Oh, we're on the same page.... Now. :D I see the name and singles so I kinda got scared.

Ok guys you got me! Its not west side by the book, its definately modified.

I am not a power lifter and I have no intentions of being in any meets any time soon. However, I do enjoy getting stronger on my main lifts like a power lifter. But I also like making gains on military press.

The Basis of my workout is:

Lower 1 - ME Deads, DE Front squat

Upper 1 - ME Bench, DE M press (aka push press)

Lower 2 - ME Squat, cleans

Upper 2 - ME Military Press, DE bench

Of course there is supporting movements like extra tricep work, core work, some bicep work just for fun etc.

Considering the level of my training ... I'd say somewhere along the higher side of intermediate? ... I think its a good program and its getting me gains.

If I'm missing something that you think will really help me out then by all means, point it out. I'm all eyes/ears.


IronWorker

if all of your me work is near or over 90%....that's might be too much for one week...i'll do some searching...i know i read that in an article on westside or on maximal lifting.

right here:

http://www.bodybuilding.net/21517-2-post.html

So you think just the 4 maximal exercises per week is too much?

I see what DH is saying about the cleans. I just got carried away with those. They are supposed to be higher volume but I was having fun with them on that day.

IronWorker

dave tate appears to think so :)

I know Eric would agree 1,000% with me that you should seriously consider what mustgetbig is doing: The 5/3/1 Method for raw lifting. It's featured military pressing one day which is something you're serious about. I have a microsoft template I could send you.

Send it to me. I'm always willing to look over a new program. At the very least, I'll learn something.

I dunno, I guess I'm just scared to ditch a movement like military press because I consider it very important/functional. Also, if I were to start competing in something, I would say chances are better that I'd get into strong man style competetions. I have a long ways to get before I'd feel ready for that but just to give you an idea of what I would like to do with my gym gains.


IronWorker

im actually not doing it right now lol,i went back to ME and DE days lol.

If you're not willing to only hit the gym 3 days per week, or use no more than 3 ASSISTANCE exercises per day, then it's not for you. :) It took me a while to work on it, so it's not something I'm willing to dull out to a group of members who aren't serious about doing it. Looking through your journal, I don't see you liking it quite frankly. With 4 ME lifts, and compound speed work mixed in with your template, I'm 99% certain you wouldn't follow it.

I'm not sure why you would bother telling me about it if you didn't want me to know about it anyways.

IronWorker

Because like I said, if you were serious about letting go and doing a program that guarantees results as written, then I'd have sent it and would've answered any and all questions you may have either via pm, shoutbox, ect to get you going. I kinda thought you would've said "hell yeah", so there would've been a happy ending LOL. It took my a while to organize everything from Wendler's writings about it and putting it in place with explanations, so that's why I said I wasn't about to send it away to fifteen different members. I haven't been around a whole lot in quite a while, so I really don't have any business offering advice in people's journals since I'm too far behind the eight ball. :D So to sum up, one thing I hate most of all is when I give advice that's exactly what I trainee needs, and they don't follow it because it doesn't look like it's fun, or goes against preconcieved notions of what's right and wrong.. Although if you look at my stats, and consider that I'm drug free and working 60 plus hours on top of that, I'm a beast! LMAO! :D Not trying to offend in here, just thought it was going in another direction than giving you some bathroom reading.

Monday Oct 14th/2008 - Lower 1


Deads
-60kg x 5
-80kg x 4
-110kg x 2
-150kg x 1
-160kg 2 x 1

I actually almost blacked out after the last rep. Definately not feeling 100%.

DE Low Box Squats

-bar x 5
-95lbs x 5
-115lbs x 3
-135lbs 10x2


Leg Raises
bw 3 x 6

I did these hammer grip and its much easier on the shoulder.

Oblique Work - Cable Twist
3x10 - 45bs, 50s, 55bs


Thougths

Well I guess my sickness really hasn't left me completely. I was feeling pretty bad on deads today and struggled to finish the rest of my workout. Hopefully I'll be better soon.

IronWorker

it might be beneficial for you to do some 3 x 3's around 90 percent or a little under...not always max singles.

