Archives for workouts (page 30)

This first ME Bench day marks the first full week on the Westside protocol. Thought I would try to go for a max single in the bench press to get a benchmark for the powerlifting style bench. Set up the whole thing in the rack and started light with 40 kg/88 pounds to get an opportunity to practice the groove. Proceeded in roughly 5 kg/11 pound increments up to 65 kg/144 pounds, then switched to singles. After 75 kg/166 pounds went up with a little straining I upped the weight to 80 kg/177 pounds, but that one refused to go anywhere. Dropped down to 77.5 kg/171 pounds with much the same effect.

Frankly, I had expected to blast the 80 kg/177 pounds up in light of the fact that I had in my last pre-Westside training done a fairly easy 5 sets x 5 reps with 70 kg/154 pounds. That was using bodybuilding benching style, where the bar is moved towards the eyes (rather than straight up) and with the whole back on the bench (rather than with an arch), all of which contribute to making the lift harder. On the other hand, an unfamiliar line of motion, the specificity of strength and pausing the bar for a full stop before pressing probably pretty much offset the leverage gained from switching technique. Be that as it may, 75 kg/166 pounds is my current max poundage to be bettered. I will accordingly use 45 kg/99 pounds for the DE bench until I get a better max, i.e. 60% of my current max (which is what is recommended for shirtless benchers and beginners).

I will cycle my training so that I test for a max on the bench, box squat and deadlift perhaps every six weeks or so. As I don’t compete (with these weights?) I don’t see much point in testing normal squats before I have the box squat technique pat down. Although the guys at Westside nowadays determine the DE box squat load directly from the competition result (50-60%), they apparently used to calculate it from the box max (65-85%), something which I could do at this early stage. After starting to train with higher weights off boxes, I will also start to cycle the sets and reps in accordance with the training load. More on these issues later.

One of the main principles in Westside is to always work on removing weak points, not just blindly follow a certain rotation of assistance exercises. Although the latter is something I will be engaged in to some degree when learning the exercises, it seems that I should focus on exploding the bar off my chest in the bench. I’m not used to pausing, and my sticking point appears to be at about 1/3 of the press. I will have to look into that, but at least floor presses appear to be good candidates as the starting position is quite exactly where I get stuck. Pin presses might also be good to get my body used to feeling heavier weights. DE Bench day takes care of the explosiveness part, but I definitively have to get used to blasting ME benches up with force as well (as opposed to bodybuilding style repping). Naturally, my technique needs a lot of improvement (pulling the bar apart is total news to me).

The standard procedure is to train the triceps after the bench, followed by some shoulder/lat work, and capped off with another triceps exercise. For the first triceps exercise I selected the JM Press, named after mega bencher John-Mark Blakley. It involves moving the bar towards the head before benching up, which targets the triceps. It sure does just that, making you feel very weak on the pressing part. I liked them, but will need to continue practicing the technique before piling on more weight.

Will need to look into how to spread apart the side- and rear delt work more closely (perhaps do one on ME Bench and the other on DE Bench, or both?). Since I did side delt flyes on Sunday I decided to go with rear delt flyes this time around. I usually also do some rotator cuff work, usually some form of L-flyes, which I will include next week.

In the spirit of wonder and learning new movements I selected the Tate Press as my second triceps movement sitting on a very steep incline bench. Interesting movement, and not too hard to grasp. I expect this one to become another long-term acquaintance.

Further readings on Westside benching:

How to Bench Press 500 Easy by Louie Simmons. Great introductory article to benching Westside style from 1998.

More Big Benches by Louie Simmons. How benching was done at Westside in 2000 using the routine of Jimmy Ritchie as an example.

Bench Press 600 Pounds: A 12 Step Program by Dave Tate. Not quite in that league yet, but the advice is applicable to every bencher.

The Road to 600
by Dave Tate. Follow-up to the article above. Tate goes through the stages of his career that finally led him to break the 600 pound/272 kg barrier.

Big Bad Bench: A Complete Program for Testosterone Readers by Dave Tate. General discussion, sample program and exercise descriptions.

Training The Bench Press by Jim Wendler. A look at the theory behind Westside benching, including Prilepin’s table.

