westside training

[grape ape]

anyone here tried training westside style? If so do tou think it produced better results than most conventional methods of power training? Thinking about looking into it myself.

 

[Fireproof]

anyone here tried training westside style? If so do tou think it produced better results than most conventional methods of power training? Thinking about looking into it myself.

Westside is a great method and definitely produces great results. I'm not sure how it compares to "conventional" methods - that depends on what you define conventional. But the WS method of conjugate periodization is superior, IMO, to linear or non-periodization methods.

Here's a nice "condensed overview" of the Westside method as well as some good discussion about it:

Overview of Westside Barbell Club training method.

 

[grape ape]

thanks fireproof, How did or rather should I say how best to go about getting a program set up based on westside principals?

 

[Fireproof]

Well, without having a trainer or coach in person that knows Westside, the best way is to read articles on the method to get a thorough understanding of how such a program is constructed, and then get involved in some discussion with other folks that use it.

I'm not trying to pimp my site, but there are several folks there that have developed their own Westside powerlifting routines with the help of some WS "gurus". They might be helpful to you. Feel free to browse around and drop some questions...(if you can't find what you are looking for here. )

 

[grape ape]

I guess I'm slow but was that site you refered to above yours?

 

[Fireproof]

Heh. Yes. Or just check my profile for the web address.

 

[CrimsonOsiris]

Apparently, our varsity trainers use westside style to train most all of the teams here at UB. ive heard of quite a few people making complaints about the program, but i think the lack in strength and mass increases comes more from the inability of less experienced athletes to manage their time and nutrition than the program itself.

the overall scheme, as someone else already mentioned, really sets up well for a solid plan that spans an entire athletic season (both indoor and outdoor seasons, which means two peaks)

i like some of the ideas, but i think the trainers underestimate some athletes and dont give us enough to do, and overestimate others.

i think its a program that is worth a shot as long as you can get the help of someone who is completely in the know.

 

[alvin]

Fireproof, have you ever heard of Terry Bryan's Training Center in Cincinnati? That's where I used to belong until I moved to KS for work. There are a ton of big lifters there that seem to follow this program. Including the world record holder in womens BP (you guys don't want to know the #'s). It's funny how you can roll into a new gym and think a 405 BP is a big deal until you see some real lifters. Terry himself has put up a 1000 lb squat.

 

[NickW]

I train at Westside, and the workout methods they employ are great. My strength has gone up a lot but I stay sore for days. Its a great training method when properly employed.

 

[grape ape]

nickw, If yo u dont mind me asking, Is Louie at the gym on a daily basis and is he relativly easy to aproach and talk to (b/s) with or is he intense and buis. only?

 

[NickW]

nickw, If yo u dont mind me asking, Is Louie at the gym on a daily basis and is he relativly easy to aproach and talk to (b/s) with or is he intense and buis. only?

He's a great guy, very easy to approach. Me and my dad always shoot the **** with him when he's there. I only workout on sundays on ME bench days, and he was there for a while but hasn't been there for the past four sundays.

 

[screwbol]

WSB's methods are the most scientifically sound of the powerlifting "systems" in the US.

Simmons pieced together a great way to train by utilizing information gathered and analyzed by the Eastern weightlifting countries which has largely been ignored in the west. All of the conjugate methods' principles are sound and much of this factual information can be found in books such as Supertraining, The Science and Practice of Strength Training, as well as the various Russian training manuals and other publications.

The best way to implement this system w/o training with someone who is a WSB vet is to read the articles at westside-barbell.com and elitefts.com

 

[JonesersRX7]

..... is to read the articles at westside-barbell.com and elitefts.com

I couldn't find those articles on elitefts, could you point me to the right area? All the ones I could find inregards to WSB were linked to TRag.

 

[NickW]

www.westside-barbell.com, the articles are there and if you need more info Louies number is on the site.

 

[screwbol]

I couldn't find those articles on elitefts, could you point me to the right area? All the ones I could find inregards to WSB were linked to TRag.

Link to the articles on elitefts

The "t-mag" articles are the easiest/most basic to read. The eight keys series in T-mag (linked from elitefts) are the best.

Read "The Eight Keys" Parts 1 through 4 and you will understand 95% of how the system works and how to use it.

I'll make it easy, here are the individual links.