You could be right. I may start switching back and forth.

IronWorker

At least wait til you're 100% for sure before you hit the singles again.

Explain this ^^?

Wednesday Oct 15th/2008 - Upper 1

Weight: 184.5lbs

ME CG BB Bench Press
-bar x 8
-135lbs x 5
-185lbs x 3
-205lbs x 2
-225lbs x 2
-235lbs x 1 (current PR)
-240lbs x 0

Well I have 240lbs if I would warm up correctly. I had the weight moving up off my chest then I arched so hard I tweaked my back and let it down. Next time I should have it.

DE CG BB M.Press
45lbs x 5
75lbs x 4
85lbs 10x3 (~60%)

Moved back to a more appropriate weight for this exercise. All 10 sets had great speed.

Pull-ups
bw x 3
bw + 25lbs 4x2
bw x 6

Solid. Felt good to get some higher intensity sets in there.

Cable Tricep Extension
70lbs x 12
80lbs x 12
90lbs x 12
100lbs x 12

Was just starting to burn out at the last rep. Good place to end off.

Thougths

Well this CG work is really paying off for me it feels like. I just got a m press PR last week and I think a bench PR is in order now too. My shoulder is feeling much healthier now too.

This work out was great. Under an hour --> short and sweet.

I-Dub

You almost blacked out and you said you weren't feeling 100%. Logically you should probably wait til you're feeling 100% so that you don't blackout.:)

Oh ok, I see. I didn't know what you were reffering too. Ya you are probably right. I didn't realize how bad it was until I started pulling singles though.

IronWorker

Thursday Oct 16th/2008 - Lower 2


ME Parallel Box Squat
-bar x 5
-135lbs x 5
-185lbs x 3
-205lbs x 2
-225lbs x 1
-255lbs x 1
-275lbs x 1
-295lbs x 1 (10lb PR)
-300lbs x 1 (15lb PR!)

Very solid day! Everything just felt right. I wasn't sure if I'd hit 295 but when I did it felt so damn good. So I went right up to 300 to finally break into that 300 terrirtory. I think these are going to help my A2G free squats out alot once I come back.

Power Cleans
bar x 5
40kg x 5
50kg 8 x 2

Switched the cleans back to a more conventional speed work style rep scheme. I think this will be much more beneficial then what I was doing. I was really focusing on the pop off the floor.

Planks
front plank - 1:15
side plank - 1:00 min each
front plank - 1:30
side plank - 1:00 min each

My core was absolutely destroyed after box squats today. Planks were very tough.

Thougths

Holy squats batman. I really didn't think I'd be able to move that much weight but I'm damn glad I did!

I think my workout partner and I are going to switch to a true 3-day west side program soon. We're both feeling the strains of lifting heavy 4x per week.

IronWorker

Congrats on the PR, that's sick.

nice pr.

Thanks boyz! I appreciate the support.


IronWorker

Friday Oct 17th/2008 - Upper 2

Weighed out at 185.8lbs.

ME CG BB Military Press
bar x 8
75lbs x 5
95lbs x 3
115lbs x 2
135lbs x 1
155lbs x 1
160lbs x 1 (5lb PR!)
135lbs x 5

Had an awesome day. I just made a 5lb PR with this last week and another 5lbs this week. Sweet! It was the slowest grinder of a rep I've ever seen though. lol It felt like forever but the bar just kept creepin along. lol


DE BB CG Bench Press
bar x 8
95lbs x 5
125lbs 10x2


Skull Crushers
40lbs x 10
50lbs x 10, 10, 9


BB Bicep Curl
bar x 10
40lbs x 10, 10, 8

Thougths

The last two days have been awesome! Huge PR on squats and a 5lb PR 2 weeks in a row on press. I'm happy.

IronWorker

Sick squats Dub,congrats on the 300 milestone.Nice pressing too.

Thanks Hits! Gotta catch up to you somehow.... lol


IronWorker

300's is amazing. Good Job , bud :D

So if 300 is amazing what is the word for your 500? lol

Thanks Talo.

