Thread: Soxmuscle Presents: Westside Training

Originally Posted by Triple Threat

What about the bands didn't you like? I've never used chains, so I can't compare, but when using bands, I found it a struggle to keep the bar level. I guess that's the point, though.

I don't think I set the bands up properly. I had two people ask me about the chains, everybody else was staring at me and I had to be into work at 9, so I felt obligated to begin.

Maybe I'll give them another go on Thursday.

Chains did for me exactly what the bands did for you. It was impossible to keep the bar level and straight. Good stuff, I'll probably be taking advantage of them quite a bit for the rest of the summer while I have them available.

Originally Posted by Saturday Fever

You want to do some real damage, add chains or bands when doing hyperextensions. It creates a whole new world of hurt.

How would the chain hang? Currently I'm doing my hyperextensions the same exact way Mike does his. Curling an EZ bar between my forearms and biceps. So far, I haven't been able to do more than three sets because my lower back is just fried afterwards.

Tuesday; 7.9.07

ME Squat/Deadlift

Deadlifts
135 x 5
165 x 3
195 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 3
285 x 2
315 x 2
345 x 1
375 x 1
405 x 1
415 x 0

Box Squats
135 x 3
165 x 3
195 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 2
285 x 1
315 x 0 (couldn't touch the box, happens outside of the gym too)

Yates Rows
225 x 4
205 x 6
185 x 8
195 x 6
205 x 6

Shrugs
325 x 10 x 5

Hyperextenions
55 x 6 x 3

Diet:

1. Shake (2 cups of Skim Milk, Stawberries, Banana, 1.5 scoops Whey)
2. Shake (1.5 scoops Whey, Dextrose)
3. Banana
4. Footlong Subway Sandwich (Sweet Onion Chicken Terayki, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, green peppers, onions, jalapenos, carrots)
5. *Will edit as day progresses*

My workout this morning started off rather slow, but ended up being phenomenal. I don't know if it was because it was so early in the morning and I was more tired than usual, but the deadlifts seemed to lack. I was taking long Rest Intervals because I didn't feel like I was going to be able to do my best without them. The workout stretched to the 75-80 minute mark, which sucks, but I honestly felt like I would have died just past 315 pounds had I not. I prepared for about five minutes to get that 405, something I've done in the past, by running to the bathroom and splashing water on my face. For some reason, I just couldn't get out of bed mode. Then I hit the 405 and my body started going. Squats followed and were excellent, rows were excellent, shrugs were excellent, and yup, you guessed it, hyperextensions were excellent. Good workout, too long, but that happens from time to time. A much needed off day tomorrow. I can sleep in until 8:30!

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

How would the chain hang? Currently I'm doing my hyperextensions the same exact way Mike does his. Curling an EZ bar between my forearms and biceps. So far, I haven't been able to do more than three sets because my lower back is just fried afterwards.

You can hold one end of the chains or bands in the crook of your elbows. Or you can wrap them around your hands and hold a DB behind your head. Plenty of places to put stuff. It causes the tension to shift lower and lower as you ascend.

Honestly I am sure it would help things out, but it really sounds risky SF. I have heard many people simply say dont add weight to your hypers.....lets ask the Funk about this one.

Oh beautiful deads!!!!

VERY Beautiful Deads!!! Excellent w/o's in here BRother Sox!!!

Originally Posted by Saturday Fever

You can hold one end of the chains or bands in the crook of your elbows. Or you can wrap them around your hands and hold a DB behind your head. Plenty of places to put stuff. It causes the tension to shift lower and lower as you ascend.

Once I start to get to a respectable figure with the way I'm currently doing it, I may look into trying these. Nice.

Originally Posted by Double D

Honestly I am sure it would help things out, but it really sounds risky SF. I have heard many people simply say dont add weight to your hypers.....lets ask the Funk about this one.

So long as I'm adding weight in a responsible manner, I think I'll be fine.

What did Patrick have to say?

Originally Posted by Archangel

VERY Beautiful Deads!!! Excellent w/o's in here BRother Sox!!!

Why thank you, Mr. 300

I went to the gym tonight, did 10 minutes of interval training at 9.0 and 4.5; I finished up with some ab work before hitting the showers, literally.

