Blonde will make you STRONG

[RED-DOG]

Day 1 - 4 sets of 6.✔

Day 2 - 5 sets of 5.✔

Day 3 - 6 sets of 4.


Day two was a day late due to unforeseen circumstances.

I found five sets of five easier than 4 sets of six but I still lost form (and some dignity) on the last two reps of set 5.

[EvilPie]

Day 1 - 4 sets of 6.✔

Day 2 - 5 sets of 5.✔

Day 3 - 6 sets of 4.


Day two was a day late due to unforeseen circumstances.

I found five sets of five easier than 4 sets of six but I still lost form (and some dignity) on the last two reps of set 5.

Nice work. 6 sets of 4 should hopefully be even easier so make sure you focus on perfect form if you can.

The thing with what you're doing here is getting more volume in than before. Previously you got 57 reps in per week, now you're at 73 so you'll get stronger and also better at the movement.

Any chance of slipping in a 4th session every 4 weeks for the test day? No problem if not we can just make day 3 3 sets of 4 then an AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

[Doobs]

I saw this the other day and meant to ask how hard is this?  Zero chance I could do it now.  Even when I went to the gym, I didn't do anything with anything like this much weight.  Think it just shows those that keep carping on about her spending time at photoshoots are missing the serious work she must do behind the scenes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/EmmaRaducanu/status/1492573678759993349?cxt=HHwWioCzucr217YpAAAA

[arbboy]

I saw this the other day and meant to ask how hard is this?  Zero chance I could do it now.  Even when I went to the gym, I didn't do anything with anything like this much weight.  Think it just shows those that keep carping on about her spending time at photoshoots are missing the serious work she must do behind the scenes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/EmmaRaducanu/status/1492573678759993349?cxt=HHwWioCzucr217YpAAAA

Funniest thnig is her tweet says she 'finished the week with some good facials'!!!!!   tbh that seems to be a girl exercise i have never seen a man do it in the gym but i have never seen a woman do remotely what she is doing weight wise on that video  Looks like 180kg which is insane.  For context i could 1 rep deadlfit that weight.   I really want to try this girlie exerciise to know.  180kg looks insane.   Evilpiies view will be worth more than mine

[EvilPie]

I saw this the other day and meant to ask how hard is this?  Zero chance I could do it now.  Even when I went to the gym, I didn't do anything with anything like this much weight.  Think it just shows those that keep carping on about her spending time at photoshoots are missing the serious work she must do behind the scenes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/EmmaRaducanu/status/1492573678759993349?cxt=HHwWioCzucr217YpAAAA

Funniest thnig is her tweet says she 'finished the week with some good facials'!!!!!   tbh that seems to be a girl exercise i have never seen a man do it in the gym but i have never seen a woman do remotely what she is doing weight wise on that video  Looks like 180kg which is insane.  For context i could 1 rep deadlfit that weight.   I really want to try this girlie exerciise to know.  180kg looks insane.   Evilpiies view will be worth more than mine

It's a hip thrust, really good exercise for the glutes.

All the girls do them because huge arses are all the rage these days. Blokes should do them because strong glutes are a good thing. I don't do them because they're a pain to set up and I'm not that bothered about strong butt cheeks.

There's a girl in my gym who does them with 220kg with similar form to Emma. That form isn't quite right by the way but understandable at max effort weight. You're supposed to fully extend the hips upwards to engage the glutes whereas going to this angle is more lower back.

If you're going to do them leave the ego at the door and stick to 100kg or so. Doing them with this form is just for 'likes' really, not much different than doing a photoshoot but nobody wants to see her hip thrusting 120kg with perfect form.

If you can dead lift 180kg properly you can hip thrust 180kg with a bit of practice. I can do neither by the way.

[EvilPie]

Did 3 sets of 4 with 44kg duumbells today unspotted which felt great.    Going to get the 50kg out next week and try and do one rep!

How's this going?

I managed to hit double figures at last with the 50s for the first tie in ages.

Pretty disappointed now that they don't go any higher at my place. They had 54s before they changed from x4l to JD Gyms and I'd definitely be giving them a shot now.

[arbboy]

Did 3 sets of 4 with 44kg duumbells today unspotted which felt great.    Going to get the 50kg out next week and try and do one rep!

How's this going?

I managed to hit double figures at last with the 50s for the first tie in ages.

Pretty disappointed now that they don't go any higher at my place. They had 54s before they changed from x4l to JD Gyms and I'd definitely be giving them a shot now.

