Bands, Boards, Bars, and BRAWN: SecondsOut goes Westside for 165 Class Powerlifting

[SecondsOut]

For my previous log, my goal was size. I wanted to pack on as much muscle as possible as quickly as possible in the amount of time I can dedicate to lifting throughout the week. I had been lifting like this since ~Dec. 9th., so the total time I spent on this routine was roughly 3 months (12/9/12 - 3/9/12). I went from 160 lbs. @ ~10% bodyfat to 180 lbs. ~15% bodyfat. I'm not very concerned about gaining fat right now, and I'm not interested in discussions about caloric intake. If you think this is too much fat gain and too many calories (see my Diet log linked in my signature. The posts are old, but I still eat pretty much the same stuff/same amounts), then please either keep your comments to yourself or just don't read my log.

This log is different. I've recently had the opportunity to join a Westside gym, 1 of 8 gyms in the country that has Louie Simmons's permission to call itself a Westside gym. I've always thought it would be great to compete in powerlifting, but I've never taken this seriously. I'm ready to take it seriously now. My goal is to compete in the 165 lb. weight class.

No, I haven't abandoned my goal of getting big. But I don't think anyone would call Westside a program designed to build mass. Well, the way this gym works, once you're finished your Dynamic and Max effort work and your secondary work, you can pretty much do whatever you want. I plan on doing plenty of extra general physical preparedness work (GPP), like sled dragging, prowler sled pushing, tire flipping, wheelbarrow pushing, etc.

Although the 165 lb. class seems light, I'm still not big enough or strong enough to compete in this class. If I were to go on a serious cut right now, I'd get down to 165 easily, but I'd lose muscle as well, and my overall bf% probably wouldn't go down much. I might have to cut to 150 or less to really get my bf% low, and there's no way I'd ever consider doing that. No; rather, it would be better to maintain 180-185 lbs. for a good long while, gradually reduce my bf% by increasing my lean mass, and then finally cut down to 165. I don't know what a realistic time frame for this is, I just know it will take a long time. I don't foresee "cutting" or intentional reduction of calories in the near future, so do not fear: the perma-bulk is still on!

I've been on Westside for two weeks. The next post will be all the Westside workouts I've done during this time. The following post will begin my regular log.

[SecondsOut]

Monday, 3/11: Dynamic Effort Bench Press

Speed Bench

Setup

• fat bar (55 lbs.)
• red bands (light tension, I think)
• Tendo unit (target between 0.7 - 0.9. I don't know what the units are)

9 x 3 x (145/105/125 x 7)

DB Incline Bench
3 x 10-12 x (55/50/50)

Seated Cable Row
3 x 10-12 x (110/100/100)

Tate Press
3 x 15 x 10

Upper-Body Sled Pull
3 x ~40 yards x 105 lbs.

Tuesday, 3/12: Max Effort Deadlift

1-RM Fat Bar Deadlift
8 x 145
4 x 235
2 x 325
1 x 375
1 x 415 (Fat Bar PR; overall deadlift PB)

Reverse Hyperextension
2 x 10 x 100
2 x 10 x 125

GHR
4 x bw
1 x bw
2 x 10 x black-mini-band assist

Seated Calf Raise
3 x 10 x 100

Hyperextension
3 x 10 x bw

Lower-Body Sled Pull (hunched over, hands pulling from below knees, walking quickly heel-toe)
3 x ~40 yards x 115 lbs.

Thursday, 3/14: Max Effort Bench Press

1-RM Fat Bar Floor Press
10 x fat bar
8 x 135 (fb + 80 lbs. chains)
*I did 2 more warmup sets, but I forget the weights
1 x 295 (fb + 240 lbs. chains)
1 x 315 (fb + 20 lbs. + 240 lbs. chains) (Floor Press/Fat Bar/Chains benchmark)

Seated Cable Row (w/static holds at the chest)
2 x 10 x 100
10 x 90

Reverse Hyperextension
3 x 10 x (70/90/110)

Seated Cable Pulldown (widegrip w/static holds at the chest)
3 x 10 x 60

Pushup (w/Slingshot)
3 x (37/25/20)

Friday, 3/15: Accessory

DB Curl
15 x 20 lbs.
10 x 25
5 x 30
10 x 20

Rotator Cuff Work
2 x 15 x band (for each of 4 movements; 8 sets altogether)

EZ Bar Curl (1 set = 5 reps low RoM, 5 high, 5 full)
15 x bar
15 x bar + 20 lbs.
12 x bar + 25 lbs.

