Blonde will make you STRONG

[nirvana]

Back under 120kg for the first time in probably over a decade.  Lost over 20kg since the first lockdown chaos and haven't been fitter cardio wise since my basketball days 20+ years ago.   Maintaining muscle mass whilst losing fat is tough but i have been doing this slowly over the past 6 months.    Target is 105kg by the summer whilst maintaining my current 81kg level of lean mass.  Doing 5 intense cardio sessions a week now alongside 3 weights sessions.

That's a good effort, also pretty good effort required to get up to 140kg in the first place. Tbf, you never looked that large but most of the time I ever saw you there was a poker table covering up some sins.

Gl with the charge to 105kg, you'll know already but well worth the effort

[kukushkin88]

Back under 120kg for the first time in probably over a decade.  Lost over 20kg since the first lockdown chaos and haven't been fitter cardio wise since my basketball days 20+ years ago.   Maintaining muscle mass whilst losing fat is tough but i have been doing this slowly over the past 6 months.    Target is 105kg by the summer whilst maintaining my current 81kg level of lean mass.  Doing 5 intense cardio sessions a week now alongside 3 weights sessions.

Well done Arb, impressive stuff👏. As the others have said, it’s so rewarding getting and staying in good shape.

[arbboy]

Back under 120kg for the first time in probably over a decade.  Lost over 20kg since the first lockdown chaos and haven't been fitter cardio wise since my basketball days 20+ years ago.   Maintaining muscle mass whilst losing fat is tough but i have been doing this slowly over the past 6 months.    Target is 105kg by the summer whilst maintaining my current 81kg level of lean mass.  Doing 5 intense cardio sessions a week now alongside 3 weights sessions.

That's a good effort, also pretty good effort required to get up to 140kg in the first place. Tbf, you never looked that large but most of the time I ever saw you there was a poker table covering up some sins.

Gl with the charge to 105kg, you'll know already but well worth the effort

i was briefly 140kg late last year during lockdown but i bounced between 125-135kg for most of my time on blonde/poker.   Feel much better at sub 120kg and looking forward to kicking on to get to much lower.   Finally grown up lifestyle wise!

[Marky147]

I'm in Vegas, so doing nothing.

Will probably not put any weight on, as I'm not picking all day like I do at home.

Great going both you guys, though!

[EvilPie]

All going quite nicely for me at the moment. Weighing in around 101kg which I'm comfortable at and don't need to put in any effort to maintain. Don't want to drop below 100kg but I can't imagine that happening. If it does then I'll be back on the peanut butter.....

Training is going well, pretty much given up on squats and deadlifts so I've not had any real injuries for ages. Few niggles here and there which physio sorts but nothing that has kept me out of the gym.

Currently on 5 sessions per week in total which includes benching 3 times per week.

Heavily focussed on pressing and still running the same 16 weeks programme which has worked well in the past. On top of the programme which I do with my mate on a Saturday I do a light volume day on Monday which is 3 sets of 8 to 10 and then a heavier strength day on Wednesday which is 3 sets of 4 to 6. When I get towards PR time again I'll drop the reps a bit.

All benching on Saturday is paused but the other two sessions are normal which helps move a bit more weight and hopefully work a bit more hypertrophy.

Max attempt a few weeks ago was annoying.... Missed 150kg just but then got 147.5kg which is a new PR, paused PR......

Currently in a light block for the programme but still hitting decent numbers. 110kg for 10, 125kg for 6 and 127.5kg for 4 all paused

Hit 115kg for 10 (no pause) on Monday and 125kg for 6 on Wednesday which felt great.

Incline DBs are up to 7 reps for the 50s. These are really tough but they're after heavy benching so no surprise. DB shoulder press sticking to 36kg but getting 3 x 10 quite comfortably. I'm scared to go any heavier on these in case I pop my shoulder so will stick to the volume work.

Getting in plenty of other accessory work and just generally loving it. If I sort my sleep out I'd be unstoppable 

[EvilPie]

OHP is 3x8 at 60 though which is a lifetime PB.

Gave these a go this morning for the first time since March 2020 after being inspired by your efforts.

Friday is legs, shoulders and arms so it fits in nicely as a shoulder/triceps combo if I use a nice narrow grip.

