Has anyone here had an exursion headache before? I assume a few have. I made a rookie mistake last night as I was pushing out my last 2 reps of squats I must have held my breath and BAM, got this cunt of a headache that refuses to go away.
I know a few guys that have got them through deadlifts, squats and olympic lifts. After a couple of years of no serious lower body lifting it has taught me a valuable lesson. Be conscious of one’s breathing.
Due to a huge amount of stress (and depression as a result of it), I switched to the WS4SB 3 in-season template this week.
I’ve been beating myself up with my workouts for several months without a break, and I have been making good progress the whole time. But last week and a part of the week prior to that I started losing motivation and the desire to train.
I skipped a workout one day because I was too exhausted to do it and didn’t have the motivation or desire to try. I ended up eating almost half a bag of Dorito’s (something I never do) with my dinner (a homemade burger and veggies) and had huge cravings for sweets all week (I ate some small amounts of dark chocolate to stop the cravings). I also had no energy and ended up taking an extra day off the following week.
I realized at the same time that I was dealing with a huge amount of stress including work stress (I love my job, but it’s very busy), financial stress (paying off debts so I can buy a home and dealing with my spouse’s debts), house hunting stress (it may be a buyer’s market, but it’s still aggravating and depressing at times to find something affordable), physical stress from the workouts (not fully recovering and dealing with nagging injuries), the stress of being separated from my spouse due to her internship in another city as well as weather and daylight changes!
I finally realized that all of these things were building up on each other, and I finally had enough and needed to make changes quick before things got worse.
I knew it was beginning to become a problem at the end of August, as I started becoming extremely tired all the time. I started sleeping 8-12 hours and still felt exhausted and unmotivated. This continued for more than a month before I finally cracked last week.
Yesterday was the first workout on the in-season template from WS4SB 3, and it went great! I felt good and lifted heavy. Luckily, I was able to lift heavy for the last few months but I could tell it was beginning to catch up to me.
Today my workout partner and I are going mountain biking for a change of pace from our normal strongman conditioning day. Wednesday is an off day, Thursday will be the second part of the in-season training template and Friday will be a short Upper Body Rep day using mostly bodyweight and single-joint exercises for a pump (I keep these workouts to 30 minutes or less). Then I’ll have the weekend off.
I figure I’ll stick with this for at least a month and see how things go. After that, I’ll re-evaluate and decide if I should stick with this through the holidays or if I’ll go back to one of the other templates.
Oh, remember when I said that you could use Olympic lifts instead of jumps on the Dynamic Effort Day? Bad Fucking Idea. I’m convinced now that WS4SB needs no tinkering.
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Oh, remember when I said that you could use Olympic lifts instead of jumps on the Dynamic Effort Day? Bad Fucking Idea. I’m convinced now that WS4SB needs no tinkering. [/quote]
LOL! Did you have a bad experience?
Not that I would recommend the Olympic lifts over jumping exercises, but they can be used (if done before max-effort lifts) with the right volume.
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
Oh, remember when I said that you could use Olympic lifts instead of jumps on the Dynamic Effort Day? Bad Fucking Idea. I’m convinced now that WS4SB needs no tinkering.
LOL! Did you have a bad experience?
Not that I would recommend the Olympic lifts over jumping exercises, but they can be used (if done before max-effort lifts) with the right volume.
[/quote]
It just totally fucked up my attempts at Bench Press the next day since every posterior muscle on my body was throbbing.
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Due to a huge amount of stress (and depression as a result of it), I switched to the WS4SB 3 in-season template this week.
I’ve been beating myself up with my workouts for several months without a break, and I have been making good progress the whole time. But last week and a part of the week prior to that I started losing motivation and the desire to train.
I skipped a workout one day because I was too exhausted to do it and didn’t have the motivation or desire to try. I ended up eating almost half a bag of Dorito’s (something I never do) with my dinner (a homemade burger and veggies) and had huge cravings for sweets all week (I ate some small amounts of dark chocolate to stop the cravings). I also had no energy and ended up taking an extra day off the following week.
