The WICKED truth about my training

[thewickedtruth]

I typically do my speed work off the pins at my sticking point. Now, the lockout is a little difficult to me so I throw some heavy lockouts in. Sometimes they make me pass out.

HAHAHA seriously!?

[Stubborn]

100% serious. Im not sure why it happens except it always seems to happen when I dont warm up. I always warm up now of course but it still happens from time to time. Last night for example, I was doing speed sets of DL's to warm up my back and then wanted to do some over head work. So I did a hang clean with the weight instead of unloading the weight and putting it back on. I was fine until I put the weight on the squat pins. As soon as the weight left my body the lights went out! I started stumbling, the room was going black, and my music slowed down like it was a melting record on a turntable. I caught myself and came to. After that I was fine though!


Any ideas as to why?

[thewickedtruth]

100% serious. Im not sure why it happens except it always seems to happen when I dont warm up. I always warm up now of course but it still happens from time to time. Last night for example, I was doing speed sets of DL's to warm up my back and then wanted to do some over head work. So I did a hang clean with the weight instead of unloading the weight and putting it back on. I was fine until I put the weight on the squat pins. As soon as the weight left my body the lights went out! I started stumbling, the room was going black, and my music slowed down like it was a melting record on a turntable. I caught myself and came to. After that I was fine though!


Any ideas as to why?

you got high blood pressure bro?!    There could be a few reasons as to why and none of them really that good. Not to scare you but anytime someoen goes vaso or starts getting blurry that is signs of blood pressure drop and some sort of head trauma even if it's for a second. MAybe get looked at by a doc and ask him just incase. That doens't sound normal to me. I see stars on heavy pulls that I really explode out of but nothing like that.

[Stubborn]

My BP is typically fine. Havent checked in a while though. I have no head trauma. I can always prevent it from happening as long as I warm up. It only happens on overhead type movements, like lockouts and the top of a clean. I was thinking it was the sudden demand for oxygen rich blood to an area of the body thats cold (upper) from the warmed up area (legs). Almost as if I were hypovolemic for some reason. Which would make sense because I have also linked it to being dehydrated. Either way, its not good. I saw the same thing happening to Kevin Nee at the WSM Super Series, a couple times.

[thewickedtruth]

chest and triceps!


close grip bench presses

135x10x1
365x6x1+2rp 

plate loaded close grip bench press (nautilus)  pause at the bottom and hold at the top trying to explode out of it at my weakest point.

8platesx10x1+3rp+4rp


dumbbell flat bench:

125'sx6xsucked...but i'm not sure what I should've expected out of all the heavy close grip work done before it.



triceps


overhead tricep extensions:

30lbsx7x1+6rp
30lbsx6x1+6rp

ez-bar french press

100lbsx12x1+7rp

forearms/grip training

behind the back barbell wrist curls:
225x12x1+8rp

dumbbell wrist curls:

50lbs to failure both sides

barbell holds:

405x35seconds,30seconds, and 15 seconds....and I'm not sure if that's good or not. 

come calf shit...

I'm thinking I need to back off my tricep training a little. I've noticed that my pressing power isn't going up anymore if anything i'm losing alot of it where all my ohter exercises are still gaining. SO..I think over training my tri's is the culprit. I'm going to do just very very light tricep work after pressing movements to pump some blood into teh area but nothing major and see where that goes. I'm doing alot of close grip and narrower presses than I used to so i'm thinking I'll give them a little break. I only give my biceps ONE exercise now and they do fine and are still growing, etc.

[haider]

did u jump straight from 135 to 365 on close grips? WTF

[thewickedtruth]

did u jump straight from 135 to 365 on close grips? WTF

yep. No big deal. I've always jumped up to the 300's after the warmup set with benching anything and never had any issues with it.

[haider]

yep. No big deal. I've always jumped up to the 300's after the warmup set with benching anything and never had any issues with it.

why risk shit like that, that's incredibly stupid IMO.. no offense. It'd be another story if you were benching beforehand (even then its risky), but you're starting off your workout with the movement and you're only doing one warm up set with a weight thats a third of your working set weight.

