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5/3/1 - Back from the Dead(lift)

Westside for Dripping Rafters

ME Upper

Warmup
Arm Circles, Cat Camels, T Pushups, Yoga Pushups, Thoracic Openers

2 Rounds
A1) Med Ball Throws x 3
A2) K-Bell Arm bar - 35 lbs
A3) Band Y's, Rows

B1) Floor Press (ring finger on rings)
Week 1) - Bar x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5, 185 x , 195 x 5, 200 x 5, 205 x 5
Week 2 )- Bar x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 5, 185 x 3, 205 x 1, 215 x 5,
B.O. sets - 185 x 5 x 2 sets

C1) Dips (Bw)
Week 1) - 25, 15 (40)
Week 2) - 24, 15 (39)

D1) Chest Supported Rows
Week 1) 45 x 15, 55 x 15, 12, 12 (54)
Week 2) 45 x 12, 70 x 12 x 4 sets (60)

D2) Rear Delt Flies
Week 1 ) 10 lbs x 10, 5 lbs. x 10,10,10 (40)
Week 2) 5 lbs. x 12 x 4 sets (48)

E1) Elbows Out Ext
Week 1) 35 lbs x 12, 10, 8 (30)
Week 2) 35 lbs. x 10 x 3 sets (30)

E2) D-bell Curls
Week 1) 35 lbs x 6, 5, 4 (15)
Week 2) 35 lbs. x 7, 6, 6 (19)

Upped the floor press by 10 lbs. Felt strong, same grip as last week. I'll go up to 225 next week. Five would be great but 3- 5 reps still are within the framework. Hit some back off sets with 185 since I did less warmup sets this week. Dips were a bit harder because of this, as were tri extensions. That's okay. Got a lot more pulling in today and at a higher weight. Also made my elbow extensions a bit harder. Last week, I let my elbow flare out a bit so the dumbbell was pretty much directly over my shoulder. This time, held the elbow perpendicular to floor.it is a bit more difficult this way. Everything feeling pretty good today.
 
Westside for Thinning Masters

DE Lower Day

Power Cleans
Week 1) 135 x 3, 165 x 3, 185 x 3 x 5 sets (15)
Week 2) 135x 2, 165 x 1, 195 x 2 x 6 sets (12)

Step Ups
Week1) 20 lbs x 10,10 30 lbs x 10 (30)
Week 2) 35 lbs. x 10 x 3 sets (30)

GHR
Week 1) Bw x 20, 15 (35)
Week 2) BW x 16, 16 (32)


Suitcase DL
Week 1) 135 x 6, 6 (12)
Week 2) 135 x 6, 6 (12)

Power cleans may have been too heavy. Still strong, but a little more tiring. Since this is a speed day, I will lower them and focus more on being explosive. The rest of the workout was done quite casually. A bit unmotivated, as today is probably my least exciting training day and I'm still stressed with all the forms I'm filling out and the frustration they arise. Suitcase DL felt a little odd on my midsection today. It may have been the bar I used, as last week it was a Texas bar and this week a stiff bar. Stiff bar was definitely a bit harder.
 
Week 3 Day 1

Westside for Shrimp and Mackerel

Warmup
Arm Circles, Cat Camels

2 rounds
Explosive Pushup x 3
B.U. K-Bell Walks
Bands rows and Y's

A1) Incline K-bell Press
Week1- 53 lbs. - 15, 9, 6 (31)
Week 2- 53 lbs. - 20, 10, 8 (38)
Week 3- 53 lbs - 22, 14, 10 (46)

B1) Chinups
Week 1 -10, 8, 6, 6 (30)
Week 2 - 10,10,8,7 (35)
Week 3 - 12, 8, 8, 8 (36)

B2)2 Hand K-bell O.H. Press
Week 1 - 35 lbs. - 9, 8, 8 (25)
Week 2 - 35 lbs. - 12, 10, 11 (33)
Week 3 - 35lbs - 13, 10, 12 (35)

