I am no expert at Westside, but this info is for Paul who is new to the system. You said that you are following Tate’s advice from the “Eight Keys” article. I read the article and he says that people new to the system are better off not going to 1RM with the goodmornings, but would be better off with sets to 3 or 5RM. He states that the lower back might not be ready for maximal weights at this point. Something you might want to consider.
Big Martin-
I have only done a high box squat with the manta ray once, and found that it was just about at or under what I could parallel box squat. I think the next time I do them I’ll be able to get a bit more than what I parallel box squat(just from learning the movement). This was actually surprising for me, as I am usually strongest/fastest from the midpoint of the squat and up. I guess just placing that load in front of me a bit makes a huge difference.
We do a high box squat with some sort of contrast about every 6-10 weeks. As you can see, this isn’t too often. If you want a better indicator, you might want to check Paul Childress’s training log at Elitefts (I train with him) because it probably goes back in time a bit further than my current thread.
Thanks loopfit. Actually, the same idea occurred to me last night. Right about the time I hit my 1rm. I’ll keep that in mind for next ME squat day.
Thanks Steve, I looked at Pauls Log yesterday to get a better uderstanding, he is the only guy I have seen who incorpeates a high Box, I am going to give it a try every 8 weeks or so… thanks Big martin
Someone start a new Westside thread. This is too long.
I’m waiting to see if it’ll hit 300 replies. Then I’ll start a new one with a similar title. That way, when people have questions they’ll be able to find a lot of pertinent info within one or two threads. That’s the plan, anyway…
Fair enough. I have a question then. I’m just starting Westside and I train at home (alone). I don’t know my exact bench max because I don’t want to be pinned in my garage. I benched a triple with 315 on Tuesday. Does 165 for 10 sets of 3 sound about right for my dynamic day on Friday?
Fuck a new thread. Can we get our own forum?? Like the Renegades?
What say ye T-Forum Moderators/Webmasters?
I used to work out with a bunch of powerlifters who’d calculate their 1RM by taking 111% of their 3RM. Obviously, this isn’t exactly right for everyone, but it should give you an idea.
So that would put you at about 350 for a 1RM. Do your Westside calculations from there.
For doogie
Go for speed! As long as you are explosive, the weight is right. Usually the proper weight is between 40-60% of your 1rm, but speed is the essential criterium. 165 sounds good, but try a couple of sets with different weights.
doogie,
It is funny how quickly your speed can change. I just started speed benches a few weeks agoe. My max is probably right under yours. The last official PR is 330. I’ve tried 155, 165, and 175 on the dynamic day. I could have probably used 155 & 165 for ballistic benches, but 175 slowed down a LOT. You may have to tinker around to figure out what works for you.
Thanks for the answers. My next question involves the difference between arched-back goodmornings and bent-back goodmornings. Is it correct that with arched-back goodmornings you only bend over a little while keeping the arch in your back, but with bent-back goodmornings you bend over to almost parallel?
Doogie- With arch-back gm’s you bend over to the point that if you go any farther you will loose you arch (to do this you must really sit back with your but). also with Arch back gm’s get your stance out wide near your competition squat stance. Rounded back gms’ your right go down to parrellel, and i like a close to medium stance for those.
Good luck Big martin
Just incase there is any interest … I recently modified my WS training a bit to maybe add a 'lil transferrance to my grappling game.
I perform active rest during the 45-60s rest intervals between DE Bench and DE Box Squats… usually jumprope. Most accessory work is done in EDT-style rounds. Triceps paired up with a lat movement, and Hamstrings with a heavy abdominal exercise.
I’m actually getting stronger than I was when just following the standard WS template. And my conditioning is getting back to where it was before I stopped grappling… I’m loving it.
You really can apply the WS principles to any sport.
When beginners are starting out with good mornings, please start out w/ subpar weight. One of my buddies jumped into some higher loads right off the bat, and his lower back as never been the same since. He is trying to bring it back up with lots of reverse hypers though, so hopefully he will be back in action.
I say this because a lot of people even me, have never preformed good mornings with the loads that westside has you do. Luckily, I had a strong core and decent strength in the rest of my posterior chain that I was able to get to them pretty well.
Anyways, I’m glad a lot of people are coming over to westside. Seriously it is a pretty bad ass system, and allows you to do virtually anything.
Landon
DE day progression - does it go linearly with your ME progression IE when your max is up uo your dynaimc day poundage? Ive been doing my 4th DE bench day and decided to load more weights because I am progressing with my ME bench - good?
also, any good tricep stuff that does not involve boards?
thanks
S-man.
My first post on this forum… I’ve been following this site for three years though.
Based on what I’ve read about Westside ( which is practically everything possible on the internet ) they don’t do any overhead pressing for shoulders but lots of rear and side raises instead. I would however want to include some overhead pressing to my routine ( which is naturally a WSB-routine ). Any suggestions…? How and where…? I understand some of you have done this and would greatly appreciate your experiences. Do I need to worry about doing too much pressing and maybe overtraining my triceps or shoulders?
By the way… I printed this thread on tuesday and it was 47 pages long.
Just go overhead pressing in place of your lateral raises. dont over do it though. shoulders get beatup in just about every exercise.
Antti- The guys here (not me, as I am not able to due to a tear in my left shoulder) will do some sort of overhead pressing movement about once every 3-4 weeks, usually on ME day.
Glute- Most don’t mess with their DE weight too often (usually we reset it after a meet…in your case, you could do a “test” day), although since you are just starting out, experimenting with it is not a bad thing. Just make sure you are still explosive, and you should be fine.
There are plenty of tricep movements that don’t involve the boards. Check all of the articles on this site as well as Elitefts for ideas. As has been mentioned before, however, you can use boards when working alone by wrapping a band around the boards and your body (see a pic Goldberg posted in the photo forum).
GLute-Spanker- Dont do it!! That will be a mistake in my opinion!! this has been stressed to me by some big benchers not to mess with your dynamic weight just cause your bench went up. If it is working why change it? Think about this?? they say to bench 600 you need to use 185 plus a mini, so if thats all the bar weight a 600 bencher uses why up yours. You are overthinking a little bit, keep it simple
dynamic day - be fast
max eff day - strain and see stars.
Dont mess with what is working. It means you are begining to develop speed now increse your lock out and bingo you will have big pr coming your way.
Tricep ex with out boards
pin Lock outs with bands
steep incline and decline press
dumbell floor press
dumbell floor extensions
jm presses
100 rep band push downs
band extensions
log presses
med ball catches