Unleashing the beast, one rep at a time ... and other mischief

[Romina81]

Hi lilOwl I like your journal You are doing westside right? I am about to start that...have no experience with it.

I see you doing rack pulls for Lower ME day...how long do you keep that as the Lower ME day before switching it to squat?

[lilOwl]

Hey Romina, nice to see you in here! I've just started westside yeah and honestly don't know it in detail yet since I'm mostly just on auto pilot doing whatever the coach has me do. As far as I can tell you could keep the main lift the same for up to 4-5 ME days max if you're not too advanced but the coach suggested we switch more often so I'll only be doing the same lift for two micro cycles. I'd love to be able to tell you why exactly but I still have some reading to do in regards to the programming with westside. I do really like it so far so I hope you enjoy it too and make some good gains, I'll make sure to follow along to get some extra motivation


Monday - Lower ME day

Low box squat
bar x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 3
77,5kg x 1
82,5kg x 1
87,5kg x 1
92,5kg x 1
97,5kg x 1
100kg x 0 (ugh, was left glued to the box, lost tension as I sat down and that was that -_- )

SLDL
50kg x 8
70kg x 8, 7, 6, 8

Oblique DB raises
20kg DB x 12, 12, 12

+ rolling

Low in volume but holy hell was it high in effort. The box never felt as low before The coach kept reminding me to keep my chest up and I think it's a cue I need to start paying more attention to because it really makes a huge difference when I do it right. I was bummed about failing on the 100kg but then again I'm thrilled to be able to be hitting these numbers on a low box, it should mean that my squat numbers are up as well. I am not leaving the gym without getting the 100kg on my next ME day though, I want to crush it

[lilOwl]

Wednesday - Upper ME day

2 board press (closer grip)
bar x 8
30kg x 5
45kg x 5
50kg x 5
55kg x 3
62,5kg x 1
67,5kg x 1
72,5kg x 1, 1

Military press
bar x 10, 10
25kg x 8, 8

Tricep pushups (on handles)
12, 10, 8, 8

Lat pulldown, underhand grip (on a plate loaded pulley)
25kg x 12
30kg x 12
35kg x 12
37,5kg x 12, 12

Lat raises
5kg plates x 15, 15, 15

+ foam rolling followed by rolling with a tennis ball


Today was pretty good but I didn't feel on top of my benching. I was hoping to go higher on the board press but I kept breaking down in form. I stopped tucking my elbows in after it got heavy and obviously, that made it even heavier. After benching with what I thought was good form for two years I need to constantly go through a list of cues everytime I setup to correct what now feels like a natural movement and 9/10 times I forget to do *something*. I need to re-program the way I approach the lift because right now I'm not taking advantage of so many aspects of a good setup. I'm naturally pretty flexible and I can pull off a killer arch but I don't take advantage of it because I stop pushing my chest out after the bar touches my chest and I just let it sink back into the bench. I have a strong back yet I don't take advantage of that since I don't properly activate it by tucking in my elbows. Between my chest and my triceps, the latter are way stronger but I don't use it to my advantage because I let my elbows flare out fay too soon after the bar touches my chest. My legs are also my strongest bodypart by far but do I let them assist in the lift? Nope. They can't help s**t if I don't actually engage them. I don't make use of the stretch in the bottom position either since I let the bar descend too slowly and it's like I keep anticipating to hit my chest and go even slower. The coach says I guide the bar down as if I was lifting geared.

One thing I've learned after hearing my coach's pointers and observations is that my biggest strength is in being able to complete lifts even after my form breaks down (which it does, too often really). That becomes a big issue when maxing though. He says I have a lot of brute force that often saves my lifts that would otherwise be misses but I need to train myself to channel it through optimal form. So as much as I'm annoyed with myself for not having my setup down yet at least I know there's much more I can improve on and there is still a lot of potential left.

[Romina81]

Nice board presses! Jelly of your coach/setup
how did you find your coach by the way? expensive?

Im not sure how I'll be doing board presses by myself...probably wrap the boards to my chest with some elastic haha

Quick question...for your box squatting...do you completely rest/deload on the box?
I havent been since it seems dangerous, but seems like some people do.

[lilOwl]

^ I actually had the most amazing luck with the whole training setup. They just founded the team led by him this April at what was previously an OLY gym and I only found out through my BF by chance really. PL is still very much unknown around here so they're doing their best to attract more people which I guess is why the setup is so great. My only expense is 60€ a month which gets me 12+ sessions (1,5h) with the coach, additional planning for my solo sessions and an open gym. Granted I'm a broke student but that's still a steal as far as I'm concerned. My coach also does coaching separately as a PT but I'm pretty sure I could never ever afford him if it wasn't for the team setup. Plus most of the time I barely have to share him at all since there's only 3 of us training at the same time, max. Plus he rocks. Like, he really knows this stuff down to the details and he's an active competitor as well.