C1) K-bell High Pull w/ rope
Week 1 - 53 lbs. - 15, 12 (27)
Week 2 - 53 lbs. - 20, 15 (35)
Week 3 - 53lbs - 25, 15 (40)

C2) K-bell Rope Curls
Week 1 -53 lbs - 8, 6 (14)
Week2 - 53 lbs. 8, 6 (14)
Week 3- 53 lbs. 10, 8 (18)

D1)Triceps Pushdown
Week 1 - A light weight 20, 12
Week 2 - 20, 15
Week 3 - 18, 15

A nice finale to the 3 week RE phase with these lifts. Improved on mostly all lifts, if even by only a few more reps. The main move moved up quite a bit and OH moves up a couple reps. Improved my first chin up set by a bit, but it did fatigue me a bit for the remaining sets which is okay. Still improvement and any improvement is still great. Now I must finish the rest of the week and plan out the next exercise selections. Tomorrow is ME day lower. That should be fun.
 
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Westside for Flimsy Platters

ME Lower Body
Warmup
Leg, Ankle, hip circles

2 Rounds
High Jump x 3
Double-K-bell B.U. Squat x 3
H.F. Stretch

Yoke bar Squat
Week 1-Bar x 5, 155 x 5, 205 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x 5
Week 2- Bar x 5, 115 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 185 x 5, 205 x 5, 225 x 3, 245 x 1, 260 x 5
Week 3 - Bar x 5, 115 x 5, 155x 5, 185 x 5, 205 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x 3, 260 x 1, 275 x 5

RDL
Week 1 - 135 x 12, 12 ,12 (36)
Week 2 - 135 x 15, 15, 12 (42)
Week 3 - 135 x 20,15,15 (50)

B.S.S
Week 1 - 25 lbs. K-bell x 12, 12, 12 (36)
Week 2 - 25 lbs. K-bell x 15, 12, 10 (37)
Week 3 - BW - 25 x 2 sets (50)

Standing Cable Crunch
Week 1 -3 x 5 (heavy, obviously)
Week 2 - 3 x 5 (heavy again)
Week 3 - 3 x8 (a bit lighter)

Trained early in the morning today. I am going to Pismo Beach with some of my co-workers this weekend and it's a long drive so I hit the gym early. Squats felt great and got the 275 x 5 pretty smoothly. Did a few more reps on the RDL's and decided to drop the weights for BSS and Cable Crunches and get more reps in. Then drove for 5 and a half hours, through the California Coast, stopping pretty often, for I drank a lot of water as it's triple digit heat around here.

​
 
Westside for Wimpy Maxers

ME Upper

Warmup
Arm Circles, Cat Camels, T Pushups, Yoga Pushups, Thoracic Openers

2 Rounds
A1) Med Ball Throws x 3
A2) K-Bell Arm bar - 35 lbs
A3) Band Y's, Rows

B1) Floor Press (ring finger on rings)
Week 1) - Bar x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5, 185 x , 195 x 5, 200 x 5, 205 x 5
Week 2 )- Bar x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 5, 185 x 3, 205 x 1, 215 x 5,
B.O. sets - 185 x 5 x 2 sets
Week 3) Bar x 5, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 5, 185 x 3, 200 x 2, 215 x 1, 225 x 3
B.O sets - 195 x 3 x 3

C1) Dips (Bw)
Week 1) - 25, 15 (40)
Week 2) - 24, 15 (39)
Week 3) - 27, 18 (45)

D1) Chest Supported Rows
Week 1) 45 x 15, 55 x 15, 12, 12 (54)
Week 2) 45 x 12, 70 x 12 x 4 sets (60)
Week 3) 45 x 15, 70 x 20, 15, 12 (47)

D2) Rear Delt Flies
Week 1 ) 10 lbs. x 10, 5 lbs. x 10,10,10 (40)
Week 2) 5 lbs. x 12 x 4 sets (48)
Week 3) 10 lbs. x 10, 5 x 12 x 3 sets (46)

