Blonde will make you STRONG

[the sicilian]

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

[iRaise]

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?

[the sicilian]

Yeah intensity is way down.. probably operating at 60% when it comes to the crazy stuff.. I’m hoping once they fix me I can ramp it up a bit don’t think I’ll get back to the lunacy of  a couple years ago.. may be a good thing in the long run lol

[iRaise]

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.

[muckthenuts]

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.

[the sicilian]

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

[iRaise]

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.

[iRaise]

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.

[the sicilian]

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.

Be surprised how much of it can be mental.. many times ive gone into a lift thinking, 'im never lifting that' etc... positive thinking 

[iRaise]

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.