[Honour]

Yeah I couldn't do it either, an old man like me has to warm my shit up for like and hour before I even look at the bench or I'd pull a heart muscle or something

[thewickedtruth]

Workouts have been kinda sucking lately...I'm not sure why. I've been off for months but, I'm sure some of the shit could still be clearing my system though the halflifes don't give it more than a couple weeks before it's dead in the body. I'm still stronger than I was before I started and kept alot of the strength if not gained after I came off in alot of areas. HOWEVER..it might be time for a change again in routines. I'm not really progressing anymore. Well not like I was. They say it's time to change when you start to notice thigns aren't moving forward any longer. I'm going to keep at it for another week or so. I did hit a PR today but I'm getting weaker in all my exercises. Today was a good example...


BACK!

bent over barbell rows:

135x15x1
315x14x1+7rp

close grip cable rows:

300lbs (wholestack)x18x1+12rp  new first set pr and total set pr...not bad!

hammer strength high pulls:

4platesx7x1+5rp both sides. I hate this exercise. It's always felt wierd but I've kept it in because it's something different. Not only have I not progressed lately but, I REGRESSED today... not happy. I think if I continue training this way I'll replace them with pullups with the same grip style. It's more comfortable and my back was sore like it's never been when I did pullups to failure last time. We'll see.

Biceps!

dumbbell concentration curls:

60lbsx6x1+4rp+4rp  Lost strength here too. By 2 reps on the first set! I gave it another rest/pause set just to push it but still. Today just blew.



Tomorrow is another day. Leg day..and I have all day at work to get my head ready for it and get psyched up. I'm not going to settle for anything less than 500lbs for 10 reps. Now as far as legs are concerned for the most part they're stayin strongand when I don't do well it's usually because I mind fucked myself. We'll see how it all turns out.

[Stubborn]

Aint nuttin but a peanut!

[haider]

Aint nuttin but a peanut!

what do u think abt him jumping from 135 to the high 300's in his bench and rowing sets?

[Stubborn]

what do u think abt him jumping from 135 to the high 300's in his bench and rowing sets?

As always I say "go with what works", but it wouldnt work for me. Im not him though! It would be safer to jump up slower. I dont increment any more than 90lbs at a time but usually 50-75lbs. It helps to build my speed/confidence up for the bigger lift.


Always remember that longevity is the key to muscle/strength building!

[thewickedtruth]

What does it matter what he thinks..i'm the one doing it! HAHA!

today i did legs..and feel i really brought it home today. I think i redeemed myself a little after the past few days of shit.

squats:

135x10x1
315x10x1
500x9x1
500x8x1
405x10x1
405x10x1

deads: no straps off the floor...

135x10x1
315x5x1
500x5x5
600x3x1
600x3x1
500x6x1
500x6x1

felt like a good day for legs. I would've gotten in more squats but my trainer friend wanted me to try a new bicep exercise and tell me what i thought...and it was the hardest fucking thing i've ever done for biceps. holy hell did it  burn...and it took me forever to finish what he had me doing so I missed out.

[Stubborn]

What does it matter what he thinks..i'm the one doing it! HAHA!

Because I am the final word on how EVERYONE should lift, BWAHAHAHAHA!


But seriously, be safe and keep those numbers up! Looks like you did good today.

[thewickedtruth]

SHOULDERS!!

push presses:

135x10x1
225x2x1 ...something in my forearm pop'd on the wya down on the second rep so I called it out.

seated log presses:

360x9x1+4rp+4rp+3rp  really pushed it hard here since I didn't get to drive it home on the push presses. New first set PR as well!!!

db laterals:

30lbsx20x1
35lbsxfailure  I'm moving the weight up for 40lbs for these...getting that many reps is ridiculous after all the heavy pressing i've done.

TRAPS!!

DB SHRUGS....i've gone to doing just dumbbell shrugs for awhile because my pulling is leaving my traps sore and don't want to over do it.

