269$ at elitefts.com
LOTS of nice stuff on the site.
I got mine on sale for $249 a couple weeks ago. I’m sure it will go on sale again as the holidays approach.
It’s worth it! The thing is a beast! Tears me up everytime I use it.
I asked this on Wendler 5/3/1 as well but im curious to see how you guys deload?
Every 4 week??
My deloads happen when I need them or due to work/family. As an example, I’m going on a hunting trip next week and will be gone for 5 days.
Right there, a deload.
I’m on my 10th week, and I haven’t needed to deload yet.
If there comes a time when I need to, I’ll just cut back on that particular training day (less total sets or exercises).
When I used WS4SB in the past, I’ve had to deload every fourth week because I was doing way too much volume during the workout on my accessory/supplemental exercises. Now that I know how my body responds/reacts to certain amounts of volume, I can pretty much go by how I feel and not necessarily deload for an entire week. I may only do three sets of an exercise instead of four some days, but that’s usually all I need to do.
If anything, I rest on a day that I would normally play ultimate frisbee, but I still hit the weights during the week and perform my speed workout.
I’m gonna restart this program.
I miss hitting PBs every session!
I don’t have any fancy toys etc, just DB’s,Barbells, squat rack and bench. You get the picture.
So I’m thinking
Upper body max effort exercises:
flat bench
military press (get nothing from inclines)
close-grip bench
Lower body:
sumo deadlifts
back squats
conventional deadlifts
Work upto 5RM,then week after 3’s, then week after 1’s.
[quote]OooahhhCANTONA wrote:
I’m gonna restart this program.
I miss hitting PBs every session!
I don’t have any fancy toys etc, just DB’s,Barbells, squat rack and bench. You get the picture.
So I’m thinking
Upper body max effort exercises:
flat bench
military press (get nothing from inclines)
close-grip bench[/quote]
Don’t forget that you can also use the following:
Floor presses
Board presses (you can use a variety of things for a “board”)
Weighted chins
[quote]Lower body:
sumo deadlifts
back squats
conventional deadlifts[/quote]
You also have the following at your disposal:
Front Squats
Good Mornings
Snatch-grip Deadlifts
Rack Pulls (deadlifts off pins, boxes, etc. just at or below knee level)
That gives you more variety for more PR’s!
Sounds like a plan.
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Don’t forget that you can also use the following:
Floor presses
Board presses (you can use a variety of things for a “board”)
Weighted chins
You also have the following at your disposal:
Front Squats
Good Mornings
Snatch-grip Deadlifts
Rack Pulls (deadlifts off pins, boxes, etc. just at or below knee level)
That gives you more variety for more PR’s!
Work upto 5RM,then week after 3’s, then week after 1’s.
Sounds like a plan.
[/quote]
Thanks, do you think weighted chins will have an effect on my bench?
I’ll be doing BW chins in workouts.
I’m sure I could find something to be used as a board.
Should squats be wide-stance, as aren’t box squats used at Defrancos to devolp the posterior chain? And shoulder width squats aren’t going to develop this for me (I’m a sprinter so it’s much needed).
So with the posterior chain in mind, isn’t that the front squat out?
And I got Defranco’s e-book, Brian Witherspoon is the program that is followed, and he doesn’t perform a single deadlift in the program as a max-effort exercise. All squats with different bands etc are used.
Today it was my first ME upper body training with the close grip bench press as my ME lift. I used 110 lbs. and I succed to make only 3 reps, I didn’t succeed to complete the fourth rep.
I think that I will stay with 110 lbs. next week, because I want to performe 5 reps with this weight before I upload to 114.5 lbs.
[quote]OooahhhCANTONA wrote:
Thanks, do you think weighted chins will have an effect on my bench?
I’ll be doing BW chins in workouts.[/quote]
If you’re focusing on your bench, then I wouldn’t use the chins for your ME lift. Keep them as an accessory movement.
Yep. A thick book would work or anything else you can put on your chest.
You should rotate various squatting movements. All squatting movements will hit the posterior chain to a degree depending on your stance and how deep you go.
DeFranco uses box squats because they are easier to teach than squats and help teach the “sitting back” motion. However, he doesn’t have his athletes perform them as wide as those at Westside.
Also, shoulder-width squats will hit the posterior chain if you are squatting deep (Olympic squats - front or back).
Although it has hits the quads more, a deep front squat will hit the hamstrings very well. So I wouldn’t completely throw them out.
Well, you’re talking about ONE athlete and what HE did. That doesn’t mean deadlifts are not useful or shouldn’t be used.
Although he may have only used squats with Brian Witherspoon, DeFranco has recommended alternating squats and deadlifts many times over in his Q&A’s.
Just to give a idea to some people, here one of the last Defranco cycle for a football player posted on elitefts!
