Westside/PLing Training Thread

Training Powerlifting
6611

[quote]ChaseT wrote:
08/18/07
Had my first powerlifting meet ever today. I lifted raw (no belt or wraps either) and weighed in at 194.

Squat
405-Good
415-Good
440-Good

Bench Press
225-Good
240-Good
255-No lift

Deadlift
466-Good
506-Good
531-Good

A 19lb PR in the squat and a 30lb PR on the deadlift. One guy told me I was below IPF depth on the 440 squat attempt. A trainer from my gym took video of my lifts. I’ll be sure to post them as soon as I get my hands on them. Per usual, my bench sucked. I’ve hit 251 in the gym for a touch and go. I guess I need to make bench my new “favorite” lift and focus a little harder. In the end, I was generally pleased and now have some new marks to use for programs going forward.[/quote]

Congratulations ChaseT! Those are some great numbers! Where did you place in the meet?

6612

[quote]Mys7icaL 0n3 wrote:
Sunday 8/19/07 ME Lower

RECAP: Absolute shit. I had psyked myself up the whole day to get at least a +20 lbs PR on the deadlift, but today just ended being a bad day. Everything went wrong. The racks were in use so I had to wait 15 min before I could start, and when I did, I forgot completely about staying on my heels the entire time (instead keeping my back arched and head high seemed to be the only things I was concerned about). My iPod is broken so I had to listen to bubblegum pop and R&B, which really didn’t help. Alas, the gym gods were not looking kindly to me today.
[/quote]

A 11lb PR is a great day! Yeah, it probably didn’t feel that way, but the goal is to get a new PR every week. 5lbs a week means 260lbs a year! Not too shabby, eh? :slight_smile:

Besides, if you don’t think you did your best this week, that’s that much more room to get a new PR in your next ME Lower session. As long as you’re getting stronger, those PRs will keep coming!

6613

[quote]jthsiao wrote:
Congratulations ChaseT! Those are some great numbers! Where did you place in the meet?[/quote]

The meet wasn’t organized very well. I am not even sure how many other guys were lifting at 198. I do know that there was one other guy who lifted “raw” (he used knee and wrist wraps) at 198 and I beat him (he was only 21). I was really just there to compete against myself and set some personal records/benchmarks.

An older friend from my gym set the APA-WPA world record total for the 55-59 year old 198lb division. He was really happy about it, so I was happy for him. My long term goal is to total 1500 raw at 198 with at least a 365lb bench press.

6614

Schmazzm, could you go into a little more detail on how your program is set up? I am always interested to see how the orginal template is tweaked in different ways.

I know I havn’t posted a whole lot lately. I have been training, just I havn’t gotten around to putting it on here. Things are going pretty well, especially with the lower body (I believe I set a convential DL PR with 455 last week). It is a bit harder for my upper body, though. I am going to re-examine some things tonight and maybe make some changes.

Anyway, here is what I did today:

1)Floor Press: Barx10, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 235x4, 250x1, 265x1x2, 275x1
2)Wide Grip Seated Rows: 100x10, 130x10, 160x10, 190x8x2
3)One Arm DB Press: 60x15
4)One Arm DB Row: 100x15
5)Tris/Bis: 2 sets

6615

8/20/07 ME Bench

Bodyweight was at 226 today. I ate a lot over the weekend but fairly cleanly, like my work week food. I’m normally be 228-230 on Monday morning. Also, I’d feel worse.

A)“ME” Flat DB Bench
20 x 5
40 x 3
60 x 3
80 x 3
100 x 3
115 x 3
130 x 5, 4, 3

I felt more stable on these today than I ever have. I’ve gotten a few more reps in the past, but they weren’t this solid and deep. My left arm seems to not lag as much.

B1)Single-Arm Chest-Supported Iso Row=155 x 6 x 4

B2)Incline DB Press=105 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 3

Left arm definitely lagging here on the inclines.

