El Freako: Staying North of Vag

[El Freako]

Lower DE Session

Box Squats
8-10 x 2 x 110kg
I totally lost count of how many sets I did so I did a couple of extra just in case. The weight felt pretty easy and I think my form was pretty good considering it was my first tome box squatting. I was using an aerobic step as a box but I think I was only just breaking parallel on it. On my next cycle I'll adjust the step and put a couple of plates on it so I go much lower. I won't bother increasing the weight because of this.

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts
3 x 5 x 120kg (overhand grip)
3 x 120kg (overhand grip), 2 x 120kg (alternating grip)
1 x 120kg (overhand grip, 4 x 120kg (alternating grip)
6 x 120kg (alternating grip)
I was using overhand grip to help train my grip more.

Standing Cable Crunches
10 x stack + 20kg
10 x stack + 20kg
9 x stack + 20kg

Seated Cable Row
3 x 10 x 84kg

Weighted Knee Raises
15 x 15kg
12 x 20kg
10 x 25kg

DB Deadlifts
3 x 1 x 60kg
This was more like a squat but I was doing them to work my grip, it was too heavy for repeated sets though and I didn't have enough time to go and change the DBs.

15mins cardio on the Crosstrainer

 

[Samoan-Z]

Nice session bro, you concerned about your grip? I noticed you trained it alot.

 

[El Freako]

Nice session bro, you concerned about your grip? I noticed you trained it alot.

I can pull 200kg easy without straps but can't get 210kg far off the floor without them. I have short fingers so that doesn't help. If I want to be able to compete I'm going to need to fix this. So a grip training I go! :imcoolurnot:

 

[El Freako]

Upper DE Session

Speed Bench
8 x 3 x 80kg
These sure make your tris burn. I had some fellas in the squat rack looking at me funny as I was doing this since the weight was obviously quite easy. I should have pointed out to them that they were doing CURLS in the SQUAT rack (pussy weights too, they only had 5s and 2.5s on the bar /facepalm).

JM Presses
10 x 50kg
10 x 55kg
8 x 60kg
5 x 60kg
6 x 60kg
Mega tri burn after these.

Weighted Chins
5 x 5 x 25kg
My grip was still toasted after yesterday. I could have done more reps if I could have held on for longer.

Superset
A1. Seated BTN Presses
2 x 10 x 40kg
8 x 40kg

A2. Seated Rear-delt Fly
3 x 10 x 10kg

Y-T-W Complex
3 x 10 x 2.5kg
This was extra painful after the rear delt work.

Machine Preacher Curls
12 x 30kg
12 x 35kg
10 x 40kg
8 x 45kg
Dropset
6 x 45kg, 4 x 35kg, 7 x 25kg, 10 x 20kg

An awesome session in the gym but it closed before I could do any cardio, so I took care of that at work.

Stair-runs
10 x 5 flights up, 5 flights down

Took me 35mins and was fucking horrible for every moment of it.

 

[MarkoKoo]

Great workout Freako

 

[miamiracing]

nice work OLD MAN

 

[Samoan-Z]

Damn bro... stairs be careful you might break your hip and need a walker

 

[El Freako]

Damn bro... stairs be careful you might break your hip and need a walker

I was more concerned about having a heartattack or stroke on the top flight of stairs.

 

[Samoan-Z]

I was more concerned about having a heartattack or stroke on the top flight of stairs.

LMAO!

 

[Lionheart]

Nice workouts bro.Some exercises lookin really strong

 

[TJ]

Mon - Lower ME
1. ME Exercise: Working up to a single, double or triple max. Exercises will be changed every 1-3 weeks depending on perceived results.
Choosing from:

• Squat (back, front, hack, zercher-if I feel particularly masochistic )
• Deadlift (conventional, sumo, platform, rack)
• Good Mornings

2. Supplementary Exercise: 4-6 x 5-8reps
Choosing from:

• Stiff-Leg Deadlift
• GHR
• Lunges
• Back Extensions
• Cable Pull-Throughs

3. Abs: 3-5 x 6-20reps

4. Upper-back (horizontal pull): 3-5 x 6-15reps

5. More abs or ham/lower-back work (if desired)

6. Grip work

Tue - Upper ME
1. ME Exercise: Working up to a single, double or triple max. Exercises will be changed every 1-3 weeks depending on perceived results.
Choosing from:

• Bench Press
• Rack Press
• Floor Press
• CG Press

2. Supplementary Exercise: 4-6 x 6-10reps
Choosing from:

• JM Press
• Skull Crushers
• DB Floor Press
• DB Tri Ext
• Cable Pushdowns

3. Upper-back (vertical pull): 3-5 x 6-15reps

4. Shoulders or Triceps

5. Rear Delts (if desired)

6. Shoulder Rehab

Wed - off

Thu - Lower DE
1. Box Squats: 6-8 x 2
Starting at 50-60% in week 1, increase 5% per week then test new RM in week 4.