8 keys one

part 2

part 3

part 4

 

[JonesersRX7]

Cool, thanks man. I was looking in the right place the whole time. Appreciate it!

I am wanting to switch to WSB because I have decent size but my strength is terrible. Bench is 225 for 3 reps DL is 225 for 5 (grip gives after that) and Squat is 225 for 6 ass to grass. Simply put i'm a weak bitch, so I am hoping to shock myself into some new growth with the strength I get.

I will do a week or so of reading and try to formulate a routing and then start a new thread for some review.

 

[screwbol]

Cool, thanks man. I was looking in the right place the whole time. Appreciate it!

I am wanting to switch to WSB because I have decent size but my strength is terrible. Bench is 225 for 3 reps DL is 225 for 5 (grip gives after that) and Squat is 225 for 6 ass to grass. Simply put i'm a weak bitch, so I am hoping to shock myself into some new growth with the strength I get.

I will do a week or so of reading and try to formulate a routing and then start a new thread for some review.

JonesesRX7,
Based on your pics you should be lifting a LOT more weight than you currently are. I'd highly recommend taking a few months at the least to train mainly for strength/power. With your musculature I think you can get over a 300lb bench and 400lb deadlift/squat pretty quickly if you get serious with the powerlifting. You'll also gain a lot of muscle using WSB, and when (or IF) you want to go back to BBing the newfound strength gains will enable you to put on a lot of mass much faster than you currently can. I'm basing my opinion on the fact that my body/stats were similar to yours before I started using the WSB system to get stronger.

I'll give you a brief outline of the system:

Sunday is Dynamic effort Bench day

The goal is to increase explosiveness, speed-strength--to simplify it, it is to teach you how to bench as explosively as possible.

On this day you will perform 8-10 sets of 3 reps using 55 to 60% of your 1 rep max. Rest 45 seconds between sets and focus on lowering and lifting the bar as quickly as possible while still using good form. Your goal should be to perform each set of 3 reps in under 3 seconds. If you can't do that, lower the weight used.

With a 1rm of 225, you would do 8 sets of 3 with 125 to 135lbs. The weight may seem light but it WORKS.

Next, you train the triceps. On this day a high intensity lockout exercise is usually done, such as rack lockouts, 4 or 5 board presses, or J.M. press done for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. Go as heavy as possible on these movements but don't go to failure.

After triceps, pick a lat exercise and perform 3 to5 sets of 8-15 reps. Favorite movements are chest supported rows, chins, barbell and dumbell rows. Again, go heavy but not to failure.

Lastly, perform a heavy pressing movement for the shoulders. Dumbell shoulder press, flat/incline bench press, barbell military presses or chain suspended pushups for 4-5 sets of 5-12 reps are a good way to strengthen these.

WED--MAX EFFORT UPPER BODY (increase max strength)

perform a maximum effort workout for the bench press. Pick 5 or 6 exercises that mimick the competition bench press (I use incline bench, floor press, 2 and 3 board presses, and close grip bench) and work up to a personal record of 1 to 3 reps. If you hit a new record and feel you have more left in the tank, try to break that record using 10 or 20 more pounds. As an alternative, if you aren't feeling extra strong, drop down to 90% of your 1RM for the max effort exercise and do 3-6 singles.
Use one exercise per workout and switch them every week or two.

After the ME movement is finished, perform a high-volume, low intensity triceps exercise like DB extensions, BB extensions or pushdowns for high reps (50-60 total broken down in 8 sets of 7, 6 sets of 10, etc.).

Next do an exercise for lats just like you did on the DE bench press day. Pullups, chins or a rowing variation for 4-5 sets of 8 to 15 reps are common.

On this day, do a low intensity, high rep upper back/rear delt movement suck as rear laterals, face pulls or seated DB cleans. 3-4 sets of 10-20 reps work well.

LOWER BODY:

Friday--Dynamic Effort Squat/DL day (SPEED DAY)

This is the lower body equivalent of the DE/Speed Bench day. Start out with speed box squats. Take 50% of your 1rm squat and perform 10 sets of 2 using a parallel box. Read the article "squatting from head to toe" for a great box squatting description. On week two, use 55% for 10 sets of 2 and use 60% on week three. On week four, return to using 50% and repeat the cycle.

