Blonde will make you STRONG

[Marky147]

You know it, Deano

My Target weight for the summer was 15 stone, and I got there a couple weeks ago. I've had to be quite sensible, as I'm not doing much, whereas I can be more lapse when I'm putting 4 shifts in a week up there.

Think I'll see if I can get back to the weight I was when I passed out of basic again, and give me something new to aim for when gym opens again.

[EvilPie]

Thread seems to have gone very quiet..... Hopefully it'll pick up again when the gyms reopen.

Benching at home is still going well and we now have a definite plan aiming for another PR in 4 weeks before going back to the gym.

It was heavy day today and I managed a few really good sets:

148 x 1
157 x 1 failed.....
141.5 x 3
141.5 x 2
108 x 14

148kg equals my current PR but it moved much quicker than last time. I have a feeling if I'd gone for it I may have been able to hit a double but my focus was purely on a single so I just re-racked.

157kg was a bit of a hail Mary attempt. 9kg PRs don't come easily and it hit a brick wall about half way. Was a good fight but wasn't going to happen. I have some smaller weights so could've gone for 150.5 or 153 but got greedy and paid the price with a fail.

141.5 x 3 is another PR as is 108 x 14

All in all a great day and more progress.

There's no way I'll ever focus this much on bench again so I've got to make the most of it. I've been eating loads recently and deliberately putting on weight while I go for a PR. I was 97kg back in September but this morning weighed in at just over 104kg. Aiming for about 107kg over the next 4 weeks to hopefully give a bit more of a boost to attempt 157kg again.

Whatever happens I won't be disappointed that's for sure.

As an aside my mate is doing equally as well. His previous PR well over a year ago was 170kg on the gym bench set up which is much easier than the home gym. He's hit 168kg a couple of times and today got 177kg.

Nothing heavy now for two weeks to give the body a rest. It'll still be hard but minimum triples, ideally 5.

[Ledders]

Nice to see good results stemming from all the solid bench volume. Progression is possible whatever the circumstances!

I'm just ticking over - Census job has been a non-starter and work won't commence until next week still. Been running and doing plenty of glute bridge variations to strengthen hammies and arse.

Weighed in at 78kg which I was pleased with - given how (relatively) lean I currently am I had expected to weigh less.

Looking into creatine and it seems like a good supplement to take. Anyone have strong thoughts either way about it?

[Marky147]

Proper Chelters breakfast today.

Double sausage McMuffin - hold he egg & cheese, bacon roll, and hashbrowns 


Good going on the bench, Matt!

[BangBang]

Had a McDonald’s breakfast today too, double sausage and egg McMuffin and a breakfast roll with brown sauce.  No matter how much I deny it, there’s nothing that beats a Mcds breakfast.

Takeaways are easy to resist for me because I’ve stopped eating halal meat (Sikh thing) and majority of the takeaways in Nottingham only serve halal food even the Chinese ones. 

Problem I have is actually eating, as ridiculous as it sounds I forget to eat when I’m locked in working.
(I’m rooting for AJ in the AJ Fury fight btw, but do understand Fury will be the favourite, really looking forward to it)

Great mileage Ledders, 110km a week yikes and great pace pal, my best 5k time is 23 minutes that was a couple of weeks ago, I’ll really go for it once I’ve healed and let you know the time.

Matt you’re really inspiring me to hit the bench hard when we get back... Great stuff..

I’ve injured my leg doing some DIY at home so haven’t been doing much. I’ve kept my push up regime going but I’m losing motivation. Before the injury I was doing around 5-7k a day running, 100 pull ups and 100 push ups..

Looking forward to getting back to it..

[EvilPie]

Nice to see good results stemming from all the solid bench volume. Progression is possible whatever the circumstances!

I'm just ticking over - Census job has been a non-starter and work won't commence until next week still. Been running and doing plenty of glute bridge variations to strengthen hammies and arse.

Weighed in at 78kg which I was pleased with - given how (relatively) lean I currently am I had expected to weigh less.

Looking into creatine and it seems like a good supplement to take. Anyone have strong thoughts either way about it?

Creatine is one of the most tested and proven supplements out there. A few people me included unfortunately) don't respond to it but 90% of people will see a strength benefit.

Don't go for any fancy creatine claiming to be 'fast acting' or 'ultra absorbing' etc. Just a low cost monohydrate is all you need. Also you don't need to load it when you start no matter what the label says.....

You'll probably gain a little bit of weight on creatine but it'll be mostly water.

Definitely worth a try especially given that it's zero risk, low cost and likely to work.

[Marky147]

Coach Greg gives his thoughts on The Beast's routine

[arbboy]

Great watch.  Cheers. 

[arbboy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li7iY6g2Qdc

This video appeared directly after your video link you posted when it finished.   Dorian with a great 90min interview on how he has changed training wise as he got older.   Incredibly smart guy with zero bullshit/very straight talking he comes across as with zero ego as he has got older and couldn't care less that he is probably half the size he was 25 years ago.  Was always my fav bodybuilder growing up.

[Marky147]

Yeah, he's always good in interviews/pods, and his Rogan one was great.

Got his Blood 'n' Guts Trainer series in my training folder on my PC and watch that before I go back to the gym after a break

[vegaslover]

Eddie defo overdoing it on the vitamins, but he was worlds strongest man, so who gives a fk.

Dorian interviews always appear sensible and honest, no bullshit about PEDs etc. He certainly has little time for the 'posers' etc who want to be a face. He seemed to love training back in the UK without any distractions

[EvilPie]

I watched that video when it first came out and told my training partner about Eddie's ridiculous statement about cranberry juice increasing strength by 20%

Anyway my mate is now drinking cranberry juice at every session so that particular pi** take worked out well

Big bench day again today both hitting PRs. 153kg for me and 181.5kg for him. Obviously his was all down to the cranberry juice so doesn't really count.

Light work again now for a couple of weeks then another PR attempt on the 10th before going back to the gym on the 12th

We're thinking we might stick to Saturday bench days at my place until the gyms allow spotting. It's been such a great run neither of us want it to end....

[Marky147]

I watched that video when it first came out and told my training partner about Eddie's ridiculous statement about cranberry juice increasing strength by 20%

Anyway my mate is now drinking cranberry juice at every session so that particular pi** take worked out well

Big bench day again today both hitting PRs. 153kg for me and 181.5kg for him. Obviously his was all down to the cranberry juice so doesn't really count.

Light work again now for a couple of weeks then another PR attempt on the 10th before going back to the gym on the 12th

We're thinking we might stick to Saturday bench days at my place until the gyms allow spotting. It's been such a great run neither of us want it to end....

Knock his 20% unfair gains off, and you're about the same.

Good work, Matt!

[arbboy]

153 is amazing.  Topside of 180 for your mate is brutal.  Is he clean?

[Ledders]

Have to say I'm cooling on Eddie slightly

The vitamins are ott but you must need some supplementation when you're 2x normal size.

I don't understand why he isn't cutting harder now. Surely you want to do it now before any peak training phase?


General point - I've seen quite a few of these strongman diet vids, and they just don't eat many vegetables? I know they need to eat a lot of calorifically dense stuff but raw veg and salad is stuff your body 'loves'