Training the lock-out by Louie Simmons. Describes how to train the bench lock-out (i.e. triceps). Contains a description of the JM Press.

Pressing Power: Five reasons your bench gets stuck at the bottom and what you can do about it by Dave Tate.

WestsideBar exercise videos by Olli-Pekka Tervo. Mpeg files of an assortment of common Westside exercises, such as the JM Press and Tate Press. The author states, in Finnish, that he is self-taught, and that he thus cannot vouch for perfect form. Nevertheless, an informative introduction.

J.M. Blakley’s Top Tips For The Bench Press.

The specialist by Kenny Patterson. An overview of how the routine Patterson uses to specialize in the bench.

The Dynamic Duo by Louie Simmons. Describes how George Halbert and Kenny Patterson train together.

Evening actually, but as most of you familiar with Westside probably guessed, it refers to my first encounter with Good Mornings on ME Squat/Deadlift day today. I have done Good Mornings back at the beginning of my training, and didn’t really expect to be doing them again. Good Mornings seem to be getting a lot of bad press, many calling them outright dangerous. Then, what do you call a squat which has lost momentum? Well, a Good Morning squat of course. Point made. Wouldn’t it be more dangerous to end up in this position without having done Good Mornings in the first place? Should you strengthen the weakest link in the chain or avoid it like the plague hoping the chain will never be stretched far enough? If you did enough Good Mornings you wouldn’t end up in this position too often either. Plus it is simply the best exercise for working the posterior chain (as Tate puts it, “everything between your traps to your calves”). As a result the Westside protocols pushes varieties of the Good Morning for 70% of all ME Squat/deadlift max exercise selection, with low-box squatting getting 20% and deadlifting the remaining 10%.

The Good Mornings felt good, but did not venture to go for a true single. Could have added at least 10 kg/22 pounds or more for that. Worked up to slightly heavier weights and then switched to singles to get accustomed to the format. And I loved them. Sure is more pleasant than front-squatting if you know what I mean. Eagerly awaiting the muscle soreness that is sure to follow…

Also did some sub-maximal assistance work, stiff-legged deadlifts without straps for the first time. I had to abandon the last set for fear of dropping the bar on my toes (really worn-out smooth bar and sweaty fingers don’t like each other - should perhaps look into chalk).

Also decided on doing back work on this day. Seems, at least according to the previously mentioned Westside Barbell manual in Finnish by Sakari Selkäinaho, that back could go either on Squat/Deadlift or Bench day. As deadlifts and such stress the back, plus many rowing exercises stress the lower back, I prefer to lump them all together to give the erectors some rest on Bench day. I will have to look closer at my schedule, plus work out a list of rotating exercises which could be selected for each slot. Will most likely put up a separate page with that, complete with links to pictures of all the lifts.

But to the workout:

Further reading

The Heavyweight Lifting Match: Romanian vs. Stiff-Legged Deadlifts by John Paul Catanzaro. Nice discussion of different forms of Romanian and Stiff-legged deadlifts plus related exercises and issues.

The idea on DE Bench day is usually to work the bench with varying grip widths, usually closer than what is used in competition. The grip can be changed every set or after 2-3 sets. Usually 3-4 different widths are used. Three reps are done a set with maximum explosiveness, although of course the bar should be paused on the chest between reps (as in competition, no bouncing). The resistance is 50-60% of current max (or more if the speed can be upheld).

As on Saturday DE Squat/Deadlift, I took a conservative approach and selected low weights. Also decided on doing some low-volume assistance exercises for the triceps, back, delts and biceps with sub-maximal weights. I rotated the bench grip on every set from close via medium to wide (3 sets each for a total of nine sets).

Lying Reverse-grip Barbell Rows are done lying flat on a raised board and pulling the bar with a reverse-grip to the lower stomach. Not standard Westside fare I think (then again Westside calls for any kind of rowing), but in my opinion one of the best row variants that spare the back for more direct work. Also nice with dumbells.

Not much to add. Depending on how I feel after ME Bench next Wednesday I may or may not do assistance exercises next week. Nice to get going with the lifting again after a little over a week layoff awaiting the beginning of my Westside journey.

