Westside For Skinny Viking Bastards

[VikingMan]

Disclaimer: I ripped most of this straight out of Joe Defranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards. It has some modification in it for things I like, but it’s still pretty much his! For more information and some good resources, visit his sight, at http://www.defrancostraining.com/

I'm writting this because I like to see the format for the actual workouts in a different format than Defranco writes his stuff in, it's a little confusing IMO, and because we've needed a good WS4SB writup around here for a while.

Here we go.

Monday: Upper Body Max Effort
A. Bench Press Variant 3-5RM
B. Horizontal Row 4 X 5-10
C. Supplemental press 3-4 X 6-10
D. Upper back variant 2-3 X 12-15
E. Weighted Abdominal work 3-4 X 8-15

Wednesday: Lower Body Max Effort
A. Deadlift Variant 3-5RM
B. Squat Variant 3 X 8
C. Weighted Hypers 3 X 8
D. Ghetto GHRs 2 X 8

Friday: Upper Body Repetition Effort
A. Repetition Effort Bench Variant
B. Vertical Pull Variant 4 X 8-12
C. Medial Delt or Trap Variant 3 X 10-15
D. Triceps Supplemental Variant 3-4 X 5-10
E. Curl Variant 3 X 8-10
F. Abdominal circuit training

Monday: Lower Body Max Effort
A. Squat Variant 3-5RM
B. Pull Variant 3 X 8
C. Weighted Hypers 3 X 8
D. Ghetto GHRs 2 X 8

Lift Variations
Bench Press Variants: Thick or regular bar bench press, Floor press, Rack lockout, Board press, Incline bench press, Close grip bench press, Decline bench press
Supplemental Press Variants: Flat, Incline, or Decline Dumbbell or barbell bench press
Row Variants: Chest supported rows (like a T-Bar row), Pendlay Rows, Yates Rows, Seated cable row
Upper Back Variants: Seated rear delt machine,Seated dumbbell “power cleans”, Bent-over cable flyes (single arm), Standing face pulls, Rope pulls to throat, Bent-over dumbbell rear delt flyes, Cable “scarecrows”
Abdominal Variant: Barbell Russian twists, Low-cable pull-ins, Hanging leg raises, Barbell or dumbbell side bends, Weighted Swiss ball crunches, Low pulley Swiss ball crunches (shown below)
Repetition Effort Bench Variant: Flat barbell bench press max reps (w/ 95, 135, 185, or 225LBS); Max reps with a regular pushup, chain suspended pushup, or bar pushup; Bodyweight dips; DB Bench for higher reps
Triceps Supplemental Variant: Dumbbell triceps extension, Dumbbell floor presses, Rope pressdowns, Skull crushers
Vertical Pull Variant: Chin ups, pull ups, add weight to keep rep range, or use pulldown if you can’t get rep range with body weight
Medial Delt or Trap Variant: Dumbbell side press (single arm), Dumbbell shoulder press (seated or standing), Lateral raises (dumbbell or cable), Barbell or dumbbell shrugs, Bradford presses
Curl Variant: Thick bar curls, Preacher curls (EZ bar or straight bar), Regular barbell curls, Hammer curls, Alternate dumbbell curls (standing or seated incline)
Abdominal circuit training: Pick a bunch of different ab exercises

Deadlift Variant: Conventional deadlift, Platform Deadlift, Rack pull, Sumo deadlift
Squat Variant: Wide stance squats, Medium stance squats, Heels together squats, Front squats
Pull Variant: Good Mornings (of any variety), Stiff leg deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts

[young_squatter]

Awesome job viking, if I was into powerlifting Id hit this one up. I never liked how Defranco only has 1 lower body day.

