Having recently decided to go the strongman route - I need to prioritise my OHP over my bench. My military press is a shocking 60% of my bench, and so obviously needs to come up.
So, here’s my plan using the westside model as a template.
I have kept various benching (decline/flat/incline) in as accessory movements. I have also added bicep and medial deltoid work.
***NB I’ve never altered westside before, so this could be utter bollocks.
[b]ME upper[/b]
OHP Clean & Jerk/Behind the neck push-press
tris decline close grip bench 4x12
chest wide grip incline bench 3x15
back facepulls 4x12
m/p delts lateral raises 3x15
[b]ME lower[/b]
Squats/box squats
abs/obliques standing cable crunches 3x12
hams ham curls 3x12
lower back pullthroughs 2x20
(biceps) hammer curls 3x12
[b]RE upper[/b]
OHP Overhead DB press, 4x12
tris close grip flat bench 12x3
chest normal grip incline bench 6x6
back seated cable rows 6x6
m/p delts 45 degree standing cable rows 5x8
[b]DE lower[/b]
Power clean from floor 50% max 12 singles
abs/obliques twisting cable crunches 6x6
hams/lower back stiff legged deads 6x6
(biceps) EZ bar curls
As you can see I am including a lot of accessory work (biceps/medial/posterior delts). I will be including these for 3 weeks and then probably reducing the workload (I have a 3 week period coming up where I can just train, eat, and rest!).
I would love some critique on this as I only have a very vague idea on how I should be modifying westside.
Just to bounce around ideas, here’s what I am doing:
I have 4 lifting days (3 a week) and 1 events day.
ME OH is a ME push press or variation. Regular, BTN, with bands, etc, followed by a push jerk variation as a supplemental lift.
My DE day is strict military press for 8-12 sets using 3-4 different grips (wide, reverse, close, regular). I follow that up with a weakness lift, which is a bench press (reverse grip for delt and tri, close grip, or 2 board press).
Any pressing I do on my events day I normally do for RE and it’s only 1 exercise so I don’t worry about doing too much.
[quote]threewhitelights wrote:
Just to bounce around ideas, here’s what I am doing:
I have 4 lifting days (3 a week) and 1 events day.
ME OH is a ME push press or variation. Regular, BTN, with bands, etc, followed by a push jerk variation as a supplemental lift.
My DE day is strict military press for 8-12 sets using 3-4 different grips (wide, reverse, close, regular). I follow that up with a weakness lift, which is a bench press (reverse grip for delt and tri, close grip, or 2 board press).
Any pressing I do on my events day I normally do for RE and it’s only 1 exercise so I don’t worry about doing too much. [/quote]
Thanks threewhitelights. I really like the idea of having the push/jerk as a supplemental lift.
I’m using 50-70%. I don’t mind going heavier since I’m not incredibly strong in this lift, but if it feels slow I back down. I also normally use 5-10lb less with the wide grip stuff, and do that grip first.
I like having the push jerk as a supplement too. It’s what I do in competition (except on 12, 14" logs) so I would make it an ME lift, but I want to use my shoulders more in my ME lift, and I personally feel that the push jerks (and other oly lifts) are best trained short of failure focusing on speed and technique.
I’m looking for more ME lifts, here’s my current list:
Push Press
BTN Push Press
OH Lockouts
Clean and Press (clean each rep)
I’d like to get an 8" or 10" log to do ME work with.
Matt Delancey (UF Gators strength coach and soon to be LW Pro) gave me the idea for this, and says it’s working for him real well.
I know this is an OH thread, but looking at your template I’d say you need to be deadlifting. You won’t have a single contest without some kind of deadlift, and many events revolve around it. Not saying it always has to be done for a max single, but you should have some kind of pull at least a couple weeks a month.
Also, the powerclean is already a fast movement, so I don’t think it’s necessary to do for as light as 50%. I’d follow pripens (SP?) chart if this is what you want to do for DE work since that’s what Louie bases DE work off anyway.
Good point on the powerclean - it can’t really be done slowly! I guess there’s no problem with working up to a max on this one then.
I usually deadlift A LOT. Using the standard template, I used to deadlift about 3/4 of the time (rather than squat).
This worked really well for months on end until recently. I couldn’t even break 90% of my max off the floor on my first lift of the session. That’s why they’re not listed - I will work them back in after a month or so.
Well spotted though, I appreciate the feedback.
As for your OH ME lifts, how about:
One-armed press
Lumberjack press (this is where you lodge an olympic bar in the corner of a room and load weight on one side - to be “cleaned” + pressed OH). Kinda like Fingal’s Fingers.
Good luck with the transition to strongman, I think you will enjoy it!
I have never strictly followed a westside templete so I may be out of line here.
I would ditch the bench completely and sub in overhead work.
I would advise you figure out what kind of presser you are before selecting movements. Do you get a lot of leg drive with double knee bend/or variation of a split? OR do you just press it up with pure shoulder power?
I am weak, so I have to use a lot of technique and leg drive. I did a TON of tricep work so I could catch the lifts after my legs were out of it. Although my max is still shit, it’s vastly improved from where I started. Hope some of this helped.
You can get an atlas stone mold for cheaper than that, and make your own. You make different weights by adding lead or foam. I’d start with a 20-22" mold.
I agree about figuring out what type of presser you are. I use a lot of leg drive and a push/split jerk in competition, so all my ME lifts have leg drive in them. I also do a lot of overhead support stuff just to get used to having the weight overhead.