training for one lift

[thefight]

If you are only training for one lift and are doing a westside template should you still only lift that bodypart 2 times a week(DE and ME) or should you add another workout in the week?

[txmike1]

If you are only training for one lift and are doing a westside template should you still only lift that bodypart 2 times a week(DE and ME) or should you add another workout in the week?

If you're trying to be a bench specialist, I'd follow metal militia - I've seen where those guys will train that lift 5 days a week! I should note though that training a lift doesn't necessarily mean doing that "lift" (bench, squat, and DL) 5 days a week, but you would focus your assitance exercises around it - i.e. SLDL, Good mornings, etc for squats/dl or upper back/tris for bench

You don't train "bodypart" in PL you train the lift so if you wanted to add a 3rd day, pick different assistance exercises for that day. Elitefts.com is a great site that will give you specific exercises/suggestions based on whichever lift you are wanting to improve.

IMO you can't go wrong with MM or WS - or any number of other routines if they are working FOR YOU

[Danimal]

Even if I were doing bench only, I'd still at least train squats unless I was physically incapable of doing them.

[Poweraholic]

I would suggest following the guidlines of your program. If your doing the program right you probably shouldn't be able to recover from a 3rd workout, unless you split the two days of exercises into three.

[thefight]

well I'm actually trying to devise a workout based on westside to improve my max chinup. its not very good right now, yesterday I did +55lbs for 3 reps at a bodyweight of 137 so I definately have room for improvement but I really want to get it up. I currently squat 3 times a week its just I want to almost completely focus on chinups so I was wondering if 2 times a week is enough frequency...I mean id be willing to chinup everyday if it would improve it(although it would obviously be overtraining) Just looking for advice to start a ME/DE routine.

[Radok]

well I'm actually trying to devise a workout based on westside to improve my max chinup. its not very good right now, yesterday I did +55lbs for 3 reps at a bodyweight of 137 so I definately have room for improvement but I really want to get it up. I currently squat 3 times a week its just I want to almost completely focus on chinups so I was wondering if 2 times a week is enough frequency...I mean id be willing to chinup everyday if it would improve it(although it would obviously be overtraining) Just looking for advice to start a ME/DE routine.

If I were training for more pullup strength I'd go 2x a week, maybe 3x if I was really obsessed with it above all else. DE is not going to help as much as RE imo. If you do 3x a week, you could do all three though. I'd work up to a max on monday, do 5x5 on wednesday, and do reps with no weight as explosively as possible on friday. On the explosive reps, just go from a dead hang and pull up, and try to just launch yourself as high over the bar as you can. I used to do these, you'll be pulling the bar to your upper/mid stomach.

[txmike1]

well I'm actually trying to devise a workout based on westside to improve my max chinup. its not very good right now, yesterday I did +55lbs for 3 reps at a bodyweight of 137 so I definately have room for improvement but I really want to get it up. I currently squat 3 times a week its just I want to almost completely focus on chinups so I was wondering if 2 times a week is enough frequency...I mean id be willing to chinup everyday if it would improve it(although it would obviously be overtraining) Just looking for advice to start a ME/DE routine.

Max chinup? Are you training to go into the military? When I was in the Marines we did chinups 6 days a week, along with situps, running, etc. Was it overtraining? Maybe -

Chinups (done with palms facing towards you) use a lot of biceps along with lats. So some assistance exercises could be heavy curls (I'd say straight bar and barbell - curl bars put a different angle on the arm than what you will be doing chinups with), lat pull downs (palms facing towards you - with hands at whatever width you do your chinups), and forearm work (a lot of guys have their grip go first and that causes them to drop off the bar).

Pullups (palms facing away) are primarily upper back with very little biceps but more forearm involement. So for those you'd focus more on lat pull downs (palms away, again with hands at whatever width you do pullups) and reverse grip curls.

I also found that using different width grips when training for pullups (mainly going wider than what you would do during the test, similar to beyond legal width training for a raw bench) is beneficial - not so much with chinups though.

Another thing you might check is your hand width. Just jump up and grab the bar, 9 guys out of 10 that's the right width. If you're moving your hands further out than that you're not going to get as many (most people go about shoulder width for chinups and wider for pullups similar to decreasing your range of motion by going wider on bench).

Ok, that's a lot of explanation but no routine advice like you wanted, so here's a sample of what I would do on a routine (vary it for how YOUR body recovers):

ME day 1
Weighted chinups 25 reps (ideally 5x5, but if it's 8x3 +1 somewhere that's fine - when you get 5x5 then I'd add more weight the next ME day)
Barbell curls 5x5
Lat pull downs 5x5
DB holds 5x20 seconds (if you don't drop the weight or want to at the end of 20 seconds go up in weight)

OFF DAY 2

DE day 3
Bodyweight chinups 5xmax reps (aim for 20+ per set)
Hammar curls 3x10
Lat pull downs 3x10
DB holds 3x30 seconds

OFF DAY 3

REPEAT (after 2nd round, take 2 days off instead of 1 before repeating)

That's if you JUST want to train for chinups. Add whatever other exercises you want for everything else.

Hope that helps (my only qualifications for the above program are being a Marine and having done a sh*t load of chinups and basing it on what helped me and other Marines improve those) YMMV

[BoxSquat]

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