C1)Pulldown Abs=120 x 10 x 3

C2)Bent-Over DB Rear Delt Fly=30 x 10 x 3

6616

Monday, 8/20/2007: ME Upper

A. Pin Press - Chest Level
135 x 8
165 x 5
175 x 3
185 x 1
195 x 0
190 x 1 (baseline PR)
190 x 0
175 x 2

B. Chest-Supported Row
110 x 4 x 8

C. Standing Dumbbell Supination Curl
40 x 4 x 8

D. Lean-Away Lateral Raise
30 x 4 x 8

E. Standing Dumbbell External Rotation
15 x 4 x 15

I used to label my bench presses coming down to a pin as pin presses (sort of like board presses, but using pins instead), but doing a little bit more digging around, pin presses are done with the bar resting on the pin at a certain height and pressing up. So, in case you’re wondering why the numbers are going down, I’m setting a whole new baseline for this exercise.

Since I’ve been failing at the bottom off of the chest when I was doing the bench press, I thought I’d focus on my starting strength off the chest with some pin presses at the chest level. However, it’s hard getting a good arch with the pins set so low, so getting really tight is a bit rough.

Anyhow, my numbers are a little lower than my bench but I hope that by working specifically on my strength off the chest, I’ll get a nice bump on my bench when I go back to it.

6617

Total body Lower ME/ Upper RE Aug 20th 07

Pre training notes:
Hand still a bit chewed up and a bit to much caffeine today prew/o bit shaky had to chill between sets

Super set

1A) DL
Bar x some
160 x 8
250 x 5
340 x 5
430 x 3
520 x 1
610 x 1 (5lb PR) cake walk
620 x 1 (15 lb PR) again cake feel it a little in arm not bad and hands were hurting a bit
625 x 1 (20 lb PR) Tough pull but nailed it bloody palms as usual of late but felt AWESOME!!!

One of those days not sure how things were going to go the 520 was easy but didnt scream HUGE PR so went for the 5 lber to make sure I got something then well it was cake so decided to roll with it.

Im liking this pulling heavy full pulls once a month seems to be working I think if Id have went for it fresh 630+ would have fallen today. That 625 after the 610 and 620 was a hard pull

1B) Incline bench (Paused)
Bar x ton
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
255 x 3 (1 rep PR)
260 x 3 (5 lb PR)
265 x 1 cooked
225 x 8 not paused

Coming along still can feel the right side is way behind and pushing a lot harder then the left but its day by day

Giant set
2A) Leg press
14 plates x 10
16 plates x 8 (2 sets)

2B) Chins bw / wide grip p-downs
8/8, 6/8, 3/8

2B) Dips
BW + 50 x 10,8,6

2D) Abs Decline weighted
3 sets

Ended up being a great gym day. 7 plates here I come id like to have that by the new year. that�??s a lofty goal but im going for it 50 lbs and I will have 5 heavy pulling sessions between now and then

call me the WHORE today :slight_smile:
.
Phill

6618

Glad your still around but where the heck are all your workouts?? They were fun to read.

c.

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I think he may have meant one word, 5 letters. :wink: Anyway, I love their 24" and 36" wraps. The 12" might be good for lighter stuff.

With a 15% off code it might be a good time to buy a set of bands too. BTW, a friend at my gym bought a set of Jump Stretch band and they are THE SAME BANDS as the ‘cheap’ bands I got from APT.[/quote]

6619

[quote]Phill wrote:
Total body Lower ME/ Upper RE Aug 20th 07

Pre training notes:
Hand still a bit chewed up and a bit to much caffeine today prew/o bit shaky had to chill between sets

Super set

1A) DL
Bar x some
160 x 8
250 x 5
340 x 5
430 x 3
520 x 1
610 x 1 (5lb PR) cake walk
620 x 1 (15 lb PR) again cake feel it a little in arm not bad and hands were hurting a bit
625 x 1 (20 lb PR) Tough pull but nailed it bloody palms as usual of late but felt AWESOME!!!

One of those days not sure how things were going to go the 520 was easy but didnt scream HUGE PR so went for the 5 lber to make sure I got something then well it was cake so decided to roll with it.

Im liking this pulling heavy full pulls once a month seems to be working I think if Id have went for it fresh 630+ would have fallen today. That 625 after the 610 and 620 was a hard pull

1B) Incline bench (Paused)
Bar x ton
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
255 x 3 (1 rep PR)
260 x 3 (5 lb PR)
265 x 1 cooked
225 x 8 not paused

Coming along still can feel the right side is way behind and pushing a lot harder then the left but its day by day

Giant set
2A) Leg press
14 plates x 10
16 plates x 8 (2 sets)

2B) Chins bw / wide grip p-downs
8/8, 6/8, 3/8

2B) Dips
BW + 50 x 10,8,6

2D) Abs Decline weighted
3 sets

Ended up being a great gym day. 7 plates here I come id like to have that by the new year. that�??s a lofty goal but im going for it 50 lbs and I will have 5 heavy pulling sessions between now and then

call me the WHORE today :slight_smile:
.
Phill[/quote]

whore.

that’s some awesome DLing!! Maybe that caffeine is what ya needed.

good to see your bench progressing too. And I’m sure your right side will catch up soon enough. (Decline benching sucks)

Great workout.
c.

