Okay folks, there are just several days left in the challenge so get your scores and vids posted.
So far Jen Sinkler is in the lead for females and Jaime Rodriguez is in the lead for males. Only time will tell if they have Queen and King Sexy locked in.
Nine people have currently achieved over 100 reps in the challenge (Dead Sexy Award).
Only two males have achieved 15+ reps on each exercise and only 2 females have achieved 10+ reps on each exercise (Sexy All Over Award).
21 out of 30 (which is almost 70%) contestants have beat my 75 rep total (Sexier than BC Award). So it turns out that being sexier than me doesn’t mean much these days!
121 is the current female record (Queen Sexy Award).
146 is the current male record (King Sexy Award).
Out of the contestants who submitted Youtube videos:
22 is the current front squat record (Quadzilla Award).
61 is the current RDL record (Dr. Deadlift Award).
41 is the current hip thrust record (Gluteus Magnificus Award).
21 is the current incline press record (Chisel Chest Award).
22 is the current chin up record (King Cobra Award).
A couple of these were exceeded by folks who didn’t yet submit vids so if those come in then I’ll update the chart.
If you plan on competing in the challenge make sure you post your results in the next few days.
I’ll announce awards on Sunday. Thanks to all who have competed thus far!
Here is a chart showing the current status:
Here are the videos of the current male and female leaders.
Jaime Rodriguez
Jen Sinkler
Gotta love their post-hip thrust faces haha!
Bret I had to get rid of first video. I was scolded for my typo. I put the updated video on you other post in comment box. I was also scolded by mrs. For not doing better. (tough love)
Okay Jaime I made the switch. Great job my friend!
I want the “best video” award!!
Clifton you’ve got that hands-down!
Hey Bret, I think two males have sexy all around award..Jaime and Drew both got all 15′s or better..
Good call Derrick!
Btw, after watching Jaime’s video, I was so amped, I did the Sexy Challenge again today. Was I recovered after 72-hours from Sexy 1.0? uh..Hell no!!
I reversed the order of the exrcs., and managed to beat my previous score by one rep..to get a Sexy 2.0 score of 112.
Sadly I was on pace for 131, but I ABSOLUTELY melted down big time on the final leg of hip thrusts..ha ha..
I put up the vid of Sexy 2.0 on this thread when it’s finished..This is fun stuff. Brutal, but fun..
FSQ-15, IB-14, RDL-45, CHINS-13, HIP THRUST-25= 112.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BiHjb2RZlM
Damn! So close with the incline…had you a hand-off you’d have gotten it. Same thing happened to me with the hip thrusts! I’m good for more but my glutes were fatigued from the RDL’s. Great job maybe I’ll do it again tomorrow and see if I can beat my previous performance. Cheers mate!
How much days are left for this contest? I now how a injury but when im done im gonna crush that Quadzilla record:)
Three more days until I announce awards but of course you can always do the challenge whenever you want (I plan on doing it every six months or so to test myself).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCxjzMOTm3I
I’m pretty happy with 127 reps, but if it wasn’t for that damn RDL gaffe I had a bunch of reps left in me. Good challenge Bret – it was strangely fun!
Danny
Sweet Danny! I knew you’d kick butt at this. I agree – you def had more RDL’s in you…lessons learned. I had to laugh at the spotter too…such a rookie.
Yep, DEFINITELY a rookie! Check his smile/excitement out at the 3:28 mark… he looks so happy to be on camera and to actually be helping out a “real lifter.” I stayed afterwards and gave he and his buddy a few pointers and they were very grateful for that. Always fun helping youngins that are eager and appreciate!
Danny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJz1twaZvfQ
Awesome challenge Bret! I didn’t have a day this week to do it, so I had to rock this out after my Oly training this afternoon.
I am pissed though, I didn’t realize that the bar wasn’t hitting my chest on the presses as I’ve never done them before!
23 Front Squats
10 Chin Ups
25 Hip Thrusts
0 Chest Press (boo! 28 incomplete reps)
37 RDL’s
95 Total @ 145BW
Reppin’ Golds in Ahwatukee
Stefanie
Stefanie,
You went 3/4 of the way down on each rep… so I say take 75% of your total and count that as your incline press number!
