Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

Completely missed that, on the incline too? Vvv strong, I am around the 32-36 range for DB pressing

Yeah it was incline. I can't remember when I last did incline (apart from the previous week of course) and I've never particularly liked them.

I was completed shocked at how easily they moved, I was half expecting to just get stuck but the first one moved really fast so I just pushed out another four then stopped before I started to slow down.

My best guess is that it's all the OHP work I've been doing that's made them so easy. My bench is decent but there's obviously a huge carry over from OHP which would've really helped. Confidence also played a big part as 40kg felt pretty much like a warm up.

I'm starting to feel as strong as I've ever done now. Would be fun to see how many a 100kg AMRAP would get if I wasn't pausing, definitely 10, probably 12 maybe 15......

Yeah for sure, you know you are pressing well when you take the 50s for a ride, but on the incline that really is up a level.

I did up to 38s for this week after reading. Felt ok, but a long way off the 50s.

[iRaise]

Good few days training, 115/117.5 for 3x5s for Squats.

Lunges up to 4x8 at 55. But feeling a little sloppy. So will push to 60 next week and see where we are at.

Chins today 3x5 with 20kg. These feel really strong and more importantly really good movement.

4x8 Rack pull at 185. Vvvv difficult. Really edging out the 1.25kg progress with these. Not sure how much is left with these. I might start increasing reps instead.

Down to 86.2kg. Since I am doing random weigh ins I won't put too much weight into it so to speak. But looking to get a little leaner over the next few weeks, and increasing the walking should help. Starting to get a few veins on my quads/shoulders so will see how far we get to. I dont think I have ever had visible veins on my abs with any level of muscle mass. I think I did when I was 18 but that most certainly doesn't count.

[iRaise]

Slightly surprising bench day today. I didn't think I would get my progression, let alone as comfy as I did. Not sure if its a one off or pressing is ticking along nicely.

3x5 Bench 95kg
4x10 DB OHP 24kg
3x5 Front Squat 80kg
3x10 DB RDL 46kg (grip is tested here)

Some rows and pull downs

[EvilPie]

Slightly surprising bench day today. I didn't think I would get my progression, let alone as comfy as I did. Not sure if its a one off or pressing is ticking along nicely.

3x5 Bench 95kg
4x10 DB OHP 24kg
3x5 Front Squat 80kg
3x10 DB RDL 46kg (grip is tested here)

Some rows and pull downs

Nice bench work there especially as you're weighing in at like 4 stone or so.

I did 5 x 3 DL yesterday at 127.5kg with my 4th set getting 6 out and it was tough. Might have just been a bad day as it felt a lot harder than 122.5kg last week.

No idea how you get 5 out at 160kg, think I'd just die.

Are those DB OHP standing or seated?

[iRaise]

Slightly surprising bench day today. I didn't think I would get my progression, let alone as comfy as I did. Not sure if its a one off or pressing is ticking along nicely.

3x5 Bench 95kg
4x10 DB OHP 24kg
3x5 Front Squat 80kg
3x10 DB RDL 46kg (grip is tested here)

Some rows and pull downs

Nice bench work there especially as you're weighing in at like 4 stone or so.

I did 5 x 3 DL yesterday at 127.5kg with my 4th set getting 6 out and it was tough. Might have just been a bad day as it felt a lot harder than 122.5kg last week.

No idea how you get 5 out at 160kg, think I'd just die.

Are those DB OHP standing or seated?

Hard but true. I think I may end up around 80-82 by the end of May, I am quite happy with all those numbers so if I can maintain those over the next 4-6 weeks and get leaner will be really happy.

DL feel strong, but I think only 5-7.5kg left in there. Don't think there is a lot of progression at all. Would break down v quick if I went for 6/7 reps.

Seated DBs. I will switch at some point and do standing DB and seated BB.

DLs today 4x8 145, took about 20 mins which is annoying for the only reason I thought I flew through them. I don't mind taking 20, but genuinely felt like I was taking 1 min rests.

Game to try and come over for a weekend, but won't be pushing for a 1, try to keep it as low risk training as possible over the next few weeks.

[EvilPie]

Slightly surprising bench day today. I didn't think I would get my progression, let alone as comfy as I did. Not sure if its a one off or pressing is ticking along nicely.

3x5 Bench 95kg
4x10 DB OHP 24kg
3x5 Front Squat 80kg
3x10 DB RDL 46kg (grip is tested here)

Some rows and pull downs

Nice bench work there especially as you're weighing in at like 4 stone or so.

