MonStar's Walking on the Westside!

[M.J.H.]

Patrick: Hey man, thanks for stopping by. I am going to take your advice 100% as I completely agree with you. I hate running for a full minute. Not only does it completely wipe me out, but I am not running at an all out sprint. At 10.6 MPH I am running at a good pace---but its far from a sprint. I'm going to do 60-90 seconds of walking with 30 seconds of an all out sprint. As fast as my treadmill will go, lol.

soxmuscle: Yes, yesterday was a week.

SF: Hey man! Thanks for the post bro, I appreciate it. I am going to do that DE bench session tomorrow. I am guessing you read about my gym's new hyperextension bench---so thats not going to be an option anymore. Unless I'm doing 3 sets of 8 or something light. I wanted to try and get back into suspended GM's, etc. I agree that pounding my shoulders I think is a great idea. Do you think I could do something other than OH DB presses though? For the simple reason that I spend more time trying to get the first rep than anything. What about BTN presses or push presses?

And the cable pressdowns, should I do rope pressdowns? Overhead rope extensions? Regular pressdowns? Regular old pressdowns I can handle the stack for 12-15 reps. So what do you think?

BTW, any ideas for Tuesday's ME squat/deadlift session? Trying to hit a new deadlift PR in the next few weeks.

 

[Saturday Fever]

You could do anything that is close to an overhead press. What we want to nail are your shoulders.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF: Thanks for stopping by, bro. I started off with seated DB presses today but lost my balance with the 100's and just said f*ck it and did some seated BTN presses instead.

 

[M.J.H.]

Monday; 7-4-2005​

DE Bench (55 minutes, 29 sets)

Speed Bench: (wide-grip)

155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3
155 x 3

Wow, I really like benching with an extremely wide grip. I can't tell if I am stronger this way or not but it was definitely nice for a change of pace, that's for sure. My hands were right around double shoulder-width apart.

Seated DB Presses:

100's x Miss

WTF? I didn't sit back with the DB's properly at all. Lost my balance and couldn't even complete a single rep with the 100's. I said f*ck it and did BTN presses instead.

Seated BTN Presses:

205 x 2
195 x 2
195 x 2
195 x 2
195 x 2
195 x 2
195 x 2
195 x 2
185 x 2
185 x 2
185 x 2
185 x 2

WOW, these sets absolutely KILLED me today. I started off with 205 for a double, OUCH. That was near failure so I had to drop down to 195 for 7 sets of 2. Then when I started to hit failure with 195 I dropped to 185 for 4 sets of 2.

DB Lateral Raises:

45's x 6
45's x 6
35's x 11

Nice sets today of lateral raises---really beat up my shoulders pretty bad. Especially after BTN presses.

BB Front Raises:

85 x 8
85 x 8
85 x 7
85 x 7

Finished up my shoulders with some BB front raises. Raised the BB to my forehead, and then lowered slowly. This exercise honestly beat the hell out of my front delts. No complaints here today at all. My shoulders were absolutely TOAST.

Rope Cable Pressdowns:

160 x 12
160 x 12

Really hit my triceps hard today with these 2 sets. After 8 sets of speed bench, and then 12 sets of BTN presses, my triceps were already pretty shot. These definitely finished off my triceps nicely.

Diet/Supplements:

Preworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk, 25mg ephedrine, 25mcg T3, 5mg M1T
During Workout: 20 oz. Gatorade + 5g creatine
Postworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk
Meal 1: 2 scoops of weight-gainer + skim milk
Meal 2: 1 bag of peanuts
Meal 3: garden salad, dinner roll, 2 grilled chicken breasts + bruschetta
Meal 4: garden salad + tuna
Meal 5: MRP bar
Meal 6: 3-4 tbsp. peanut butter

Sleep: 8 hours.

 

[P-funk]

when I get up to and over 90lb DBs I try to stand infront of the bench and clean them to my shoulders and then sit down and press. they get to hard to kick up for me when they are that bulky. Or you caould ahve someone hand them to you in the top position?