[VikingMan]

Notes & Comments

Conjugate Periodization: At its core, the above is based on Conjugate Periodization. CP is based on a couple primary ideas. Doing max effort work and rotating lifts that have a specific impact on the lift being trained(there are more, but not really applicable to my primary audience). We’ll use Max Effort Upper Body day as an example. The lift being trained, even if you didn’t do it on any particular day, is the bench press. CP assumes you will use a movement to help improve your bench press for 1-3 weeks, then SWITCH LIFTS!!! If you are really weak though, stick to the lift until you fail. When you fail, switch the lift. So I’ll give some examples. Let’s say you start out with the flat bench press. You’d go for your 5RM. Next week, do it again setting another PR. Week after that, you fail. The following week, you WOULD NOT USE flat barbell bench. You would choose another lift from the Bench Press Variants group, and work up to a 5RM in that lift. Repeating the process ad nauseam. You don’t have to use all the lifts, but it’s probably best to use at least 3.

Exercise Selection & Duration
Max Effort movements are going to rotate fairly often, unless you're still getting progress out of the movement, in which case, don't fix it if it aint broke. So they will likley rotate once every few weeks. For the rest of the movements, error on the side of keeping a movement for a while, maybe 6 weeks, before thinking about changing them out. And if it's working really well, and you're still setting PRs on it, then don't switch lifts.

PRs: The priority, for all movements, at all times, is to set a PR as often as possible. This necessitates keeping track of your best lifts. If you set a bench press PR of 200 X 3, then rotate away from the bench press for a month or two, when you come back, you’ll want to blow 200 X 3 out of the water, or you will have made ZERO progress. So keep a spreadsheet of your best lifts for reference. You don’t have to PR each movement in every workout, but each workout should have 1-2 PRs at least, somewhere.

Form: This program is suitable for beginners. Though it’s worth noting, that if you ARE a beginner, STAY AWAY FROM 3RMes!!!! Use a 5, and maybe even a 6RM! The lower you go in reps, the higher the weight. The higher the weight, the more quickly form problems will get you hurt. If you haven’t done so already, buy the book Starting Strength to learn how to perform the key lifts properly!!!!! This can’t be emphasized enough. Bad form will get you hurt. Being hurt means you’re making zero progress. That said, bring it when you run this program. Set some PRs!

Team: This program is best done with a partner, as max effort work is involved. When dealing with max poundages, you’ll be near failure. Though you should not be working intentionally to failure on this program. So in that kind of environment, you will need a spotter for the benching and the squatting.

Lower Body Days: Westside for Skinny Bastards is intended for athletes. As such, it only incorporates 1 lower body day a week, as the athlete in question will need extra lower body recovery for his/her sport specific practice on the field or court. If you are not an athlete, then you’ll need more lower body work. Thus my alteration of the WS4SB template with the inclusion of TWO lower body days. The addition of the second lower body day makes this a 4 day program, and for most guys, I like running this over 9 days, instead of 7. So the 4th workout gets floated into the second week, and the cycle repeated. If you are an athlete, simply treat the second lower body day as lower body day B (in an A B setup), and alternate weekly which one you do.

For the weeks where lower body workouts occur twice in 5 days (I.e. Deads on Monday, Upper on Wednesday, and Squats on Friday), you’d have the option of taking it easy on the Friday workout. I like to push it anyway, but you might find that a bit much.

Set Rep Scheme: The set/rep schemes are not set in stone. If you find yourself pretty run down running this program, reduce some volume. If you think it’s not enough, add some volume. The key determining factor is, are you progressing on the Max Effort movements?

One thing I will do from time to time is I'll alter the template from straight sets, or sets across, to pryamid sets. So, where the template has you doing 4 X 10 for a rowing movement, the typical way to do that is to do 4 X 10 X the same weight for each set. Sometimes, I'll ramp those, peaking at a new PRs set.

Rest & RecoveryThis program will push you to your limits. As such, any flaws in your diet or sleep habits and patterns will become a glaring flaw. If I’m not eating enough protein for muscle gains, and enough carbs and fats for energy, my performance on something like this goes through the floor. Also, if I’m getting less than 6 hours a night (preferably 7-8), my performance also goes through the floor.