Did 3 x 10 at 40kg and can honestly say it was very taxing. Going to try to work up slowly to something in the region of 3 x 10 at 60kg but after today I'm not too sure.....

Pressing is as strong as ever and my triceps in particular are really good at the moment so hopefully I'm in with a chance of hitting something half decent.

Challenge is on.

[iRaise]

OHP is 3x8 at 60 though which is a lifetime PB.

Gave these a go this morning for the first time since March 2020 after being inspired by your efforts.

Friday is legs, shoulders and arms so it fits in nicely as a shoulder/triceps combo if I use a nice narrow grip.

Did 3 x 10 at 40kg and can honestly say it was very taxing. Going to try to work up slowly to something in the region of 3 x 10 at 60kg but after today I'm not too sure.....

Pressing is as strong as ever and my triceps in particular are really good at the moment so hopefully I'm in with a chance of hitting something half decent.

Challenge is on.

Its one of those that the end set is still anywhere between 5-8, so progression on this could be tough. Sitting around 84-86 so I would love to creep towards BW with it. I think over the next 6-12 months 70-75 seems possible.

[iRaise]

All going quite nicely for me at the moment. Weighing in around 101kg which I'm comfortable at and don't need to put in any effort to maintain. Don't want to drop below 100kg but I can't imagine that happening. If it does then I'll be back on the peanut butter.....

Training is going well, pretty much given up on squats and deadlifts so I've not had any real injuries for ages. Few niggles here and there which physio sorts but nothing that has kept me out of the gym.

Currently on 5 sessions per week in total which includes benching 3 times per week.

Heavily focussed on pressing and still running the same 16 weeks programme which has worked well in the past. On top of the programme which I do with my mate on a Saturday I do a light volume day on Monday which is 3 sets of 8 to 10 and then a heavier strength day on Wednesday which is 3 sets of 4 to 6. When I get towards PR time again I'll drop the reps a bit.

All benching on Saturday is paused but the other two sessions are normal which helps move a bit more weight and hopefully work a bit more hypertrophy.

Max attempt a few weeks ago was annoying.... Missed 150kg just but then got 147.5kg which is a new PR, paused PR......

Currently in a light block for the programme but still hitting decent numbers. 110kg for 10, 125kg for 6 and 127.5kg for 4 all paused

Hit 115kg for 10 (no pause) on Monday and 125kg for 6 on Wednesday which felt great.

Incline DBs are up to 7 reps for the 50s. These are really tough but they're after heavy benching so no surprise. DB shoulder press sticking to 36kg but getting 3 x 10 quite comfortably. I'm scared to go any heavier on these in case I pop my shoulder so will stick to the volume work.

Getting in plenty of other accessory work and just generally loving it. If I sort my sleep out I'd be unstoppable 

Would love to just get two plates on the bench tbf. 6-8 rep range is about 87.5, 100 feels a long long way off. Luckily DBs are starting to feel a bit better. Massive numbers for your DB shoulders.

OAR are a comfortable 3x8 at the 50 now, so really want to match that with my press, but 42s are proving a challenge.

[celtic]

Back under 120kg for the first time in probably over a decade.  Lost over 20kg since the first lockdown chaos and haven't been fitter cardio wise since my basketball days 20+ years ago.   Maintaining muscle mass whilst losing fat is tough but i have been doing this slowly over the past 6 months.    Target is 105kg by the summer whilst maintaining my current 81kg level of lean mass.  Doing 5 intense cardio sessions a week now alongside 3 weights sessions.

Well done Arb, impressive stuff👏. As the others have said, it’s so rewarding getting and staying in good shape.

Aye, nice one Arb, and good to hear you are doing well kuku.

[vegaslover]

OHP is 3x8 at 60 though which is a lifetime PB.

Gave these a go this morning for the first time since March 2020 after being inspired by your efforts.

Friday is legs, shoulders and arms so it fits in nicely as a shoulder/triceps combo if I use a nice narrow grip.

Did 3 x 10 at 40kg and can honestly say it was very taxing. Going to try to work up slowly to something in the region of 3 x 10 at 60kg but after today I'm not too sure.....

Pressing is as strong as ever and my triceps in particular are really good at the moment so hopefully I'm in with a chance of hitting something half decent.

Challenge is on.