Danny
Stefanie, nice to have someone representin’ AZ!!! You did very well and I agree with Danny you could have performed around 20 complete reps but according to the rules you get a big fat zero for those. But next year you know you can easily get 115-125ish. Again, great job!!!
Bret,
My glutes are still sore from the hip thrusts, which is awesome. This challenge opened my eyes that I need to work on my muscular endurance more, as I don’t have as much as I used to have. Doing Olympic lifting has settled me into heavy weights at 3-6 reps max.
Thanks again for putting this challenge together, it was great to see such amazing athletes and their scores!
Stefanie
Stefanie, well…it depends on your goal. Oly lifting doesn’t require muscular endurance so training this way won’t help your Oly lifting proficiency. However, if you have other goals such as hypertrophy and stamina, then of course this type of training will assist in those goals. I have a personal bias toward low reps too and that won’t change. But I do throw in a few sets of higher reps throughout the week so I don’t lose the ability altogether.
Aw, man, I was one incline press away from the Chisel Chest! *facepalm*
Aww shucks…I know this was your goal in life haha!
Bret,
Excellent challenge. Here is my entry: http://youtu.be/DarUlwjvkLk
20 front squats
44 RDLs
22 Hip thrusts
9 Incline Presses
20 Chinups
Thanks.
Great job Chris! And very nice form! Thanks for competing.
Hey Bret,
Strini did the challenge this morning and smoked it!
17 Chinups
30 Front Squats
10 Chest Press
50 RDL’s
100 Hip Thrust
207 reps at 72kg BW
He was completely munted afterwards and spent about 15min flat on the floor while I made protein pancakes for breakfast. Awesome challenge!
Cheers, Ruth and Strini
Hi Ruth and Strini,
I suspected Strini would rock it. This will be the unofficial record but after our talk today I’m curious to see how the hip thrusts would be affected if performed from a higher bench. Anyway I’m sure Strini would still achieve the record but of course we will await video proof down the road (maybe in another month when Strini is recovered haha!). But this is why I urged you to compete…I knew Strini would rock it.
And glad you’re taking good care of your man Ruth; after a set of 100 rep hip thrusts a man needs some protein pancakes to refuel his gluteal glycogen haha!
Much love! BC
Unrelated question, couldn’t find an answer from google. What is your strength standard for hip thrusts(i.e. 2x bodyweight for back squats)?
Denis, as I’ve mentioned in the past, most folks can hip thrust more than they can squat and deadlift more than they can hip thrust. So it goes:
squat < hip thrust < deadlift
A 400 lb squat, 450 lb hip thrust, and 500 lb deadlift is impressive (but the hip thrust is more suited toward sets of 3 reps or higher since it’s a contracted-position exercise with a descending strength curve), and relative to bw maybe 2X bodyweight for 3 reps is a better indicator as it takes into account relative strength. Hope that help!
Here is my entry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75dFL3TytHw
Very good Miguel! I wonder how your RDL’s would have been affected had you kept a big arch and sat back and only went down just past knee height. In other words, your RDL’s looked more like regular deads with high hips and a bit of rounding (this is how I deadlift when the loads get heavy) than Romanian style which is characterized by an anterior pelvic tilt, lumbar extension, vertical bar path that skims the body and a maximal posterior displacement of the hips relative to the bar’s COM. At any rate, great job and thx for competing.
True. I might have misinterpreted the rules a bit, but then again this was after a 2RM Deadlift day for me (I’ve been doing deads all week), so my hips and back have really been fried from the get-go. Thanks for the reply.
just finished this. 26 chin ups, 25 hip thrusts, 22 front squats, 12 incline bench, 73 rdl = 158 total. Will post video in the next coupld of hours for form critique/approval.
Mike
Just finished this. Weighing 70kg – 26 chin ups, 25 hip thrusts, 22 front squats, 12 incline presses, 73 rdls, = 158 total.
Will post video soon.
Mike
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=ZNu3vkzF5wg
Hey Bret, above is my entry hope I’m not to late.
