I have seen a great misconception with regards to westside's principles and their usage on this website and it has caused a fair amount of anger and drama. For my part in this I apologize to the community as a whole.
The basic principle to Westside is Do whatever makes you stronger, the openness and encouragement to experiment and switch exercises inherent in true westside style programming allows you to find the best movements for your lifting and use them effectively in a system that allows you to control intensity and volume in a way that they build on eachother (conjugation...) the same as an other training system.
Notice I say training system and not routine, Westside's principles are designed to be a comprehensive approach to training, conditioning, GPP, and development of a lifter as a whole. If you choose not to use the full system, that is fine, but know that you are dropping things that are designed to work together to complement and build up you as a whole lifter.
This is approximately how Wild Iron sets up our weeks, for more detail visit www.wildirongym.com and look into buying our DVD which explains in depth, with examples of exercises, how to set them up and how to utilize them properly.
DE Bench
speed bench 8 or 9 x3 using pendulum wave from 50% (if you're shirted), 60% if you're raw.
1st accessory-usually another heavyish barbell movement focusing on a main weakpoint, often this is a floor press, board work, etc.
supplemental/assistance work
-lats
-triceps
-shoulders
ME Lower
Main Movement:
Squat or variant, deadlift or variant, good morning or variant, 3-5 reps over 90% whether that's a 3 rep set and two singles, or a double and two singles, or 3-5 singles depends on the lift, and whether you have an established PR and whether you feel up to breaking it that day. Very important: once you miss (especially raw, less important if it was a gear error) YOU ARE DONE with your main movement.
1st accessory: usually another barbell movement, often the opposite of what you did for your main movement, (i.e. if you squatted you'll do a deadlift variant), much lighter, not to a max or even close to thinking about a max.
Assistance/supplemental
-Hamstrings
-Glutes
-Lower back
-Abs
note: often assistance work for lower body days is overlapping, a GHR will work glutes and hamstrings, but you should likely hit 3-4 assistance exercises not including ab work.
ME Bench
Main movement: Bench press variant, again 3-5 reps over 90% with the usual goal of setting a new PR in that variant, but ensure that the 3-5 reps are done over 90%, no more, no less. if you fail after only 2 reps at or above 90% you may do a single drop set of a triple at like 80-90% BUT DO NOT FAIL again.
1st Accessory-much like DE bench day, a heavyish barbell movement, I usually do shoulders here b/c I have a weakness during lockout in the shoulders, doesn't mean you should, it means you should find your biggest weakness and hammer it. When my shoulders cease to be a weakpoint, I'll do something else here.
assistance and supplemental exercises will target the same areas as DE bench
-lats
-triceps
-shoulders
DE Squat
-Speed squats. every week. off a box most of the time if you are geared, if you are raw you should alternate. I recommend that contrast be used (chains or bands) if you are free squatting for speed you should use chains as bands will lock you into a groove that may not be optimal w/o a box.
8-12 doubles @ 50-60%, and yes it should be pendulum waved.
1st accessory is usually a deadlift unless you pulled on your ME lower day, don't pull heavy twice a week.
assistance and supplemental is the same as ME lower
-glutes
-hamstrings
-lower back
-abs
GPP and conditioning and so-called "extra work" can be done after your exercises are complete and are often encouraged for novices due to their lack of work capacity.
extra work should be done at home on off days. I'll do some scap retractions or pressdowns on wednesday nights with a mini band.
I hope this clears up some of the mystery surrounding the conjugated method. I'll try and add to this as I think about it more, and if you have questions, feel free to ask, though what I wrote above was not just a plug, the DVD that Marcus produced explains things very well and sometimes people learn better from seeing a video than from reading a wall of text.
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03-09-2010, 09:10 PM #1
Thoughts on Westside's principles, the conjugated method and training approaches
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03-09-2010, 09:17 PM #2
- Join Date: Nov 2006
- Location: Soldotna, Alaska, United States
- Age: 38
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Very good write-up, I'd say. I would hope that most people would read things like this and more in depth articles concerning training schemes before they try to do them or judge them without trying them. I learned much of what I know about lifting and supplemental/accessory lifts from Westside seminar DVD's, yet I don't follow any sort of Westside programming. I have nothing against it, I just don't follow it. There are many ways to get strong, and this is certainly one of the ways.
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03-09-2010, 09:18 PM #3
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03-09-2010, 09:31 PM #4
Oh! also, please note that the "template" (i hesitate to use that term for fear of locking people into it) above is simply how my team and my gym applies westside's principles to our training. We looked at how our lifters lift and things that are helping us get stronger and applied them broadly.