Food: As with any program, food is the key to muscular gains. You will gain ZERO muscle, and little strength if you aren't feeding your body to grow. Depending on your body type, carbs will be the big variable. You'll need at least 1.5G of protein. For carbs, if you are predisposed to putting off fat, then controlling carb intake while maximizing EFA intake will be the key to limiting fat gains. If you're a skinny teenager, then just eat everything in sight.

How do I work up to a 3-5RM?
We’ll use the bench press as an example, but the numbers would work for any lift. You start with warm-ups then progress to the work set.

We’ll assume a guy with @ 300LB bench press. He’d do something like the following working up to a 3RM.

Warmups
10 X Bar
8 X 135
5 X 185
3 X 225
1 X 255

Max Effort Attempt
3 X 280 (if this was easy, attempt the next line)
3 X 290

Links

To run a Westside program effectively, it helps to have a good understanding of the underlying concepts. So the following links should provide some additional background and context that will make this whole thing make more sense.

Periodization Bible (Old Testament)

Periodization Bible (New Testament)

The Eight Keys PI

The Eight Keys PII

The Eight Keys PIII

The Eight Keys PIV

Kethnaab's Westside primer/FAQ

Kethnaab's Westside for BodyBuilders

Elite Fitness WSB Articles

Also, check out Iron Addicts site, he's got LOTS more Westside info, as well as some additional actual programs.

Iron Addicts

[VikingMan]

THESE ARE NOT ACTUAL WORKOUTS, JUST EXAMPLES OF THIS TEMPLATE IN ACTION!!!!

Monday, Max Effort Upper Body

A. Decline Bench Press
10 X Bar
8 X 135
5 X 185
3 X 225
3 X 255
3 X 295
3 X 325

B. Pendlay Rows
10 X 135
10 X 185
10 X 185
10 X 185
10 X 185

C. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
7 X 55LB DBs
7 X 75LB DBs
7 X 95LB DBs
7 X 95LB DBs
7 X 95LB DBs

D. Face Pulls
12 X 70LBS
12 X 70LBS
12 X 70LBS (pulled from air, I've never acutally done face pulls)

E. Weight Decline Situps
8 X BW + 25LBS
8 X BW + 25LBS
8 X BW + 25LBS

As an example of different ways to do this, I might also do the following on Pendlay Rows (or any non-issolation movement) instead of sets across.

B. Pendlay Rows
5 X 135
5 X 185
5 X 225
5 X 255

[VikingMan]

Wednesday, Max Effort Lower Body

A. Conventional Deadlift
8 X 135
5 X 225
3 X 315
1 X 365
1 X 425
3 X 475

B. Medium Stance Squats
8 X 135
3 X 225
8 X 275
8 X 275
8 X 275

C. Weighted Hypers
8 X BW + 50LBS
8 X BW + 50LBS
8 X BW + 50LBS

D. Ghetto GHRs
8 X BW - Assistance
8 X BW - Assistance

[VikingMan]

Awesome job viking, if I was into powerlifting Id hit this one up. I never liked how Defranco only has 1 lower body day.

Yeah, that is mainly because he's coaching athletes who need to be practicing multiple times a week.

[VikingMan]

Friday, Repetition Effort Upper Body

A. 225 Bench Press Test
10 X Bar
5 X 135
5 X 185
16 X 225 ---> Just guessing, I haven't done a 225 test before

B. Pulldowns (Chin Grip)
8 X 230
8 X 230
8 X 230
8 X 230

C. Skull Crushers
8 X 100
8 X 100
8 X 100

D. Seated Dumbbell Military Press
10 X 65LB DBs
10 X 65LB DBs
10 X 65LB DBs

E. Barbell Curls
8 X 110
8 X 110
8 X 110

E. Abdominal circuit work

[VikingMan]

Monday, Max Effort Lower Body (squats)

A. Medium Stance Squats
8 X 135
5 X 225
3 X 275
1 X 315
1 X 355
3 X 395

B. SLDLs
8 X 135
8 X 245
8 X 245
8 X 245

C. Weighted Hypers
8 X BW + 50LBS
8 X BW + 50LBS
8 X BW + 50LBS

D. Ghetto GHRs
8 X BW - Assistance
8 X BW - Assistance

[redsox87]

great writeup vm

[Phenom01]

Can i do the example template (with different weight) that you posted? Also what are Ghetto GHRs and Weighted Hypers? One week you do max effort for upper body and next week you do max effort for lower body and vice versa? Should you increase your max effort every week?