I realized at the same time that I was dealing with a huge amount of stress including work stress (I love my job, but it’s very busy), financial stress (paying off debts so I can buy a home and dealing with my spouse’s debts), house hunting stress (it may be a buyer’s market, but it’s still aggravating and depressing at times to find something affordable), physical stress from the workouts (not fully recovering and dealing with nagging injuries), the stress of being separated from my spouse due to her internship in another city as well as weather and daylight changes!
I finally realized that all of these things were building up on each other, and I finally had enough and needed to make changes quick before things got worse.
I knew it was beginning to become a problem at the end of August, as I started becoming extremely tired all the time. I started sleeping 8-12 hours and still felt exhausted and unmotivated. This continued for more than a month before I finally cracked last week.
Yesterday was the first workout on the in-season template from WS4SB 3, and it went great! I felt good and lifted heavy. Luckily, I was able to lift heavy for the last few months but I could tell it was beginning to catch up to me.
Today my workout partner and I are going mountain biking for a change of pace from our normal strongman conditioning day. Wednesday is an off day, Thursday will be the second part of the in-season training template and Friday will be a short Upper Body Rep day using mostly bodyweight and single-joint exercises for a pump (I keep these workouts to 30 minutes or less). Then I’ll have the weekend off.
I figure I’ll stick with this for at least a month and see how things go. After that, I’ll re-evaluate and decide if I should stick with this through the holidays or if I’ll go back to one of the other templates.[/quote]
Smart move there Nate. I’ve been hoping to get a bit of feedback in regards to the in season sessions too. Some of my many injuries in the gym occurred during periods of high stress. I’m sure the body is more prone to injuries when you are just flat out fucked.
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Nate Dogg wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
Oh, remember when I said that you could use Olympic lifts instead of jumps on the Dynamic Effort Day? Bad Fucking Idea. I’m convinced now that WS4SB needs no tinkering.
LOL! Did you have a bad experience?
Not that I would recommend the Olympic lifts over jumping exercises, but they can be used (if done before max-effort lifts) with the right volume.
It just totally fucked up my attempts at Bench Press the next day since every posterior muscle on my body was throbbing. [/quote]
I think they can be added to the Westside Template on the DE day very well. I used to do them instead of the speed lifts on the lower day and get good results. I’m not sure where you could put them on the WSFSB program.
quick question, on the RE upper day can i add some of the excersizes like dips, the bench press test, and pushups from WS4SB Part II to the new RE upper day from WS4SB Part 3?
[quote]remixpaul wrote:
quick question, on the RE upper day can i add some of the excersizes like dips, the bench press test, and pushups from WS4SB Part II to the new RE upper day from WS4SB Part 3?[/quote]
One of the common themes of this thread is that the program is not set in stone and can be tinkered with. I wouldn’t go adding extra stuff, I’d just substitute it to the area it is most applicable.
what do u mean by substituting it to the area it is most applicable?
Had a fun workout yesterday! Instead of my normal Strongman Conditioning workout, my friend and I biked from our house to UF (about 5 miles) and then stopped by the UF track for some rope climbs (about 25-30 feet high), dips and chins.
This is the first time I’ve ever climbed a rope, and it was awesome! It’s an incredible exercise for the forearms, biceps and back. We plan on going back again to do this next Tuesday as well. Not to mention that we also got to watch many of the UF track athletes training (women pole vaulters are the hottest and most fit athletes I’ve seen). I spoke with one girl about her training as she happened to be training on the dip and chin bars.
After messing around for a while, we rode around campus for a bit and then back home. It was a great workout yet not as intense as my normal stuff…and it was fun. Just what I needed to relieve some stress. 
[quote]Johnny Drama wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
Nate Dogg wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
Oh, remember when I said that you could use Olympic lifts instead of jumps on the Dynamic Effort Day? Bad Fucking Idea. I’m convinced now that WS4SB needs no tinkering.
LOL! Did you have a bad experience?
Not that I would recommend the Olympic lifts over jumping exercises, but they can be used (if done before max-effort lifts) with the right volume.