125'sx30x1
125'sx30x1
125'sx30x1
125'sx30x1
125'sx static hold to failure
125'sx static hold to failure
125'sx static hold to failure




---------------------------------------------------


ARMS!!!

barbell curls:

135x10x1+6rp NEW PR!!!

seated dumbbell alternating curls:

70lbsx10x1+4rp NEW PR!!!

close grip bench presses:

135x10x1
315x9x1+7rp new pr maybe?!?!

french presses:

110x12x1+11rp new pr and need to move up in weight here. WAY too easy and no elbow pain this time as logn as i do really light pressdowns between sets. My goal here is to be able to take a 135lb barbell and superset my curls with french presses. I think that would look just sick seeing someone doing standing overhead skulls with a barbell and two wheels!

that's it for today...really short and sweet.

[thewickedtruth]

HAHAHA let the beast out of the fucking cage!!!! I like this new split..and i want you guys to check it out and tell me how I did and what I should add or change with my ws training routine...today was my first max effort day!


flat bench:

135x10x1
315x3x1
365x3x1
405x1x1
415x1x1
off two boards...
465xmissed
415x2x1
425x1x1

plate loaded close grip press: INDEPENDENT ARM MOVEMENT...i think this exercise will be very helpful in my heavy end pressing especially with the close grip!

4plates and a quarter piece platesx8x1
5platesx3x1
5plates and a quarter piecex1x1 NEW PR!!! 


dumbell flyes:

110'sx7x1+3rp



close grip cable rows:  found a pin not attached to it's machine and used it to mount another quarter piece on the weight stack. FINALLY more weight on this thing!!!

330x10x1+9rp  NEW PR!

hammer strength plate loaded rows:

6plates per sidex15x1 left side to failure
6plates per sidex10x1 right side to failure

wide grip pullups to failure (which was about 6) just to throw them into the mix

barbell tricep extensions:

warmupx10x1
135x8x1  NEW PR!! and made my goal of using a barbell with a wheel on each side for overhead extensions....it was pretty sick to watch in the mirror even if it's not alot of weight


dumbell laterals:

30x10x1
40x10x1
50x3x1


okay I'm not sure what exercises to do and how much to do but I did the heavy  pressing then did the accessory work. How does it look? Too much?!

my questions are...

if you do max effort bench do you do max effort everythign else that day? Or do you go max effort on the main exercise and then dynamic on the accessories and vice versa on dynamic day. How many back exercises do you do after your chest work?  I only did one tricep movement and one shoulder movement.

[Stubborn]

Doin Westside, eh? I loved that split.

On max day you go HEAVY. On dynamic day pay special attention to weaknesses and go relatively light (50-60% pendulum wave).

Do fewer exercises on Max day than you would on Dynamic day for recovery purposes.

Always use a different max effort method that works at your weakness.

Use many variations of the same lift and include bands/chains.

There is a lot to the Westside program and a lot of custom tailoring you will have to do to achieve the best results.

[thewickedtruth]

hell yeah man thanks for that advice....i'm still trying to get a good idea as to when to do what and what goes where.


here's today's DE deadlift day since I'm going to have to work tomorrow and the gym will be closed before i get out..


DE deads:

135x10x1
315x5x1
500x5x
600x4x1
625x2x1 missed halfway up the third but didn't get my 8 total sets so i dropped the weight...
565x3x1
565x3x1
565x3x1

barbell curls:

135x8x1
135x8x1
145x5x1

hypers:

bw+45x10x1
bw+45x10x1
bw+45x10x1

leg curls:

80lbsx15x1
80lbsx12x1
80lbsx12x1


i'm told you do your acessory work for three sets of ten each adn work on building those up as well. I'm still learning as I go.  I'm only going to do  biceps on deadlift days too.

[Stubborn]

Looks good! Heres a bit of info you should have read by now but I will repeat anyway.


Bench = 3 reps per set. It is said that anymore than this with the appropriate weight reduces your speed too much to be beneficial.

Squats = 2 reps per set. Same deal.

Deads = 1 rep sets. "You're deadlift will be built on singles" says Louie himself.


The two things with powerlifting are Speed and Power (and all the variations between these). Just keep your bar speed up and keep focusing on weaknesses and you should do great!

[thewickedtruth]

Looks good! Heres a bit of info you should have read by now but I will repeat anyway.