[VikingMan]

Can i do the example template (with different weight) that you posted?

Of course. Read all the notes, and try to understand what's going on before you begin, but yeah. Substitute the weight you can use, and go for it!

Also what are Ghetto GHRs and Weighted Hypers?

For a video of ghetto GHRs, see my YouTube vides. I still suck at them though! There shouldn't be any angle at my hips, in my video. The hips should be fully extended.

A weighted hyper is just a 45 degree hyperextension were you grab a plate and do your reps with the added weight.

One week you do max effort for upper body and next week you do max effort for lower body and vice versa?

No. Monday, it's Max effort upper body. Wednedsay, it's max effort deadlifts (or variant). Friday, it's repetition effort bench. The following Monday, it's Max effort Squats. Then the cycle repeats on Wednesday with max effort bench.

Should you increase your max effort every week?

Using the guidelines I outlines, yes. Use the same movements for max effort work for 3ish weeks, unless you fail. Then switch lifts to another lift with specific carryover to the lift being trained. So, go to decline bench, for example, when you've done max effort work for 3 weeks with flat bench.

[Phenom01]

No. Monday, it's Max effort upper body. Wednedsay, it's max effort deadlifts (or variant). Friday, it's repetition effort bench. The following Monday, it's Max effort Squats. Then the cycle repeats on Wednesday with max effort bench.

I dont understand that.

Using the guidelines I outlines, yes. Use the same movements for max effort work for 3ish weeks, unless you fail. Then switch lifts to another lift with specific carryover to the lift being trained. So, go to decline bench, for example, when you've done max effort work for 3 weeks with flat bench.

So you set 3 new PR's for three weeks and then choose a different exercise?

[VikingMan]

I dont understand that.

Okay, let me spell it out. If you started WS4SB THIS coming Monday, here's what your schedule would look like for the next 4 cycles ( cycle being defined as running ME Upper, ME Deadlift, RE Upper, ME Squats).

First Cycle:
Monday, October 9th: Max Effort Upper Body
Wednesday, October 11th: Max Effort Deadlifts
Friday, October 13th:Repetition Effort Upper Body(watch out for black cats and ladders though )
Monday, October 16th: Max Effort Squats

Second Cycle:
Wednesday, October 18th: Max Effort Upper Body
Friday, October 20th: Max Effort Deadlifts
Monday, October 23th: Repetition Effort Upper Body
Wednesday, October 25th: Max Effort Squats

Third Cycle:
Friday, October 27th: Max Effort Upper Body
Monday, October 30th: Max Effort Deadlifts
Wednesday, November 1st: Repetition Effort Upper Body
Friday, November 3rd: Max Effort Squats

Fourth Cycle:
Monday, November 6th: Max Effort Upper Body
Wednesday, November 8th: Max Effort Deadlifts
Friday, November 10th: Repetition Effort Upper Body
Monday, November 13th: Max Effort Squats

etc. etc. etc.

You run the 4 workouts over a period of like 9 days. So you workout "week" becomes 9 days long. Make sense?

So you set 3 new PR's for three weeks and then choose a different exercise?

Basically, but this is one component that has to be tailored to each lifter. If you set your third PR for the lift, and it wasn't that hard, then do a fourth week. If you set your second, and it was hard as hell, then switch lifts now to avoid failure the following week.

[VikingMan]

A quick note on fatigue and CNS stress. Even if you're weak, this program is going to push you to your limits. When you begin to feel the following, it's time to deload, which I'll explain in a moment.