I can't imagine doing board presses by myself, though I love the idea of wrapping or even taping it on lol Especially on ME days, I would need someone at least to spot, I wouldn't dare max without someone but then again I guess you'd need two people, one to spot and one to add the boards. You might be able to "board press" by yourself in the power rack if you can adjust the safety bars to the right height (you'd need to experiment with plates under the bench and all that) but I'm sure it would take ages to setup.

For the box squats - right now I do a full stop for a good second (sometimes two) but don't really rest, meaning I don't lose any muscle tension. It's not touch-and-go but it's still not like I sit back for too long. If I did there's no way I'd get back up because my form breaks down. Maybe with lighter weight but def not when going heavy.


Friday - Lower DE

Box squat
bar x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
60kg x 3
70kg x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
(last four sets I used a band to help me pay attention to pushing my knees outwards)

Dip-belt squats
25kg + belt x 8, 8, 8, 8

SL Good mornings
bar x 10
30kg x 10
35kg x 10
40kg x 10, 10

Hanging leg raises
12, 12, 12, 12

Ab roller
10, 10, 10


In other news, there's a strongman competition taking place here tomorrow so obviously I'm going. Should be fun, not to mention motivating. The coach told me there will be a challenge for spectators as well, bench repetition contest @ 1/2 BW for women and BW for men so I might go for that as well, I've never tried that before

[lilOwl]

Monday - Lower ME day

High box squat
bar x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 3
80kg x 1
90kg x 1
97,5kg x 1
105kg x 1
110kg x 1

Deficit DL
75kg x 5
80kg x 5, 5

Step up (knee high box)
17,5kg DBs x 10
20kg DBs x 10, 10

Ab roller
10, 10 , 10

The box squats weren't crazy heavy today but I was still way too sore from Friday's session. I'm developing a rather nasty case of sudden sickness when approaching the box That mothereffer has been putting me in so much pain and agony lately ... it's a true love-hate relationship. On one hand I want to keep doing it all day everyday just so I can finally master it but at the same time I want to just go at it with a hammer lol.
I also left my chucks at home fully anticipating today to be an upper DE day so I ended up squatting in my socks. Classy all the way. I'm not sure how I feel about maxing out at 110kg. I suppose it's not bad, I've never even put that much weight on my shoulders and it felt a bit terrifying. It's just that after doing 97,5kg on a low box, I was anticipating for the high box to feel easier. Guess not.

Today was suppose to be an Upper DE day but I skipped it after giving the bench a go on Saturday. I ended up pounding 35 reps at 1/2 BW and got some of the most nasty upper body DOMS I've had in a long time I also got some supps and a bunch of other stuff for the best score but I was mainly doing it to test myself since I never really go high rep. I'm not sure where those numbers put me ATM but I think I want to hit 50 as a mini-goal. Obviously I won't be testing this out on a regular basis but I'll try it out again in a few months. The whole strongman deal was ridiculously cool to watch and I'll try posting some photos in the next few days.

[Romina81]

Lots going in in here!

Yea that isn't too bad 60 euros/77 dollars a month for the coach. Crappy PTs cost more than that around here.

Thanks for the idea about using the power rack as a sub for board presses

I think Im trying to do the box squats similar to you...good to know.
Nice hi box squat weight ...impressive and you just started the program. I'm going to give it a try next week. Box should be slightly above parallel right?

[lilOwl]

^ Yeah a bit above parallel is about right on the hi box. Do you also plan on varying your stance width at all? The coach has had me change it between sessions and I'm still trying to figure why exactly. Apparently on the hi box the stance is supposed to stay the same as with your conventional squat, the same as for the low box but not on DE box squatting ... Not sure why but I figure it's because you obviously need to have an optimal setup when maxing and focus on your weaker points when doing more volume, which for me is hip drive, so I go for a much wider stance.

