Wes' Training log.

[WesCottII]

Ok, I started the Westside Barbell last week, but I'll count this one as my first week, as I was just getting used to it last week.

Current weight: 70kg

Day one Mondy 17th March

Bench press : 8X60kg (warmup) 8X80kg 7X90kg 5X100kg
T-Bar: 8X20kg (warmup) 8X60kg, 8X80kg, 8X90kg 8X95kg
Incline bench: 8X25kg dumbells (warmup) 8X27.5kg 8X32.5kg, 8X37.5kg.
Lat raise: 3X10 - 15kg dumbells.
Weighted Abs: 3X10 with 15kg plate.

Good day today, felt strong.

 

[WesCottII]

Lower body Max effort Tuesday 18th March

Deadlift: 8X60kg (warmup), 8X100kg, 5X120Kg, 3X130kg
Box squat: 8X60kg (warmup), 8X90kg, 8X80kg, 8X90kg
Weighted hypers: 3X8 with 6kg medicine ball
Ghetto GHR's: 2X5

I was f*cking pleased with my deads. A few weeks ago I platued on 130, only able to lift it once, not I blasted 3 out, and feel ready to try 140kg next week.

Box's were abit tougher, havn't sqauted heavy since my knee injury, and although the weight felt light, I must've had it in the wrong position as i felt as if my breathing was constricted, hence the drop down in the second set. Hypers were fine as usual, but those GHR's f*ck me, what a killer, first time I've done them, and I could only manage 2 sets.

Goals Next week: Hit 140 1RM on dead, and break 100kg on squats.

 

[Quagmire911]

Welcome aboard mate, this should be interesting.

You had a 140/150kg squat did you not? I am guessing the knee injury messed things up?

And are those GHR's unassisted? If so that would seem to prove my hypothesis, if of course you have squatted the above. I'll wait and see what you say however.

Anyway good luck with it, bench is looking strong, especially at your bw.

Quagmire

Ps-Is that all you are doing for a warm up?

 

[WesCottII]

Hey man, thanks for reading.

Yeah, I did have a 150kg at my peak, but it was putting too much strain on my knee. I'm trying to build a really strong foundation this time, I think I jumped back into to early/too heavy.

The GHR's are hard to describe, I wedged my feet under the back pad of an ab machine, and lowered onto a swiss ball, then back up. Spotter didn't help me though, if thats what you mean.

Yeah, I just do one warmup set, and then jump into the worksets (aside from stretching).

 

[Quagmire911]

Right first off the warm up:

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3404

That should help out with knee/joint problems etc. Start doing immediately. NO static stretches, this increases the risk of injury if done before weights. Dynamic stretching is alright.

And were the squats as low as you could go, or parallel? The squat at 150kg suggests parallel as it is higher then the dead, of course your dead numbers could have been higher as well. Or you could be one of those weirdo's that squats more than they dead (no offense ), of course if you are using belts, wraps, suits, etc that could be possible. But if you are raw then the dead should be higher.

My hypothesis is that the guys that can do GHR's on this board have the higher squats numbers. So far it is looking likely my hypothesis is correct. Kerpal and yourself can do 300+ or have done and can do GHR's, myself and spes have a low squat compared with our deads and cannot do one. Stallion did 300x5 the other day, my thinking is he will be able to do them. Let's just say I am doing a lot of GHR's. As far as my setup, I use the lat pulldown in a ghetto way.

Anyway I hope the warm up stuff helps,

Quagmire

 

[Quiksilver]

I'm starting back with GHRs today, and pretty much starting from scratch. I know how my progression went last year without ghr's, so I'll be able to give you an accurate idea of how they help this time around.

Good stuff Wes. What happened to your knee?

 

[shaunuk]

Yeah, he fcuked his knee up doing a 240kg leg press to show off to the girls (true story)

 

[WesCottII]

Yeah, he fcuked his knee up doing a 240kg leg press to show off to the girls (true story)

Ahahaha. Thanks man. And I was about to tell a thrilling tale of rugby.

I put it down to three factors:

1) Hyperextension whilst playing rugby, prop trapped my foot, then rolled up my leg

2) Hyperextension on the oven door in the dark

3) Doing a 240kg leg press without warming up/being prepared, and contractin tendonitis.

Quagmire:

All my lifts are raw, and I've always been able to squat more than I dead. The first time I hit 150kg, was to parallell, then I realised it wasn't good enough, dropped to 90kg, went as low as I could, and worked back up to 140 before my knee went again. Thing is my flexibility doesn't allow me to go much lower anyway. I must work on my flexibility.

 

[MrS]

That sounds a bit strange, brother.
5x100 on the bench and a mighty 8x80 and 3x130 on the deadlift?
Something is up, or you're not performing full reps on the bench.

 

[shaunuk]

I remember Wes telling me he didn't actually DO deadlifts for ages...that might explain why his deads are lower than they should be

 

[WesCottII]

You're both right.

As I said earlier, my legs have always been stupidly strong, and so has my chest to a certain extent (as well as my triceps).

I think my weight holds me back on deadlifts, I'm only 70kg, and I just don't have the muscle to shift anymore - at the moment. I have just broken through it, so I expect to see it rise over the next few weeks,

P.S I can assure you I am performing correct reps,as I just worked back upto 100kg after re-modeling my action.

P.P.S. These weights are in kilograms y'know, I don't know about you, but 130kg (260lbs) is f*cking heavy.

