Westsider's Training Log

[Westsider]

14/09/09
DE bench day
9x3 50kg

Standing OHP 3x10 32.5kg

Bodyweight Triceps Extensions 3x8

T-bar Rows 3x10 65kg

Rotator Cuff Work

[Westsider]

15/09/09

ME Squat/Deadlift day
Squat 130kg felt like shit today. Was not focused at all and as a result my technique suffered badly. I will do much better next time I get round to the squat.

RDL 3x10 70kg

Pullthroughs 3x10 20kg

Barbell Shrugs 3x15 70kg

Roman chair situps with plate behind my head 3x10 5kg.

[Westsider]

16/9/09
GPP Day

Band Leg Curls 3x15

Reverse Crunches 3x15

External Hip Work

[Westsider]

17/09/09 I forgot to put in my workout from yesterday. Oh well here it is.

ME Bench Day
Close grip bench press worked up to 95kg failed. Dropped down to 92.5kg and it flew up like a DE bench set. I wish I had video taped my workout to see what I did differently.

EZ Bar Extensions
5x12 27.5kg

Single Arm Dumbbell Rows
2x10 45kg Not making anymore progress in these gonna have to switch.

Seated Rear Delt Raises
3x10 14kg

Standing Lateral Raises
3x10 6kg

[Westsider]

18/09/09
DE Squat/Deadlift Day

Box Squat
10x2 65kg These were done on a slightly below parallel box. I have decided to take the weight down to focus more on technique so when I max out on the squat again I won't have such a shit performance.

Speed Deadlifts
6x2 102.5 kg I think I am capable of a 170kg deadlift since I have done 160kg standing off of a block.

Good Mornings for Hamstrings
With the knees slightly bent descend down until you are about to lose the arch in your lower back, stop and then straighten your legs.
3x10 bar since it was my first time doing these I wanted to go light for safety reasons.

45 Degree Back Raise
3x10 20 kg

Dumbbell Side Bends
3x10 6kg

I thought it would suck working out by myself because I would not have a spotter until I found this self spotting device from shermworks.com. I will buy it as soon as my loans come in. Now I just have to find a gym in Hull other than the uni that has a power rack.

[Westsider]

20/9/09
GPP Day
Seated Band Chest Press with blue iron woody band
3x25
Band Face Pulls 3x20
Reverse Crunches 3x15

[LiftingNerd]

Looking at your GPP day I'm sort of lost as to where the GPP is. What you seem to be doing is all prehab.

[Westsider]

This is my take on GPP. The high reps flush blood around the muscles allowing them to recover faster. I am now never sore after my workouts. The more special workouts that I am able to do without burning myself out the harder the ME and DE effort days can be without me experiencing ill effects. It takes more work to be able to squat 600 pounds than 500 pounds so in order to squat that extra weight one must be able to cope with a continuously higher and higher level of volume without burning out. How do we do this? By raising our GPP. I hope this helps.

General physical preparedness (GPP) is a term that refers to a degree of fitness, which is an extension of absolute strength. We all squat, yet we are not built identically. Some develop large quads, some develop big glutes and hips, and others may have very powerful
hamstrings. It’s obvious to me that if one muscle group is developed to a greater degree than another, then the smaller muscle groups are holding back your lifts. What’s the answer? You must do special exercises for the lagging muscle groups. But before you can pursue an increase in volume by way of special exercises, you must be in excellent shape. GPP raises your ability to do more work by special means. Rest periods should be 45–60 seconds between sets for explosive and speed work. The muscles should be in an excitable state
or slightly fatigued. This will cause an increase in difficulty of training. If this is impossible for you, your GPP through small workouts is low. You can raise your GPP through small workouts between days and even prior to training. This was an extract that I copied and cut down from the Westside Book of Methods.

[Westsider]

I have decided to change the days that I workout after reading the book of methods. It appears I have not been giving enough time between ME and DE days.

Monday-ME squat/deadlift

Wednesday-ME bench press

Friday- DE squat/deadlift

Sunday-DE bench press

21/9/09
ME squat/deadlift

Good mornings 3RM 70kg I decided to go light with these since it was my first time going heavy on them.

Wide Stance RDLS. 3x10 Bar. First time doing this exercise so went light on it. When these stop working ill go back to doing GHR's on the lat pulldown machine.