E1) Elbows Out Ext
Week 1) 35 lbs. x 12, 10, 8 (30)
Week 2) 35 lbs. x 10 x 3 sets (30)
Week 3) Band Pressdowns - 50 reps x 1 set

E2) D-bell Curls
Week 1) 35 lbs. x 6, 5, 4 (15)
Week 2) 35 lbs. x 7, 6, 6 (19)
Week 3) Band Curls - 50 reps x 1 set

Returned from vacation today. A little fatigued, too much to drink and not enough to eat lol. That's okay, was worth it. Also upper body seems to tap out before lower body in ME work and I've done the floor press a lot more than Safety Bar Squats. Still, not a bad finish to this cycle for using a weaker grip for me. I did a lot of "exercise" on vacation too. Took it pretty easy on everything else, as I'm tired and it's time to change the exercises for the next phase. Did just one big set for the band exercises which was kind of new, and dropped a set for rows. Dips went pretty good. Now time to rest and eat, busy week at work coming up.

 
Pismo Beach

Pismo-Beach-31748.jpg
Spent the past few days here with 6 of my co-workers for a weekend of frivolities and shenanigans.

We rented an air BNB and cooked great food, drank fine wine/beer/liquor/went to the beach at dark and day/played cards and games and just enjoyed ourselves. A nice time to unwind and since some of my fellow co-workers are fitness enthusiasts we had a few random contests and activities we played.

Pullup contest on rafters - 20 reps in a set
Pushups - 35 reps
Dips on a bar- didn't count but went on for a while
Ascending a beach cliff barefoot- this was a little rough on the feet, and near the top there was a rather steep part. My coworker behind me got quite a bit of debris from my spinning wheels, but we made it!

Played - football, soccer and volleyball on the beach and swam a bit in the ocean. It was a very refreshing weekend!
 
Westside for Slimming Fasters

DE Lower

Power cleans 3 sets from hang/6 sets from blocks
135 x 3 x 9 sets

Double K-Bell Front Squats (2 x 53 lbs. K-bell)
12,12

Double K-Bell Swings ( 2 x 45 lbs. K-bells)
20,20

Farmers Carry 2 x 95 lbs. D-Bells
3x 20meter walks around gym equipment/weird directions

The power cleans felt good. Started from a hang but decided that from the blocks was better. From the blocks, I start explosively with no eccentric or concentric. It's like a jump from a dead start. Seems better for explosiveness and the lift is much shorter. The reps got better as the set progressed. There is a short break between each rep to recalibrate and set up again. These felt so good I wanted to do more! But I resisted. Picked a few different moves that were similar than the previous weeks but that which I felt my body "craved". Somewhat of an active recovery/tonic workout. Squats felt really solid and a gentleman training his wife on deadlifts, who was doing quite well complemented me saying "You make that look easy, nice work." I reassured him it looked easier than it felt, specifically on my upper body to stabilize the weights and midsection. Swings felt good too. Got a nice glute pump. Definitely like how they tie the lower body and upper body and midsection together. Felt the lats, abs, hips, hamstrings and grip all getting good work. Couldn't find the 100's for farmers carries but it's probably for the better. The gym is littered with machines/equipment/ trainers and trainees so some of my sets were zig zags, adding an extra element of stress. My grip needs some work I think. These were hard on the old mits and had a sizeable forearm pump after.

Rode the bike for a few minutes after to get some blood flowing to my legs then stretched.
 
Are you still following a modified Delorme from BB? I need to get a copy of that book - not necessarily because I plan to change my training plans anytime soon, but just to expand my knowledge.
 
freeflowme said:
Are you still following a modified Delorme from BB? I need to get a copy of that book - not necessarily because I plan to change my training plans anytime soon, but just to expand my knowledge.
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Hey @freeflowme. Actually the modified DeLorme was a 6 week program I used about9 months ago! It was really a great minimalist mass program. If mass gain is what you aim for, I gained a pound a week, which is pretty good for me, as mass gain comes very slowly for me. BB is an excellent resource of Pavel's information, a lot of which can not be found elsewhere. A gem, definitely worth purchasing. I've read it dozens of times.