Weighted Neck Curl & Neck Press (sets are per movement; 6 total sets)
20 x 10 lbs.
15 x 20 lbs.
12 x 25 lbs.

DB Shrugs (supersetted w/band Pull-Aparts)
3 x 10 x (45 lbs., 90, 75)

Lower-Body Sled Pull (long, diagonal strides; distance varied)
3 x ? x light sled + 110 lbs.

Upper-Body Sled Pull
3 x ~40 yards x 105 lbs.

Saturday, 3/16: Dynamic Effort Squat

Speed Box Squat
9 x 3 x (185/225*/245/250)
*Used this for most of the sets
Average Speed: 0.9 (target range 0.75 - 1.1)

GHR
3 x 10 x bw

Weighted Jumps
2 x 10 x 30" stand

Foot Slider (Don't know what else to call them. You lay on your back and do rapid leg curls for high reps. The things slide on the carpet)
3 x 15

Kettle Bell Swing-Jumps
3 x 30 yards x 30 lbs.

BB Dry Humping (Don't know what else to call it!)
3 x 10 x short bar + 180 lbs.

Prowler Push (feet flat while pushing)
3 x ~30 yards x prowler + 90 lbs.

Monday, 3/18: Dynamic Effort Bench Press

Speed Flat Bench

Setup

• fat bar (55 lbs.)
• red bands

9 x 3 x 105-110

DB Flat Bench
2 x max reps x (55/65)

Overhead Cable Pulldowns
3 x 12-15 x 100

Face Pull
3 x 12 x 60

Cable Tricep Press
4 x 12 x ~100

Kettlebell Curl (w/Fat Gripz, curl across front of chest)
3 x 12 x 30

Spider Hand-walk (red band on wrists, pulled taught, walk hands up and down along the wall)
3 x failure

Upper-Body Sled Pull
2 x ~40 yards x 105 lbs.

Tuesday, 3/19: Max Effort Squat

1-RM Reverse-Band Box Squat

Setup

• Oly bar
• white bands

1 x 425
[added belt]
1 x 435
1 x 455 Benchmark

Band Hip Abductor (or adductor...don't remember which is which)
4 x 20 x black band

[supersetted with...]

Reverse Hyperextension
4 x 10 x (70/140)

GHR
4 x 10 x bw

1-Leg Hyperextension
3 x 5-10 per side

Lower-Body Sled Pull (hunched over, hands pulling from below knees, walking quickly heel-toe)
3 x ~40 yards x 115 lbs.

Thursday, 3/21: Max Effort Bench Press

1-RM Fat Bar Floor Press
10 x fat bar
8 x 135 (fb + 80 lbs. chains)
4 x 215 (fb + 160 lbs. chains)
2 x 295 (fb + 240 lbs. chains)
1 x 315 (fb + 20 lbs. + 240 lbs. chains)
1 x 335 (fb + 280 lbs. chains) (Floor Press/Fat Bar + Chains PR)

Reverse Hyperextension
10 x 70
3 x 10 x (140/210/240)

Seated Cable Pulldown (widegrip w/static holds at the chest)
3 x 10 x (100/100/90)

Band Tricep Press (with thick orange bands)
3 x (21/17/12)

Upper Body Sled (with handles, press out like bench press)
5 x ~40 yards x (70/85/95/80/80

[SecondsOut]

Speed Box Squat w/Safety Bar
1 x 2 x 260 (~0.7 on Tendo; a bit too slow)
8 x 2 x 240 (~0.8 on Tendo)

Platform Jumps (36" stand; not weighted)
2 x 10

GHR
4 x 10 x bw

Wheelbarrow (w/several cones set up for turns)
3 x ~40 yds. x (wb+400 lbs.)
2 x ~40 yds. x (wb+425 lbs.)

