-worlds-strongest-man-results/

Tom is a potential GOAT after going back to back.  His brother 7th.   That field was stacked and Tom won by half the track.  10.5 points clear.   That is mario distance in that field.   He could win 5 straight at his age.  Total freak.  I did think i said this 6-8 years ago on here when i first saw him when eddie hadn't made it.   World's stroongest brothers  by a mile.

Couldn't agree more, we could be seeing the start of something very special. I do think he beats a prime Thor, if not now within few years. It is genuinely immense to see and then you take into account his brother is coming top 10 too! Interesting to see what direction they take with weight. There has been an obvious increase in size, but to maintain that weight for a decade isn't easy. Thor and Eddie I think both peaked for around 2-3 years at these weights. I guess Brian did carry huge amounts of mass for a decade or two.

I did my back in at the end of last year (pretty sure I slipped a disc) and messed up my shoulder in February (still undiagnosed, need to try and get an MRI scan) so I was off games for quite a while.

Been building back slowly for 6 weeks now and starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere. Deadlift back upto 100kg but still taking squats very carefully and not doing much over 90kg.

Weight is stubbornly high at 85kg - need to get some more discipline from somewhere but I am starting to enjoy workouts more now.

Injuries really really suck. If you have two pretty high profile injuries I would honestly build my training around those and be prepared too be a little behind/unbalanced for a year or so but to come out of that year in the position to push on. In a world where we hear sports athletes get back from big injuries within 3 months i think it can skew our view of it. They rehab 3/4/5/6 a day, then have all the medical advice/treatment/protocols/ dare I say some naughty stuff under the table. I think when you have a life and fitness is in your top 3/5 priorities its much MUCH harder to get to the point where you are as strong and able to get stronger.

Tough day today on my 'heavy' bench day.

Rep range is 4 to 6 and my best week I've managed to peak at 135kg for 4.

Felt really good today and had visions of giving 3 plates a go but for some reason it just wanted there.

To get to 135 in reasonable jumps I go 112.5, 122.5, 130 and then 135. Anyway the 122.5 felt ridiculously tough, 130 I just about squeezed 5 reps and then took the sensible option and bailed out on the top set.

Felt really confident after Monday being a good day but I guess sometimes it's just not there.

I started a mini cut this week but I can't see that being the issue as I've only dropped about 500 calories per day and only been at it a couple of days. I trained 11am instead of my usual 4pm which is a likely factor but I've done it before and not been badly affected. Hey ho, not to worry, back at it next session.

Walked into the gym yesterday and one of trainers casually bangs out a 165 bench then tells me his dieting and he's at 92kg. Absolute madness, might have to retire from the movement. Luckily we do tie on the DL.

You use wraps all the time?

Wow that's scary. There's a fella in my gym who weighs in about 90kg who has a 5 plate PR from years ago and still hits 4 plates regularly. He's only about 5' 8" and his triceps are about the size of my quads 

Claims natural as well which I think I can just about believe seeing his build.

I use elbow cuffs but never full on wraps. Cuffs just give a little bit of compression and support but I honestly don't think they add any weight. Wraps on the other hand would be good for a few kgs I would imagine.

Was hoping for 140kg for 3 today but had a really nasty twinge through my left arm and shoulder. Stupidly forgot to do my foam rolling before I left home for the gym and it proved to be a huge mistake.

Managed to find a bench at the right height to grind out the knot in my back and squeezed out a dodgy 135kg but it didn't feel pleasant. Quite encouraging though to hit that weight when not feeling good.

I know you're joking of course but don't give up on bench. Use him as motivation to get better. What's your PR at? Was it about 120kg when we trained together a few years back?

Its mental, he is just a beast. Every movement I see him do is of an incredibly high standard.

The all time PR for squat and bench is still when we trained. I dont think I have tried since? I haven't tried a deadlift since either, I think I haven't gone below 5 for any training block and maybe 1-2 sets of 3's on a one off occasion maybe? But my 3's in the training block were all paused.

I want to build up to sets of 6 at 100 for bench. Currently at 95 but last set I need help on the last rep every time. So little plateau there. Dropped everything back in volume for the next few months. There is a single 3x6 for squats, bench and rows throughout the week but everything else is the 8-15 range.

Tough day today on my 'heavy' bench day.

Rep range is 4 to 6 and my best week I've managed to peak at 135kg for 4.

Felt really good today and had visions of giving 3 plates a go but for some reason it just wanted there.

To get to 135 in reasonable jumps I go 112.5, 122.5, 130 and then 135. Anyway the 122.5 felt ridiculously tough, 130 I just about squeezed 5 reps and then took the sensible option and bailed out on the top set.

Felt really confident after Monday being a good day but I guess sometimes it's just not there.

I started a mini cut this week but I can't see that being the issue as I've only dropped about 500 calories per day and only been at it a couple of days. I trained 11am instead of my usual 4pm which is a likely factor but I've done it before and not been badly affected. Hey ho, not to worry, back at it next session.

Walked into the gym yesterday and one of trainers casually bangs out a 165 bench then tells me his dieting and he's at 92kg. Absolute madness, might have to retire from the movement. Luckily we do tie on the DL.

You use wraps all the time?