I did 5 x 3 DL yesterday at 127.5kg with my 4th set getting 6 out and it was tough. Might have just been a bad day as it felt a lot harder than 122.5kg last week.

No idea how you get 5 out at 160kg, think I'd just die.

Are those DB OHP standing or seated?

Hard but true. I think I may end up around 80-82 by the end of May, I am quite happy with all those numbers so if I can maintain those over the next 4-6 weeks and get leaner will be really happy.

DL feel strong, but I think only 5-7.5kg left in there. Don't think there is a lot of progression at all. Would break down v quick if I went for 6/7 reps.

Seated DBs. I will switch at some point and do standing DB and seated BB.

DLs today 4x8 145, took about 20 mins which is annoying for the only reason I thought I flew through them. I don't mind taking 20, but genuinely felt like I was taking 1 min rests.

Game to try and come over for a weekend, but won't be pushing for a 1, try to keep it as low risk training as possible over the next few weeks.

I'm at 105kg at the moment but still reasonably lean so happy enough. I'll do a bit of a cut sometime soon but it won't be anything drastic, perhaps just a few kgs pre my next beach holiday. Mt waist is still at 36" so can't complain.

I'm same with the low risk stuff at the moment. Not particularly feeling the need to know what my 1RM numbers are as long as I'm feeling I'm making general progress everywhere. Might have to try a bench PR soon but purely because I know the other lads are going to want to. Enjoying triples on OHP so might do similar for deadlifts at some point although I'm hoping I can get somewhere with the first.

Heading off for squats now so it'll be interesting to see how they go. My right quad is really tight at the moment as are both hips which I think contributed to yesterday's deadlift struggles. Shall see what happens....

[EvilPie]

Another great week managing to make the 8 on both bench and OHP whilst hitting target to not have to drop back on DL and squat.

Bench today was really good at 105kg managing 5, 5, 5 & 8 on the AMRAP. Best thing was the 8th rep on the AMRAP which although it was a struggle was a real confidence boost. My sticking point has always been about 6" off the chest and today on rep 8 I hit a wall at that exact spot. Usually that would be it but today I managed to push through it albeit slowly which I was really happy with. I've been working on this a lot recently so to be able to see the work possibly paying off was fantastic and will be a real boost mentally when I next go for a PR.

Squats went okay yesterday but only managed 6 on the AMRAP. I feel like the strength is there to move quite a lot more but the pain I get means I daren't go any heavier. Current thinking is that it's a tight IT band which is pulling on both the knee and hip. It gave me some aggro yesterday but a good roll out on the foam roller afterwards seemed to ease it off nicely. I need to arrange a scan soon to have my hip checked out to see if anything is going off in there. If nothing else it should hopefully eliminate the hip as being my problem so I can concentrate elsewhere.

Accessory work has been good all week with OHP triples at 70kg being a bit of a highlight.

I'm off to Vegas on Friday so I may move things about to get my bench session in on Thursday. Seems a good idea to do that instead of deadlift as a heavy DL session 12hrs before a long flight might not be a great idea. Bench is my main focus as well so getting that in is far more important to me than deadlift.

I'm only away for 4 nights so could potentially do 4 days next week Monday to Thursday then 4 days the following Wednesday to Saturday then back to normal without missing out on much at all.

Still loving it which is the main thing and feels like I'm making solid progress all round. Definitely enjoying this particular block

[kukushkin88]

Great stuff mate! I did a trial run on the pull ups and got loads of grief from running mates about not being wide enough and less than perfect form, video next week though for sure, I'm still very happy with 20+ good ones.

Have a good time in LV!

[Marky147]

Good stuff, glad the week went well.

I broke 210 this morning, by 1/5 of a lb, so have my celebratory drink for me in Vegas





If you can do 4 sessions the week you get back from Vegas, you have not done it right, and should sit in the corner thinking about what you should have done!

[muckthenuts]

Honestly Matt your bench numbers are absolutely insane!!

After hitting my 100kg squat goal for the year i've shifted more focus to the bench. Last week i managed 3 reps of 60kg (for me this is hugely heavy and took a ton of effort). I want to keep pushing this until i get 5x5 out at the 60kg level. No real time frame for this, just want to get it done by the end of summer if possible but i won't beat myself up if i won't. Bench has always been a weird one for me, i see 95% of my gym warm up with weights i couldn't push out a 1RM for and i just wonder why/how. Just one of those things i suppose. Tbh i would probably swap my bench and squat numbers if i had the chance  

Everything else going pretty well with my PT, really happy with him for the main reason that it's led to consistency this year. Also soooo nice to have someone else set up & rerack your weights haha. Hasn't been a great deal to report really but i probably look as good as i've ever looked though the body fat is still there. Happy to be patient and just see what happens by the end of the year.