It just totally fucked up my attempts at Bench Press the next day since every posterior muscle on my body was throbbing.
I think they can be added to the Westside Template on the DE day very well. I used to do them instead of the speed lifts on the lower day and get good results. I’m not sure where you could put them on the WSFSB program. [/quote]
On the DE Day.
I don’t see the difference between how it wouldn’t work for WS4SB or WSB templates. I can’t see how it would work at all. If I could put a day in between DE Legs and ME Upper Body its a possibility but with my life that just wouldn’t work.
hi guys,
Have you seen some serious progress on this program? I am a huge fan of Defranco and hav learned alot from him! Am thinking of starting this program now as i think i need a balanced program rather than just going to the gym n doing what i feel like doing! Any advice for a first timer to the WS4SB type program?
Thanks.
I’m not training for a specific sport , but I want to gain mass. I filled in the template , and my question is this.
If I did a 5x5 deadlifts on my Dynamic effort lower body day , is that going against the program and might somehow hold me back , or will it only help me to get bigger.
Thank you.
[quote]barrs1985 wrote:
hi guys,
Have you seen some serious progress on this program? I am a huge fan of Defranco and hav learned alot from him! Am thinking of starting this program now as i think i need a balanced program rather than just going to the gym n doing what i feel like doing! Any advice for a first timer to the WS4SB type program?
Thanks. [/quote]
Barrs, the best advice I think you can get for this program is; write everything down.
Seriously. Keep a log and track what you are doing and review what you have done. That way, you can figure out what works for you. It takes some time with playing around with different exercises but it pays off. Just know, the program works if you put in the effort. You will eventually find what works the best for you.
Have fun with this program!
[quote]handthatfeeds wrote:
I’m not training for a specific sport , but I want to gain mass. I filled in the template , and my question is this.
If I did a 5x5 deadlifts on my Dynamic effort lower body day , is that going against the program and might somehow hold me back , or will it only help me to get bigger.
Thank you.[/quote]
Possibly. That is a bit more than you should be doing. You are trying to get your muscles to contract explosively, if you are doing 5x5, you are more likely looking at doing a higher weight for strength purposes. That really goes against the idea of the DE day.
I don’t want to do this program for strength purpose , I want to do it for hypertrophy , and size.
How often should I rotate between squats and deadlifts on my lower max day?
[quote]Arioch wrote:
barrs1985 wrote:
hi guys,
Have you seen some serious progress on this program? I am a huge fan of Defranco and hav learned alot from him! Am thinking of starting this program now as i think i need a balanced program rather than just going to the gym n doing what i feel like doing! Any advice for a first timer to the WS4SB type program?
Thanks.
Barrs, the best advice I think you can get for this program is; write everything down.
Seriously. Keep a log and track what you are doing and review what you have done. That way, you can figure out what works for you. It takes some time with playing around with different exercises but it pays off. Just know, the program works if you put in the effort. You will eventually find what works the best for you.
Have fun with this program![/quote]
Arioch,
thanks for the advice, i will do just that! Should be interesting and give me some direction now! Thanks again!
[quote]handthatfeeds wrote:
I don’t want to do this program for strength purpose , I want to do it for hypertrophy , and size.
How often should I rotate between squats and deadlifts on my lower max day?[/quote]
Just Hypertrophy, eh? Looks like Vince Gironda here just wants to be a pretty boy. You probably use wrist straps, don’t you? I bet you don’t see the point in doing the DE Lower days, do you?
JK
Rotate the lifts every 4 weeks. Make sure you return to them. You can never have the same workout with the same exercises for a long-ass time and still be on Westside or WS4SB
[quote]remixpaul wrote:
quick question, on the RE upper day can i add some of the excersizes like dips, the bench press test, and pushups from WS4SB Part II to the new RE upper day from WS4SB Part 3?[/quote]
Take a guess.
Let’s say on the RE day you want to put your bench press challenge thing in. Where do you think you would put it in? Maybe where the bench press is? Or would you think it better to take out that upper back super set for it.
Edit: Sorry this post was in response for your question…
“What do you mean by most applicable”.