These are something I don't do much as always feel weak doing them and they pull on my lower back,  I used to get 65kg for 10 reps years ago.
Had a go to see where i'm at, 2nd set of 10 at 40k, I could only manage 7. Took a longer rest and tried 45kg Managed to get 10 reps, though my back wasn't happy. Gonna see if I can get back to 65kg.

Diet poor at mo, but just came back from hols in the States. Birthday next week them obv crimbo. Just gonna concentrate on lifting for rest of year and add in cleaning the diet sometime between xmas and new year.

[EvilPie]

OHP is 3x8 at 60 though which is a lifetime PB.

Gave these a go this morning for the first time since March 2020 after being inspired by your efforts.

Friday is legs, shoulders and arms so it fits in nicely as a shoulder/triceps combo if I use a nice narrow grip.

Did 3 x 10 at 40kg and can honestly say it was very taxing. Going to try to work up slowly to something in the region of 3 x 10 at 60kg but after today I'm not too sure.....

Pressing is as strong as ever and my triceps in particular are really good at the moment so hopefully I'm in with a chance of hitting something half decent.

Challenge is on.

These are something I don't do much as always feel weak doing them and they pull on my lower back,  I used to get 65kg for 10 reps years ago.
Had a go to see where i'm at, 2nd set of 10 at 40k, I could only manage 7. Took a longer rest and tried 45kg Managed to get 10 reps, though my back wasn't happy. Gonna see if I can get back to 65kg.

Diet poor at mo, but just came back from hols in the States. Birthday next week them obv crimbo. Just gonna concentrate on lifting for rest of year and add in cleaning the diet sometime between xmas and new year.

I have lower back issues too so I always wear a belt when I'm doing OHP. Might be worth a try if you have one. It's a full body movement so bracing is essential to make sure you have a solid base to press from, any weak link will be exposed as soon as you have any kind of decent weight on the bar. For me it's always been my core that holds me back, pressing strength is good but I lose some stability and it's all downhill from there.

I had another go on Friday and got up to 50kg for a set of 8 that felt okay, just going to keep going at these and see how it develops over the next few months with DB press one session and OHP the other.

Benching on Saturday was fantastic. Managed to hit 130kg for 5 paused reps which is a PR. Felt really good as well. The mix of paused and normal benching seems to be paying dividends at the moment. Long way to go to 1RM time but it already feels very positive.

Happy birthday for next week

[vegaslover]

"I have lower back issues too so I always wear a belt when I'm doing OHP. Might be worth a try if you have one. It's a full body movement so bracing is essential to make sure you have a solid base to press from, any weak link will be exposed as soon as you have any kind of decent weight on the bar. For me it's always been my core that holds me back, pressing strength is good but I lose some stability and it's all downhill from there"

Cheers Matt.
Belt doesn't really make a difference, fortunately my core is pretty good.

Only lifted once since last post. Left arm is pretty much fucked atm. Elbow/forearm been painful for months, last few weeks wrist has caused a lot of pain and now the should has tightened up, which is probably compensatory.
Did get some new weights between xmas and new year though. Only had 1inch set up, but bought 2inch. Feels much easier to use, deadlifts much easier to set into correct position

[arbboy]

First day back lifting today after a 2 week break which my body needed.   Looking forward to shifting the iron today.   Two weeks off usually doesn't make much difference to strength so hoping i can just carry on as pre xmas.  Will try and post more in 2022 on here.

[EvilPie]

First day back lifting today after a 2 week break which my body needed.   Looking forward to shifting the iron today.   Two weeks off usually doesn't make much difference to strength so hoping i can just carry on as pre xmas.  Will try and post more in 2022 on here.

I can cope with a week without seeing any drop off in strength but two weeks will definitely see some losses.

Only takes a week to get back up but there's no way I'd maintain 100%

How did it go?

[arbboy]

Felt only marginally weaker today.  Chest and biceps.   Did 36kg dumbells x 8 reps flat and 32kg x 8 incline for three sets.  i went slightly lighter than pre xmas but did more reps.  After doing that i went back to 100% of pre xmas for chest accessory exercises with no issue at all.   Biceps were identical to pre xmas and no drop off at all.   Felt super strong and well rested.  Back and triceps tomorrow will report back then.