I see you train at home and I used the DeLorme at home as well, using the Snatch Grip DL and Floor Press, both of which do not require any equipment besides a barbell (and floor).
 
Philippe Geoffrion said:
Hey @freeflowme. Actually the modified DeLorme was a 6 week program I used about9 months ago! It was really a great minimalist mass program. If mass gain is what you aim for, I gained a pound a week, which is pretty good for me, as mass gain comes very slowly for me. BB is an excellent resource of Pavel's information, a lot of which can not be found elsewhere. A gem, definitely worth purchasing. I've read it dozens of times.

I see you train at home and I used the DeLorme at home as well, using the Snatch Grip DL and Floor Press, both of which do not require any equipment besides a barbell (and floor).
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What program are you following now? I've been reading back a ways on your posts and trying to find the unifying theory connecting your workout reports :)
 
Actually, it's a modified "westside" program, or conjugate method. The reason the title of all my workout posts is so random is that it's a mutation of the original programs title, which contains a bad word....

Basically, you have two upper body days and 2 lower body days a week. One is a max effort day (working up to a heavy set of 3-5 in my case) and the second is either a dynamic effort (speed training) or repetition day (higher volume).
 
Day 1 Week 1 Cycle 2

Westside for Shrinking Matter

RE Upper

Arm circles/Cat Camel/Yoga Pushups/T-Pushups

2 rounds
Smith Machine Ballistic Bench Throws -115 lbs x 3
B.U. K-bell Press - 5 lbs x 3 per arm
Band Ys, Reverse Flies, Elbows out Rows, Elbows tucked rows

A1) Bench Press (Ring finger on rings)
Bar x 8, 95 x 8, 135 x 5
185 x 10, 7, 8 (25)

B1) Chinups (Supinated Grip)
13, 10, 8, 8 (39)

B2) Single Arm K-Bell Press
45 lbs. x 15, 12, 12 (39)

C1) Cuban Press
65 lbs. x 10, 10, 10

C2) K-bell Tri Extensions on floor
35 lbs. x 10, 10, 10

C3) Barbell Curls
65 lbs. x 10, 8, 8

Been a bit low on sleep lately. One of the guys in my department got fired recently, and as a result, I've been working 4 AM shifts all week. I'm lucky if I fall asleep by 11:00 on these nights. However, I feel great in the morning. I just get hit with fatigue in the early afternoon and end up napping for a while. As a result, I haven't been super hungry so I haven't been eating as much as I should, but still enough to get adequate nutrients for training and life. Took a nice nap in the late afternoon to some music today and woke up to "In the Light" by Led Zeppelin, which actually put me into a semi trippy trance dream state, in between the sleep and waking world. I can't say I didn't enjoy it. Made it out to the gym at about 7:30.

Wanted to do some higher rep work on bench for my RE move. Felt good with a narrower grip, which I may use for a while. Went a little conservative as it's week 1 and I didn't have a spotter. The last set I asked for a spotter, so I added an extra rep. He touched the bar even though I was clearly okay and I slightly scolded him. But not too harshly! Hope to add reps to the first set and total reps over the next few weeks. Ballistic bench as a warmup was kind of fun. I haven't used a smith machine in ages and it was a bit odd getting used to the straight line bar path. I had to set up way further back than usual but it's a pretty powerful feeling to actually launch the bar in the air. It was weird turning the wrists to rack it and unrack it however. I don't know if it's better to set up facing the opposite way.