 

[Saturday Fever]

Hopefully this isn't too late...

ME Sq/DL

Suspended Good AMs
work to a 3RM and set the pins slightly higher than your belly button

Hack Squats
6 sets of 4

Ham Curls
3 sets of 8

Lat Pulldowns (as wide as you can grip)
4 sets of 6

Rear Lateral Raises
2 sets of 8

Calves
2 sets of 12

 

[M.J.H.]

Patrick: I'm going to try and clean the DB's the next time I do seated DB presses, because honestly the way I get them up is very difficult. Honestly when someone hands them to me it makes them even more difficult. For some reason one at a time it pre-exhausts that side, if that makes any sense.

SF: Hey man, lol, you were too late. But that's going to be my next ME squat/DL for sure. Can you give me an ME bench and DE squat/deadlift for Thursday and Friday?

 

[M.J.H.]

Tuesday; 7-5-2005​

ME Squat/Deadlift (50 minutes, 25 sets)

Rack Deadlifts: (bar set at knee level)

135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 2
495 x 2
585 x 1
635 x Miss (grip)

Damn was I pissed off today! My gym always has a bag of chalk thats available for everyone to use and for whatever reason today the chalk wasn't there. Pulled 635 all the way up almost 100% lockout but my grip slipped and I dropped the weight on the pins.

Incline DB Rows:

45's x 12
45's x 12
60's x 7
60's x 7
60's x 7

Did some reverse incline DB rows today, hit my lats pretty hard. My rotator cuffs were killing me after yesterdays 12 sets of BTN presses, lol. Still managed to hit my lats pretty hard here today.

Suspended Good Mornings:

225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2
225 x 2

Did 8 sets of 2 in suspended GM's, really good sets. My lower back was toast after these 8 sets. Not bad, at all.

Nautilus Pullovers:

240 x 12
240 x 12

Did a few sets of pullovers since I rarely do these anymore on Westside. Good sets, though, nice slow negative.

Smith-Machine BTB Shrugs:

245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10

Nice sets of shrugs to finish up my workout today, really hit my traps hard. I absolutely love BTB smith-machine shrugs!

Diet/Supplements:

Preworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk, 25mg ephedrine, 25mcg T3, 5mg M1T
During Workout: 20 oz. Gatorade + 5g creatine
Postworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk
Meal 1: 1% cottage cheese + yogurt
Meal 2: 2 scoops of weight-gainer + 1 pint of skim milk
Meal 3: 1/2 whole-wheat peanut butter sandwich
Meal 4: 2 scoops of weight-gainer + 1 pint of skim milk
Meal 5: soy protein bar
Meal 6: whole-wheat turkey & cheese sandwich
Meal 7: tuna + crackers
Meal 8: 3-4 tbsp. peanut butter

Sleep: 7 hours.

 

[Saturday Fever]

ME Bench

Decline
run to a 1RM

Tate Press
10 sets of 2

Close-grip Bench (as close as you can balance and control)
4 sets of 6

Side Laterals
2 sets of 12

Flat DB Press
1 set, rep to failure. (try to pick a weight where you fail around 25)


DE Sq/DL

Speed Deads
8 sets of 3 (use a wide stance for 4 sets and a narrow stance for 4, but not your normal stance)

Pull-Throughs
5 sets of 5

SLDL
6 sets of 2

Ham Curls
3 sets of 12

 

[M.J.H.]

SF: Thanks man, will do. Both workouts look good---I am looking forward to doing them. If you get a chance before Saturday to post up my DE bench workout that would be great man, thanks again. I'm feeling great so far combining your workout advice with M1T---I really think this combo is as good of gains as I can get.

 

[King Silverback]

SICK weight Brother, just SICK!!!

 

[Saturday Fever]

Jump on MonStar's program, Arch.

 

[M.J.H.]

Archangel: Thanks man! Like SF said, jump on the Westside bandwagon!

SF:

 

[M.J.H.]

Wednesday; 7-6-2005​

Rest

Cardio:

12 minutes of interval training on the treadmill; alternating 75-seconds of walking at 3.5 MPH with 30-seconds of running at 12.0 MPH. This was exhausting!