2. Supplementary Exercise: 4-6 x 5-8reps
Choosing from:

• Stiff-Leg Deadlift
• GHR
• Lunges
• Back Extensions
• Cable Pull-Throughs

3. Abs: 3-5 x 6-20reps

4. Upper-back (horizontal pull): 3-5 x 6-15reps

5. More abs or ham/lower-back work (if desired)

6. Grip work

Fri - Upper DE
1. Speed Bench: 6-8 x 3
Start at 40-60% in week 1, increase 2.5-5% per week then test new RM in week 5.

2. Supplementary Exercise: 4-6 x 6-10reps
Choosing from:

• JM Press
• Skull Crushers
• DB Floor Press
• DB Tri Ext
• Cable Pushdowns

3. Upper-back (vertical pull): 3-5 x 6-15reps

4. Shoulders or Triceps

5. Rear Delts (if desired)

6. Shoulder Rehab

Biceps will be done when time permits, either on Upper days or on Wednesday. Cardio will be done daily (I hope). Hopefully with the loose structure of this template I won't have to wait for equipment too often and will be able to shed a few exercises if time is short. I'm looking forward to starting it.

Eh, I'd say this is a bit too much. Also, allow a day of rest between your ME days. So, move your DE days back one day. Ideally, you would want to go:

Day 1: ME Lower
Day 2: Off
Day 3: ME Upper
Day 4: Off
Day 5: DE Lower
Day 6: Off
Day 7: DE Upper

Rest is a must between ME days to allow for recovery and same goes for lower DE days.

RE movements are more for reinforcement to ensure you don't develop weaknesses. So, don't kill yourself on the RE/assistance movements. Also, focus on form more than weight for ME movements. Form should never be sacrificed for weight which is one of the many reasons to constantly change ME movements; so you don't constantly try to beat your previous weeks numbers. And changing movements each week (even small changes like the stance you take) will decrease the chance of over-training.

 

[El Freako]

Eh, I'd say this is a bit too much. Also, allow a day of rest between your ME days. So, move your DE days back one day. Ideally, you would want to go:

Day 1: ME Lower
Day 2: Off
Day 3: ME Upper
Day 4: Off
Day 5: DE Lower
Day 6: Off
Day 7: DE Upper

Rest is a must between ME days to allow for recovery and same goes for lower DE days.

RE movements are more for reinforcement to ensure you don't develop weaknesses. So, don't kill yourself on the RE/assistance movements. Also, focus on form more than weight for ME movements. Form should never be sacrificed for weight which is one of the many reasons to constantly change ME movements; so you don't constantly try to beat your previous weeks numbers. And changing movements each week (even small changes like the stance you take) will decrease the chance of over-training.

Why do you think its too much? I actually copied that template mostly from a Dave Tate article (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_17_25/ai_n27354730/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1) with some reference to a post by Mike Ruggeria on Intensemuscle.com (http://www.intensemuscle.com/8033-westside-training-template.html). The upper back work every session was also prescibed by Dave Tate. What would you suggest that I discard?

Also, I can't really use the proper training split as ascribed by Westside because I never train on weekends. Ever. My only other option would be to this:
Mon: Lower ME
Tue: off
Wed: Upper ME
Thu: Lower DE
Fri: Upper DE

Or I could combine the DE days but I don't really feel like doing that.

Finally, I will be putting a lot of focus on form rest assured. For most of the ME exercises that I am more familiar with I will be changing every week. But for those that I am less familiar with, eg. heavy good-mornings and box squats I will be occasionally cycle them for the whole 3 weeks as a means of practice and also because due to my inexperience with them I don't think I will be training them so intensely that it could be considered overtraining.

Cheers for looking in anyway TJ, how much experience have you had with WSB?

 

[TJ]

Now that I look at it your split seems okay. I didn't pay attention to all of the "optionals" after some of the assistance work. As I've said before, though, your assistance work should never be to failure and your reps should all be smooth. Check out ME Bench day on youtube with WSBB and check out video #2 and you'll see what I'm talking about. When it comes to assistance work just make sure that you put focus on your weaknesses. For example, there's really no reason to be doing shoulder work since they will be getting hit with all of the pressing and rowing unless your shoulders are weak.

Speaking of which, just do your upper back work on upper body days. I say this because of your split. You shouldn't do upper back work the day before you do bench work. So, just do 2 movements on your bench days.

I also noticed that your DE Squat/Deadlift day is wrong.

DE Squat (6-8 sets of 1-2 reps)
DE Deadlift (6 sets of singles alternating between conventional and sumo)
Assistance (extremely optional, here)
Assistance Core
Reverse Hyperextions (if you don't have access to one than you will be okay doing the assistance movement after deadlifts)
GPP

As for the weaknesses thing:

Say someone has weak triceps

ME bench
Assistance - triceps
Assistance - triceps
Assistance - upper back
assistance - upper back

But, if someone has weak shoulders then they should substitute one of the tricep movements with a shoulder movement. Also, all assistance work should be somewhat "optional;" except back. If you go and do your ME bench movement and feel very tired than go ahead and just do one upper back movement. Don't make a habit of it but it's better to stay safe than to beat yourself up (in a bad way).