Pullthroughs 3x10 25kg

Bent leg hanging leg raises 2x10. I just can't hold onto the bar for long enough. It is really hard to build mind muscle connection with your abs when your gripping muscles can't hold you in the air for long at all.

I am now doing 25 second sets of simply hanging on the bar to build the grip strength to do this exercise.

[muddy]

One suggestion: you may want to consider getting the EFS basic training manual. I don't know if Simmons couldn't be bothered to revise lots of years of articles into a coherent book, whether he is kinda a bad writer, or whether it was just edited by a group of drunk monkeys, but that book not exactly the clearest presentation of the westside method. The efs basic training book is a lot more clear and makes laying out the program more straight-forward. BTW, it's the conjugate aspect of mixing ME and DE days and rotating the lifts and variations in ME days that supposedly prevents burnout. GPP is supposed to allow you to train intensely during the sessions, so you get it all done in a reasonably short time. "Get in shape to train rather than train to get in shape" -- something like that.

[LiftingNerd]

GPP is supposed to allow you to train intensely during the sessions, so you get it all done in a reasonably short time. "Get in shape to train rather than train to get in shape" -- something like that.

Exactly. I consider things for GPP as sled drags, prowler pushes, tire flips, sledge hammer training, sprints, or even abbreviated versions of some crossfit workouts. These things will increase glycogen stores and work capacity. What you are doing is good, in terms of joint and muscle health, but I'm not so sure how much it is actually adding to GPP.

[Westsider]

You can see Dave Tate going through some exercises with bands with very high reps and classifies them as GPP work in the elite fts seminar dvds. In one workout he mentions looping a band over a door and doing as many tricep pushdowns as you can with it until you reach 100 reps and doing this 3 times per week. The constant changing of ME exercises stops the breakdown of the CNS but it does not increase ones work capacity to be able to cope with the burden of the extra volume required to increase one's maximal strength. The high reps increases the muscles endurance. For example lets say I'm doing high reps with band leg curls. This will stop my hamstrings from tiring out when I'm doing my 12-10 sets of DE squats. LiftingNerd if you would go onto the westside barbell website and look up the article on GPP, its definition and explanation you will see what I mean. I don't see the point in buying the EFS training manual since I don't think it has anything that the book of methods does not. As I have stated before I am an information junky and I love to explore every aspect of what I look at when it comes to training. Louie just likes to back up what he says with plenty of stories. He's not a bad writer. If you don't want to read through his stories just skip through them. For me his stories give me a deeper understanding of what he is talking about. The book of methods is an in depth explanation of the westside method backed up with plenty of stories to help readers understand what they are reading about and see it in real life training. Most of the chapters have summaries anyway. Its not a rocket science book. I would gladly read through and understand the book of methods than a physical chemistry book any day of the week.

To be honest my previous explanation of GPP should've already covered this up since when I look back at it I am pretty much saying the exact same thing. If you were to look at what I am doing for GPP in a nutshell the stuff I am doing makes me more physically prepared for a workout no matter what way you look at it. When most people think GPP when looking at westside they automatically think sled dragging. They are not really thinking about what it is they are doing. People need to ask themselves. What is the actual definition of GPP? How does this affect my training performance? What different methods can I use to increase my GPP? In that order. That way people know why they are doing what they are doing in the first place rather than just skimming through an article with no examples or watching some youtube video. I hope this clears things up.

[LiftingNerd]

Good point. I just never really connected the two concepts.

[Westsider]

Once again forgot to post my log sorry
23/9/09
ME Bench Day
Incline Bench Press
5RM 70kg. The incline on this was quite steep since the bench didn't have that many notches. I don't have access to a cambered bar anymore so I had to find some sort of replacement.

EZ-Bar Extension
5x12 40kg failed on the last set. Time to switch again.

Pullups
1x8
1x6
I would appreciate some help in finding method to enable me to do more pullups since I suck at these. I want to do them because you get stronger but doing the stuff that you suck at.

Seated Rear Delt Raises
3x10 14kg

Standing Lateral Raises
3x12 6kg

[Westsider]

24/09/09
GPP Day
Dumbbell Presses till Failure
55RM 10kg 1st set
60RM 2nd set

Hanging Knee Raises
1x8
1x6

Barbell Rows
3x20 40kg