Irritability
Lack of motivation for the gym
Sleeplessness
Lack of appatite
Loss of sex drive
I've even walked out during the middle of a session before

If you begin to feel any of these things, you need a break. To deload on WS4SB. Do the following. Cut intensity on Max Effort work. Use the same lift you would have used, but only use 80-90% as much weight. So, for example, if your current 3RM is 200LBS on flat bench, then during a deload, your top set for max effort work is going to be around 170 X 3. Should feel pretty easy. Next, drop ALL your work sets from however many sets to one work set each, not to failure. Do this for a week or so and you'll feel just like new, provided you eat and sleep enough, then back into it full volume and intensity.

[randomhero97]

Hey Vikingman,

On the rep. upperbody day is there any reason that Defranco puts the tricep work before the shoulder work? Also, if you were to do shoulder presses isn't 10-15 reps kinda high? Could shoulder pressing be used as a supplementary press on the max effort day? One more thing, I'm picking your brain here , I noticed you took out the unilateral leg work is there any specific reason for that? Lets say for someone like me who has had knee surgery in the past and still has an imbalance would it beneficial to incorporate unilateral leg work?

[VikingMan]

Hey Vikingman,

On the rep. upperbody day is there any reason that Defranco puts the tricep work before the shoulder work? Also, if you were to do shoulder presses isn't 10-15 reps kinda high? Could shoulder pressing be used as a supplementary press on the max effort day? One more thing, I'm picking your brain here , I noticed you took out the unilateral leg work is there any specific reason for that? Lets say for someone like me who has had knee surgery in the past and still has an imbalance would it beneficial to incorporate unilateral leg work?

Don't know why he puts them in that order. But, this is westside, so tweaking is to be expected. The reps for that movement could be completely different, if you felt a different rep range for a military press, for example, would be better.

Some form of military could definately be used as a supplementary movement on max effort day.

I like the more traditional WSB templates, so I'm partial to their use of GMs, SLDLs, squats, and deads. But you could certainly but a unilateral leg movement as the secondary movement on max effort deadlift day. Might even be more bodybuilder specific, I daresay.

[randomhero97]

One more question for you VKMan. Do you think this would be suitable for the recreational athlete? I have tried 5x5 and squatting 3 times a week slaughtered my joints. This is probably because I have had surgery on both knees. I still want to get my big lifts up, but I would still like to continue with playing rec. basketball, softball, whatever. What do you think?

[VikingMan]

One more question for you VKMan. Do you think this would be suitable for the recreational athlete? I have tried 5x5 and squatting 3 times a week slaughtered my joints. This is probably because I have had surgery on both knees. I still want to get my big lifts up, but I would still like to continue with playing rec. basketball, softball, whatever. What do you think?

This is definately suited to recreationg athletes. Depending on how much you play, you might play with the volume of lower body work.

One thought regarding the knees. Some of what I've read from the WSB guys talks about guys coming back from knee surgeries to move big poundages. They generalls have to end up using a wide stance squat, and maybe a sumo deadlift, as a wider stance puts most of the preasure on the hips, instead of the knees. Also, just some thoughts for joints...

Be sure your staying hydrated. Lotsa water is one big key to joint health. Also, I've used glucosamine, chondritin, msm, and now Cissus RX to great effect in helping with nagging joint issues.

[randomhero97]

Thanks for you help. You, Keethnab, and Ripstone are definately a wealth of knowledge, glad you guys are giving it out.

[zpnq]

Great post buddy

Notes & Comments

Conjugate Periodization: At its core, the above is based on Conjugate Periodization. CP is based on a couple primary ideas. Doing max effort work and rotating lifts that have a specific impact on the lift being trained(there are more, but not really applicable to my primary audience). We’ll use Max Effort Upper Body day as an example. The lift being trained, even if you didn’t do it on any particular day, is the bench press. CP assumes you will use a movement to help improve your bench press for 1-3 weeks, then SWITCH LIFTS!!! If you are really weak though, stick to the lift until you fail. When you fail, switch the lift. So I’ll give some examples. Let’s say you start out with the flat bench press. You’d go for your 5RM. Next week, do it again setting another PR. Week after that, you fail. The following week, you WOULD NOT USE flat barbell bench. You would choose another lift from the Bench Press Variants group, and work up to a 5RM in that lift. Repeating the process ad nauseam. You don’t have to use all the lifts, but it’s probably best to use at least 3.