Tire Flip & Jump (flip it, jump into it, jump out of it on the other side, flip it again)
4 x 8 flips

I'm used to a routine that includes nothing more nor less than squat, bench, deadlift, incline bench, standing press, and occasionally front squat. These Westside workouts are very different. The big 3 are certainly the most technical, focused parts of the workout, but the bulk of my time is spent doing other stuff. Time will tell if this leads to gains on the big 3, but for now, it's just great to have all this variety.

This was my first time using a safety squat bar. For me, the main benefit is not having to think as much about upper body and being able to focus even more on lower body. Still trying to get the hang of wide-stance squatting (i.e., going back, not down).

The wheelbarrow and tire flips were great! It's difficult work, but somehow also fun. I thought flipping the tire would be easy, since my deadlift numbers aren't terrible; it wasn't too difficult, but it definitely wasn't easy. While I felt like I could've done more sets, doing more reps would've been a struggle. The wheebarrow felt more like an old friend. I did a lot of landscaping work for my uncle on his property (2-3 acres), and I used the wb pretty much every day. Dirt, mulch, weeds, rocks, sticks: I'd have to fill the barrow and wheel it sometimes across the entire property. The turns and slight inclines in this parking lot are nothing compared to the bumps, holes, and hills at my uncle's. Didn't realize how good I'd gotten at balancing and moving quickly with the wb till today when I pretty much dominated everyone on this course!

[OneMorePlate]

Your new training regiment looks like your ready to roll. "BB Dry Humping" lol bout choked on my RedBull reading that one. Glute Bridges
Are you going to rotate in some deficit pull and Rack work?

I ate like a horse doing WS and made some good hypertrophy progress. The assistance exercises are a nice variable allowing for achieving more than one goal using WS.

Enjoy the program!

[1morerep]

Louie is great...enjoy your training bro!!!

Originally Posted by SecondsOut

For my previous log, my goal was size. I wanted to pack on as much muscle as possible as quickly as possible in the amount of time I can dedicate to lifting throughout the week. I had been lifting like this since ~Dec. 9th., so the total time I spent on this routine was roughly 3 months (12/9/12 - 3/9/12). I went from 160 lbs. @ ~10% bodyfat to 180 lbs. ~15% bodyfat. I'm not very concerned about gaining fat right now, and I'm not interested in discussions about caloric intake. If you think this is too much fat gain and too many calories (see my Diet log linked in my signature. The posts are old, but I still eat pretty much the same stuff/same amounts), then please either keep your comments to yourself or just don't read my log.

This log is different. I've recently had the opportunity to join a Westside gym, 1 of 8 gyms in the country that has Louie Simmons's permission to call itself a Westside gym. I've always thought it would be great to compete in powerlifting, but I've never taken this seriously. I'm ready to take it seriously now. My goal is to compete in the 165 lb. weight class.

No, I haven't abandoned my goal of getting big. But I don't think anyone would call Westside a program designed to build mass. Well, the way this gym works, once you're finished your Dynamic and Max effort work and your secondary work, you can pretty much do whatever you want. I plan on doing plenty of extra general physical preparedness work (GPP), like sled dragging, prowler sled pushing, tire flipping, wheelbarrow pushing, etc.

Although the 165 lb. class seems light, I'm still not big enough or strong enough to compete in this class. If I were to go on a serious cut right now, I'd get down to 165 easily, but I'd lose muscle as well, and my overall bf% probably wouldn't go down much. I might have to cut to 150 or less to really get my bf% low, and there's no way I'd ever consider doing that. No; rather, it would be better to maintain 180-185 lbs. for a good long while, gradually reduce my bf% by increasing my lean mass, and then finally cut down to 165. I don't know what a realistic time frame for this is, I just know it will take a long time. I don't foresee "cutting" or intentional reduction of calories in the near future, so do not fear: the perma-bulk is still on!

