Bret Contreras Has Issued, “The Sexy Challenge”

Bret Contreras made up “The Sexy Challenge” earlier this week and then filmed himself performing the challenge.  He posted it on his website and challenged his readers to give it a go to see how many reps they could achieve.  I’m all for a challenge, so I’m going to be doing this later tonight.  I know it’s going to be hard, and that I’m going to be sore for dayssss – which is why I’m not a fan of performing these types of challenges too often as they can end up messing with your regular training, thus leading to a set-back.  For example, last year I did sumo deadlifts for as many reps as possible and my adductors, glutes, and hamstrings were VERY sore for about 3 days.

But as long you pick your spots and only do these kind of challenges on the rare occasion, they can be a lot of fun without any negative consequences.  So what is the Sexy Challenge?  I’ll let Bret tell you …

-Bodyweight Front Squats X AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)

-Bodyweight RDLs X AMRAP

-Bpdyweight Incline BB Press X AMRAP (females use 1/2 of your BW for this test)

-Bodyweight Hip Thrusts X AMRAP

-Chin-Ups X AMRAP

-Perform (and film – for proof!) as many reps as possible and they must be completed within 1 hour.

I’m looking forward to the challenge.  I’ll film later on this evening and post my results tomorrow.  I’ll post it below on this same page so be sure to check back to see what my number is.  I’m predicting over 100.   We shall see…

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Alright, I’m back today with the results.  In case you missed it yesterday, above I explained what the sexy challenge is all about.  Yesterday evening I performed it, and here is what went down…

Notes

Front Squats – I was pretty happy with my number (16).  But quad/leg strength/endurance was definitely NOT the limiting factor. I rarely, if ever perform higher rep front squats. What stopped me from achieving more than 16 reps was the fact that it started to become very hard to keep my wrists in the extended position.  And it was tough to keep my elbow high for that long of a period, thus the bar started to fall forward a bit.

RDLs - I figured I wouldn’t need clips because of the fact that I’ve done these a million times and keeping the bar horizontal would pose no problem… so I thought!  I actually think that the plate starting sliding a bit when I unracked the bar off of the pins.  And then from there, it slid more and more until it was at the very edge of the barbell.  While 50 is still a pretty good number, I definitely had a bunch left in me.

Incline Press - Nothing of huge note here.  13 reps, not bad.

Hip Thrusts – I was happy with 28 reps. As I noted in the video, it was ALL booty and NO hamstring.  This a good thing as quite off people use too much hamstring and low back when trying to activate their gluteal muscles.

Chin-Ups - About a year ago I tested myself to see how many chins I could get, and I got 22.  That was in a fresh state, so I was pretty happy to get 20 reps after performing the other 4 exercises.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with 127 reps, but I really wish that RDL gaffe wouldn’t have happened.  Damn!  Oh well.  It was a good challenge by Mr. Contreras and in a weird way, it was fun!  I won’t be doing another challenge like this for a few months I’m sure (for the reason mentioned above), but whatever challenge I pick… bring it!!!

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the Superbowl!  I’m not sure which way to go, but will you all do me a favor and root for heads on the coin toss?  I’d appreciate the good vibes.  Of course, I’m rooting for heads because I bet on that every year… for entertainment purposes only!

Connect on twitter – @DannyMcLarty