i would like to hear about speed work…what do u guys do? you have a dynamic day like westside? or you prform basic plyos such as box jumps,depth jumps…throws…or a lil of both?? and did u find that speed training helps in lifting more weight??
I do westside type speed work and I think it helps tremendously on all my lifts. To me, it helps me push through sticking points when I lift maximal. I use short rest intervals to keep my heart rate up too so I can a little conditioning too. And I use accomadating resistance.
I do a good bit of speed work. For me it’s just using %60-75 of my 1RM and exploding the reps for 3’s or 5’s normally using the powerlifts and there variations.
Lower body i use around %60-65 and upper body %60-75.
I’ve found it very effective to do speed work for a particular lift earlier in the day before ME work or a day before using the SAME lift.
IE
Push Press for speed on mon and do max effort work 6 hours later or the next day using the same lift.
I started using some of the West Side principles including DE days about 5 months ago and I think it had a huge impact. My bench is about 30 pounds stronger and I don’t think it would’ve got there without it.
It also depends who you ask, some really strong people say it doesn’t do anything and others say it makes a world of difference.
Ive also had similar results using speed work for bench. my bench is up 30-40lbs since starting to do speed work (with bands and chains). i felt instantly stronger after a few weeks.
as far a DE squats are concerned, speed work with bands has definitely helped although its hard to say how much since ive recently had some lower back problems.
with deadlifts i haven’t done speed work in awhile but i remember my deadlift was strongest when i was doing straight weight speed work every week. im going to start doing these again and try to incorporate chains (im having trouble setting up bands for these).
Question:
Does speed work require the use of bands and chains?
Louie states it should, Tate says the lifter should have 3 years under his belt before using bands / chains.
Or should lifters not use WS till they have 3+ years? However Louie says it is great for beginners.
What are your thoughts?
The problem i find with westside method is that lower body has a day of its own so either i do both deadlifts and squats or only one. i find that if i spend a certain amount of time without performing a lift my technique goes away…any advice? performing few sets DE before ME?? 4 sets??..
Do you have a DE day and a ME Day?
DE Squat day should be box squats. You can play with the height but they should really be low box squats if you can do them. 50/55/60% of your 1RM for 10 to 12 sets of 2 reps.
ME Day - This should be a squat / deadlift variation. I have noticed myself that I slow down if I dont do a movement for a few weeks so now I will do something like this:
Week 1
Max Effort Deadlift Variant 1RM
Accessory Squat Variant 6 Reps
Week 2
Max Effort Squat Variant 1RM
Accessory Good Morning Variant 6 Reps
Week 1
Max Effort Good Morning Variant Variant 1RM
Accessory Deadlift Variant 6 Reps
This isn’t set in stone but just what seems to work for me. Deadlifts and Squats use many of the same muscles so training for one trains the other. (Not 100% before anyone moans but working positrior chain, lower and upper back help with both)
What I’m trying out now is doing 6-8x2 speed squats and then afterwards do 6x1 speed deadlift. I’m starting to vary the type/amount of acommodating resistance every month.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
What I’m trying out now is doing 6-8x2 speed squats and then afterwards do 6x1 speed deadlift. I’m starting to vary the type/amount of acommodating resistance every month.[/quote]
I did just this today, seemed to work well.
Box Squats followed by Speed RDL’s.
You say you use bands etc, do you think everyone should use them? How much training do you have under your belt?
I think I may be using bands on my dynamic bench as I seem to ‘pop’ off the top and can loose tightness.