Modified Westside Routine.....Please Comment

[Gene G]

This is my new training cycle for the next 12 weeks. What Im trying to accomplish here is to somehow combine western periodization with westside methods in an attempt to reduce the immense strain put on my joints when training westside full cycle. Plus training westside all the time gets kinda boring, westside also seems to get just a little stale after a while. Also, I have a shoulder injury that needs some more rehab before I can train with max weights again. I also believe that westside methods lead to a somewhat neglection of shoulder and back training so one of my goals for this cycle is to concentrate more on those muscles. I also wanna start using my bench shirt and squat suit more but feel I need a good base of raw training before I can really take advantage. Also, I was wondering if any of you modify your westside training in anyway ordo you just stick with whats given? I know this is alot to read though but if anybody could look it over and give me some feedback or suggestions Id be more than grateful.

12 Week Mesocycle:
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Weeks 1-3: Hypertrophy/Rehab phase(power bodybuilding)
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Sun.- Delts Abs.
mon.- Arms, Forearms, Abs.
Tue.- Legs
Wed.- off
Thu.- Chest, Abs.
Fri.- Back, Abs.
Sat.- off
6-10 rep range w moderate weight
large emphasis on joint training
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Weeks 4-7: Modified Westside Method
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Sun.- ME Bench, Tri's, Anterior Delt work
mon.- Back, Bi's, Abs.
Tue.- DE Squat, Hips, Quads
Wed.- off
Thu.- DE Bench, Tri's, Lateral Delts, Abs.
Fri.- ME Squat, Posterior Chain muscles
Sat.- off
Follow westside for reps and rest periods,
use bodybuilding methods for assistance work
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Weeks 8-10: Strict Westside Method
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Sun.- ME Bench, Tri's (6-8 sets), Lats, Delts
mon.- off
Tue.- DE Squat, assistance same as ME day
Wed.- off
Thu.- DE Bench, Tri's (2-4 sets), rest same as ME day
Fri.- ME Squat, Hams (2 exercises), L.Back (1), Abs. (1-2)
Sat.- off
All reps and rest periods followed exactly
assistance work done using "modified repetition method".
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Week 11: Drop assistance work, use Gear (bench shirt ext.)
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Sun.- ME Bench
mon.- off
Tue.- DE Squat
Wed.- off
Thu.- DE Bench
Fri.- ME Squat
Sat.- off
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Week 12: drop speed work, attempt to max out with Gear
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Sun.- Bench
mon.- off
Tue.- Deadlift
Wed.- off
Thu.- off
Fri.- Squat
Sat.- off
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Bench shirt and Squat suit used during weeks 7, 10, 11 & 12
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end.

Thank you again for any feedback you can give.
-Gene

 

[BALDNAZI]

Help my brother out.....

Gene is a good friend from my gym.He knows his shit,and hes only 21.I seen him put on some serious bodyweight the past few months ever since he started powerlifting and he convinced me to try alot of power stuff.I brought him here to learn from the best,so please help him out........

 

[Paul Bunyan]

Gene

I need to know more about your current workouts. Give me some examples of your ME and DE bench days. Also, why do you feel that strict Westside training neclects the shoulders and back? I have more questions but we will start here for now.

PB

 

[Gene G]

I currently taking time off to rest after finishing my 10 week westside cycle on sunday. Though im not in the gym, I still remain active by pulling and sometimes pushing my car down a runway for 20-30 min. every other day im off. Below is the cycle I used for most of the past 10 weeks. I injured my shoulder about halfway though so I didnt max out on ME day anymore and did dumbell instead of barbells, I also moved my back training to a seperate day (thursday).

