I’ve been doing The West Side thing now for 6 months… I enjoy both Powerlifting and Bodybuilding and have mixed the two up a bit… I like being strong for function, but enjoy a nice body which is why I mix it up… Has anyone had any good or bad experiences from training westside style? Right Now I train On Monday and Tuesday are my Max days… Thursday and Friday are my Dynamic days. I do 4 accessory movements for each workout.
would be interested in knowing what ur log says…plus whats your results U never mentioned it …interesting to see
I have got great results from WS! Wether I planned on competing or not I would train this way! For me it is fun and I feel like I am accomplishing more than I did when I was bodybuilding, but I still get a little of that in my assistance work so for me I get the best of both worlds. That’s one of the things I like about this method is that it allows endless combinations of all the others. I think that is the reason I like it so much. I can implement ideas from other strength coaches as well like CT or CW.
For me training WS have worked very well. From September last year my “sparetire” have gone from app. 15cm (6 inch) to 2,5 cm (1 inch) and I’m 3 kilos heavier. God knows how much LBM I’ve gained? Not to mention that I’m a LOT stronger. All this without any direct dieting, just trying to eat clean most of the time. (Still love my pizza and beer)
Not bad for an old guy;-)
If any of you guys reading this haven’t tried WS yet, do it. You wont regret it!
My workout as follows… A 3 week cycle. On Max days I go lighter with the accessory movements and on dynamic days I go heavier with my accessory movements.
Upper body =
- Peg Press, went till maxed out at 350 1 rep.
- Jam press, 155 pounds, 3 sets of 15
- T-bar Rows, 120 pounds, 3 sets of 15
- Close grip pull ups, 2 sets to failure.
- Incline Dumbell flyes, 60 pounds, 3 sets of 15
- Lateral Raises, 25 pounds, 3 sets of 20 reps.
- Dumbbell curl “the bodybuilder in me” 25 pounds, 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps.
Dynamic day would be the same except My main movements is Band Presses. I use 185 pounds 10 sets of 3 reps. and I go up 10 or 15 pounds on my accessory movements and do 10 to 12 reps.
Max day legs =
- Box Squats “hip flexors relaxed” I went until I failed at 315 one time. "much harder when I had to relax my hip flexors.
- Step ups, 135 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps.
- Stiff Leg Dead lifts, 225 3 sets of 15 reps.
- Glute Ham Raises, 3 sets of 5 reps.
- Seated Calves, 135, 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.
On Dynamic day I my main movement is band squats with 185 pounds, 10 set of 2 reps. And I go heavier with my accessory movements.
You might want to swap one of your DE days with one of your ME days. IMO, 2 ME days back to back is too taxing on the CNS…
im doing WS also, so would it be better to do something like this:
Day 1 ME lower
Day 2 DE upper
Day 4 DE lower
Day 5 ME upper
That just doesnt seem right. I thought the split was doing the ME’s in the beginning of the week and the DE’s at the end.
They do. But, they skip a day between so they are not two days in a row.
Monday ME Sq/DL
Wednesday ME Bench
Friday DE Sq/DL
Sunday DE Bench
That is how Dave laid it out in the 8 keys…
I forgot to mention I’m 28 years old.
5ft8in, 175-180 pounds, 13% bodyfat. I know this website disses trainers. But I’m one of them!!! But I’m one of the good ones. I’m not a paper trainer who tries to razzle dazzle their clients with fancy movements that don’t work. I’m very scientific and mythotical with me and my clients workouts. There are two many trainers out their that suck… It only takes one bad seed to spoil the apple. I wish the my profession was more regulated to keep the meatheads and the corporate trainers out. I train in Atlanta Ga. The gym I train at is owned by my best friend who only picks the best trainers/strength coaches in atlanta. He sends the paper trainers to LA fitness or Crunch. I’ve learned alot of my the important stuff inside the gym such as form, technique, etc… The scientific stuff was from school. I’ve had alot of fun using the westside principle and have adapted some of it to a few of my serious clients.
Some people have used a M,T,Th,F split two I believe. There is also a good article by Jim Wendler at elitefts on using a 3 day rotating split.
I have to agree w/ Snippdawg.
The Westside system, while having it’s roots in powerlifting , can be adapted for other goals and has great versitility.
Gotta agree with Snippdawg-
Versatility of Westside and, though the M,T,TH,F split isn’t the “Westside Purist’s” preference, sometime with weekly schedules, it is what has to work.
I’m not really a big fan of doing ME back to back days as it takes big toll on CNS. I train westside as well and I tried M-T-T-F and it really wore me out doing ME back to back on monday and tuesday. That’s why those westsiders used M-W-F-Sat OR you can do M-W-F-Sun-Tu-Th-Sat-M (every 2 days). It really depends on what each individual is trying to do. If training for sports then DE Squat is not needed as you have to work on speed as you approach the season. You can do the regular template off season for a few months before making changes in preparation for sports.