This is my training for the last couple of days. I’ve started Westside which i have done before, but i’m on the verge of thinking i’m doing too much work and to many exercises. So here it is.
Friday, Feb 11
pulldown-2x12, 110lbs(waiting for squat rack)
box squat- 8x2, 145lbs
deadlift- 135x5, 225x5,5, 245x5,5
A1)pullthrough- 70lbs-3x10
A2)decline sit up- 25lbs, 3x10
B1)hypers- 25lbs-2x10
B2)kneeling cable crunch- 90lbs-2x10
Sunday, Feb 13
speed bench- 8x3-105lbs
A1)pullup- bwx5, 10x5,5, 15x5,4
A2)decline-135x5, 165x5,5, 185x5,4
dips-BWx7,6
B1)row to neck- 50x10,60x8
B2)plate raise-25x10,8
I know this isn’t totally westside because they train deadlifts for singles, but what i’m most worried about is if i’m doing to much volume. My main goals since i’m using westside is to get stronger and bigger. I only weigh about 145 right now and will be training, sunday, monday, wed, friday, and be doing light kettlebell work on my tuesday and thursday. So any suggestions?
Don’t worry about too much volume. You aren’t that strong yet. The taxing caused by volume affects your recovery. But your poundage isn’t overwhelming so unless you start dreading the next workout or bring no energy to it, you probably need the extra volume for now to make up for the poundage. As you get stronger the volume will affect you more but your work capacity will also increase.
Especially when you are at the front end of the strength curve, you need the volume to create more strength. Do as much as you can recover from.
You may want to calculate total pounds for each workout and monitor that level of poundage. If you find you can maintain your schedule with that volume, then as the weight goes up, the reps may decrease some to maintain total volume.
Extra Workout, Tues, Feb 15
db swing ciruits
A1)arm swing x 16
A2)right arm snatch x 4
A3)left arm snatch x 4
A4)right arm swing x 8
A5)left arm swing x 8
-2 sets with 25 lbs
straight leg sit ups- 2x15
db floor press- 2x30 with 25 lbs
215 on a front squat sounds a little high for a recovery/gpp day. Unless it’s your max effort day, in which case that’s not how westside is usually organised. Usually the two speed days are right next to each other, then off day, then max effort, then off day, then max effort, then off day. repeat.
Not that i see it being a big deal the way i organize it, but i’m doing it exactly the way westside does. DE bench on sunday, ME squat monday, ME bench wednesday, and DE squat on friday. And the day where i was doing front squat was not a recovery workout it was max effort.
At your strength level you probably don’t need to be adding in extra workouts yet. It may be more benfecial for you to try to up the over-all intensity of your main workouts by increasing the weight used on the accessory/supplemental exercises. When I first started training Weststside I tried on many occasions to add in extra workouts and they ended up making me overtrained and unable to gain weight or strength. I backed off the extra workouts for a long time and focused on just improving my 4 main workouts and gaining weight from 180lbs to 200lbs. Now that my strength and weight have shot through the roof, I’ve started adding in extra volume at the beginning of my main workouts. Example: On Bench days I do 3-4 sets of reverse hypers supersetted with 3-4 sets of abs before I start my Bench workout; On squat days I do 3-4 sets of upper back work and 3-4 sets of abs. As I acclimate to this I will slowly add more sets and exercises to the beginning of the workout and when the volume of my extra workout plus my main workout become to much to complete together as one workout in under 1 hour I will split the extra work at the beginnning into an extra workout later in the day or on a day of its own, while adding new exercises to the beggining of my main workout until I can split it off into another extra work out, etc. etc. It’s taken me a long time to really even need these extra workouts to help me get stronger and as a beginner to westside you should probably just stick to the basics and not add extra stuff in until you need it. If you’re only weighing 140 lbs (as per your profile) and using 145 for your speed squats and 110 for your speed bench I think you might benefit more from increasing the intensity of your main workout and gaining weight, unless you have to stay at 140 lbs for a sport or something . By the way, where are you in Missouri? I’m a student at Mizzou.
I go to school at SMS and i weigh about 145 now and no i dont have to stay at that weight for any sport reason. But the only reason i add extra workouts is for the DB circuits like kettlebell circuits but i dont have kettlebells so. But they feel like they help keep me in shape, i really dont think i need the extra workouts for the strength at all, but i feel like if i dont do something on my off days i get really out of shape and my main workouts actually feel harder than when i’m doing the db circuits. And no matter how hard i try i just cant’ seem to gain weight. I can eat like 3500 calories a day and not get up past 150. But any help u can give me i would greatly appreciate.
pin press about 2 inches of chest
-205x1, 215xmiss-got about halfway
up and my triceps failed me
t-bar chest sup row
-50x10,50x8,40x9,30x10
incline db press-35x12,12,12
6 sets of triceps- 6-12 reps
rear delt- 2x10
Also i’m going to start taking ZMA to see if i can get a little testosterone boost, because between school, work and training i get a lil stressed which i know makes testosterone go down. So we will see if it helps.
Do i even need to be doing speed work right now as i’m so weak and so small. Bench about 225 and squat about 285 at about 145. Or should i focus on strength and gaining weight?
I sent you a PM about speed bench work.
As for speed squats, I think you should keep doing them as long as you’re doing box squats. I don’t think you need to be using chains or bands for the speed work yet. It may be more beneficial for you to use straight weight at about 50-60 percent of your max for 10-12 sets (and make sure you get them done fast…we’re talking ten minutes or less). On max effort squat days it would probably be a good idea for you to stick with 3 rep maxes for your squat/deadlift variations and 5 reps axes for good mornings. You need to gain some weight and buld some more muscle right now and max singles probably aren’t the best choice for that.
