Westside Leg Variation?

[jwood]

I talked to a guy a few days ago about a variation of the lower body days of th westside template that he uses for many of his younger athletes with great success. Here it is

Instead of having one ME Day and one DE day he mixes the both of them so one day you have a max effort squat day and then you do speed deadlifts after the heavy squats. And on the other day you do speed squats and after this you would do heavy good mornings or deadlifts. After the two main lifts he suggest doing a lot of lunges and back extensions since I do not have a reverse hyper maching or a glute ham raise machine.

So it is a way to squat more often and also get in some speed work.

I do not how much experience you guys have with the westside template, but I wanted to see if anyone thought this was a good idea??

It sounded pretty good to me so I may experiment with it.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by jwood

I talked to a guy a few days ago about a variation of the lower body days of th westside template that he uses for many of his younger athletes with great success. Here it is

Instead of having one ME Day and one DE day he mixes the both of them so one day you have a max effort squat day and then you do speed deadlifts after the heavy squats. And on the other day you do speed squats and after this you would do heavy good mornings or deadlifts. After the two main lifts he suggest doing a lot of lunges and back extensions since I do not have a reverse hyper maching or a glute ham raise machine.

So it is a way to squat more often and also get in some speed work.

I do not how much experience you guys have with the westside template, but I wanted to see if anyone thought this was a good idea??

It sounded pretty good to me so I may experiment with it.

My old powerlifting routine started as a Westside variation, and melded into a periodized system. I am somewhat familiar.

I am actually a fan of doing ME squats and DE work on the same day. I like to lift squats/good mornings on one day, and then focus more on deadlift specific movements the next "posterior chain" day.

Personally, I love good mornings on squat day. They always feel lighter after squats, so I get more out of them. But that's just my personal tastes.

On deadlift day I like doing more hamstring, abs and back specific work like romanian deadlifts, GHRs, speed/rack pulls, front squats and/or sumo squats.

I'm not a big fan of back extensions or lunges. I don't like the pressure lunges put on mu knees, but again, that is a personal thing. I also would prefer to better spend my training time doing a heavier supportive movement. And back extensions...well, I get more out of sumo deads, good mornings, front squats, zercher squats and romanian deads then I ever got from back extensions. Back extensions always made me sore, but never seemed to add much strength.

Again, my caveat...this is just my personal tastes. Mileage may vary. I've never trained a young lifter, and if his system works...well, do what works.

I like focusing on heavier movements on posterior chain days. But I have an insanely strong lower back to begin with.

If I had to train a young lifter, I would have him rotate in several staple movements over a 3 week period, and train him more in the 3-8 rep range using good old fashioned bodybuilding style straight progression until his lifts got up.

The problem with Westside and young lifters is that conjugate training works best for intermidiate to experienced lifters with defined weaknesses. When everything is your weakness, and you are new, I don't believe Westside is the fastest way to gain strength.

[jwood]

Thank you for all that great information MAB but I think I misled you when I said young athletes I meant like high school seniors and college athletes and young as in 17-22. These are strong kids and my thoughts are when you are in your early twenties you can definitely do heavy leg and posterior chain movements twice a week.

I think when I get back to school I may experiment with this because my only complaint about westside is not being able to do everything I want because I only do legs heavy once a week.

Thanks again MAB there are a ton of great points in there!

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by jwood

Thank you for all that great information MAB but I think I misled you when I said young athletes I meant like high school seniors and college athletes and young as in 17-22. These are strong kids and my thoughts are when you are in your early twenties you can definitely do heavy leg and posterior chain movements twice a week.

I think when I get back to school I may experiment with this because my only complaint about westside is not being able to do everything I want because I only do legs heavy once a week.

Thanks again MAB there are a ton of great points in there!

I was thinking athletes earlier then 18. I think Westside is a good launching pad, but I never stick to it straight up.

I can go twice a week with posterior, so they should be able to. it's all about the lower back.

[jwood]

I feel the same way, I think speed work is awesome but I see no reason why I can not do heavy leg work along with speed work on the same day.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by jwood

I feel the same way, I think speed work is awesome but I see no reason why I can not do heavy leg work along with speed work on the same day.

Many powerlifters (and I am reading a book that does this too) set up a heavy deadlift and squat day.

[bwys61]

Its all about volume. you can alternate the heavy deads and squats with speed deads and squat, which is what you will see me do some of soon. You really have to crunch the numbers and control your volume so your CNS doesn't burn out and your tendons and ligaments stay up with your muscles

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by bwys61

Its all about volume. you can alternate the heavy deads and squats with speed deads and squat, which is what you will see me do some of soon. You really have to crunch the numbers and control your volume so your CNS doesn't burn out and your tendons and ligaments stay up with your muscles

That's one area I;m still very hit and miss with. I tend to do too much deadlift volume.

[jwood]

I am right there with you MAB I really enjoy deadlifting!

and bwys, I am looking forward to seeing these workouts and putting them into my own training!

I just feel like I can lift legs heavy more than once a week.

[bwys61]

i consider my dynamic day pretty heavy, anywhere from 415-550lbs of total tension at the top for 12 sets of 2. and the pulls are never less than 400 for 10 sets of 1