Westside for Not-so-Skinny Bastards Log

[Edit: No longer doing WS4SB as of 2-9-09. My end maxes were a 305 touch & go bench; 290 paused, a 420 squat, and a 445 deadlift.]

Welp, I was running 5x5’s for nearly a year. Madcow’s linear, periodized, my own bastardized versions… I had about 14 weeks where I made NO progress. :-/ I decided to “cut”, and lost 2 months of progress. I’ve injured my knee, and ankle.

I feel like I made crappy progress in the last year, but I still made some. I’m ready to kick my ass into overdrive as I plan to compete, and be competitive, in a meet in the spring with my schools PL team in the 198 class.

I’ve decided to run WSB3. I’ve completed 3 weeks so far, and have made some good progress. I think. :wink: A lot of these exercises I’ve never done before, or have not done them seriously or frequently.

Lost my first weeks list of workouts, as they were written on a random piece of paper. Oh well.

Current weight is 205.

(bodyweight was approx. 195-200 here)
Bench: 275x2
Deadlift: 425x1
Squat: 370x2
Chinups: bw x 15, bw plus 80 x 2
BB Row: 235x3
MP: 160x3

11-10-08, ME Upper.

Incline Bench:
135x3
180x3
205x3
215x3

DB Bench:
60x15
60x20

T-Bar Row:
205x3x8

DB Curls:
40x8
35x2x8

BB Shrugs:
225x8
265x8
290x8
225x7

11-13-08, ME Lower.

Conv. Deadlift:
135x5
225x5
315x3
365x1
405x3
345x5

Front Squat:
145x10
170x10
200x10

Good Morning:
95x5
135x3
175x3x8

11-15-08, RE Upper.

BB Flat Bench:
135x5
185x12
185x14
185x17

Chinups:
bwx2x7
bwx9
(15 second rest)
bwx2

Facepulls:
100x3x15

DB Laterals:
15x3x12

Tricep Pushdowns:
150x10
150x2x13

DB Shrugs:
90x10
90x14
90x15

11-18-08, ME Upper.

Incline Bench:
135x3
180x3
205x3
225x4 (grueling, just barely!)
185x7

DB Bench:
65x16
65x15

T-Bar Row:
90x3
135x3
180x3
215x3x8

DB Curls:
40x2x8
35x12 (“rest paused” ~10 sec rest)

BB Shrugs:
235x8
265x8
285x8 (grip problems: double overhand)
315x8 (used mixed grip, got better ROM too!)

Not so sure it’s a good idea to use mixed grip for doing shrugs. I was very curious as to how bad my grip was holding me back on them, though, hence the extra set. I guess I should get some straps. :-/

11-20-08, ME Lower.

Conv. Deadlift:
135x3
225x5
275x1
315x1
365x1
435x1 (PR!)
405x1
385x2

Front Squat:
145x10
175x8
225x10 (difficult)

Good Morning:
135x3
185x3x8

Leg Press:
450x20

I’m not so sure about my form on the good mornings; I think my back is rounding. I gotta get some video of me doing them.

I dunno why I did the leg press… just felt like it. For some reason it really wore out my lower back, though.

11-22-08, RE Upper.

Flat Bench:
135x5
190x10
190x12
190x18-20 (I counted 20, spotter counted 18)

Chinups:
bwx10
bwx11
bwx8

Facepulls:
110x2x15
120x15

DB Laterals:
20x3x12

Tricep Pushdowns:
160x12
160x15
160x13 (barely, cheated using shoulders.)

DB Shrugs:
95x2x15
110x10

I felt great this workout. The last RE days REALLY had me sweating. I was so used to doing just sets of 5, that the sets of 10+ were just brutal. I’ve really improved greatly on this day; it felt a good deal “easier.” I’m pumped to hit 200# for 20 on the flat bench. :wink:

Those DB shrugs also are really testing my grip… fuckin’ heavy. Heh.

Nice work. Good log. I might go a few more sets on you ME upper for your primary movement. (Incline bench the last few weeks) Maybe go to a 3 rep max then do 3 -5 sets there?

I’m hesitant to change anything as I appear to still be making progress. Heh. :slight_smile:

If I hit a true 3 RM, I won’t be able to do more sets at that. I guess it’s possible that one day I could go a little under my assumed 3rm, and do maybe 3 sets of 3. I’ll keep it mind, thanks!

Mabye I could ramp up weights in smaller increments? Hm…

Good job man,

Our number are very similar…im using the 5/3/1 with Defranco ws4sb for accessory also.

Good job again…i will follow your log.

Thanks, crankMAN & benbriz for the compliments, btw. :slight_smile: (ya’ll are both lookin’ strong too!)

I’m going to start squatting next week, and work my way up to 365x3 on the third week for a PR on the 4th week (a big one, hopefully!!). Of course, if I’m feeling strong, I’ll try for a PR even sooner. :wink:

Basically, I’m looking to change up my ME lower day as I feel I have been REALLY pushing it on the deadlift (I actually have completed 4 ME lower body days). I was coming back from an ankle injury that had me not doing any lower body (actually, I got depressed and didn’t go to the gym AT ALL!) for nearly 3 weeks.

So, here’s what I’m looking to do:

Back Squat:
work up to a set of 3, one backoff set.

Bulgarian split squats:
3 sets of 8-10

Romanian deadlifts:
3 sets of 8-10, maybe ramping weights.

Occasional other bullshit exercise:
whatever sets of whatever. :wink: Maybe I should start doing some ab work… heh. I hate ab work. Meh.