Friday, Feb 18
box squat- 155-6x2, 185x1, 195x1-worked up a lil higher to focus more on strength
deadlift- 185x5,225x5,5,255x5,5
-going up nicely, i’ll go for
265 next week
A1)hypers-30x10,10,10
A2)decline sit up- 30x10,9,8
pulldown-1x12, shoulder is a lil sore so cut back on these
Saturday, Feb 19, i usually do this on sunday but i will probably be out of town tomorrow
bench press- went for 3RM at 185(WEAK!)
-thought i would do better
pulldown-80x5,100x5,5,110x5,120x5
decline-135x5,160x5,5,185x5,5
dips-bwx10,9
pusdown-2x10
rotator cuff work
-snatch press-35lbs-3x8
-cable external rotation-2x10
-db external rotation-2x5
My right rotator has been a lil sore, i think i need to start focusing alot more on upperback/traps and triceps. My bench is stalling out at over halfway up so its gotta be the triceps, and my traps and upper back just feel weak so.
I’m gonna do more of a metal milita type bench program for a while where they do a full range 3 rep max and then a top range day untill my strength gets up. Peyton recommended this to me as he thought speed benches wouldnt’ do me much good at my strength level.
yea peyton beat me to it i was going to recommend the same thing for your bench…just keep workin it wil come…also if there is a realy powerlifting gym or a crew by you of really strong lifters get with them it will help more than you can imagine.rb
February 22, Tuesday
pin press- 2 inches off chest
-215x1, 220xmiss(hardly moved)
-160-2x5
chest supported row
-7 or 8 sets with 50lbs supersetted
throughout workout
incline db press- 40x12,12,9
triceps- 4 sets, lying ext, pushdowns
rotator work
-cuban press- 45lbsx6,6,6
-cable external rotation-20x8,8
-db external rotation-10x5
The 220 on pin presses barely moved at all, but i could tell on the 215 that my triceps have gotten stronger it blew up to my sticking point then i strained through it, going to change exercise for next week. Also decided to take peyton’s advice and do lots and lots of rows. I suppersetted chest supported t-bar rows throughout my workout after my max effort work and i think it was a good idea. I’m also going to keep doing the extra rotator work for a while as i normally wait untill my shoulders hurt me to do it which is a dumb idea, so i’m going to try and keep pushing the weight up on that to get them good and strong.
Thursday, Feb 2
box squat- 155-6x2,175x1,195x1,205x1
-205 was a lil slow but the
rest were great
deadlift- 135x5,225x5,245x5,265x5
hypers-2x10 with 30lbs
decline sit ups- 2x10 with 25lbs
Had to get in and get out today, deadlifts are still going up nicely and we will see how the 3RM for bench goes on sunday, i’m gonna try 195 instead of 190 i think of got it. But after next week i’m going to take a down week, my strength has been going up very very well. I dont wanna push it and take it to far, so one more hard week, then a down week with less intensity and volume.
Sunday, Feb 27
bench press-195x3
-my butt came off the bench
on the 3rd rep
db floor press-50x5,55x5,60x5,65x5
chest supported t-bar row
-50lbsx 5 or 6 sets of 8-10
A1)elbows out ext-25x8,20x10,9
A2)db power clean-25x10,8
A3)shrugs-40x9,8
pushdowns-3x10
cable upright row- 2x10
I’m going to take a down week and do speed work with straight weight for 50%1RM and also do a lil less volume. I still can’t really believe my bench is that weak because i can do 215x1 pressing it from a dead stop at the bottom, but who knows. I’ve also been doing lots and lots of rows, between sets, between exercises and they are already getting stronger. I’m going to start doing one heavy row day with 3-4setsx4-6 reps, then do a couple of back of sets of 8-10. Then the next day i will down 5-7sets of 8-10 reps for high volume. Then i’ll also do pulldowns on my lower body speed day.
Monday, Feb 28
manta ray parralel close stance squat
-295x1, i think this is the most
weight i’ve ever squated
reverse lunge in smith machine
-115x10, 125x10, 135x9 each leg
pull-through-150x15,15
abs-3 different exercises-2 sets each
cavles- 2x10
Really felt the high bar position of the manta ray pushing me forward and i had to fight it back especially at the bottom, which i think is what its suppose to do. I’m going to start doing goodmornings after my dynamic squats for 5’s for a lil while and try really hard to work on my squat form on dynamic day.
My hips are also really weak as they come in when when i do wide stance squats.
MILK: Just drink hoardes of milk. You’ll be surprised how much you can drink, a gallon a day is eaiser than expected.
Shakes:
A few hour’s before a workout, and IMMEDIATELY after a workout. Get some maltodextroin and dextrose. Mix that with your shakes to get your carb’s up too. If you can try the midnight shake too (drink a liter of water b4 bed, and when you wake up to pee, drink a protien shake)
Follow dude’s advice above, and cut out the extra work. You probably can’t gain weight cause burning calories unneccessarily. Look into Waterbury’s 100 reps to GPP and GPP ASAP.
If you want to keep your conditioning up for some reason, every 4 weeks cut out your DE day, and do a Tabata workout. Instead of DE Box squats, do tabata front squats
Instead of DE board press, use dbell swings or something.
That will keep your conditioning higher than Cheech and Chong in a Dave Chappelle skit.