Diet/Supplements:

Preworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk, 25mg ephedrine, 25mcg T3, 5mg M1T
Postworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk
Meal 1: 1% cottage cheese + yogurt
Meal 2: whole-wheat tuna sandwich
Meal 3: low-carb peanut butter sandwich
Meal 4: tuna + crackers
Meal 5: whole-wheat turkey & cheese sandwich, 5mg M1T
Meal 6: grilled chicken wrap
Meal 7: 2 scoops of weight-gainer + skim milk
Meal 8: chicken noodle soup, 5mg M1T

Sleep: 6.5 hours.

 

[shiznit2169]

it's weird. Some days you get like 6 hours of sleep and other days you get 8. Is it because you wake up in the middle of the night, not sleep too well or go to bed later than usual?

btw, hows the BFFM book if you had time to read it?

 

[M.J.H.]

shiznit: Hey man, thanks for checking out my journal. Yeah my sleep is all over the place a lot of the time. I try and get a minimum of 7 hours every night without fail but sometimes due to my schedule and different things going on, its just not possible.

 

[DeadBolt]

shiznit: Hey man, thanks for checking out my journal. Yeah my sleep is all over the place a lot of the time. I try and get a minimum of 7 hours every night without fail but sometimes due to my schedule and different things going on, its just not possible.

Just get what ya can when ya can lol. I ussually get a solid 7-8 at night but I always nap at work LOL.

 

[M.J.H.]

DeadBolt: LOL, that would be nice. I always feel like taking a nap in the late afternoon but I'm at work so its not really an option.

 

[M.J.H.]

Thursday; 7-7-2005​

ME Bench (50 minutes, 23 sets)

Decline Bench Presses:

135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 2
315 x 2
345 x 1
385 x 1
395 x 1!

Really really impressed myself with my decline pressing strength today. I don't know if its the M1T or what but I am nothing but pleased. 395 came up very smooth. I was going to try 405 but I figured I am better off trying it fresh not after 385 and 395 singles.

Tate Presses:

90's x 2
90's x 2
90's x 2
90's x 2
90's x 2
90's x 2
90's x 2
90's x 2

Nice sets of Tate presses here today, did 8 sets of 2 instead of 10 sets of 2 because I was a bit pressed for time. I've been late to work nonstop lately. Really hit my triceps though with these 8 sets. My triceps were TOAST.

CG Bench Presses: (hands 3" apart)

225 x 6
225 x 6
225 x 5
225 x 5

WOW, these CG bench sets were exhausting! After 8 sets of Tate presses my triceps had nothing left. Did these with as close of a grip as I could possibly handle without wrist pain.

Nautilus Lateral Raises:

180 x 11
180 x 11

Flat DB Presses:

85's x 27!

Finishing set of flat DB presses was great, beat the hell out of my pecs and triceps. After about 20 reps I was completely trashed. The last 7 reps I was barely completing each rep.

Diet/Supplements:

Preworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk, 25mg ephedrine, 25mcg T3, 5mg M1T
During Workout: 20 oz. Gatorade + 5g creatine
Postworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk
Meal 1: 1% cottage cheese + yogurt
Meal 2: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich
Meal 3: whole-wheat tuna sandwich
Meal 4: raw walnuts, 5mg M1T
Meal 5: whole-wheat turkey & cheese sandwich
Meal 6: 2 scoops of weight-gainer + skim milk
Meal 7: tuna wrap, 5mg M1T

Sleep: 8 hours. Not bad.

 

[Saturday Fever]

That's a superb ME day! When you're free, take a second and just add up all the weight you lifted today. That's what a routine is supposed to look like.

 

[M.J.H.]

SF: I can't argue with you there bro, I was really impressed with my workout this morning. I was feeling pretty damn good when I woke up so I had a feeling I was going to have a solid workout. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's DE session so we'll see how that goes.

Any ideas yet for my DE bench day? Also, is a bad idea to throw in some rows in tomorrow's DE squat/deadlift session?