If you lift raw (no squat suit, knee wraps, etc) add 10% to the percentages--60, 65 and 70 instead of 50, 55, and 60% respectively. Use 60 second rest intervals between sets.

So using your estimated 1rm squat (225x6 reps is ~260lb max) you would do 10x2 with 155 on wk1, 170 on week two and 185 on week three.

OPTIONAL: Speed Pulls Perform 6-10 singles in the deadlift using ~50-60% of your 1rm (not exactly sure on the percentages here, but they are close) with 45 seconds rest btwn sets.

Next, perform a high intensity hamstring exercise like glute-ham raises, pull throughs, good mornings, or romanian deadlifts for 4-5 sets of 3 to 10 reps.

Move on to a lower back/glute exercise like 45° hypers, reverse hypers, pull throughs, etc. for 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps.

Finish up with a difficult ab exercise like weighted situps, ab wheel, full contact twists, pulldown abs, side bends or hanging leg raises for 5-6 sets of 8-12 reps.

Monday-- Max Effort Squat/DL

Just like the ME bench day, pick several special exercises, wokr up to a 1-3rm and rotate them every week or 2 trying to lift more weight each time. Common ME movements are low or high box squats done with different bars, good morning variations, rack pulls, deadlifts off mats, etc.

Finish up the workout with the same hamstring, low back/glute, and ab training similar to Friday's workout. However, DO NOT perform the speed pulls on this day.

HTH.

 

[screwbol]

Forgot to add something:

Since the system uses a lot of unique lifts/exercises, I would strongly recommend the following videos for someone who is willing to invest a little money. Don't buy these unless you have a feel for the system and are sure you want to stick with/learn it better:

Elite FTS Squat/Deadlift exercise index DVD

AND

Elite FTS Bench Press exercise index DVD


I bought both of these about 6 or 7 months ago (been using the methods for 3 or so years) and learned that I was doing a lot of the movements wrong, I learned my form needed a lot of work, etc. Since then I have improved more than I did in the 2 years prior to viewing the videos. The proper selection and execution of exercises is much more important than I had previously believed. I have zero financial interest in elitefts--I've spent a ton of money there but don't regret a single purchase. Their products are of the highest quality you can buy as far as powerlifting is concerned.

 

[JonesersRX7]

Screwbol.. thanks a ton man... really! Very comprehensive and that's awesome of you to list it out like that, and with my own set weights.. very cool.

A hundred dollars does seem like alot on DVD's but if I want to make good gains and also not injure myself doing it wrong, I should definately invest the money. Because your right.. I don't know what alot of the work outs are... Rainbows? Face Pulls? Rack Lock-outs? Pull Throughs?

But I am going to read everything a couple of times so I can get it down and I'm sure at least one of those articles will have descriptions of the excerices I listed above and some to be named after the movement themselves.....

Again thanks for your help and I will post up a full routine after I test for 1rep max in a month.

 

[screwbol]

Screwbol.. thanks a ton man... really! Very comprehensive and that's awesome of you to list it out like that, and with my own set weights.. very cool.

A hundred dollars does seem like alot on DVD's but if I want to make good gains and also not injure myself doing it wrong, I should definately invest the money. Because your right.. I don't know what alot of the work outs are... Rainbows? Face Pulls? Rack Lock-outs? Pull Throughs?

But I am going to read everything a couple of times so I can get it down and I'm sure at least one of those articles will have descriptions of the excerices I listed above and some to be named after the movement themselves.....

Again thanks for your help and I will post up a full routine after I test for 1rep max in a month.

Hey, check out the online exercise index at elitefts.com -- it can be found here :WSB/EliteFTS Exercises shown and explained

Don't invest in the DVD's until you are sure that this is a system you are willing to commit to. Some people do not like it or don't make gains on it w/o a coach or seasoned training partner (or it takes them a long time to really incorporate it successfully). The above exercise index will help you visualize the movements by looking at the pics and reading their explanations.

Hope that helps.

 

[BOHICA]

I'm going to be employing this mainly for explosiveness and strength... Football things. I was wondering how I should incorperate my speed work into this. I decided to go with this because Defranco, basically shows it at as the best way for football players.

 

[toad767]

Question about the rest between sets.
on DE days, you rest 45s on the speed exercises only or all of the exercises, including the high intensity exercises?

Also what is the rest on ME days?