One of the key points, which I hope I didn't gloss over is that experimentation and doing what works for you in the context of the principles of conjugating maximal effort and dynamic effort lifts on a weekly basis is what will get YOU stronger.
If you find that any exercise in use in your rotation "isn't working for you" then you should first look at your technique, ensure that you are performing the exercise correctly so that it will achieve the desired training effect. Then look at your programming for that exercise, is it a 1st accessory movement that you are taking to failure? Is it an assistance lift that you are going either too heavy or too light on? Once that is considered see how it fits into your overall training schema and your weaknesses as a lifter. If your shoulders are weak, yet you're only devoting 4 sets of DB lateral raises a week to them, maybe hitting up heavy board presses twice a week "isn't working for" your full range bench, not due to board presses being inherently bad, but that you're not targeting the right muscle to correct your weakness.
Weak point identification and knowledge of anatomy is crucial then to the effectiveness of your programming. You need to know what it means when you fail at a certain point of a lift and have someone with a keen eye, or a properly placed video camera to assist you in locating the weak point AND know what muscle needs to be brought up to correct that weakness.
And something that we have found at Wild Iron is that the exact point where you fail the lift is not usually the weak point per se. Often the weakness is exhibited much earlier in the lift and the point of failure is merely where the muscles that took over could no longer exert the proper force or leverage. So make sure to look at the lift as a whole, if you are having problems locking out a deadlift, it may not be a "lockout problem" but may be a set up problem that is manifesting at lockout when your musculature can no longer overcome poor positioning and leverage.*Mods/CS will not, nor can they change your username, so don't ask*
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03-12-2010, 08:54 PM #5
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03-12-2010, 08:58 PM #6
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03-12-2010, 09:19 PM #7
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03-12-2010, 09:31 PM #8
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03-12-2010, 09:39 PM #9
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03-12-2010, 09:45 PM #10
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03-12-2010, 10:01 PM #11
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03-12-2010, 10:04 PM #12
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03-12-2010, 10:04 PM #13
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03-12-2010, 10:09 PM #14
go by feel, all three reps need to be fast. speed is more important than bar weight.
I think it can be done alone effectively, but you need to have a great awareness of your body, of anatomy, and be good enough with technology to provide yourself with a third eye via a video camera (not absolutely necessary but definitely very helpful). Provided you have those things, you can definitely effectively program and train with Westside's methods lifting solo.
there are things you simply can't notice during a max effort lift that a video camera or a teammate can.Last edited by isaku900; 03-12-2010 at 10:25 PM.
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03-12-2010, 10:19 PM #15
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03-12-2010, 10:29 PM #16
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03-12-2010, 10:31 PM #17
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03-12-2010, 10:36 PM #18
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03-12-2010, 10:49 PM #19
i usually rotate between deadlifts, squats and GMs on my ME day. but i'll stagger it, due to squatting every week on DE squat day and with consideration to a meet.
so a typical setup 12 weeks out from a meet will look like this:
ME Lower
wave 1, week 1: deadlift variant
wave 1, week 2: Good morning variant
wave 1, week 3: deadlift variant
wave 1, week 4: deload
wave 2, week 1: Good Morning variant
wave 2, week 2: squat-close to comp style (6 weeks out)
wave 2, week 3: deadlift variant
wave 2, week 4: deload
wave 3, week 1: deadlift-usually opener
wave 3, week 2: squat-suit test (opener, 2 weeks out)
wave 3 week 3: good morning-3-5rm usually lighter to not affect recovery before a meet.
wave 3, week 4: deload----> meet*Mods/CS will not, nor can they change your username, so don't ask*
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03-13-2010, 11:34 AM #20
Awesome write-up and thanks alot for it.
There are some things I want to ask you about concerning specific weaknesses in the core lifts.
In the Squat, when coming close to my max lift I do a "Good Morning" in the middle of the lift. Is that o.k. or should I work to change that and if so, can you name a few exercises that could help with that?
In the Deadlift when pulling my max weight or really close to it the bar often kinda stops at the top of the knee and I have to hitch the weight up and that seems to be my week spot since I feel pulling the weight of the floor to be fairly easy. What can I do to improve my Deadlift so that hitching thing doesn't happen, Rack Pulls or something?
I also want to ask you about the repetition method. I have seen that it is often used on ME days but I want to ask you about specific exercises that I can use both for the Bench and Lower body.
and I want to ask you about other exercises than the reverse hyper or the glute-ham raises that I can use and are just as or almost as effective as thoes.