Thanks
Andrew
Andrew, your link didn’t work. Score 105 with Vid evidence
http://youtu.be/ZNu3vkzF5wg
Oh well I knew I wouldnt be able to hold on to the crown. Great job mike. I need to improve my hip thrust. I’ll be ready next time. Unless I try it again next month. =>
Thanks mate. You’ll be out in front next month – there’s no way I’m subjecting myself to that again for a while! Looking above though,I think Strini now has the unofficial record @ 207 :O
I don’t know strini but 100 reps of anything seams hard to believe. I’m sure the guy is an animal though. I praise him.
Strini is a machine. He is a rare combination of strength, power, and endurance and I knew he’d rock this comp. That said, I’m wondering if he could repeat this hip thrust performance off a higher bench (I called him and he informed me that he used an aerobics step). Personally I think that this would bring his hip thrust total down to around 60-70 reps but I’m merely speculating.
Anyway, this is a good piloting year and next year we can repeat the competition and be more strict/stringent with the requirements.
Hey Mike,
First off I want to congratulate you as you did an outstanding job and you’re super strong. I will, however, take you up on your offer, as I’d like to take the opportunity to turn this into a “teachable moment.”
Before I begin I want to say that my form isn’t “all-that” and I’m not as strict in my own training as many of my colleagues, so I could stand to “practice what I preach.”
If I were in Jaime’s shoes I’d be a bit annoyed right now as you’ve beaten him but your form wasn’t as strict. If he chose to be more lax, he could most likely match or beat your score.
For example, when watching your chin up vid, pause the screen when you get to the bottom of the rep. You’ll notice that your arms and shoulders are still a bit bent and you’re not at a dead-hang. Hip thrusts are pretty good; you go deep enough but some of the reps you aren’t quite locking out up top. Front squats are fine. Incline press is fine (elbows are quite flared but I do that too and don’t find it problematic for incline press). Many of the RDL’s appear shallow and your upper back is quite rounded on them. Hard to tell as the bar is in the way…I’m not sure if you’re descending past the knees. I round my upper back too on deads but I know it’s not ideal form. For RDL’s, however, I arch the entire back and don’t allow thoracic flexion.
I suspect that if you did the challenge again and used very strict form, you’d probably shave 8 reps off your chin, 3 reps off your hip thrust, and 10 reps off your RDL, so around 20 reps less on the challenge if you were strict.
I would love it if you performed the challenge again with more strict form. I’m not trying to take anything away from you as you’re a very strong dude pound for pound and I very much respect that. But you have room for improvement in the form department and it’s really good to be using good habits as the longer you perform the incorrectly, the harder it becomes to correct the bad habits.
So congrats and hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two with my response. Cheers!
I promise at least 160 next time.
So what is the judges ruling on the crown holder?
I will wait until the end of today to post a new blog announcing final results. Stay tuned.
hey bret, that’s cool i take it on board.
In response, my shoulder/upper back mobility is crap, hence the rounding on the rdls, and not quite dead hanging the pullups – working on it though
.
Hip thrusts – first time ever doing them, so can’t really argue if form wasn’t spot on.
Rdls – hand on heart, every single one did go below the kneecap, although i realise you can’t see that, maybe a front view would have been better for judging that.
Cheers, mike.
Mike, I believe you regarding RDL’s. And I’m not sure if the RDL’s/chin ups are due to restrictions in thoracic/shoulder mobility. I’m not suggesting that you have optimal mobility as I believe you could use more.
For the chins, you do go down far enough on some of the reps, indicating that you possess sufficient ROM to reach full depth. I argue with my twin bro about this all the time as his chins look identical to yours. I go all the way down on mine and he stops around 5-10 degrees shy of dead hang. If I make him do it from dead hang he gets around 6 chins but if he does it his way he gets 12. So he sticks to his way. This is simply due to the fact that his “starting muscles” are weak as the pecs and low traps initiate a chin (Youdas et al. 2011) while lats and biceps brachii lockout.
If you made it a policy to start chinning from a dead hang every single repetition, then within a month it would feel naturally and you wouldn’t be tempted to skimp on your ROM as you’d be equally strong throughout the entire range of motion.