Changed grip on chins from neutral grip to supinated grip and oddly this grip feels stronger. This may be because the parallel grip is kind of wider than shoulders. Single arm kettlebell press felt fine. I feel the upper back gets much more work with the kettlebell for whatever reason. This is good. For the last circuit, chose lifts that didn't require me to change weights or move from one room to the next too much. The power room has the kettlebells and barbells while the other room has the dumbbells and machines. I wanted to do seated dumbbell cleans, but this would require me to occupy too many spaces at once. So I did the Cuban press, which required the same weight as the curls. Thus, minimizing the apparatus necessary. The Cuban press gets good work on the upper back, and I really liked the kettlebell extensions on the floor. Tomorrow is max effort lower day, and Zercher squats will be the main dish, preceded by a deadlift off the floor, to gain better transfer to sumo deadlift, as that stance will be mimicked.


 
Does Westside cycle similar to block training? I see how a single week is set up but am wondering the theory week to week.

Typical Block Cycle:
  1. Accumulation phase
  2. Transmutation or Intensification phase
  3. Realization phase
 
Joe Fraser said:
Does Westside cycle similar to block training? I see how a single week is set up but am wondering the theory week to week.

Typical Block Cycle:
  1. Accumulation phase
  2. Transmutation or Intensification phase
  3. Realization phase
Click to expand...

Actually, Westside is technically a linear program. In conjugate training, i.e. westside style, all qualities are constantly trained...max strength, hypertrophy, conditioning, etc. Fatigue is combatted by the cycling of exercise selection while load is supposed to be ever increasing in the exercises. Repetition days often replace M.E. days when the athlete is beat up, or a less demanding exercise is used as a 3 or 5 RM. There is technically a peaking phase that is independent to each individual's experience/needs. This is where during the weeks leading up to a meet, practice of the main lifts takes precedence. These are mostly geared lifters by the way, and they will mostly spend this time working the lifts in the lifting suits, if even at all. I know some Westsider's never even free squat or deadlift until competition. But this varies from lifter to lifter. It is a very customizable program and has to be tailored for an individuals specific needs. Thus my main lifts are more raw based lifts as opposed to the lifts they used to up their gear maxes. As opposed to box squats, squats with bands or board presses, I use front squats, high bar squats and close grip benches, thus working the weaker area a raw lifter will experience more than a geared lifter.

The reason Westside is considered a linear program is because every week you aim to add weight to a previous P.R. This is only accomplished when you utilize several moves that are similar but different and record your rep P.R.'s every time. At the level of a world class powerlifter, they rotate the lift every week! This is because they're very familiar with these lifts. They have no motor learning needs to practice them often, as they've practiced them for quite a long while. Beginners and intermediates who are training new lifts can push them for longer before cycling the lifts. 3 weeks is what I'm using but Mike Mahler wrote a westside inspired program that allows beginners to train the same Max Effort move for 6 weeks. The only way to know the optimal length to stay with an M.E. lift is to train it for a while and when you hit the "I couldn't do any more next week" barrier. Advanced lifters reach this stage much faster. A beginner who's never done front squats can push it for a while, but as he advance's may find he can only push for 4 weeks, then 3 then 2. Then he'd utilize another squat variation.

Advanced lifter's also have the ability to strain, much better than less advanced ones. A beginner can strain one week, but will be able to strain harder the next as learning to grind is a skill that must be developed. Thus in Westside, the Grind day allows a lifter to do this on several exercises similar to the main lift, without burning out. Then assistance work happens where more repetition work will take up the rest of the workout to shore up weak links, patterns or other issues such as technical problems with the lift.

If you're interested in Westside, there is a lot of info on their website.