I've been on Westside for two weeks. The next post will be all the Westside workouts I've done during this time. The following post will begin my regular log.

[Hazzard]

Sounds like a lot of fun mate, glad you're enjoying it!

[SecondsOut]

Originally Posted by OneMorePlate

Your new training regiment looks like your ready to roll. "BB Dry Humping" lol bout choked on my RedBull reading that one. Glute Bridges

yeah, sometimes i've never seen/heard of these exercises before, so i just make something up hah.

Are you going to rotate in some deficit pull and Rack work?

i'm kind of "not allowed" to do my own thing at this place. it seems to me that the owner or someone has all the conjugations and waves worked out. i'd be very surprised if deficit deads and rack pulls don't enter into the picture, probably with bands and/or chains and/or some crazy looking bar.

I ate like a horse doing WS and made some good hypertrophy progress. The assistance exercises are a nice variable allowing for achieving more than one goal using WS.

Enjoy the program!

hey, thanks for the reassuring words. i've read some threads on a few different forums, and some people argue that you "can't" gain mass on WS. this makes sense for how the big 3 are trained, but i don't see any reason why you can't just add more exercise. is it really that complicated lol?

Originally Posted by 1morerep

Louie is great...enjoy your training bro!!!

thanks! that's awesome that you met him. i like how he seems so open to different sources. he has respect for the old time lifters, Russians, Bulgarians, Western European lifters, etc. he's also got balls to keep coming back after all those injuries.

Originally Posted by Hazzard

Sounds like a lot of fun mate, glad you're enjoying it!

thanks! feel free to stop by and throw in some dry humor/ironic commentary

[EliteDreams]

Gaining confidence with all these PRs, setting up for the big time.

Definitely go with the owner, I do recall Louie saying 4 assistance moves were used, or 6 for someone bulking. I say work hard and eat hard!

[SecondsOut]

Speed Bench

Setup

• Oly bar
• Chains + chain apparatus (80 lbs. total, 40 per side)

5 x 3 x 135+chains
4 x 3 x 125+chains

DB One-Arm Flat Bench
2 x near failure (8/8) x 65

Cable Pull-Down (short bar w/handles; 2-3 sec. pauses at chest)
3 x 10 x (110/110/100)

DB Incline Fly
3 x 15 x (35/25/25)

Band Tricep Press-Down (w/wide orange EliteFTS band)
3 x near failure (40/25/22)

Seated Cable Row (short bar w/handles; 2-3 sec. pauses at chest)
3 x 10 x (110/100/90)

Dip
4 x (10/10/8/6)

Upper-Body Sled Pull (performed as a complex of press and pull movements)
3 x ~40 yds x 95 lbs.

For speed bench, I find it difficult to bring the bar down fast without it bouncing off my chest for the concentric phase. My sore elbows -- I probably have mild tendonitis -- make this even more difficult. I'm still getting used to keeping my shoulder blades pinched to the max. As I've said before, I always knew how to tuck my lats in, but I never consciously kept my shoulder blades pinched throughout the movement. I lost speed on 135, so I dropped to 125, which was much easier to accelerate. It makes sense that 50% of my 1-RM would be between 125 and 135; that would place my 1-RM in the neighborhood of 250. I'm eager to try this. I've never benched with more than 225 on the bar (my PB is 225 x 4).
I found the 1-arm DB presses difficult as well. I kept my hand on my abs. I had to take the eccentric slowly because I was afraid of injuring my rotator cuffs if I got out of the groove (and I have no groove for this variation!). By the third set, though, my speed and strength increased as the groove set in. I like this variation a lot; definitely more difficult than the 2-arm.
Those dip numbers are shit, I know. But have mercy on me because it came at the end of a tricep-punishing workout! I used to do 10 x 10 on dips no problem, and I would perform them rapidly and deep. I still dipped to the very bottom but my triceps were too burned out for high reppage.
Sled work was masochistic as ever...the sweet, sweet pain of pulling that sled

[Ugo]

Hey Seconds, looks like everything is going good. Were the speed bench's timed? Don't have to much fun with that sled. Ha ha. Ugo