I really want a 405# squat by x-mas!

Or, maybe I’ll have two lower body days. One ME day, and one RE day. The ME day will basically be JUST a heavy backsquat followed by lighter deadlifts, or vice versa, while the RE day will be accessory work… step ups, split squats, front squats … etc.

Where’s the Dynamic Lower Body Days? You know you can’t just max out all the time, or it’ll catch up with you. You don’t have to do a DE day if you don’t want. You could just do a max set of 10 on squats or even some Hack Squatting/Leg Pressing.

I actually wasn’t pushhing myself 100% except the last two lower body days. I hear what you’re saying though. I only had one lower body day, since I was coming back from an ankle injury. I guess I really should have two … I don’t like the idea of DE work(for me), so it’ll be more like my RE upper day.

[quote]goochadamg wrote:
I actually wasn’t pushhing myself 100% except the last two lower body days. I hear what you’re saying though. I only had one lower body day, since I was coming back from an ankle injury.

I guess I really should have two … I don’t like the idea of DE work(for me), so it’ll be more like my RE upper day.
[/quote]

Sorry, but I have to tell someone. The world needs to know!

I was reading here an old interview with Tom Platz. Said he would do a heavy squat day with doubles, triples, fives, or sixes (basically the WS4SB version of Max Effort) and then he’d have a high rep squat day where he would do 2 sets of anywhere from 10 to 35 reps.

If you don’t like the idea of doing a DE day, you could do a higher rep day. What really matters is that you don’t go over 90% of your max except on max effort day.

11-25-08, ME Upper.

Incline Bench:
135x5
180x3
205x3
230x3 (not TOO bad… 235 next time for sure.)
190x8

DB Bench:
70x15
70x15

T-Bar Row:
115x5
170x3
225x3x8

DB Curls:
40x2x8
40x5-2-1 (rest paused, ~10 sec rest)

BB Shrugs:
235x8
275x8
325x8 (mixed grip… good idea? shrug.)

Back Squat:
135x5
225x3
315x1

Had a good time at the gym tonight. Taught a 12 year old kid how to bench press: he was like a natural! He worked up to 65 pounds for 5. My other training partner, Jimmy, a 14 year old, showed him a few other exercises. I was really impressed by both their behaviour, and proud of Jimmy being patient teaching him a few things.

I worked up to a light single on backsquat today, just to get a feel for it. It’s been a while. :slight_smile: It felt heavy on my back, but that’s it. Went up smooth and easy.

I feel like I worked my DB curls to their limit. Maybe I’ll try some BB curls… with a bench press bar. :wink:

I’m anxious to start ME flat benching, as I want to push 300, but I’m still making progress on my incline, so I’ll keep doing incline. :slight_smile:

11-27-08, ME Lower.

Back Squat:
135x5
225x3
315x1
350x3
275x8

Romanian Deadlifts:
135x8
185x8
225x10

DB Bulgarian Split Squat:
bwx8
25x2x8

I’m pretty happy with the squat, considering I have not back squatted in … 6 weeks? I should hit 360 next week, and 370 the following. I have 370x3 listed as a max in my profile, but I actually racked the bar after 2 reps and rested 30 seconds before attempting the 3rd. Hopefully I won’t have to do that next time. :slight_smile:

The RDL’s were fun. I just needed to find a working weight, and 225 looks like what I’ll use for 3 sets of 8. Maybe… maybe 215. Shrug.

I hate those bulgarian split squats. Seriously. I had to really focus to keep my balance; I almost tipped over a few times. They were much more difficult than I expected, even with only holding the 25# DB’s! I was sweating like a mo’fo’ after doing those!

Happy thanksgiving!

11-29-08, RE Upper.

Flat Bench:
200x8
200x10
200x18

Chinups:
10
10
6-3-1 (RP)
2

Facepulls:
120x3x15

DB Laterals:
25x3x10

Tricep Pushdowns:
170x10
170x8-4 (RP)
130x25

I was very happy with hitting those 18 reps on the flat bench… I remember being happy to bench that once. My lips were turning purple by the last rep, according to my spotter; and I started to feel a bit numb. I guess I forgot to breathe.

I think it’s time to swap out the chinups. I had to “rest pause” the third set.

No shrug movement: my callouses were killing me, and I just wanted to head home & see a certain special person. :smiley:

12-2-08, ME Upper.

Incline Bench:
135x5
185x3
210x3
235x2
195x8

DB Bench:
75x15
75x17

T-Bar Row:
115x5
160x3
235x3x8

BB Curls:
45x8
65x8
85x8

BB Shrugs:
245x8
285x8
335x8

Well, looks like I’ve gotten what I can out of incline benching. I’ll switch to flat bench next time; I’m also going to switch my RE flat bench to dips. Swapped out the DB curls for BB curls; they sort of hurt my left wrist.

12-05-08, ME Lower.

Back Squat:
135x5
225x3
275x1
315x1
360x3
275x14

Romanian Deadlift:
215x8
215x2x10

Hack Squat:
90x8
140x10
180x10
270x10

Did a few things differently: I went for a high rep set after I hit my top set of 3 on the back squat. I also decided against doing the split squats and decided to go with the hack squat; I really liked it.

I don’t think I’ll be doing the split squats. I saw video of someone doing them with 100# DBs who has a comparable squat to me. Doesn’t seem like there’s really any carry over … and I hate them, so… yeah.

Oh. I also weighed 211. Some is fat, certainly, but I’m noticeably larger in my whole upper body. I also started taking creatine again, so some of that must be water weight.