I progessed ~15 Kilos on my bench in the last 5 weeks, if anyone’s interested…
from 120K to 135K. I will finish the cycle at 140.(in 10 days)
a questiom - my dynamic squat sucks biggy whats up with that? its not the weight cause I jump at the end I’m just very slow coming out of the hole… whats up with that.
S-man
Vins- Hey a really good 165er would be in the 600-700sq,400-500bench,600+ deadlift, so keep working hard. But usually the best powerlifters are in there late 30’s early 40’s. You can look in Powerlifting USA and see the top 100 for every weight class. Also you can expect great gains on westside if you follow the rules and be smart. At 165 if I was you I would gain some weight. Keep lifting and eating everything and more of everything. Westside’s strongest member Mike Ruggerria weighed 180 pounds when he was 21 now he is 300+ and on of the strongest guys in the world. So dont set goal keep working hard and gaining weight and what ever weight class you end up in compete in it, and then try to gain some more weight and strength. Just work hard, read all you can about westside, keep it simple, and there are no limits…Big Martin
Anti…i change my asseccory work evey week except for the basics wich I do in a gpp warmup at low intensity.*** of course I do not do all of these I pick 3 or 4 and do them in a cycle as a long superset for 5 sets of 10-50 reps** examples (pull down abs,pull throughs, lat pull downs, chins, push ups, non weighted gpp, sled work, reverse hypres, ghr,band leg curls, band upper back pulls, band leg curls, band ab pull downs, incline situps, med ball twists,med ball throws) I like to do 1 or 2 heavy compound asseccory every workout for 3-5 reps for 3-6 sets. A good example of these- (Squat and dead lift- Romanian deadlifts, rack pulls, box deadlifts, snatch grip deads, rounded back gm, arch back gm, stiff leg deadlifts, tire flips 3x10, shrugs,)
Bench ( decline press, incline press, 4-5-6 high board presses, dumbell press, rack lock outs, dumbell floor press, log press,)
On these Il ike to rest about 2-3 minutes.
Good Luck Big martin
Antti-
I’ll be honest with you in saying that we don’t really pay much attention to the clock here (a year ago this would have been a cardinal sin for me in the gym). Often times we are in the gym for two hours in a session. We are not lifting this entire time, but rather setting up equipment, spotting each other, etc… This can also be magnified when we have a full crew on a given day and we are all working in. The actual lifting time is probably about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes on average per session.
About switching accessory movements: You can check the “Eight Keys” articles for Dave’s take on the situation, but at the very least I would switch them up every 3-4 weeks. We are changing our accessory movements damn near every session, although there are some that we tend to use more frequently than others (glute-ham raises being an example). Just make sure to keep attacking your weaknesses with whatever movements that you choose to use (in other words, don’t do a useless movement just for variety’s sake).
I don’t cycle or do the same movements all the time, unless I know of a movement that benefits me, so then I’ll cycle it every week, or every other week. Keep a variety, but don’t be scared going a specific movement more than once a week if that movement is what really works for you, and has a direct effect on your lifts.
Thinking of things we haven’t really talked about yet … and deload weeks come into mind.
Just curious what you guys schedule your deload weeks and how often.
For example, I’m currently finishing my next 12 week cycle, and I have deload weeks at weeks 5 and 10.
How long should a person rest between sets for the max effort exercise?
Actually, I was just reading and if I would do weeks 5 and 10, I would want to be on a 14-15 week cycle. Maybe have deloads at weeks 4 and 8 instead.
Thinking too much again dog. My cycles have been lasting 12 weeks because of the length between competitions. I i have no problems with speed work at all. My speed is always high so i dont need a week where i bring my speed back. The last two meets i have done a day at 50% with no contrast on squat and with just one set of chains on bench. I know steves group deloads often but i really dont feel as if i need it because im fast even with fairly heavy weights. My particular reason for deload at the end of the cycle is more for recuperation than for speed purposes. Now if i did a strength speed cycle i would probably deload after that but every three weeks i go back down in percentage anyway so i dont see the need for it. Your mileage may vary.
Landon Evan- It depends on how much band tension the person is using. I use bands for 3 weeks then go to straight weight for 2 weeks and these are my deload days…This is really a very individual issue depends on the persons %'s, max, and cycle…I think a conditioning week is as important as a deload week it depends on how far out from a compettion you are. In my opinion if you are not a 700+ squater there is no need for a deload week where you use bands, just a few weeks with straight weight to bring back in speed and give your body a break from bands. Remeber the delaod phase was originally put in as part of the circa max phase and if you are not a elite level squater there is no need for the circa max…so in my opinion throw in a week or 2 of straight weight and give the body a rest from bands and it will work fine for a a non elite lifter. Also really start to think about a conditioning day or cycle as it will help you get in shape for a meet fast…good luck and good question big martin
Molsonman,
When you start getting into the heavier triples/doubles/singles … take about 4-5 minute breaks inbetween them.