6620

[quote]Phill wrote:
Super set

1A) DL
Bar x some
160 x 8
250 x 5
340 x 5
430 x 3
520 x 1
610 x 1 (5lb PR) cake walk
620 x 1 (15 lb PR) again cake feel it a little in arm not bad and hands were hurting a bit
625 x 1 (20 lb PR) Tough pull but nailed it bloody palms as usual of late but felt AWESOME!!!

One of those days not sure how things were going to go the 520 was easy but didnt scream HUGE PR so went for the 5 lber to make sure I got something then well it was cake so decided to roll with it.

Im liking this pulling heavy full pulls once a month seems to be working I think if Id have went for it fresh 630+ would have fallen today. That 625 after the 610 and 620 was a hard pull

1B) Incline bench (Paused)
Bar x ton
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
255 x 3 (1 rep PR)
260 x 3 (5 lb PR)
265 x 1 cooked
225 x 8 not paused

Ended up being a great gym day. 7 plates here I come id like to have that by the new year. that�??s a lofty goal but im going for it 50 lbs and I will have 5 heavy pulling sessions between now and then

call me the WHORE today :slight_smile:
.
Phill[/quote]

Awesome workout! Great job on all the PRs. PRs on dl and Incline bench in the same workout is awesome. 7 Plates soon.

Claire

6621

HELL YEAH PHIL!!! Gotta love the huge deadlift.

6622

wow Phill! I hope Modi doesn’t check this while on vacation it will ruin his trip :slight_smile:

Thats my plan to go for a max pull once a month

6623

[quote]buckeye75 wrote:
Schmazzm, could you go into a little more detail on how your program is set up? I am always interested to see how the orginal template is tweaked in different ways.
[/quote]

I’ll do my best - I don’t really know enough about the different training methods to give you a truly informed description, but I’ll try.

We also use a 5x5 program. Usually we got about 3 weeks of either upper body or lower body with Westside style. We take about 2 weeks and do a 5x5 for the whole body, and then switch train the other half for 3 weeks. Usually we do 3x3’s for the 3 weeks after we switch it up.

I hope that’s not too complicated… We usually can’t train both upper body and lower body Westside style, just because we’re usually too exhausted to properly practice. We incorporate a lot of dynamic flexibility work in our program as well, so it’s a pretty good workout.

Usually it looks like this…
Monday: DE Day
Tuesday: ME Day
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: DE Day
Friday: ME Day

I hope that explains it well enough.

6624

ME Lower

Squat
BWx??
45x10
95x10
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1 - My normal gym is closed this week. The stupid bars in varsity gym have basically no knurling, so the bar was slipping on my back.

Had someone chalk my shirt.

325x1
355x1 - at this point I had to decide if I was going to go for 5 singles at 90%+ or go for a PR.
390x1 - BAM PR easy.
395x0 - didn’t wait long enough…pinned at the bottom.
365x1 - just to get 3 at 90%+

To my surprise, 390 was easier than both 380 and 385 that I did last week.

I definitely have 395 next week. 4 plates is soooo close.

SLDL 205x4x8

Pull-Throughs
140x10
150x10
160x10
170x10

Ab-Pulldowns
90x8
100x8
110x4

DONE!

6625

[quote]Phill wrote:
Total body Lower ME/ Upper RE Aug 20th 07

Pre training notes:
Hand still a bit chewed up and a bit to much caffeine today prew/o bit shaky had to chill between sets

Super set

1A) DL
Bar x some
160 x 8
250 x 5
340 x 5
430 x 3
520 x 1
610 x 1 (5lb PR) cake walk
620 x 1 (15 lb PR) again cake feel it a little in arm not bad and hands were hurting a bit
625 x 1 (20 lb PR) Tough pull but nailed it bloody palms as usual of late but felt AWESOME!!!

call me the WHORE today :slight_smile:
.
Phill[/quote]

Sweet!!! Awesome job. I love days like this.