Week 1
Monday: Max Effort Upper Body Workout
1.Bench Press: 1RM
2.DB Stability Ball Press (Palms In): 3 x Max Reps
3.DB Rows: 3x10
4A.Front Lat Pulldowns: 3x10
4B: Seated DB Cleans: 3x12
5A.Hammer Curls: 3x10
5B.Triceps Pushdowns: 3x15
6.Spread Eagle Situps w/DB: 4x10
Tuesday: ME Lower Body Workout
1.Box Squat: 1RM
2.Reverse Hypers: 3x10
3.FWD Sled Dragging - Around The World: 2 Trips
4.Abs: 2 Rounds
-Sprinters x 20
-Seated Twists x 40
-Hip Thrusts x 15
-Side Plank x 30 Secs
Thursday: RE Upper Body Workout
1.Bench Press (All Reps Paused): 80%x6x3
2.Rolling DB Triceps Exts: 4x10
3.Horizontal Rows w/Wt. Vest: 3 x Max Reps
4A.DB Shrugs (1 Sec Holds): 3x10
4B.Blast Strap Scarecrows: 3x10
5.Barbell Curls: 3x8
Week 2
Monday: Max Effort Upper Body Workout
1.2 Board Press w/2 Chains (3RM): Worked up to 235x3
2.DB Stability Ball Press (Palms In): 3 x Max Reps
3.DB Rows: 4x8
4A.Front Lat Pulldowns: 3x10
4B: Seated DB Cleans: 3x12
5A.Hammer Curls: 3x10
5B.Band Pushdowns: 3x25
Tuesday: ME Lower Body Workout
1.45 Degree Back Raise w/Cambered Bar (5RM): Worked up to 115x5
2.Bulgarian Split Squats: 3x8
3.FWD Sled Dragging - Around The World: 2 Trips
4.Abs: 2 Rounds
-Sprinters x 20
-Seated Twists x 60
-Hip Thrusts x 20
-Side Plank x 30 Secs
Thursday: RE Upper Body Workout
1.Bench Press (All Reps Paused): 80%x6x4
2.Rolling DB Triceps Exts: 4x10
3.Horizontal Rows: 3 x Max Reps
4A.DB Shrugs (1 Sec Holds): 3x10
4B.Cable Scarecrows: 3x12
5.Fat Bar Curls: 3x8
Week 3
Monday: Max Effort Upper Body Workout
1.2 Board Press(1RM, Paused): Worked up to 305x1
2.DB Stability Ball Press (Palms In): 3 x Max Reps
3.DB Rows: 4x6
4A.Front Lat Pulldowns: 3x10
4B:Seated DB Cleans: 3x12
5A.Hammer Curls: 3x10
5B.One-Arm Band Pushdowns: 3x20
Tuesday: ME Lower Body Workout
1.Rack Pull (Pin 2, Conventional): 335x1
2.Bulgarian Split Squats w/Front Foot Elevated: 3x8
3.FWD Sled Dragging - Around The World: 2 Trips
4.Ironmind Twist Yo Wrist: 2 Rounds
5.Abs: 3 Rounds
-Sprinters x 20
-Seated Twists x 60
-Hip Thrusts x 20
-Side Plank x 30 Secs
Thursday: RE Upper Body Workout
1.Bench Press (All Reps Paused): 80%x6x5
2.Rolling DB Triceps Exts: 5x10
3.Horizontal Rows: 3 x Max Reps
4A.DB Shrugs (1 Sec Holds): 3x12
4B.Cable Scarecrows: 3x15
5.Fat Bar Curls: 4x6
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
OooahhhCANTONA wrote:
Also, shoulder-width squats will hit the posterior chain if you are squatting deep (Olympic squats - front or back).
So with the posterior chain in mind, isn’t that the front squat out?
Although it has hits the quads more, a deep front squat will hit the hamstrings very well. So I wouldn’t completely throw them out.
Well, you’re talking about ONE athlete and what HE did. That doesn’t mean deadlifts are not useful or shouldn’t be used.
[/quote]
How deep, is deep.
It feels a lot more natural doing Olympic style squats, than stopping at parallel
Olympic style are typically deep. How deep depends on your flexibility!
Hey, does anyone have any links to successful logs? I’m a ‘‘skinny bastard’’ and am looking to gain mass. Just trying to see what I should expect here so I can set realistic goals
Aeden, a ‘realistic goal’ is going to be dependent on each person.
Try this, since it can work for a majority, improve every week either by adding weight or adding reps/sets. I use that one and it works great. I don’t focus on how much body weight, what percentage of weight to add, etc. I just want to do more each week.
This works really well for most people.
How much time do you rest between the sets of the reptition excersice in the upper body reptition workout?
[quote]qa771 wrote:
How much time do you rest between the sets of the reptition excersice in the upper body reptition workout?[/quote]
On all the sets about 90sec…
Up to 2-3minutes on main exercices like flat db press when attempting to beat a pr!!
DeFranco says on the Ws4Sb3 version to do 3 min between the RE benching… I’m sticking to more of 90secs just bc I don’t feel like I need the 3 mins.
As far as the supersets, I do 2 min between each superset, with no rest between exercises.
Find what works best for you.
Depending on how I feel, I will do between 90s and 3 min for the RE bench. For the others, I have done between 60s-120s. Again, it depends on how I feel.
Like gabex said, find what works for you.
Ideally I rest 3 mins when the gym is empty and 90 secs to 2 mins when short on time