Wednesday - Upper ME day

CG Floor press
bar x 5
27,5kg x 5
32,5kg x 3
37,5kg x 3
42,5kg x 3
47,5kg x 3
50kg x 1
52,5kg x 1
55kg x 1

Skull crushers
20kg x 12
22,5kg x 10
25kg x 8, 8

One arm DB rows
22,5kg DB x 10
25kg DB x 10
27,5kg DB x 10, 10

Lat pulldown, underhand grip (plate loaded pulley)
30kg x 12
35kg x 12
37,5kg x 12, 12

Face pulls (plate loaded pulley)
20kg x 8
15kg x 15
12,5kg x 15


Yesterday didn't go quite as planned. Due to some scheduling issues I had to do the session alone so I had to ask for help with the hand off. The gym was half empty though and the guy that ended up assisting me kept holding the bar either too low or high and let go of it as soon as I put my hands on, not even letting me grip it propperly. I was trying to give him more pointers but didn't want to come across as being b**chy about it since he was giving me a favor but geez ... it was all around messy. I had to keep re-adjusting and re-gripping while holding the bar and I ended up pulling something in my right front delt. I got through the main work and managed to hit 55kg as planned but I was completely lacking focus and I was hoping I didn't do any serious damage. I was supposed to do high board presses after but with developing pain and the procpect of more crappy hand-offs there was no way I was getting under 92,5kg on the bench. Thinking back, I probably should have just gone in earlier when the gym was still more crowded and I could have gotten some proper help or just re-schedule. Oh well. Hopefully after a few days of rolling and cooling it'll feel much better.

[Romina81]

Nice that you got the 55kg for the close grip....I have been doing wide grip ones guess I should try close grips

Re box squat stance Usually goes same as my conventional maybe a little bit wider...will check next time. For the dynamic box squats ill go ultra wide then i def need to work on hip drive.

Thanks!

[lilOwl]

Friday - Lower DE day

Low box squats
bar x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 2
55kg x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Mid-shin DL
80kg x 5
90kg x 5
95kg x 4
100kg x 3

Step ups
2x10kg plates x 10 (extra grip work)
30kg x 10 (bb)
32,5kg x 10 (bb)

Leg raises
12, 12, 12, 12

Static holds (fat grip)
2x15kg plates x 35sec, 20sec, 10sec

+ foam-rolling


Nothing major today, box squats felt much smoother and more explosive. I've never done the mid-shin DL variation before since I always either went with conventional or rack-pull height. These were positioned right at what's usually my sticking point and after today I think we'll be adding them to the rotation more often. Of all the variations this one feels most challenging, far more than deficit actually. Though my form apparently stayed spot on throughout I cannot seem to get enough leg drive at lift-off and need to start working on that asap. Again. I keep coming back to this issue every so often but I'm still just scratching the surface of what seems to be both a leverage and flexibility problem. If I can re-train myself to stay even more upright with my torso and drop down with my rear I could finally let my legs do some of the work as well. I'm forced into doing it during deficits and they seem much easier. I'm hoping I can get the setup to eventually sink in subconsciously but I know I have my work cut out for me since I've been practicing this same movement for so long it just feels awkward and forced now. *sigh* Back to the drawing board it is.

[lilOwl]

Saturday - Assistance

Towel pull-ups
5x5

Incline DB press
18kg DBs x 8
20kg DBs x 8
22kg DBs x 6
20kg DBs x 8

Ab machine
40kg x 20
35kg x 20, 20, 20

SS: Abductor/Adductor
35kg/35kg x 15, 15, 15

+ 10 minutes of HIIT on the recumbant bike and 10 minutes cool-down


Never tried towel pull-ups before but they absolutely killed my grip. These felt much harder than any other pull-up variation although I didn't really feel them in my back as much as in my arms and forearms. Might add them in more regularly just to spice it up a bit.

[lilOwl]

Monday - Upper DE day

Speed bench (varying grip width)
bar x 8
30kg x 5, 5
35kg x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Incline CG bench
bar x 6
30kg x 6
35kg x 6
40kg x 6
45kg x 5 (last was assisted)

CG 4 board press
60kg x 8, 8, 8

BB rows, overhand grip
35kg x 12
37,5kg x 10, 10, 10

Front+lateral+rear delt raises
2,5 kg plates x 20+20+20

+ foam-rolling

I was lifting on a mad sugar rush today so I wasn't exactly feeling it but it wasn't too bad. Speed bench went great with great explosiveness and the inclines didn't feel overly heavy but I am kinda meh about the rest. I was crashing hard by the end and was about ready to take a nap on the spot. The good news is that my shoulder feels as good as new, I felt no pain, no tightness or anything out of the ordinary which I'm really happy about. I'm not sure if it was the tennis ball rolling (painful as all hell), anty-inflammatory OTC pills, muscle relaxing ointment or the extra attention I got for whining about it ... whatever it was it worked