6626

[quote]Pemdas wrote:
ME Lower

Squat
BWx??
45x10
95x10
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1 - My normal gym is closed this week. The stupid bars in varsity gym have basically no knurling, so the bar was slipping on my back.

Had someone chalk my shirt.

325x1
355x1 - at this point I had to decide if I was going to go for 5 singles at 90%+ or go for a PR.
390x1 - BAM PR easy.
395x0 - didn’t wait long enough…pinned at the bottom.
365x1 - just to get 3 at 90%+

To my surprise, 390 was easier than both 380 and 385 that I did last week.

I definitely have 395 next week. 4 plates is soooo close.
[/quote]

Great workout! Congrats on the PR!

Claire

6627

Phil you are one big whoring machine. Good job on the DL. Modi might not make it back from Maine if he sees what you pulled today. I’d like to get to six plates by the end of the year.

6628

[quote]c. wrote:
Phill wrote:
Total body Lower ME/ Upper RE Aug 20th 07

Pre training notes:
Hand still a bit chewed up and a bit to much caffeine today prew/o bit shaky had to chill between sets

Super set

1A) DL
Bar x some
160 x 8
250 x 5
340 x 5
430 x 3
520 x 1
610 x 1 (5lb PR) cake walk
620 x 1 (15 lb PR) again cake feel it a little in arm not bad and hands were hurting a bit
625 x 1 (20 lb PR) Tough pull but nailed it bloody palms as usual of late but felt AWESOME!!!

One of those days not sure how things were going to go the 520 was easy but didnt scream HUGE PR so went for the 5 lber to make sure I got something then well it was cake so decided to roll with it.

Im liking this pulling heavy full pulls once a month seems to be working I think if Id have went for it fresh 630+ would have fallen today. That 625 after the 610 and 620 was a hard pull

1B) Incline bench (Paused)
Bar x ton
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
255 x 3 (1 rep PR)
260 x 3 (5 lb PR)
265 x 1 cooked
225 x 8 not paused

Coming along still can feel the right side is way behind and pushing a lot harder then the left but its day by day

Giant set
2A) Leg press
14 plates x 10
16 plates x 8 (2 sets)

2B) Chins bw / wide grip p-downs
8/8, 6/8, 3/8

2B) Dips
BW + 50 x 10,8,6

2D) Abs Decline weighted
3 sets

Ended up being a great gym day. 7 plates here I come id like to have that by the new year. that�??s a lofty goal but im going for it 50 lbs and I will have 5 heavy pulling sessions between now and then

call me the WHORE today :slight_smile:
.
Phill

whore.

that’s some awesome DLing!! Maybe that caffeine is what ya needed.

good to see your bench progressing too. And I’m sure your right side will catch up soon enough. (Decline benching sucks)

Great workout.
c.

[/quote]

Thanks was a fun day in the end

Phill

6629

[quote]cvb wrote:

Great workout! Congrats on the PR!

Claire[/quote]

THANKS!!!

6630

08/20/07

Bench Assistance

2-board bench (comp grip)

Bar x 10
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3 (added 2 board)
315 x 3
335 x 3
345 x 3

JM Presses
135 x 5 x 8

DB rows
80x15;110x16 per arm (done strictly)

Rope pushdowns
3x12

Kelso(?) shrugs
3x15

Notes: First bench session since the 10th, so I wanted to get some decent weight in my hands. Once I got up to 275, the weight felt a lot heavier than normal but not a problem pressing it. The last set with 345 wasn’t too hard and it is only 15# off my PR, and to be honest I probably could’ve at least equaled that; however, given that the meet is only 3 weeks off, and my physical state is shall I say not 100% just yet, the potential for missing a gym lift is high and doing so this close could be a disaster. I chose to play it safe this time and will save the PR attempt for the next cycle.

I pushed the volume a little bit on the assistance work this time as I will be phasing a lot of these out over the next couple weeks so I can focus on the 3 competition lifts a lot more. I tried the Kelso shrugs as a change of pace and I’ve gotta say I really liked them because the traps/upper back/rear delts were on fire by the time I was finished. Overall, I felt this was a pretty good session, more so for the fact that I was able to get moderately heavy weights on the bench and got a little pump going with the rows and shrugs.