[

I like this idea, i might work it into my routine, My routine is very similar to what you have described here except its Push/Pull not upper lower.

[zpnq]

VikingMan how do you keep your records?

I am trying to find a way to keep good records with out having 10 pages of paper work, adding in a whole bunch of new exercies in the form of CP will no doubt be more paper . Any tips here?

[VikingMan]

I like this idea, i might work it into my routine, My routine is very similar to what you have described here except its Push/Pull not upper lower.

That would probably work quite well! I would be careful not to do two max effort movements on the same day in training. But yeah...

VikingMan how do you keep your records?

I just keep a word document with my best lifts. It's broken up roughly like this....

Legs

Deadlifts
1 X 525
3 X 460
6 X 405

Squats
1 X 405
3 X 385
5 X 350

etc.

Chest

Flat Bench
2 X 315
5 X 300

Decline Bench
1 X 340
3 X 320

etc.

Back

Pendlay Rows
5 X 265
8 X 225

Yates Rows
8 X 245

etc.

You just create as many entries as you have to for each lift, and keep track of how many reps, and how much weight. Boom.

[Phenom01]

For the friday bench press test you can pick any weight?

[VikingMan]

For the friday bench press test you can pick any weight?

Yeah, I'd pick one I could get at least 10 reps with though, then go to just before failure. Then obviously, you'll want to get more reps as often as you can.

[Phenom01]

Since im not an athlete i will have to add a second lower body day. So my workout will look like this right?

Monday-ME upper body
Wednesday-ME lower body
Friday-upper body rep
saturday-ME lower body

[MISSINGLINK]

Thanks Viking Man. Way to break it down. I would give you reps but I have to spread it around.

[VikingMan]

Since im not an athlete i will have to add a second lower body day. So my workout will look like this right?

Monday-ME upper body
Wednesday-ME lower body
Friday-upper body rep
saturday-ME lower body

You could do it that way. That means you will have done 4 workouts in 7 days, including 3 max effort sessions. I prefer to do 3 workouts a week till you know how this is going to affect your system. If you can hang with 3 workout with no problems, then think about upping it to 4.

So, if it were me, I'd do what I outlined in post # 13.

[VikingMan]

Thanks Viking Man. Way to break it down. I would give you reps but I have to spread it around.

No problem man!

[yabbayabba]

Going to bring this one up again.

5x5 was worked great for me but its time to change/step it up. What do those GHRs actually hit? I watched your video but I don't think I'll have the equipment to do those. I've also been itching to torture myself with 20 rep squats. Do you think a warmup set and then the 20 would be a good replacement to the squat day?

[VikingMan]

Going to bring this one up again.

5x5 was worked great for me but its time to change/step it up. What do those GHRs actually hit? I watched your video but I don't think I'll have the equipment to do those. I've also been itching to torture myself with 20 rep squats. Do you think a warmup set and then the 20 would be a good replacement to the squat day?

GHRs hit primarily your hamstrings, but your whole posterior chain is involved. And they're called ghetto for a reason. I just find something to wedge my ankles under, something soft to puy my knees on, and go. A lat pulldown works quite well. Check out Lencho's YouTube vids, and he's got an example of GHRs done on a lat pulldown. Though he has a bit of a form problem, the setup he uses is perfect.

I'd probably do more than one warmup set, but yeah, you can do 20 rep squats in place of the ME Squat day. Though I wouldn't do it every week. 20 rep squats are going to be quite draining on recovery, so keep that in mind as you plan out your workload around your 20 rep session.