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MonStar's Journal: Another Walk On the Westside

Your journal is off to a really good start. Nice bottoms up benching too.
 
soxmuscle: From what I understood Saturday Fever falsely came up with the whole thing about entering a powerlifting contest. Come to find out he never entered it. But I wish he would get back here to IM because he gave me absolutely invaluable training advice. :(

ihateschoolmt: Thanks for the link, bud.

Cold Iron: LOL. :laugh: "Arnold's Full Package" would be have been absolutely hilarious.

Mudge: Haha, that would have been my guess, too.

CowPimp: Thanks for stopping by, CP. I was checking out your journal for some other ME exercises and things of that nature. I am really enjoying Westside at this point. Especially my ME days, I find. DE days are fun, too. But after doing set after set of light speed work I am almost bored, lol.

How has Westside been treating you?
 
Friday; 1-21-2004

ME Squat/Deadlift (50 minutes, 24 sets)

Platform Deadlifts
135x3
225x3
315x2
365x1
405x1
455x1
475x1
500x1
525x1

CG Cable Pulldowns
3 sets of 3 with 290
3 sets of 7 with 245

Hyperextensions
5 sets of 4 with 165

Nautilus Crunches
4 sets of 8 with 220

Pretty good workout today, hit 525 off the platform, pulled conventional of course. Really hit my lower back hard. Then I hit 6 sets of lats with some CG pulldowns. Used the whole stack (290) for 3 sets of 3. Hit my lower back with hyperextensions, and finally hit my abs with some crunches. Nice workout.

Diet:
- oatmeal + 1% milk + peanut butter
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- 2 ground beef & cheese burritos
- 4% cottage cheese + mandarin oranges
- chicken noodle soup

Diet was okay today, my ground beef for the tacos was pretty lean. I think it was 85% lean, and then I drained all of the fat that I could get out of it. Ate it with low-fat cheese, too. Not too bad. Ran out of 1% cottage cheese! :(

Sleep: 5.5 hours. :mad:
 
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Rows hit the lats quite nicely.
 
Westside has been treating me well. I've been seeing some good increases all around. My core lifts are going up slower now, but hopefully I will be hitting a new PR for deadlifts and a new PR for bench press next week.
 
ihateschoolmt: I really vary my lat accessory work all the time, bro. Sometimes I do support rows, close-grip pulldowns, close-grip cable rows, t-bar rows, pullovers, etc. Training Westside I really found that variation is key. Not doing the same thing all the time. Changing exercises, rep schemes, number of sets, everything you can possibly think of.

Mudge: Agreed. I usually prefer rows to pulldowns. Although lately I have been a big fan of close-grip pulldowns (palms facing each other). And I have also really liked BTN (behind-the-neck) pulldowns. Both seem to hit my lats hard.

CowPimp: That's great to hear man. As long as you provide Westside with all of the necessary tools, I think it works fabulous. My tools I mean enough sleep, enough calories, enough protein, etc. I'll be checking out your journal, good luck hitting some new PR's. :thumb:
 
Saturday; 1-22-2005

Rest

Cardio
Since the gym was closed today because of the snow, I did some aerobic style circuit training in my basement first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. For around 15-20 minutes I did the following exercises:

- jumping jacks
- bodyweight squats
- bodyweight lunges
- push-ups
- crunches
- heavy bag
- hovers

Really felt like I worked up a great sweat, really exhausted. I would have rather done the treadmill at my gym, but oh well. Hopefully tomorrow the gym will be back open so I can do my speed bench workout.

Diet:
- oatmeal + 1% milk + peanut butter
- tuna salad + crackers
- 1% cottage cheese + peaches
- low-fat turkey chili + crackers
- turkey & cheese sandwich
- garden salad + walnuts + vinegarette dressing
- 1/2 peanut butter sandwich

Diet was okay today, maybe a tad high in calories since I didn't workout today.

Sleep: 9 hours. :D
 
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That callisthenics routine looks like something I would do. Personally, I find that type of routine far more entertaining than traditional cardio. As well, if done properly, I think it can be more effective.
 