IronWorker

a milestone :biglaugh:

Monday Oct 20th/2008 - Lower 1


Deads
-60kg x 5
-80kg x 4
-100kg x 3
-120kg x 2
-140kg x 1
-160kg x 1
-170kg x 1 (5kg PR)
-100kg x 7

Well I made the pull but my form definately slipped. I might have given myself a small strain so I did some lighter weight to give it a good stretch afterwards. We'll see how my low back feels tomorrow but I definately know that my low back needs to be worked on in order to bring up my deadlift.

DE High Box Front Squats

-bar x 5
-95lbs x 5
-115lbs 10 x 2

Very fast. Holding a very tight arch made my back feel better as well.


Back Extensions
bw x 10, 3x12

First time doing these. Focuses on maintaining a natural back position and making sure the motion was coming from my hips. Went down until I felt a pull in the hammies. I think these should help my deads/squats alot once I get some weight on them.


Hanging Leg Raises
bw 3 x 7

Working back up to reasonable numbers slowly.


Thougths

Well I made the PR but I'm a little disapointed. My form sucked pretty bad. On a positive note that puts me back over the 2.0x bw ratio for deads. Alright.

Also, my workout partner and I have decided to change our routine to a 3 day program. We will be following westside much more by the book. As far as basic setup is it kind of like this?:

Day 1 - ME Bench (or variation)+ Bench Assistance

Day 2- ME Squat/Deadlift (or variation) + squat/DL assistance

Day 3 - DE Bench / DE squat or DL

Is that the general idea or am I missing something. I'll be looking around in DH's journal and Hits journal because I think they are following WS pretty closely.

IronWorker

If you ever feel like you have gotten a strain then just stop working it. Stretching or pumping or anything like that is just encouraging more damage. I know that sometimes you just have a knotty muscle or an overactive area and so a little stretch or foam roller can be just the same..but if you really feel like it's a strain, the first order of business is to not damage it further.

Point taken E.

My back feels tight today but not really too sore so I'll be alright. I really gotta work on my low back stability.

IronWorker

weighted planks...plenty of bird dogs :)

Are the back extensions you do the same thing as hyper extensions?

Could be. I assumed hyper extensions meant you went past the point of your natural arch which I don't. Maybe they are the same thing.

IronWorker

I suppose they probably are the same thing. I do mine with one leg locked in while holding a DB. They're fun. You can use resistance bands or chains also.

Tuesday Oct 21st/2008 - Upper 1

Weight: 184.8lbs

ME CG BB Bench Press
-bar x 8
-135lbs x 5
-185lbs x 3
-205lbs x 3
-215lbs x 3
-225lbs x 3
-235lbs x 2 (current PR)

Very happy with today's bench workout. I did 2 reps of my current PR and I did more reps coming up to it. Nice.


DE CG BB Incline Bench
45lbs x 5
65lbs x 4
95lbs 6x3

I have never really done incline... and wow is it way different. I found it very difficult considering the weight.

Pull-ups
bw x 3
bw + 25lbs 2x2
bw + 35lbs 2x1
bw x 6

Well I'm trying to get the total weight pulled up so I can increase the reps done with lower weight/no weight.

DB Sitting Skull Crusher
35lbs x 10
45lbs x 12
55lbs x 8
65lbs x 8
55lbs x 8

I found these work my triceps slightly unevenly since my hands are "stacked" underneath the DB. The hand that is directly on the DB does more of the work then the hand that is pushing on the other hand. (did I say hand too many times? lol)

Thougths

I'm very happy with the benching results. I should be albe to nail a PR sometime soon.

And now its time to take a day off and hopefully get my back in shape for squatting on thursday.


I-Dub

i did that on pullups for awhile...and when i got back to body weight...i ripped out sixteen. still not flyusmc though :)

So what does everyone think of a 3 day WS program like this:

Day 1(monday) - ME Squat/Deadlift + squat/DL assistance

Day 2(thursday) - ME Bench + bench assistance

Day 3(saturday) - DE Squat/Deadlift + DE Bench


Hits has the DE days split out but I'd like to be able to stick em together if possible. Does this work?

Thanks guys,

IW