 

[MrS]

I'm 79 kilos, I can deadlift an "easy" 145kilos, squat 120kilos, but bench press needs a LOT of technique and concentration, so my max is soemwhere between 80-90 kilos, both close and wide grip.
Board presses are easier, 90 kilos off a 2board press, 110kilos off of a 5 board press.
But the whole movement of a bench press is quite difficult for me, if you're doing proper reps in good form then well done.

 

[Quagmire911]

Oh, were playing messed up numbers! Fun!

Bench-85kgx5
Squat 105kgx7-Form not good, using proper form I am lucky to get 100kgx3-*Sighs*
Deads-155kgx4-Pushing it a bit form wise, probably get a clean 150x3/4.

My squat makes me want to cry I am forced to watch as my bench creeps up on squat, my progress isn't going anywhere on it. I am weighing around 78/79kg.

Btw Wes, weight is usually less associated with strength on deads than squat and bench. And with your dead if you are sitting around 2xbw for a 1rm there is plenty of room for improvement at your current weight, perhaps unless you have dire genetics which it would seem you most definitely don't have.

I honestly can't see how someone can squat more than they dead when doing the lift raw, mind boggling. Of course different strengths and weaknesses in the lift affect things greatly from one person to the next.

You say you have strong legs, this would suggest you fail deads around knee level or above?

 

[WesCottII]

Friday 21st March - Lower body max effort

By rights, I should have done my "upper body max repetition" yesterday, but I was working allday, and couldn't get - but my training partner helpfully did it anyway, so we did lower body today, and upper body will be tommorow.

Squat - 8Xbar, 8X60kg, 8X80kg, 8X100kg, 8X110kg
SLDL - 8X50kg, 8X70kg, 8X80kg
GHR's - 2X8
Weighted hypers - 3X10kg medicine ball.

In summary, f*cking hard workout, and it seems my hamstrings are the source of my somewhat weak deadlift, evident by the low SLDL. GHR's felt good though.

 

[Quagmire911]

You didn't read the warm up thread I posted did you

And I can't see how hamstrings can be the source of the problem on deads. You can do GHR's for 2x8, I can't do one, and my dead is 25kg higher. If your hamstrings were that bad you wouldn't be able to do ghr's

I will re-iterate my question above, where is it you fail the deadlift? On the ground? Knee level? Lockout?

I think I will be taken away by the men in white coats, the technicality issues of muscle imbalances etc is driving me to insanity.

 

[Mad Manic]

Friday 21st March - Lower body max effort

By rights, I should have done my "upper body max repetition" yesterday, but I was working allday, and couldn't get - but my training partner helpfully did it anyway, so we did lower body today, and upper body will be tommorow.

Squat - 8Xbar, 8X60kg, 8X80kg, 8X100kg, 8X110kg
SLDL - 8X50kg, 8X70kg, 8X80kg
GHR's - 2X8
Weighted hypers - 3X10kg medicine ball.

In summary, f*cking hard workout, and it seems my hamstrings are the source of my somewhat weak deadlift, evident by the low SLDL. GHR's felt good though.

You can try doing the SLDLs off a small platform for more stretch, works the Hams a bit better. With your normal Deads off the floor on another day. It is to an extent genetic mate. Your anterior chain is comparatively strong to your posterior chain. Good squats, bench, OH Press. Weaker Deads, Rows, SLDLs. I am the opposite though IMO.

MM

 

[Mad Manic]

I honestly can't see how someone can squat more than they dead when doing the lift raw, mind boggling. Of course different strengths and weaknesses in the lift affect things greatly from one person to the next.

You say you have strong legs, this would suggest you fail deads around knee level or above?

If you are lean, then you are squatting a lot less bodyweight so the weight on the squat bar is greater, so that's the first thing that helps. Secondly, genetics dictate which types of lifts you may be better at. Looking at his lifts, his anterior chain looks good with the benches and squats, but his deads, sldl and rows suggest a weaker posterior chain.

MM

 

[Quagmire911]

If only it were that simple. As you put it though "suggests", not necessarily the case.

My 155x4 deads would "suggest" a good posterior chain, but my hammies are probably my worst body part. And seem to be the issue when squatting.

The posterior is just as important on the squat. The anterior can only compensate so much and then you end up where I am-no where.

Most people that have higher squats are using suits and a belt etc, or going to parallel and above. The dead is pretty much a high squat with your arms down instead of behind your back holding the weight.

 

[Mad Manic]

If only it were that simple. As you put it though "suggests", not necessarily the case.

My 155x4 deads would "suggest" a good posterior chain, but my hammies are probably my worst body part. And seem to be the issue when squatting.

The posterior is just as important on the squat. The anterior can only compensate so much and then you end up where I am-no where.

Most people that have higher squats are using suits and a belt etc, or going to parallel and above. The dead is pretty much a high squat with your arms down instead of behind your back holding the weight.

I'm not sure why you think your hammies are holding back on your squat, there are many reasons for a weak squat comparatively. It could be your quads for all you know, maybe it is. Try some hack squats or leg presses, squats aren't the be all end all. Same with Deads. They're just compounds. As for people squatting, yes I've seen it all, mostly BS. If the guy doesn't have big legs then I don't give a svhit about what weight is on the bar. Seen too many guys with average man's legs putting 100 + kg on their back ... something is up, lol.

MM

 

[Quagmire911]

I can't do one GHR=Diabolical hamstrings.