Haven't got the 50s out yet took your advice not to try a 1 rep max and have done the same with 44kgs the last two weeks.   Will probably try 46kg for 4 reps next week see how that goes.

[EvilPie]

Did 3 sets of 4 with 44kg duumbells today unspotted which felt great.    Going to get the 50kg out next week and try and do one rep!

How's this going?

I managed to hit double figures at last with the 50s for the first tie in ages.

Pretty disappointed now that they don't go any higher at my place. They had 54s before they changed from x4l to JD Gyms and I'd definitely be giving them a shot now.

Haven't got the 50s out yet took your advice not to try a 1 rep max and have done the same with 44kgs the last two weeks.   Will probably try 46kg for 4 reps next week see how that goes.

Good plan mate, it'll definitely pay dividends in the long run.

Need to work on your volume as well though if you really want to progress.

You'd be much better off trying to get those 44s up to 6-8 reps before you step up in weight and drop back down to 4.

[arbboy]

Got the 46kg's out today and managed 1 set of 3 and 1 set of 2 reps totally unspotted.  Went back to 40kgs for some volume for the last two sets.   Going to focus on the 44kgs now until i can do 6 clean reps easily and finish off with a set of 40kgs to failure for some volume like you suggested

[RED-DOG]

Day 1 - 4 sets of 6.✔

Day 2 - 5 sets of 5.✔

Day 3 - 6 sets of 4.✔


Day 3 not too bad really. Took a 90 second rest for the last 2 sets but maintained decent form throughout.

Found it easier than 4 sets of 6.

[RED-DOG]

Day 1 - 4 sets of 6.✔

Day 2 - 5 sets of 5.✔

Day 3 - 6 sets of 4.


Day two was a day late due to unforeseen circumstances.

I found five sets of five easier than 4 sets of six but I still lost form (and some dignity) on the last two reps of set 5.

Nice work. 6 sets of 4 should hopefully be even easier so make sure you focus on perfect form if you can.

The thing with what you're doing here is getting more volume in than before. Previously you got 57 reps in per week, now you're at 73 so you'll get stronger and also better at the movement.

Any chance of slipping in a 4th session every 4 weeks for the test day? No problem if not we can just make day 3 3 sets of 4 then an AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

Did a repeat of day one today Matt, found it a bit easier than the first time, only really struggled with the last rep of the last set.

[EvilPie]

Did a repeat of day one today Matt, found it a bit easier than the first time, only really struggled with the last rep of the last set.

Stick to it Tom and don't be tempted to do any extra reps just yet even if it seems easy. The whole idea is that it gets easy then we push it a little bit.

The only thing I'd add if you wanted to is an extra session or two.

Ideally at some point you'll get to doing this pretty much every day which if it's relatively easy will be manageable and hopefully enjoyable as well.

[iRaise]

Day 1 - 4 sets of 6.✔

Day 2 - 5 sets of 5.✔

Day 3 - 6 sets of 4.


Day two was a day late due to unforeseen circumstances.

I found five sets of five easier than 4 sets of six but I still lost form (and some dignity) on the last two reps of set 5.

This seems really impressive!

[iRaise]

Did 3 sets of 4 with 44kg duumbells today unspotted which felt great.    Going to get the 50kg out next week and try and do one rep!

How's this going?

I managed to hit double figures at last with the 50s for the first tie in ages.

Pretty disappointed now that they don't go any higher at my place. They had 54s before they changed from x4l to JD Gyms and I'd definitely be giving them a shot now.

Managed to get 3x8 at 46, unsure if I can get to double figures onto 50s this year, but its on the agenda.

[iRaise]

Nice to see the thread a little more lively.

Quick update my end, at a 4 year heaviest I think at around 89/90kg. Little heavy for me, so I am going to slowly taper it down and aim for 85 by April/May.

Numbers wise some really good stuff across the board. I had my first real fall, I assume I am at a much higher risk now for neurological episodes like this. This one I completely salmon'd down the stairs, couldn't even react quick enough to get my arms out so it left my hip a little sore for a few weeks, which meant legs had to take a creative training plan.

Peaked with RDLs at 4x12 142.5kg, haven't squatted or DL's this year.

OAR a now comfortable 3x8-10 50kg.
Bench 3x8 92.5
Flat 3x8 46
OHP 3x8 62.5
BOR 4x10 97.5

And a few unassisted handstands thrown in.

Nothing major or specific on the horizon, slowly build squats and DLs back in whilst looking to take myself down to 85 again. I think all the other movements should just tick along in the background. Not sure how well OHP will increase as I get lower in BW.