It's all relative mate, the two guys I train with are both 20kg ahead of me and another guy who joined us for half an hour on Saturday pushed out a single at 160kg after a 140kg triple. Makes me look positively weak

Your numbers look to be far better proportioned than mine are to be fair. My bench is good but I haven't squatted above 90kg for as long as I can remember. Admittedly it's partly due to some kind of injury but even if I was 100% I wouldn't be going over 120kg.

How many times do you bench per week? How's your technique? Any chance of a video for us to critique? Any chance of you meeting up with us at some point when we finally manage to arrange something?

Happy to try to help you out with this if you're up for a few tips although I assume you're being guided by your PT? Do you just do as he says or do you have some input in to what you do?

Hey mate, i bench once per week. My current regime is a 4 day split with chest/tris, back, shoulders/bi's and legs. My PT has certainly overhauled my previous technique which wasn't surprising i do trust him tbf so i let him take control and he is happy enough with how i'm doing it now.

Back when i started out my numbers absolutely flew up everywhere except chest and shoulders and this still applies. I was consistently hitting new squat, deadlift and row pb's every week but hit a wall very very quickly on the bench when i got to about 50kg. Right now i can do 3/4 reps of 60 but it is HARD work. I don't even get that great feeling of pushing to failure afterwards with that, just very uncomfortable with a weight i can barely manage. Idk if this means i should work with 55kg a little longer perhaps?

I'll keep you guys updated with how i get on. I don't want to set any crazy goals for chest but as long as i see some kind of improvement either strength or aesthetically i'll take it.

[iRaise]

Good stuff, glad the week went well.

I broke 210 this morning, by 1/5 of a lb, so have my celebratory drink for me in Vegas





If you can do 4 sessions the week you get back from Vegas, you have not done it right, and should sit in the corner thinking about what you should have done!

Training hungover is a vile experience.

[EvilPie]

Good stuff, glad the week went well.

I broke 210 this morning, by 1/5 of a lb, so have my celebratory drink for me in Vegas


If you can do 4 sessions the week you get back from Vegas, you have not done it right, and should sit in the corner thinking about what you should have done!

Training hungover is a vile experience.

I've never even tried it. no point whatsoever. I think the flight times lend themselves to a solid 24hr spell without alcohol so should be okay but I won't be fussed if I miss a few extra days.

Great work on the weight Marky, How long do you think 'til you hit 195?

[Marky147]

Good stuff, glad the week went well.

I broke 210 this morning, by 1/5 of a lb, so have my celebratory drink for me in Vegas


If you can do 4 sessions the week you get back from Vegas, you have not done it right, and should sit in the corner thinking about what you should have done!

Training hungover is a vile experience.

I've never even tried it. no point whatsoever. I think the flight times lend themselves to a solid 24hr spell without alcohol so should be okay but I won't be fussed if I miss a few extra days.

Great work on the weight Marky, How long do you think 'til you hit 195?

I've never tried training after a night out, but can't imagine it's too clever.

Take the week after you get back off, and then hit it fresh on the Monday. That's what I do when I get back, and I definitely don't drink as heavily as you will be

I was aiming to hit it before I go away, which is 9 weeks today. Won't be quick, as I don't do anything bar the 4 lifting sessions a week. Hope to break 5 stone overall, by the May BH.

[muckthenuts]

2x5 60kg on the bench yesterday. That's a huge improvement! The energy I found might be in part due to the large glass of coke I consumed 15 mins prior to training went for the 3rd set too but was gg after 3 reps. Was pretty pleased though.

PT doesn't suggest going for new bench PB's every week. Instead we'll hit dumbbells for our next session before benching 60kg again the week after.

[Marky147]

2x5 60kg on the bench yesterday. That's a huge improvement! The energy I found might be in part due to the large glass of coke I consumed 15 mins prior to training went for the 3rd set too but was gg after 3 reps. Was pretty pleased though.

PT doesn't suggest going for new bench PB's every week. Instead we'll hit dumbbells for our next session before benching 60kg again the week after.

Well done mate, good stuff.