After learning that on ME days you shouldn’t do the exact exercise you’re training for (i.e. with bench press do pin presses, floor presses, etc) I decided to find some good ME Squat exercises that I could use. Where better to look than at Goldberg’s and Steve’s training logs. I noticed that most of the ME workouts you guys were doing required SSBs, Manta Rays, Buffalo Bars, etc.
Heres my problem: I don’t have any of these at my gym (or should I say gay-m). I have Olympic bars and thats it. As well as benches and step up things so I can change up the depth for box squats. So what should I do as ME Squat movements if I only have regular barbells?
Take a look at my log. You wont see safety squat bars, buffalo bars, cambered bars. The only toy i have is a manta ray. You can buy one of those really cheap.
Chris- Does your gym have on of those black pads used to make the bar more comfortable to squat with? if you do put it on the bar and carry the bar high on your back and use a close stance, the same stance as your conventional deadlift stance, and use a low box 10-12 inches… Or you could take a towle and duc-tape it to the bar…Also dont forget about good-mornings,good morning squats, deadlifts off boxes, pin pulls, chain suspended good mornings, high box squats with contrast, sumo deadlifts, these are all good max effort movments…hope this helps big martin
Another question thought about … How about how long you should plan your phases if you don’t compete. I plan on competing soon, so this won’t really apply to me, but for others I think it would be beneficial. Do you make a 8,9,10,11,12,… week phase? Make it about every 8 because you can see how your progressing by maxxing out week 9 so you can work on new numbers sooner, or do you use a 15 week phase because you should stay longer on your numbers your working with? Or is it simply totally up to the lifter?
Just trying to think of things that might benefit others.
Landon
As far as de-loads…
It varies depending upon the lifter (as Goldberg pointed out) and the given cycle (as bigmartin pointed out).
I am starting to like 5 week cycles where I do three weeks of “strenuous” training followed by a two week “de-load”. I quickly noticed that I began to lift shitty on DE days when not taking a de-load every 3-4 weeks. For me, this usually works out to 3 weeks of various band tensions followed by two weeks of straight weight. As bigmartin noted, this usage of straight weight for de-loads will probably work fine for most lifters (unless you’re a freak like Goldberg…haha).
The most important time for me to de-load is the week or two before a meet. I like to drop any bands or chains for straight weight. This helps to get bar speed back after all that tension, and also helps get “timing” back (as Paul Childress mentioned in a response on Elitefts today). It’s definitely a different feeling when going back to straight weight after weeks of bands and/or chains.
Landon- Around 8 weeks out from a competition I plan three - 2 week strong band cylces for the synamic squat and on week 3 I strap on my suit with straps up and hit a good opener to make sure I am getting good depth and feel good about my equipment. After this opener its conditioning work with the safety squat bar to make sure I go in to the meet with my gpp through the roof. Because I have been to meeets where I have ben forced to deadlift 7 hours after I squat…
Squat Cyle 8 weeks out
week 1 strong band tension
week 2 strong band tension
week 3 straight weight work up to a opener with suit…then 20x2 with 40 % and the safey squat bar…
week 4 strong band tension
week 5 strong band tension
week 6 repeat week 3
week 7 nothing but light asseccory work
week 8 compete
The reason I like this cycle for my squat is because it allows me to recover for about 3 weeks out while getting used to my equipment and kepping my gpp up… If you read Jim Wendlers article in PLusa july he says a major mistake is going into a meet out of shape. And personally I gain weight really easy so by doing this light conditioning it helps me keep my weight down and make my weight class…I also get 4 weeks of very hard heavy band training while seperating and providing recovery as late as 3 weeks out…I also feel that at my squat level a little over 600 that I am not ready for a circa max phase…In the future when I get to be a Elite Squater I will follow the Circa Max Phase wich I hope will be soon…good luck Big martin
Ahhhhhh!!!
You don’t check this thread in a day or two and it GROWS to freakin’ craziness!!!
Thanks for all on the thoughts of using a cambered bar. I am aware of the issue of over-using it. I will only be using it occasionally.
Also, be happy to hear that I have just purchased a pair of “mini” bands. Can’t wait to begin using them.
Got some GREAT ideas from others at a recent WABDL meet on chains.
Man, I gotta sit down and really take some time to absorb all these other new posts here. I love this (and the previous) thread!!!
just got my z-suit today for DE days, and simply to get used to the feeling of gear. I’ve been practicing sitting back all night with it, and my thighs are killing me due ot the craziness tight feeling. my nuts are in my ass as well 
I maxxed out today with my bench, and I do deadlift and squat tomorrow. I’ll post my results tomorrow.
Wow - I got through this thread (two days later). So I’m getting really keen for some westside style training and after reading heaps I thought I’d ask a question. Do you think westside is good for football training? Both In-season and off-season. Off course lowering sessions down while in in-season. Example:
In-season
Day 1
a)ME Squat
b)ME Bench
c)supportive leg exercise
d)supportive bench exercise
Day 2
a)DE Squat
b)DE Bench
c)Power snatch or clean
d)Power jerk or push press
Off-season
Normal Westside style
Thoughts?