I’ve been lifting west side for about 4months. Im not concerned with competing right now. I want to get strong but my focus isnt necassarily in the big 3 lifts.
My best gains, in the past, have been made doing deadlifts (sumo and conv), chins/pullups, 1-arm overhead pressess (barbell)and heavy cleans/snatches. when i was training using these lifts i was training for wrestling and athletics in general. i didnt bench regularly , although i did alot of clapping/ballistic pushups (similiar to DE bench). The 1-arm presses really got my triceps strong. I was still able to bench 315 (down from 365, when i was benching alot)and the lockouts were a snap.
I do not like the lack of deadlifting in the west side workouts ive seen. i really want to keep deads in my workouts. im not knocking westside at all. doing speed deads on DE day is going to hurl me past my old dead-lift PR’s. i never worked speed, specifically, in my deads until i started lifting using westside principles.
the same goes for lack of chinning movements.
i like to do chins as they takes care of alot of assistance exercises at once. upper back/lats/rhomboids/biceps etc.
basically im just trying to work deads 1-arms and chins into my workout more often.
i also love the benefits of doing the 1-arm overhead press. these, deads and cleans/snatches helped tremendously with my wrestling and overall strength and power.
i really like the west side template but i did away with the 1arms, frequent deads, and chinning for the last few months and used basic westside assistance moves as prescribed by westside, in their place. and i dont feel like im making the gains i could be if i were doing these other exercises/movements.
ex. *GPP. sled drag(tire with 50lbs inside. 100yds,100yds,100yds (backwards),cleans or snatches 3-5sets of 3reps. 50-80% of max. maybe do some lunges too and neck work. (10-15min)
*Good mornings
standard x3,x3,x3...x1,x1,,1,xME
*Sumo dead 9-12 sets 1-2reps
around 85%max.
*Glute-ham with miniband 10x6
*1 legged squats(bdy wt)6x10
* heavy core work
DE SQUAT/DEAD
*GPP: same as above.
*box squats (strt.wt) 9-12 x2reps
* speed pulls off of 5"box 9-12
x1-2reps (reset each time)
*glute-ham 2-3sets x 10
*rev.hyper 6x6
*1 leg squat 5x10
* ballistic core work
ME BENCH/1ARM
GPP. Same as above but add a few sets of pushups.
*1board press+chains/ pause at bottom
x3,x3,x3…x1,x1,x1,xME
*1arm overhead b.bell press
(standing; ala Pavel)
10sets of 1@ 85%
* sometimes ill do bench lockouts
in the rack for 3or4 x 3-5
* weighted wide grip chins
5x5 or 8x3(bdy wt +30-60)
* shrugs 5x10 supersetted with
pushups on olympic rings 5x10
* ext. rotators
* heavy core work
DE bench/1arm
*GPP same as above
*speed bench+chains 9-12x3
*cambered bar with 3sec pause
bottom, then explode 3x3
*1arm press 8x3
*wide grip chins variations
with 1 sec iso-hold at top
6x4 (body weight: 200lbs)
*ext rotators
*ballistic core work
i was thinking of maybe alternating exercises on DE days , as it concerns the order of bench and 1arms as im sure im a little fatigued from the bench when i go to my 1arms.
im going to do the same thing on my next DE squat dead. that is, do my 10x1 pulls first then hit 9x2 on squats. just to see how it feels. Although doing the squats first really warms me up nicely for deads.
go ahead and critique the hell out of this. im really interested in what you guys have to say.
thanks,
ryan b.
first off who said you cant do chins…there are tons of people who use chins and do westside,the reason chins are not prescribed a lot is because most of the members at westside are 250-350 pound men and at that weight chins ar enot a great idea…i know jim wendler does chins now and then and he weighs 275…if you feel chins work for you do them as your back assitant work…trust me the 8 week workout on here is not the written in stone westside template it is not even close…go to elitefitness and read there logs…also deadlifting every week heavy is just stupid…it is by far the hardest moveemnt of the cns…but i am going to tell you this if you feel like you have a good enough work capacity you can go ahead and add in a deadlifting variation movement for your first assitant exerscice after max effort work…these can include rack pulls from all pins below the knee, reverse band deadlifts,stiff leg deadlifts off 2-4 inch boxes…you just dont want to max out on these every week but there is nothing wrong with doing them for 5x5 or 3x3, or even 3 singles in the 90% range once a month or so…westside is about finding out what works for YOU…the basic template is STRAIN ON MAX EFFORT DAY AND BE FAST ON SPEED DAYS…IT IS THAT EASY…IF YOU FEEL YOU NEED CHINS AND ONE ARM PRESSES TO BE AT YOUR BEST ADD THEM IN JUST DONT GO OVERBOARD ON THEM…now go get that bench up to 365 again…
Monday
Max effort lower body day (squat, dead lift)
Hamstrings
Lower back
Abs
Possible upper back work
Wednesday
Max effort upper body (bench press)
Triceps
Delts
Lats
Friday
Dynamic effort lower body (squat, dead lift)
Hamstrings
Lower back
Abs
Possible upper back work
Sunday
Dynamic effort upper body (bench press)
Triceps
Delts
Lats
This is from the periodization bible part 1.
So, 1 arm press would go where the delt work is, chins go where lats are on bench days.
You can do DE deads or use them as a ME movement (WSB cycles through Good Morn, Dead variation, Box Squats) Deads can also be done as a rep method in place of Hamstring or Lowback work.
The template is easy to use and as long as you know what muscles you are targeting then you can place the exercises where they belong. Don’t make it more complicated than it has to be.
Cleans can be done as LA conditioning on LB days, 60-75% 15-20x2-3 15-45 sec rest after the main movement (hell you can do them before too).
If muscles need more work you can always hit them as part of a GPP warm up
AWESOME! thanks for the replies guys. thanks alot.
ive only been adding deads,1-arms,chins, consistantly for the past few weeks. so some of the gains might just be becuase it was time to switch things up.
i was adding the sumo-deads on ME day because i dont lift sumo. i thought they would be good work for the hips.
also, im not really using heavy weight on my deads on speed day, so thats not a big deal, right? also im doing these off a 5" box so they arent exactly the same as my regular deads. should i just be working my deads with straigt weight on DE days? out of the hole is the hardest part of my dead. if i get the weight off the ground its going all the way up. period. suggestions?
yes, my lifts are going up. they went up consistantly a year ago when i just used these lifts (variations as well, pin pulls, pull throughs, statics etc), that is THE reason im trying to keep working them.
the 1arms really blast my triceps and im sure theres carryover to my bench.
nothing hits my back like the chin variations i do so im definitely keeping those in.
ill be carefull with the deads so as not to blast my cns. i think the volume is relatively small though. im hitting maybe 10 or less heavy deads on ME and like 10-20 on DE (no where near a max). ill definitely heed your advice though.
im working on my bench too. i dont use a shirt and the bottom is my weakest point anyway. im great at locking out in the top. im trying to work my speed more, so hopefully that helps.