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CowPimp: Hey man, thanks for stopping by. I agree that callisthenics can be very challenging when rest periods are kept minimal. I worked up a hell of a good sweat doing that kind of routine. I am not sure if it is something I would do all the time, but it worked great since I couldn't get to the gym today. I just hope that my gym is open tomorrow! :)
 
Sunday; 1-23-2005

DE Bench (45 minutes, 25 sets)

Speed Bench Presses
8 sets of 3 with 175

Arnold Presses
3 sets of 5 with the 75's
2 sets of 9 with the 55's

Incline Skullcrushers
4 sets of 6 with 125

Nautilus Incline Presses
3 sets of 8 with 220

Tate Presses
3 sets of 15 with the 40's

One-Arm Cable Front Raises
2 sets of 10 with 40

Good workout today! Really did a good amount of sets of 45 minutes I think. Trying to keep my rest periods shorter on my DE days, since I am going lighter than my ME days. After my speed work, I did some Arnold presses. Hit my shoulders hard with the Arnold's. Did some incline skulls today, nice variation for hitting my triceps. Did some Nautilus incline presses after that, and finished up with some Tate's and some front raises.

Diet:
- oatmeal + 1% milk + peanut butter
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- chicken noodle soup
- 3 tuna melts
- pork loin, sweet potato, garlic bread, corn
- low-fat turkey chili

Diet was okay today, not too good or bad, honestly. The pork loin I ate was very very lean. :)

Sleep: 7.5 hours.
 
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I definitely think Westside is good for you Monstar, you seem to stick with it the longest and make good progress.

As an aside, I deadlifted 625 x 1 using a HOOK GRIP and no belt. That was after 525 x 1 and 605 x 1. :rocker:
 
Chris: Hey man, nice to see you in here. Really great to see you still checking out my journal. I agree with what you said about Westside. I think its a very solid program all around. Especially the fact that it's backed by science, makes me feel all the better about doing it. Very very impressive pulling Chris, wow. Let me know if you have any new videos up, if you have any. What style are you deadlifting by the way? Still feet very close together?
 
chris mason said:
I definitely think Westside is good for you Monstar, you seem to stick with it the longest and make good progress.

As an aside, I deadlifted 625 x 1 using a HOOK GRIP and no belt. That was after 525 x 1 and 605 x 1. :rocker:

I highly agree with this statement.

Nice deadlifting by the way. Both of you pull sick numbers, especially for being raw.
 
Whats DE and ME stand for?
 
Dynamic Effort, Maximum Effort.
 
Why wouldnt you use Maximum Effort on all workouts? Sorry, I am still trying to learn a little bit about the Westside style of training.
 
soxmuscle said:
Why wouldnt you use Maximum Effort on all workouts? Sorry, I am still trying to learn a little bit about the Westside style of training.

Because hitting a 1RM is very taxing on one's CNS. At a certain point you will reach a state of overtraining and hormone production will become disrupted. This can lead to all kinds of problems.

In fact, if you don't switch the ME lift every 1-3 weeks, then the same thing could occur. Typically, the more advanced you are, the more frequently this lift must be changed.

In addition to all of this, increasing your rate of force generation, al la the dynamic effort method, is a great way to blast through sticking points. If you can move the bar faster, then you can create more momentum, and hence blow past sticking points.
 
Interesting, I see.
 
CowPimp: I completely agree with what Chris said, too. Nice to see someone else agrees. :) Once you start to get into Westside style training it gets so addicting honestly its hard to picture yourself training any other way---at least in my personal experience. Maybe sometimes the workouts can get redundant, but changing up ME exercises, rep schemes, order of exercises, and things of that nature can really keep things interesting. And of course hitting miscellaneous PR's is always a huge motivator in itself.

soxmuscle: Thanks for asking questions bud, it keeps readers informed of what the program is all about. CowPimp expained everything in detail, I don't have much else to add. I personally change my ME lift pretty much every single week---to keep my CNS from adapting like he said.

Mudge: Thanks for stopping by. ;)
 
Monday; 1-24-2005

DE Squat/Deadlift (50 minutes, 25 sets)

Speed Squats
8 sets of 2 with 245

Support Rows
4 sets of 9 with 210

Smith-Machine Lunges
3 sets of 8 with 195

Incline DB Hammer Curls
3 sets of 8 with the 45's

Suspended Good Mornings (deep)
4 sets of 3 with 205

Hanging Leg Raises
3 sets of 8

Nice workout this morning, but I was tired! Went to the gym this morning around 6:30, wow, talk about a change of pace from working out in the afternoon. I can't decide which time I prefer training. I think that if I start to get into the habit of early training it won't bother me so much. We'll see how things go.