Sunday: ME Bench
1)ME movement: triples, then singles to max or more
2)6-9 sets of Tri's: using modified repetition method
3)Lats: 2 movements- both rows most of the time
4)Delts: 2 movenments- laterals or upright rows, bent laterals or front raises
5)Prehab: some rotator cuff exercises

Monday: ME Squat
1)ME movement: usually box squats with straight weight or regular reverse band squats. About once or twice a month I do deadlifts for ME work.
2)Compound assistance movement for the posterior chain with high intensity: usually stiff-legged deadlifts or pull-thru's or, if I squat for ME work, deadlifts. 5-8 rep range.
3)l.back/hamstring exercise: since our "fitness club" doesnt have a reverse hyper machine...and probably never will, I do regular hyper extentions while holding three of four plates in my arms for 8-10 reps.
4)leg curls: here I try to hit the hams directly for 8-10 reps
5)glutes- leg abduction for 3 sets of 6-10 reps.
6)sometimes if i feel like it i do some calves

Tuesday: off or cardio (it never turned out to be cardio)

Wednsday: DE Bench
1)Speed bench at 45-55% w/bands or straight weight (I dont have chains): 9 sets of 3 fast reps (under 3 sec each) using varying grip, then 1 heavy single above 90% I alternated three week cycles.
2)*The assistance work is then same as the ME bench days except Tri's are done with more intensity and less volume.

Thursday: off; Back, after I got injured

Friday: DE Squat
1)almost always box squats at 55-65% with bands (i know it bad to always do the same shit but i really lack at the bottom of my squat and deperatly try to fix it) set/rep scheme same as speed bench. I did three week cycles.
2)hip work: lunges, abduction/adduction
3)quads: i know westside doesnt condone direct quad training but I feel it nessesary to be well rounded, besides my posterior need time to heal. I always do leg presses or front squats followed by leg ext.
4)calves: seated calf raises

Saturday: off or cardio

The reason I said that westside training somewhat neglects shoulders and back is becouse of the following: When I was training as a bodybuilder my partner and I would have some serious back and shoulder workouts. Im not saying they where really long and exhausting, Im saying that they where very intense, with moderate volume. The reason for this is becouse it was "back or shoulder day" and all our effort when into ahniallating those muscles with as much intensity as possible, basically all our time and effort went into training those muscles on those days. With westside youre supposed to train back and delts together after a tough bench workout, so not only is it the fact that youre not as strong afterwards and slightly less motivated, its also the fact that youre not there to do those muscles exclusivly, and psycologically that is enough to keep you from training them with peak intensity by itself, even if your the most hardcore of lifters. Another reason is that they are pretty complicated muscles and require several different angles to fully develop their strength, which isnt all that practical unless youre willing to let your workout run past 2 hours. And personally I get kinda bored after a while becouse its always the same workout after your initial ME or DE movement even if you change the exercises.
Keep in mind that everything I wrote is pretty much my own opinion, and of course, not written in stone. Everybodys different so perhaps there is the one guy who can hit his back really hard after a heavy bench workout but in my view its just not the same. I also realize that with westside youre not supposed to hit back or any of the secondary muscles involed in the lifts really hard, youre supposed to use the "modified repetition method" which is good, but I feel that trainig that way 100% of the time neglects those muscles.
There are many benefits to training back and delts after benching, which is why I do it for the latter half of my new cycle. But I think I need a few weeks beforehand to give them some special attention that way when I really get to the heavy weghts they'll be there at their full potential.

Thanks for responding, and feel free to ask any other questions or give any comments you may have.
-Gene

 

[Paul Bunyan]

Ok

I'm going to attempt to help you fix some problems with your workouts. First, I need some more info.
1) Give me a list of the Max Effort Bench exercises that you use and how often you rotate them.
2) List your Max Effort Squat/Deadlift exercises and how often you rotate them.
3) I need to know what shit you are on if any and how much. You can PM me that info if you don't want to post it. It's important, that's why I'm asking.
4) What bands are you using for your dynamic bench workout?
5) What bands are you using for your dynamic squat workouts.

The one thing that jumps right out at me is the volume of work you are trying to do. I think you are overtraining.