I'm up early tomorrow morning, probably heading to bed here shortly.

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

So long as I'm adding weight in a responsible manner, I think I'll be fine.

What did Patrick have to say?

I dont know I havent asked him.

Journal is really looking good, dude. Nice to see SF is in here posting I love his point of view. But seeing all these Westside workouts makes me want to jump back on Westside but I can't do it. I just feel like I've become too accustomed to 2 days on / 1 day off, and on my rest day I'm itching to get in the gym. Now that I'm on my 3 days on / 1 day off, I feel like I'm progressing much more nicely.

Anyway - I'm stoned as hell rambling.

Originally Posted by M.J.H.

Journal is really looking good, dude. Nice to see SF is in here posting I love his point of view. But seeing all these Westside workouts makes me want to jump back on Westside but I can't do it. I just feel like I've become too accustomed to 2 days on / 1 day off, and on my rest day I'm itching to get in the gym. Now that I'm on my 3 days on / 1 day off, I feel like I'm progressing much more nicely.

Anyway - I'm stoned as hell rambling.

Stick with what you're doing. There's too much/too frequent changes in your neck of the woods. It is good that you're liking your program though.

SF's a huge help. I love that he's been chiming in of late.

I'm stoned now.

ME Bench, 7.13.07

Decline Bench: 95x6, 115x4, 135x3, 150x3, 165x3, 180x3, 195x3, 210x3, 225x3, 240x1, 255x½.

Seated Military Press: 95x4, 110x4, 125x3, 140x2, 115x5, 95x7.

CG Bench: 135x6, 155x5, 175x3, 155x5, 135x6.

Upright Rows: 115x6x3.

Seated French Press: 75x5, 75x3, 65x5, 65x5.

Pec Deck: 160x7, 180x5, 200x4, 120x3

Diet:

1. Shake (Strawberries, Banana, 1 cup low fat ice cream, 2 cups skim milk, 1.5 scoops whey)
2. Shake (1.5 scoops whey, dextrose, water)
3. 2 cups of 2% milk, MetRX Big100 bar
4. 1 lb ground sirloin, two pieces of seven grain toast
5. 2 cans Tuna w/ Omega 3 Mayo, blueberries, strawberries scooped with celery sticks.
6. 1 cup skim milk, 1.5 scoops Muscle Milk

Summary:

I slept through my alarm this morning, but thankfully woke up at 6:55AM and only slept an extra 1.5 hours. I got to work that same amount of time late, but all was well. Workout was fantastic this morning. I started off sleepy which is why I threw on 95 and 115. I really just couldn't snap out of it and didn't until I got my boost: The Undertake Theme Song on shuffle. I hadn't heard it in so long, I was loving it. I proceeded to set personal records hitting 240 for a single at the Gravity Gym. I tried to get 255 but I felt as if my spotter helped me too much. My Military presses are starting to fly up. I'm glad because I've always felt weak in that exercise. CG Bench was fun, I really sped through those and was still able to put up some solid weight considering that my hands were just about touching eachother. French Presses were fabulous. They're quickly turning into my favorite exercise. Upright Rows were good too, 115 felt tolerable when a month or two ago I wasn't able to do more than 1 or 2. I finished extremely strong on the Pec Deck's as well. I hadn't done 200 on the Pec Deck ever before. It felt good. I am curious about one thing though, I'm going to have to start performing solely flat bench on ME Bench days because going heavy on these other exercises (incline, decline, etc.) has been making my elbow and shoulder tweak. I think I'm fine right now, so I want to solve the problem before it actually becomes one. I'm waking up early tomorrow morning once again. I'm off to beddy-pies.

Here are some pics I took this morning before I went to the gym:

- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin4.jpg

This was my favorite pic, so I decided to fuss around with it and make it look cooler. AKA, I inverted the colors, ha. I'm still a beginner with Photoshop.

- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin3.jpg

It looks like I'm grabbing my junk, so I'm going to roll with it. Eff all of you.

- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin1.jpg
- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin2.jpg

Blah. A little bloated after downing my morning shake, but I wanted to get something up and running because I haven't in years.

Edit: My brother took three of them, I took the legs pic.