 

[El Freako]

For example, there's really no reason to be doing shoulder work since they will be getting hit with all of the pressing and rowing unless your shoulders are weak.

This is probably true... I'm really just doing shoulder work for aesthetics. I won't be doing it all the time.

Speaking of which, just do your upper back work on upper body days. I say this because of your split. You shouldn't do upper back work the day before you do bench work. So, just do 2 movements on your bench days.

Also noted...

I also noticed that your DE Squat/Deadlift day is wrong.

DE Squat (6-8 sets of 1-2 reps)
DE Deadlift (6 sets of singles alternating between conventional and sumo)
Assistance (extremely optional, here)
Assistance Core
Reverse Hyperextions (if you don't have access to one than you will be okay doing the assistance movement after deadlifts)
GPP

Where is your source for this? Neither of the templates I sourced used DE deads. Also, I lack access to a reverse hyper, and as far as GPP... any suggestions that doesn't involve leaving the gym? (Its fucking -2 degrees around here at night at the moment.)

Also, all assistance work should be somewhat "optional;" except back. If you go and do your ME bench movement and feel very tired than go ahead and just do one upper back movement. Don't make a habit of it but it's better to stay safe than to beat yourself up (in a bad way).

I'm pretty good at reading my body after all these years so I generally know when to quit, but I'm also pretty well adapted to volume so unless I've been sleeping badly I can put myself through some pretty horrible punishment and still be pushing out big numbers.

I await your response sir...
(Literally, I probably won't go back to bed until you respond so hurry back. )

 

[DriDDeRz]

Hey ben, hope training is going great,

What is this "ME" "DE" training?
seems interesting and how long you gonna be doing it for?

 

[El Freako]

Hey ben, hope training is going great,

What is this "ME" "DE" training?
seems interesting and how long you gonna be doing it for?

Westside Barbell lingo... ME: Maximum effort, working up to a max. DE: dynamic effort, speed work. I'm going to stick with Westside indefinitely with plans to compete in a powerlifting comp sometime in the next year or so. I've given up on looking pretty like you :techn9ne:, I just wanna lift big .

 

[PrizeFighteR]

lol, I get plenty of odd looks when doing DE exercises. But then I look at the same guy looking at me, who grunts while doing bodyweight lunges and it puts a smile on my face.

JMs will kick you the real deal and that's some good as weight

 

[PrizeFighteR]

That's awesome that your setting your sites on competing Ben!

I'm also curious about the DE deadlifts. I read to do them once every 6-8 weeks and do resistance band deadlifts??

Thanks TJ!

 

[TJ]

Thing is, WSBB methods are constantly changing and often times are fitted to a certain athlete at their gym. For example, a few years ago ME days were all about loading up the weight. Today, while ME work still focuses on heavy singles or triples, the range of motion has increased, a lot, for more time under tension teaching guys to strain for a longer period of time while still able to hold form. Goodmornings are often done at hip height and deadlifts done with a deficit (sometimes up to 4 inches).

Here's AJ Robert's log who currently trains at WSBB (http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/training-logs.asp?tid=157&__N=AJ Roberts). Check out his DE lower days and you'll see he does work for his deadlift as well as the squat.

This is Matt Smith's log who also trains at WSBB (http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/training-logs.asp?tid=170&__N=Matt Smith).

I think the general template for speed deadlifts is something like

Week 1-3 use bands
Week 4 no speed work (deload week)
Week 5-7 use chains
Week 8 no speed work (deload week)
repeat

As far as GPP you can just do stuff in the gym. Box jumps are great as are gym lifts with submax effort; or perhaps just bodyweight! For example a body weight only GPP session for the lower body could look something like this:

Box Jumps (circuit of 4-5 boxes varying in height)
Single leg RDL's (8-10 reps with just body weight)
Spyder man lunges (8-10 reps)
Pillar bridge for obliques (15 seconds each side)
Standing ab (easy weight for 20 reps)
repeat

You don't want to kill yourself with GPP. I believe the idea is to work up to about 60% of your max heart rate. So, if that means you need to rest 30 seconds between each movement than go for it; but, if you need to continuously rotate movements than go for it. GPP should be done 2-3 times per week starting at 10 minutes and working your way up to 15. You should never feel a "burn" after GPP but should be winded; it's just like cardio but with gym movements. As with anything else GPP is also "optional."

 

[TJ]

That's awesome that your setting your sites on competing Ben!

I'm also curious about the DE deadlifts. I read to do them once every 6-8 weeks and do resistance band deadlifts??

Thanks TJ!

ME deadlifts should be done every 6-8 weeks but DE should be done on most weeks.