The Sexy Challenge - my starting point

Last year Bret Contreras posted The Sexy Challenge, a combination of 5 exercises to test overall strength.  To complete the challenge you have to do max reps of the following 5 exercises in an hour with your body weight (or half body weight for one):

1. Front Squat (140lbs)
2. Dead lift (140lbs)
3. Chin Ups
4. Incline Bench Press (70lbs)
5. Barbell Hip Thrusts (140lbs)

Although I do a lot of training with kettlebells, I have barely ever touched a barbell so while the challenge seems like a good goal it is a little intimidating to me.  Also, I can’t even do one chin up without using the bands, but I guess that is what makes this an even better goal.  I decided to give myself a baseline and see where I am and what I need to work on.  After a kettlebell sport workout I played around with some of these exercises.

I usually do trap bar dead lifts, so transitioning to the straight bar was pretty simple.  I did a bunch of sets gradually building up in weight and at the end hit 4 reps at 140lbs.  The hip thrusts are probably the easiest for me since a lot of what we do at the gym targets the ass.  I also found that a barbell front squat is WAY easier than a kettlebell goblet squat, and was able to get up to 108lbs.  I need to work to get this a little higher, but I think with some practice I can get there in a few months.

Now my upper body is a different story.  Earlier in the week I tried an inclince bench and got 3 reps at 45lbs.  I have a long way to go with both this and the chin ups, so that is where I need to focus most of my work.