DE Squat/Deadlift, 7.13.07

SLDL: 175x3x8

Superset, Leg Press/ Leg Extensions: 150x8/200x10, 8/10, 10/12, 12/12

Dumbbell Rows: 50x10, 75x8, 85x8, 95x7, 105x5, 110x4

Plate Loaded Lat Pulldown: 175x6, 160x8, 145x8, 130x10, 115x10

Hyperextensions: 45x8, 55x6, 45x8

Superset, DB Hammer Curls/Hammer Strength Curls: 30x10,8,7/50x10,5,5

Hip Abduction: 3x10x100

Diet:

1. Shake (Strawberries, banana, 1 cup low fat ice cream, 2 cups skim)
2. Shake (Water, 1.5 scoops of whey, dextrose)

Summary:

Ended what was a phenomenal week. Every workout this week was exceptional. Look what happens when I take the weekend off from drinking and just relax. Of course that will go in... one ear and out the other, starting tonight. I was going to do Speed Deads but I decided to do light SLDL's without much rest between sets. DB rows were fantastic, the only thing slowing me down on those is my grip strength (which is also improving). Lat Pulldowns were great, my gym hunny was right by me offering some excellent motivation, ha. All and all a great workout, nothing really else to dive into, workout speaks for itself in my opinion. Monday, monday, monday...

Two thumbs up for sox.

Originally Posted by Witchblade

Two thumbs up for sox.

Thanks, WB56 - Channel 56, the U!

Great w/o's Brother Sox!!! Keep it up and enjoy the weekend!!!

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

Here are some pics I took this morning before I went to the gym:

- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin4.jpg

This was my favorite pic, so I decided to fuss around with it and make it look cooler. AKA, I inverted the colors, ha. I'm still a beginner with Photoshop.

- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin3.jpg

It looks like I'm grabbing my junk, so I'm going to roll with it. Eff all of you.

- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin1.jpg
- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...83/Justin2.jpg

Blah. A little bloated after downing my morning shake, but I wanted to get something up and running because I haven't in years.

Edit: My brother took three of them, I took the legs pic.

You've certainly got some nice deadlifts man!

Ok.. I just read through your whole journal. I haven't been on Ironmag in a long time and I'm not sure that's a bad thing but your journal caught my eye because I've been doing westside the last year or so. Not everything you are doing is wrong, but a lot of it is far from ideal. I don't wanna come in here sounding like a know-it-all or anything, but I would like to point on some things you may want to consider. Before I do that, I would also recommend you read ALOT more Louie Simmons articles: Westside Barbell®"Often Imitated but never duplicated" . Also, read as much as you can from big west-siders like Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, Marc Bartley, etc... most of these guys can be found at EliteFTS - Powerlifting and Strength Training Products and Knowledge for Lifters, Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers .

Here's some of what I noticed right off:

-You are doing your back work on lower body days. That's ok if it really really seems to work for you, but it's very atypical and I think you could be sacrificing some rep volume on your legs. Generally all back work should come on upper days. Here would be two example upper day workouts:

DE Upper
Speed Bench 8x3
JM Tricep Presses 5x5
Overhead Tricep Ext 3x5
BB Row 5x5
Rear Lateral Raises 3x8

ME Upper
2 Board to a PR, drop to singles at 80% and up
CG Bench 4x10
Neutral Grip DB Press 3x10
Chest Supported Rows 4x10
Cable Laterals 3x12

-Don't do much if any leg isolation. Drop those leg extensions. An example leg day could be:

ME Lower
Rack Pull to a PR
Full squat 4x10
Sumo Good Mornings 3x10
Glute Ham Raise 3x10

-Alternate DE Upper with upper body rep work every 3 weeks, or just skip DE work for the upper body until you are bigger. Until you are much stronger and bigger, you'll probably benefit more from the extra rep work, especially if you are not probably employing accomodating resistance and the contrast method

-NEVER accentuate your eccentrics/negatives. You will be doing ALOT of accessory volume. You don't need to stretch your recovery ability even thinner by doing slow negatives. Keep negatives as fast as can still be SMOOTH and CONTROLLED

-Don't do shoulder presses. Go a month or two without these and then if you REALLY want add a little in. If you are REALLY following westside, you'll be doing ALOT of anterior shoulder volume just from bench and some of your tricep work. Spend that extra time on your rear delts - you need a big upper back to bring up your bench, which also makes me want to mention - look into the PROPER way to setup for a competition style bench. If you are looking for strength, this is necessary. If you aren't, you shouldn't be doing westside - but I think you are in it for the strength.