Cheers​
 
Day 2 Week 1

Westside for Silky Swaggers

M.E. Lower

Warmup
Med Ball Tosses, Goblet Squats, H.F. Reachers

A1) Zercher Squat off Floor
135 x 1, 225 x 1, 275 x 1, 295 x 5

B1) Good Mornings (Medium Stance)
135 x 12 x 3 sets (36)

C1) Reverse Lunge
2 x 25 K-bells (front squat position)
12,12,10 (34)

D1) Ab Wheel Rollouts
5 x 3 sets

Still tired from the work week. Forgot to do more mobility in my warmup but honestly, I don't need too much warmup these days. I just like to be primed. Did very few warmup sets for Zerchers as it's a lift I'm somewhat familiar with, although it's been over a year since I last performed them as a main lift. My first rep with 135, noticed my ankle mobility on the left was poor. My heel came up after the bar rested on my knees, and I had to move my stance out a bit for the other sets and working set. This is pretty much the only reason for warmup's on this lift, as there is a bit going on to make it work and it get's really repetitive when you do it from the floor. The knurling really tore up my arms, but I wanted to use the Texas Bar. This allowed me to drop the bar after the last rep, instead of wasting energy returning the bar to the floor in the "nice" eccentric manner. Honestly, 295 was pretty easy. My Zercher weight is always pretty close to my low bar and has a very high transfer over to my sumo DL and squat. A win/win/win lift for me, and I've missed it.

Good Mornings, however, were a bit harder than I expected. This is good to find. Working lifts I am weaker at is the whole point of the assistance lifts. My hamstrings are either tight and/or weak or both. Felt them doing a lot of work, which is what I'd hoped for. A much harder lift than RDL's I think. Alas, I don't know how Louie and CO do round back deadlifts. Mine were pretty straightforward hip hinge and even then, I feared the bar rolling over my neck.

Wasn't too excited for the reverse lunge either. I was quite winded as with single leg work, you do twice as many reps and holding the two kettlebells in the rack position is tiring for everything. Still, good work there. Didn't know which ab exercise to do so chose the ab wheel. This is a pretty tough one. My abs were definitely feeling it.

Finished off with some light band work just to get some blood to my upper body, which is sore from yesterday.

Zercher 295 x 5
 
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Philippe Geoffrion said:
If you're interested in Westside, there is a lot of info on their website.​
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed response Phillippe. I find the theory of programming to be interesting and how a lot of programming look different but use similar theories. On the otherhand, often programs are compared that are meant for different purposes. Most trainees are unaware of the difference in the principles behind a program and ends up choosing a good program but maybe at the wrong time in their progression and then writing it off for subpar results.
 
Joe Fraser said:
Thanks for the detailed response Phillippe. I find the theory of programming to be interesting and how a lot of programming look different but use similar theories. On the otherhand, often programs are compared that are meant for different purposes. Most trainees are unaware of the difference in the principles behind a program and ends up choosing a good program but maybe at the wrong time in their progression and then writing it off for subpar results.
Click to expand...

My pleasure Joe. I agree it is indeed very interesting. In the end, programming is meant to bring us to our goals. It can get very confusing for new trainees who go looking for information and read so much conflicting information that they just go and throw in the towel. For beginners, and in actuality everyone, the more basic the better. However, as you develop, it important your training evolves with you. You learn a lot about yourself in the process like what works and what doesn't for you. There is a lot of problem solving in training and there's no cookie cutter program that works for everyone. It's hard to argue that there is a better beginner program than Starting Strength, but alas SS is also a mutation of programs before it, namely Reg Park's or Bill Starr's 5 x 5 but as you advance, as a child learns to walk and talk, our individual differences become more apparent. Thus different programming becomes necessary to meet individuals needs and goals. This is where things can get tricky. We experience plateaus, frustration and even injury but these are all just the norm for those looking to exceed the average status quo. But alas, those who stick with it will always find the way. As Babe Ruth said, "It's hard to beat someone who never gives up"
 
I read up on the Westside method, and one of the questions I had is when is a lifter sufficiently advanced to switch to it. Perhaps this was discussed in the write up and I missed it. Also, it's not like I'm considering switching to the program, my curiosity is just insatiable ;)

I did find the Weightlifting Performance Standards for each of the main lifts, which I found quite interesting. I was a little below "untrained" in pretty much every lift before beginning lifting weights again ~5 months ago. Now I'm ~"novice" in everything except the squat, which I haven't been training. I guess that tracks about right, and it's helpful to have some general guidelines on progress.
 
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