 

[sftwrngnr]

Hey Mike,
You rock man.... so I did some Tate presses today. You definitely get my props. Awesome workout!

 

[Rocco32]

Wow Mike!!! That is a great w/o, congrats on your PR and ALL that weight!

 

[M.J.H.]

sftwrngnr: Hey bro, thanks for stopping by. Those Tate presses today absolutely blasted my triceps! I really like the 8-10 sets of 2-3, lately I attribute a lot of my strength to this principal that SF showed me.

Rocco: Thanks man! I was really really pleased with 395. My spotter said I should have tried 405 but I knew that if I didn't get it, mentally this would have slowed me down some. So maybe in a few weeks I'll try 405 on decline fresh.

 

[LauraMarie]

Hey sexy, have a great DE squat/deadlift day tomorrow
Your workouts are looking awesome baby!
You have some unbelievable strength, rock hard triceps too

 

[King Silverback]

Awesome PR!!! Huge numbers!!!

 

[M.J.H.]

Laura: Hey there! I'm a little pissed that I woke up so damn late today, but whatever. I'm going to workout tonight when I get out of work around 7:30. But gym closes at 9:00 so I really have to hurry up, lol. Yeah everytime I do this Westside program my triceps and ghetto booty always blow up.

Archangel: Thanks man!

 

[M.J.H.]

Monday; 7-4-2005​

DE Squat/Deadlift (60 minutes, 24 sets)

Speed Deadlifts: (sumo style feet 1" from plates)

315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3

Speed Deadlifts: (conventional style feet 6" apart)

315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3

Nice variations for my speed lifts here today, ended up doing first sumo style with my feet just barely not touching the plates. And then the next 4 sets I did with my feet almost touching, which was very interesting. Both sets were great.

Rope Cable Pull-Throughs:

Stack x 12
Stack x 12
Stack x 12
Stack x 12

Used the entire stack for 4 sets of 12, nothing too exciting here today. I honestly wasn't all that impressed. The stack at my gym is so damn light for these. But there isn't really another way to do them.

SLDL:

455 x 4
455 x 4
455 x 4
455 x 4

OUCH! These absolutely killed me, for some reason. My hamstrings were kind of tired after the speed deads and then the pull-throughs. My grip was aching because we don't have any chalk at my gym. And my strength was giving out. So instead of 6 sets of 4 I cut it down to 4 sets of 4.

CG Cable Pulldowns: (underhand close-grip)

245 x 9
245 x 8
245 x 8

Nice sets, wanted to do some lats today.

Nautilus Seated Leg Curls:

160 x 12
180 x 10
180 x 10

Good sets of leg curls, nothing too exciting at all.

Concentration Curls:

40's x 12
40's x 12

Finished up with some quick biceps because I haven't done them in forever. I really liked them actually. Biceps actually got a good pump from these 2 quick sets.

Diet/Supplements:

Meal 1: 2 scoops weight-gainer + skim milk
Meal 2: 1% cottage cheese + yogurt
Meal 3: 1 pint of skim milk, 1/2 whole-wheat peanut butter sandwich
Meal 4: whole-wheat turkey & cheese sandwich
Preworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk, 25mg ephedrine, 25mcg T3, 5mg M1T
During Workout: 20 oz. Gatorade + 5g creatine
Postworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + skim milk
Meal 5: chili + beans
Meal 6: 2 chicken breasts + tomato sauce, 5mg M1T

Sleep: 7 hours.

 

[DeadBolt]

Wow bro thats some damn nice demonstrations of pure strength my friend!! Awsome w/o's. Damn 27 w/ the 85's!!!!! Thats funny LOL. And 395 on the decline...my man mike keep at it brotha!!

 

[M.J.H.]

DeadBolt: Hey man, thanks for stopping by I really appreciate it. Yeah lately I really feel like this M1T is starting to kick in because I'm hitting new PR's constantly. I'm hoping SF will post my DE bench workout before I head to the YMCA tomorrow. I want to see what he has in mind for me.