Second, with the RDL’s and upper back rounding, I don’t see this as being due to mobility deficits either. I have the same issue and I have good thoracic extension mobility; it’s just that I’ve trained my body to be stronger in this position through years of practice. So the rounding feels normal to me and when I arch the entire spine it feels strange. This isn’t mobility-related; it’s motor control.
You can choose to ignore it and perform deads like this your whole life as I have, or to start working on it and spend six months getting dl’s to feel natural with a big upper back arch (which takes time as you’re regrooving neural patterns).
Just my two cents!
fair enough, you’re probably right, maybe i use crappy mobility as an excuse, and motor patterns aren’t as they should be on all exercises. I’ll work on it.
Well Mike, the good news is that research shows that strength training is just as effective for mobility purposes as stretching, so if you use full ROM on overhead and chinning work, and you arch the upper back hard on deads, you’ll be building mobility and cementing new motor patterns while gaining strength. But don’t beat yourself up as you rocked this competition. However, as you get older you tend to appreciate folks who are super-strict.
When I was 19 yrs old I was quarter-squatting with 275 lbs and some huge beast walked behind me and said, “Why don’t you drop down to 135 lbs and squat all the way down like a man?” He didn’t even look at me and just kept walking. I implemented his advice, full squatted 135, was sore as hell the next day in good places, and I’ve never looked back to this day. In other words, I try to use full range on all movements and I try to have really clean form (except I round when deadlifts exceed around 455ish).
So I have a feeling that one day you’ll thank me for my somewhat harsh advice to you, just as I thank that beast who scolded me 16 years ago. But amazing job nevertheless.
Here’s my video. I think my form’s okay, although if there are any issues with anything I’ll take it on the chin, so feel free to criticise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVuZjGYXusM&feature=youtu.be
Great job mike!
BC, I tried to broach this topic early on in the original thread. My honest intention was not to be a “nit-picker”, but b/c I knew that these types of issues would come up. I remember when Waterbury had a pull up challenge, and the winner I don’t think went to a dead hang one time, and there was a bit of an uproar. I knew that I had zero chance at winning this thing, but every one wants to have a uniform standard to compete against. I realize that we are all in theory competing against ourselves, but I think it helps us all to go to the wall, if we have another competitor in our minds as we wade into the “danger zone” of later reps.
Along these same lines, if Molly used a safety squat bar, this frankly does give her a biomechanical edge over Jen. Make no mistake, Molly is truly a REMARKABLE athlete, simply outstanding, but so is Jen! They both represent the best of what training can do for a person. They both take my breath away.
Let me just say that everybody who put themselves through this test gets my admiration, and I like to feel like we are all brothers and sisters in arms. Most of us aren’t going to set any world records, or anything, so it is just the pure love of training that drives us.
Mad props to everyone, and thanks to Bret and friends for devising this challenge which has given me one of the best weeks of training ever!
Derrick, I hear you brutha. I had the same fears which is why I tried to create clear rules up front (without overwhelming readers with too many rules or getting too wordy) and went with exercises that were easier to standardize. I’m aware that you weren’t being nit-picky and I’m the same way; I like a level playing field. Regarding the sqb front squats I can only speculate as I haven’t performed them…my friend Ben doesn’t think there’s much of an advantage and I value his input. I’m more concerned with ROM as we all know cutting things a bit short makes an exercise much easier. But this is all a learning experience and next year we can revisit the challenge with more stringent guidelines. I appreciate your input Derrick, BC
Derrick, many thanks for the compliments on Molly’s and my performance. Right back atcha!
One last post, b/c I think I have “over-posted” already.
The advantage of the SSB squat may be negligible as far as hip/PC leverages. However the real front squat weak link is the upper back, particularly in an extended set type setting. If you watch Molly’s squats, particularly as the set wears on (ex. 3:41), she is able to drop her elbows altogether, and regroup. This would be more or less impossible on a straight bar squat, as the upper back would begin to roll forwards.
Most of us could keep repping out legs and butt-wise, but the crumbling of the upper back is what usually terminates a front squat set.