Thanks in advance,
Niflungur
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03-13-2010, 11:37 AM #21
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03-13-2010, 12:39 PM #22
- Join Date: May 2007
- Location: Florida, United States
- Age: 31
- Posts: 7,929
- Rep Power: 11450
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03-14-2010, 11:02 AM #23
One of the most helpful posts I have ever read on these forums! Thank you very much reps. I do have some more questions though.
What books would you recommend for a RAW lifter that has plenty of gym experience but very limited powerlifting experience.
I am familiar with the BASIC MECHANICS of the lifts. I have complete madcows 5x5 as my first routine. My weight is around 230-235 and my lifts are 450squat/450dead/300bench (I know they are pretty low).
Its seems to me that Westside really likes the GHR, and Reverse Hyper machines witch I currently have no access to in my town. Bands and chains also seem very popular in WS. What tension bands of chains should I start with and what weight chains?
I am currently doing this (link below) until I get the book (or books) that I need to make my own routine.
http://bodybuilding.fitness.com/powe...-template.html
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03-14-2010, 11:13 AM #24
Your write up is pretty much exactly my understanding of the conjugate method. I can't speak for other haters though.
This method is ideal for double-ply lifting because it allows the trainee to lift at a competition-like intensity on almost a weekly basis. Strong equipment can only be practiced at this intensity. I think the general beef people have with this style of training is NOT in the application to single ply or raw lifting, but instead, "is it ideal?" I understand it can be applied, but I may not be getting all of the same benefits as another program.
As I've said in other posts, there are some really great methods I learned using this style of training (exercise switching, frequent back training, the hierarchy of movements), but I'm still not sure for me, or my fellow athletes, it's ideal.
Good post to clear up an confusion for those who use this style of training.Last edited by DJSTARER; 03-14-2010 at 11:21 AM.
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03-14-2010, 11:39 AM #25
I have always heard that WS is "great for athletes". Because it says "athletes" and not "just for powerlifters" I assumed that implied RAW athletes. I could not see a football or MMA guy buying bench shirts and squat suits just to train in with no intent in competing in powerlifting. I could very well be wrong though.
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03-14-2010, 11:57 AM #26
Athletes (in your example) don't compete in the squat, bench and deadlift. The conjugate template IS great for athletes because it trains various energy systems and movements. Improved energy systems yields better overall conditioning, and exercise switching lowers the risk of injury. If I was training an athlete that did not need to compete in the squat, bench and DL, i'd have them use the conjugate method fo sho. More potential modalities involved.
The argument you're making is lumping athletes and raw powerlifters together in one group. An athlete uses conjugate training to supplement their sport skill. For the reasons I listed above, the conjugate method is a great way to supplement their sport. A raw powerlifter needs to be good at the squat, bench and deadlift.Last edited by DJSTARER; 03-14-2010 at 12:06 PM.
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03-14-2010, 12:09 PM #27
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03-14-2010, 12:40 PM #28
- Join Date: Aug 2009
- Location: United Kingdom (Great Britain)
- Age: 40
- Posts: 55
- Rep Power: 197
Nice outline by the way. Rep'd! Just a few quick questions for you.
*You say raw benchers should start their wave at 60%? In the Book of Methods Lou says they used to work DE on a much higher percentage but now is around 45 - 50% to start the wave. Obviously they are shirted so I was wondering why 60% raw? If raw you still use accommodating resistance?
*Also wondering why you put lats above triceps as most of what I have read states the opposite? I understand you have that 45 minute testosterone window to cram the priorities in. That aside will it matter which comes first or is there a reason for lats first?
*For your ME Lower movement. You say that if you miss then your finished. Does that mean it is detrimental to knock of some weight and do a drop set as punishment.
*Lastly I do everything raw. So for DE squat you say cycle between free and box. I do box with bands but have not yet tried free speed squats. I don't have access to chains but I do bands. Do you think it is best to use the bands or just barbell weight?
Thanks for your time...Goal is to compete at a national level. All lifts done raw no wraps only using a belt
Squat: 220kg - 484lbs
Bench 145kg - 319lbs
Deadlift: 250kg - 550lbs
(making video next test)
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03-14-2010, 04:30 PM #29
Thanks for the info. reps
Can you recommend some books for the unaware like myself?
Also is this a decent template to start at when I'm waiting on the book? http://bodybuilding.fitness.com/powe...-template.html
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03-14-2010, 05:21 PM #30
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