BTW, my suspended good mornings today were done a few inches lower than I normally do them. Really hit my lower back hard.

Diet:
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- oatmeal + 1% milk + peanut butter
- brushcetta + tomatoes
- garlic bread, garden salad + vinegarette dressing
- 2 slices of pizza :nanner:
- toasted meatballs
- 1 quart of chicken & broccoli
- 1% cottage cheese + peaches

Diet SUCKED today, wow. Really really sucked, bad. I started today working at Olive Garden and as a server you get to try all of the appetizers, which we did today in training. Damn, ate lots of crap. :mad:

Sleep: 7 hours. Not bad, considering I got up at 5:55 this morning! :eek:
 
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Hey Mike,
Good to see your back with Westside. I'm looking into Sheiko method (some of the guys on the powerlifting site I subscribe to do it [these would be folks like Scott Waits, who in fact won the powerlifting meet that SF allegedly entered]). Do you use a squat or deadlift suit, or are all of your lifts raw? Keep up the excellent work!
-Dan
 
Hey, just checking in on you buddy. Looks like everything is going well! Just started going to a gym that has supported row like yours, I like that much better than w/o support :thumbs:
 
sftwrngnr: Thanks for stopping by, bud. I appreciate it. I am really looking forward to getting back into Westside. I have been doing some cardio on my rest day too which I think is improving my cardiovascular health. By the way, I do not use a squat or deadlift suit, no. And I also do not use a belt. All of my lifts are done raw. Sometimes for shrugs (never deadlifts) I'll use wraps.

rock: Thanks for the support, bro. Everything has been going well, except for my diet yesterday which absolutely sucked. BTW, support rows are fantastic! They're probably my favorite overall back exercise hands down. :)
 
Tuesday; 1-25-2005

Rest

Cardio
Today I did 17 minutes of interval training on the treadmill first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. Alternated walking at 3.4 MPH with running at 8.4 MPH. Really exhausted after my cardio this morning, drenched in sweat.

Diet:
- oatmeal + 1% milk + peanut butter
- pasta + meat sauce
- chicken parmesan
- lasagna
- tuna salad + crackers

Sleep: 7.5 hours. Woke up once out of nowhere for no real reason at all. :(
 
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MonStar said:
Sleep: 7.5 hours. Woke up once out of nowhere for no real reason at all. :(
I only wake if I'm dehydrated or have to piss :shrug:
 
MonStar said:
Chris: Hey man, nice to see you in here. Really great to see you still checking out my journal. I agree with what you said about Westside. I think its a very solid program all around. Especially the fact that it's backed by science, makes me feel all the better about doing it. Very very impressive pulling Chris, wow. Let me know if you have any new videos up, if you have any. What style are you deadlifting by the way? Still feet very close together?
My feet are probably about 6-8" apart. I have a video of the lift but have not posted it yet because my MSN is fucked up. I normally send the videos to him on MSN and then he condenses them and uploads them to the wbb server.
 
Luke: Thanks for stopping by bro, I appreciate it. Yeah I normally don't wake up at all, those nights I woke up I took Nyquil.

Chris: Wow, thats a pretty close stance Chris, very interesting. I have never pulled with anything closer than a shoulder-width stance, honestly. I might give that a shot though, honestly. Let me know if you get the videos uploaded.
 
Wednesday; 1-26-2005

ME Bench (60 minutes, 24 sets)

Decline Bench Presses
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
295x2
315x2
335x2
365x1
385x0
375x0

Incline DB Presses
4 sets of 4 with the 120's

One-Arm DB French Presses
3 sets of 6 with the 45's

Alternating DB Front Raises
3 sets of 7 with the 50's

Decline Skullcrushers
4 sets of 6 with 125

Good solid workout today. I was honestly a little pissed off at the fact that I didn't hit 385 or 375 on the decline. I was expecting to lockout with at least 375 today. Because in the past I have hit 365 for 2. Whatever, there's nothing I can do about it now. Did some heavy incline DB's, then some triceps, front delts, and finished up with some skulls.

Diet:
- oatmeal + 1% milk + peanut butter
- 2 slices of chicken alfredo pizza
- 3-meat & cheese ravioli
- spaghetti + meat sauce
- 1 glass of wine
- 1 scoop of Swole preworkout
- whey protein + 1% milk postworkout
- grilled chicken & cheese soft taco

Sleep: 7 hours.
 
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