Don't worry too much about not having chains. I have them and rarely use them.

Work with me and be patient.

PB

 

[Gene G]

Let me give you some numbers on me.
Im 20 yrs old, 225lbs. 14%Bf BP-325, DL-455, SQ-315
Ive been training for 4 years and powerlifting for about 6 months.

Heres what I did last cycle as written in my training log.

ME Bench: I have the most trouble at the bottom so most of the stuff is aimed toward that. Here's what I did for the 5 weeks I was able to do the ME workouts.
Week 1: straight weight
Weeks 2 & 3: 2 board presses
Weeks 4 & 5: pin presses at near chest level, which caused the injury to my shoulder in the fifth week (osteolysis and stress fractures at the distal end of the clavical with possible acromioclavicular tears was my diagnosis)...I've had this same injury before, in the spring.
Had I kept Going I would have done this:
Weeks 6 & 7: floor presses
Weeks 8 & 9: 2 board presses, maybe with doulbled up bands
Week 10: straight weight

ME Squat: Like the bench I lack at the bottom but alot more here, the squat is the worst of my three lifts.
Week 1: straight weight squats
Week 2: straight weight squats
Week 3: Box squats
Week 4: Deadlifts (I pull sumo)
Week 5: Straight weight squats
Week 6: Box squats
Week 7: Deadlift
Week 8: Deadlift
Week 9: Reverse band box squats
Week 10: Reverse band box squats
I realize this is kind of a shitty line up but to be honest, except for the deadlifts, I just winged it everytime. I tried doing good-mornings but I find it hard to max out on an exercise like that.

As for bands, all I have are mini's.
For speed bench I twined the two bands together and ran it under the bench, attaching each end over a 2.5lbs plate with a clip behind it at either end of the bar. Id alternate this with straight weight and cycle each for three weeks going from 45% to 55% of my current PR, increasing the weight 5% per week.
For Speed squats I would double the bands up and run them under the safety bars on the lowest level of the squat rack, then Id throw 55%-65% on and squat on a box. The sets took longer than three seconds becouse I made sure to pause on the box and exploded out. I did this for just about the entire cycle either on or off the box, I think I used the box without the bands a once of twice too.

I am currently not using anything and have never in the past. Id like to see where I can get naturally first before I try anything. I usually use creatine but did not last cycle and still made fair strength gains and even better gains in size.

I appreciate the effort.
-Gene

 

[Gene G]

Thanks Bro!

I just wanna say thanks to BALDNAZI for brining me here and asking everyone to help me out.
I also wanna let everyone know that BN is very big and scary and he stomps around the gym barking at everyone like the freaken SS....and rightfully so. And I also wanna point out that he is in fact...very bald.

Thanks bro.

 

[BALDNAZI]

haha

Just want you all to know I told him to write that.Im actually very hairy and Im scared of everyone in the gym.Hehe.My pleasure Gene,this is a great place you will like it here.........

 

[Paul Bunyan]

I haven't forgotten you GeneG. I'm still working out a plan for you.

PB

 

[Gene G]

Thanks

Do what you gotta do, im a very patient person.
I just wanna let you know that I started with the first phase of the mesocycle on sunday (delts) and did arms today. Im still lifting fairly heavy...the speed I gained from my last training cycle allows me to use alot of weight for sets of 10 and 8, and Im concentrating alot on form and trying to get a good feel out of the muscle to promote hypertrophy. During each set, I do very explosive lifts and concentrate on a good negative. Im also doing more supersetting to promote bloodflow and capillary formation in the muscles. It feels good to get away from the heavy weight for a while and the higher rep range and lighter weight will promote healing in my shoulder.

 

[DamageInc]

I also wanna let everyone know that BN is very big and scary and he stomps around the gym barking at everyone like the freaken SS....and rightfully so. And I also wanna point out that he is in fact...very bald.

DamageInc