My plan of starting technique training on Friday was foiled by never-ending rain and hard wind. Why rain matters is that I’m currently at the family summer cottage on an island, where I have a nice gym at the edge of a forest. Although I have in the past trained in the rain, even once in the middle of the winter, I figured this wouldn’t be the best environment for learning box squatting. Rain curls and super-slow winter squats are one thing, sitting back on a box with the shins less than vertical quite another; something I noticed first hand when I did the workout today in a partially wet squat rack. With the weight so far back, box squats put higher demands on the surface, even with the very light weights I used to train technique.

Sakari Selkäinaho sums up the basic box squat form as follows (my translation):

1. Sit back far enough to put the shins at least perpendicular to the floor, preferably past.
2. Stop on the box and relax the muscles of the hip region.
3. Keep the trunk muscles tensed at all times.
4. Explode off the box as powerfully as possible.
5. Use an overly wide stance and keep the feet pointed as straight forward as possible.
6. The bar should at all times be in line with the heels.

The benefits (summed up from the links at the bottom of this post):

1. More stress on the squatting muscles (hips, glutes, lower back and hamstrings) than in the normal squat; as a result the size of the quads might shrink some doing only box squats, but the hams will most likely grow.
2. Faster recuperation than normal squatting (sounds promising)
3. Teaches good form and to always go below parallel
4. Increases flexibility if performed off low boxes

Naturally, the ideal box height depends on how tall the lifter is. The normal recommendation is to use a box 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) below parallel (i.e. below the point where the crease of the hip is in line with the top of the knee), but sessions are also done on boxes lower than that, at parallel or above parallel. The one I put together on Friday is exactly 13 inches (33 cm), which puts me roughly 2-3 inches below parallel (rough estimate, I need someone else to do a visual for me). I figured I’d make it low enough, then I can easily raise it by putting a plate under it if needed. Being used to squatting rock-bottom I figured I might just as well learn to box squat fairly deep, so I decided to stick with the 13 inches for now. This way it will feel like a vacation when I squat off higher boxes.

But to the workout:

Did the workout with extremely light weights in order to concentrate on technique and make sure that I wouldn’t cause any soreness that might interfere with my ME (max effort) Squat/Deadlift session on Monday (after all, I do have one day less to recuperate due to the rain?). As dictated by the Westside protocol, I did the reps as explosively as possible on both the box squat and the deadlift (after all, the whole point is to train explosiveness on Dynamic Effort days). And oh boy, was it nice indeed! Made me feel like putting some real iron on the bar and keep going, but of course this was not the time. Especially the deadlift felt great, but then again, I’m a Finn. I though the grip with one hand reversed would feel strange, but actually it didn’t. It’s going to be interesting to see how much weight my forearms can handle? rowing with 115 kg and pull-downs with 105 kg I can handle, but only barely. Needless to say, my 150 kg deadlift I mentioned in my previous post was using straps, and strictly speaking does not count as a proper result in this regard (in which case I believe I’ll be breaking my deadlift PR pretty soon).

The box squats felt good. The box needs to be placed fairly far back since the idea is to sit back (put it just behind you and you’ll probably tip it backwards). The forward lean is quite extreme, but then that’s the point in order to overload the key muscles. If you don’t lean you won’t get back up with shins at that angle. I also like the box for the same reason I like rock-bottom squats: both tell you precisely were you should go. When I used to do some parallel squatting many moons ago I always felt like my depth was all over the place, especially when I would up the weight. Rock-bottoms solved that; always go down all the way, no matter what the weight. Same with box squats, they teach you to go nicely below parallel like a nice boy without having to think about where that is. Perhaps I won’t like the boxes as much when I up the weight, but I have a feeling I will. I’ll probably do some heavier squats on Monday, although still not anywhere close to max lifts since I’m strictly speaking practicing my technique (must? resist? the? temptation?).

Up next, DE Bench day tomorrow. The weather gods have promised more rain.

Readings on the box squat:

Squatting from Head to Toe by Dave Tate
Why you should box squat by Louie Simmons
Some box squat pictures