Bench = 3 reps per set. It is said that anymore than this with the appropriate weight reduces your speed too much to be beneficial.

Squats = 2 reps per set. Same deal.

Deads = 1 rep sets. "You're deadlift will be built on singles" says Louie himself.


The two things with powerlifting are Speed and Power (and all the variations between these). Just keep your bar speed up and keep focusing on weaknesses and you should do great!

thanks man that's awesome shit...i'm glad you're here to critique my log because to be honest...i don't have a fucking clue haha.

[Stubborn]

thanks man that's awesome shit...i'm glad you're here to critique my log because to be honest...i don't have a fucking clue haha.

I wish that when I was doing Westside at first that someone here knew a damn thing about it. Just deciphering it from all those articles is a bitch. Louie is a good man but not much of a writer, haha.

[thewickedtruth]

hey guys i want some advice here....yesterday i worked out  because today I wasn't able to get into the gym like on schedule....so since I took today off does that mean I can work out tomorrow?!?! 


and another issue is soreness...do you guys get sore and stay sore? Lately iv'e been getting sore and it stays for a day or two after i work that particular body part.


okay here's my current questions for WS training after all teh reading i'm doing...


how many total exercises do you do for your chest on your ME and DE days...

how many total exercises for your legs after squats?!! I have my deadlift days figured out already.

how many exercises do you do for your accessory work after the dirty work?! 

thanks guys i really think i'm going to do well on this split...especially since it's more geared for power and speed!!!

[thelamefalsehood]

Hey, bro, in all seriousness, you need to go over to www.westside-barbell.com and go to the Articles section and begin to read. Your workout needs to be totally revamped if you want to really implement Westside. I just started it myself and am by no means an expert, but your routine does not really fit any of their templates. All your workouts are set up as ME Days by the look of it. The De day is used for speed type training, using 45-60% of your max implementing chains and bands and focusing on the speed of the lift. As an example, you are using between 500 and 600 pounds on the deadlift and call it a DE day, you would need to take off at least 200 pounds and cut down on rest periods, 45 seconds to 1 minute between sets(I don't know your rest intervals or your maxes)and focus on speed and form. Also, check out www.elitefts.com or www.ironaddicts.com, both have excellent Q and A sections. There is SOOO much to this program and doing it correctly, but once you have an idea of it, it is fairly easy. And above all elseSTAY INTENSE BROTHER, AHHRRR!!!!!!!!!!

[thewickedtruth]

Hey, bro, in all seriousness, you need to go over to www.westside-barbell.com and go to the Articles section and begin to read. Your workout needs to be totally revamped if you want to really implement Westside. I just started it myself and am by no means an expert, but your routine does not really fit any of their templates. All your workouts are set up as ME Days by the look of it. The De day is used for speed type training, using 45-60% of your max implementing chains and bands and focusing on the speed of the lift. As an example, you are using between 500 and 600 pounds on the deadlift and call it a DE day, you would need to take off at least 200 pounds and cut down on rest periods, 45 seconds to 1 minute between sets(I don't know your rest intervals or your maxes)and focus on speed and form. Also, check out www.elitefts.com or www.ironaddicts.com, both have excellent Q and A sections. There is SOOO much to this program and doing it correctly, but once you have an idea of it, it is fairly easy. And above all elseSTAY INTENSE BROTHER, AHHRRR!!!!!!!!!!

Which is why I present the questions. I had my bench day cleared up fast with alot of guys telling me not to do 2 boards AND full range benches on ME day but to just pick one. I was going by the logs I was reading on another forum. I now know that my DE days with deads should be one pull with the percentage you spoke of instead of doubles and triples..just pull as hard and as fast as I can wiht 60% of my max and then on ME days to pull as much as I can.  I do have greens on order for bands but they're back ordered and if I don't get them soon I'll order them through someone else but Iv'e got to get me a few. As far as squats go..i'm going to do my typical squat workout minus the deads and keep going from there. My squat workouts are blowing my legs up so on DE days I'll do my 20 reps sets and on my ME days I'll work with 500lbs or a little over since ATM that's what I'm comfortalbe with until I get something figured out squat wise. I'll go into it more after I go take a shit....