Once again, let me stress that I mean no disrespect to Molly, who “brought it” big, big time. Just trying to see it from a neutral standpoint. I don’t know any of these competitors; I’m not a fitness pro, I’m not on Facebook, etc. I’m just a random dude who loves to train.
Hopefully I haven’t worn out my welcome on your blog, and thanks again, Bret.
Derrick,
Your input is highly valued on this blog as you’re a critical thinker and you’re respectful; two qualities that I greatly appreciate. Very good point about the upper back being the limiting factor. Since the safety squat bar front squat is still placed in front of the neck (but the plate placement is shifted posteriorly), I wonder how much that changes matters and if it does in fact shift the limiting factor to the hips/legs.
BTW this would be an excellent study idea.
BC
Here’s my 2nd attempt. I had a huge deficit to overcome with the pressing so I didn’t know if it would be worth it, but since Jen was gunning for the top spot I joined in. It definitely makes a big difference when you’ve got a number in mind to hit.
Total of 152.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pozo6ues-Fw
Great second go.. Will Bret count a second go. Either way I tip my hat. Well deserved.
Cheers, thanks for raising the bar!
You dudes are bad to the bone.
Damn that’s impressive Dave! Great job my friend.
Aaaand here’s my second attempt, for score of 150 this time: http://youtu.be/g7QTN8o4fD4. (Side note: Turns out Dave beat me by TWO reps, not one…dammit.);)
I was able to make some progress on incline bench, RDLs and hip thrusts (which are my new very favorite thing). Molly lit the fire when she turned in a score of 124 the other day, so I couldn’t resist giving it another go with more of a game plan (although I think I’ll be able to hold off for at least few months now).:)
Breakdown:
Front squats: 21 (same as last time)
Incline bench: 28 (up from 21)
RDLs: 61 (up from 50)
Chin-ups: 9 (down from 10…oops)
Hip thrust: 31 (up from 19)
Must say, this has been a LOT of fun, and I’ve greatly appreciated the kind comments and positive feedback in the comments. Bret, you’ve done a fantastic job cultivating a thoughtful and respective space here — kudos to you and your crew.
Jen, I’m very impressed that you made so much progress in such a short amount of time; my take is that there was a large training effect given that you hadn’t performed incline press, high rep RDLs and hip thrusts and you had sufficient rest in between bouts to allow for improvements/adaptations. Thanks for the kind words, it has been fun! BC
That’s gotta be it! Gotta love the mad progress you make when you first start doing a lift. I think, in addition, you more rapidly break down mental barriers once you get a starter set under your belt (weightlifting pun!).
BC Sexy v.3.0: 127-reps
IB-14
CH-17
HT-43
FSQ-12
RDL-41
3rd attempt this week. Didn’t really intend to go through with it, but watched ddn, and jen..
“nuff said.
Vid to follow..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV8TQxOr2OA
Don’t know if I made it in under the deadline. Posted the above results on Sunday night 8:17pm, US PST.
Derrick, that had me cracking up; luckily dropping the bar with only bw bb loads isn’t particularly dangerous for you as it’s pretty light. Interesting choice of exercise order…
Ha ha!! I know, right? For a split second, I considered continuing the set, “Zercher-style”, lol..
The working theory is that the IB’s and chins don’t really affect the lower body totals, but the lower body lifts smash you pretty good, and downgrade the upper body numbers. Stole it from one of Martin Rooney’s videos, (who btw would crush this thing).
Hey Bret, I posted on your FB wall but I did the challenge Friday and it was a hell of a time, I got 164, 62 RDL, 22 Front, 18 Chin, 50 HT and 12 Press
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDlt-uocqyo&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYTzgeBkqE8&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuwGsbrUPTk&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxF6-tlesZU&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgDIDs45mU&feature=youtu.be
Dale, I didn’t see your post until now. I have reviewed your video and am going to announce the contest results shortly, so stay tuned.
Great Challenge Bret,
I did it a week ago and here are my results. Sorry no video I was in a hurry.
Body weight @195lbs. Workout Time 31 min.
Front Squats 8 reps
RDLs 31r
Inc. Bench 3r
Hip Bridge 25r
Chin Ups 13r
Great challenge and I look forward to doing it again next month