That's just some of the things that came to mind.. I can probably think of a lot more. I could talk all day about Westside. Find out what all the big westside competitors are doing and do what they do. You'll get strong and to be honest, Westside will get you big too. Anyone who says otherwise is full of shit and needs to take a good look at Dave Tate or Marc Bartley.

Keep up the good work, never stop learning, and never stop EATING

EDIT: I'll try to remember to check back here... but otherwise feel free to IM me.

Originally Posted by tallcall

You've certainly got some nice deadlifts man!

Thanks. They're starting to come along with the new routine.

Drew,

I'll look for you on AIM tonight and/or tomorrow. I've got some points about your post I'd like to discuss as well as some questions I'd like to ask you. Thanks for the help.

DE Bench, 7.16.07

Speed Incline Bench: 115x3x8.

Superset, Standing French Presses/Cable Pressdowns: 50x10/60x8, 55x8/50x8, 55x8/40x10, 50x8/40x6.

CAT75, Hammer Strength Decline Press: 50x8, 45x8, 40x8, 35x10, 30x10, 25x16, 20x20, 20x20.

DB Military Lateral Raise: 10x10, 15x10, 20x4/12.5x10.

Tate Presses: 25x10, 30x8, 30x8, 25x10.

Cable Front Raises: 15x6, 12.5x10, 10x12.

Superset, Pec Deck/Dips: 120x15/8, 130x8/7, 120x10/7

Diet:

1. Shake (2 cups skim milk, frozen strawberries, banana, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1.5 scoops of whey)
2. 95% lean ground sirloin, 2 pieces of 7 grain bread.
3. 3/4 cup of oats, strawberries, splenda.
4. Shake (Water, Dextrose, 1.5 scoops of whey)
5. Baked beans, 1.5 ham sandwich on whole grain bread.
6. 2 cups of skim milk, natural pb on whole grain brad.

Summary:

I had a good workout that bordered great, but because of being tired wasn't. Whenever I go to my new gym, it's easy to get motivated for whatever reason, so it wasn't hard to get into workout mode, but as the workout progressed and carried on it got harder and harder to complete. All and all a good workout but I'm definitely noticing that I'm having more energy in the mornings before work. I'll get back on the 5:30AM wake-ups calls later this week. I've got a workout tonight.

Generally all back work should come on upper days.

I disagree. I think doing back work on upper days greatly impacts your ability to get proper upper body work completed. Likewise, you're already hitting every part of your back except lats on your lower days, so why make your lats special at the expense of other lifts on the upper days?

Alternate DE Upper with upper body rep work every 3 weeks, or just skip DE work for the upper body until you are bigger. Until you are much stronger and bigger, you'll probably benefit more from the extra rep work, especially if you are not probably employing accomodating resistance and the contrast method

There is absolutely no legitimate reason to abandon speed work. It is not exhaustive and doesn't inhibit ones ability to lift repetitiously. Do not underestimate the benefits of speed work, plain or with extras.

-Don't do shoulder presses. Go a month or two without these and then if you REALLY want add a little in. If you are REALLY following westside, you'll be doing ALOT of anterior shoulder volume just from bench and some of your tricep work. Spend that extra time on your rear delts - you need a big upper back to bring up your bench, which also makes me want to mention - look into the PROPER way to setup for a competition style bench. If you are looking for strength, this is necessary. If you aren't, you shouldn't be doing westside - but I think you are in it for the strength.

I don't know that I'd agree with abandoning shoulder presses, but this is spot on. Especially the bold part. If your form on bench is off, the accessory work will NOT benefit you and you'll hit a brick wall. Study proper form and practice in front of a camera constantly.

You'll get strong and to be honest, Westside will get you big too.

So many people underestimate the size benefits of Westside. Powerlifters may not be lean, but they're humongous. Although lately I've noticed a trend of powerlifters showing up fairly lean but still hulking out huge lifts.

Great deads Sox .