Westside For Skinny Bastards

[cosism]

I am considering trying this. I weigh 170-175 @ 5'9". I would like to be closer to 195-200. I was 160-165 when I was training BJJ 3-4 times a week. I took a break for the sake of concentrating on becoming stronger/packing on muscle(not BB or beach muscles). I found this http://www.defrancotraining.com/articles/archive/articles_westside.htm while rummaging through these forums. I was wondering how many of you have tried it. Moreover, I would like to ask many of you, if in fact, you RECOMMEND it. All help is appreciated. Later.

 

[HULKAMANIA]

I think most folks around here agree that it is a solid framework for a routine. You need to make it your own, though, as you can fit a lot extra in it. It's geared towards athletes who are already involved in a sport.

 

[Jay M.]

Ya, I think it is a good routine and could be easily adapted to sport-specific training. I hate using the term "sport-specific"; what I mean by it is sport-related work.

 

[morganfreeman]

There's alot of room for adaptation, which makes it a pretty good place to start. If you aren't doing alot of running, I think it could stand a little more lower body work, but other than that, it seems pretty solid. I'm really not sure about the neccessity of all that lockout work on the upper body max effort day. I have been questioning alot of what westside has to say about bench training as of late. If you are training for athletic competition, or just trying to increase your raw bench, starting strength is alot more important than if you are wearing a shirt that takes a fair amount of the work out of the start of the motion. As such, I haven't been doing any rack lockouts, board presses, or any of the other pressing movements designed to reduce the range of motion. Obviously there is no reason you have to do any of those exercises given the number of motions you have to choose from.

 

[Urban]

I think you should lift heavy things and put them down again for a while before starting a routine like WSFSB. I'm terrible at this myself and tend to get caught up in a lot of fads and advanced routines and then find something "better" shortly thereafter. But right now, I'm sticking to a simple scheme: get a solid routine, keep a good log, add more weight until you can't. I mean, even when you simplify the hell out of thing you'd be suprised how complex they still are. Take day 2 in my routine for example:
Strict Overhead Press 6-10X1-3 2X6-8
Font Squats 8X2-3
Powershrugs 6-8X3-5
Side Press 5X3

Now here's what i'll do with that:
- Strict Overhead Press 6 x 3, 3x2, 3 @ 120; 8, 6 @95
- Font Squats 3@ 135, 155, 175, 195, 215, 225; 1 @ 245; 2 @ 225
- Powershrugs 5 @ 255, 5x7 @ 275
- Side Press 2x3 @ 50; 2x3 @ 55; 3 @ 60

And next week I look back at that and shoot for more weight or more reps for each exercise. The shrugs are ready to increase in weight, my strict overheads are almost up to 10 x 3 (in under 15 minutes), my front squats have been getting better and better, and my side press will probably be all with the 60's next week. But how I approach the weights has become very simple in practice, and there are two ways i do that:
- load up the bar with a percentage of your max and set a goal. Looking at overhead presses you might guess I'm shooting for 10x3 @ 120 (80%) of my max. once I get that I'll probably increase the weight by 5-10 lbs and shoot for the 10x3 again.
- Start light and get heavier each set until you can't. then back off and take another run at it. So if you work up to a 245 squat with tripples and miss the 3 @ 245, go back down to 215 and increase in 10-20 lb increments back up.

beyond that, you just keep a log of all your shit and try to make progress each week and don't shy away from using 2.5 lb plates. 5 lbs a week would be 250 lbs in a year. sure you're not going to make THAT big of a gain, but you're not going to be striving for more weight every week, more reps have merit too.

How complicated do you want to make things? lift heavy, work hard, go home happy.

 

[Urban]

here's something else I've notice: I get better with practice. I used to only press three times a week (one pressing exercise, one deadlift exercise, one squat exercise, every workout). and I found my deadlift did well with the additional practice, but the squat variants I used and the pressing volume simply wasn't enough to make reasonable gains on any particular exercise (bench, overhead and dips all stagnated without direct focus). Now I do overhead presses three times a week (push press, strict overheads) in addition to side presses, inclines and close grip bench and my OH press is improving with great speed. Same is true for my squat (which I do four times a week with real squat variants like full squats, power squats, and front squats, before it was a lot of bulgarian squats, lunges, etc.).

Want to get bigger? eat more. want to get stronger? lift heavy with your weak lifts more often.

 

[OpethDrums]

endurance makes you stronger too. i could just about double the reps on all my exercises w/ the same weight after spending a week doing jump rope based routines

i guess jump roping, burpees, vertical jumps, and clap pushups count as dynamic lifting tho right

 

[Ted-P]

I somewhat agree with Urban.

I would try the main lift with 2-4 assistance exercises.

So far it's doing fine.

But nothing wrong with starting that template.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Its a good routine, but not for a total newbie.

 

[Fedorable]

beyond that, you just keep a log of all your shit and try to make progress each week and don't shy away from using 2.5 lb plates. 5 lbs a week would be 250 lbs in a year. sure you're not going to make THAT big of a gain, but you're not going to be striving for more weight every week, more reps have merit too.

First thing I do every other week is put two 2.5 lbs on before the 45's. The opposite weeks the weight is increased with 5 lbs for starters.

 

[peregrine]

ok the wsfsb is designed for football and sports where there's running and conditioning on top of the lifts. it is great for that. you could make great gains on that template alone.
we don't know how much experience you have at lifting so this makes it harder and how much time you ill put into the weightroom and diet.

first start counting all caloric intake and activites then begin by adding 500calories a day per first 2 weeks, then if you are not gaining 1-1.5lbs a week add another 250-500more.

as for workouts wsfsb is fine. but i would consider a more simplistic approach at your point in your life. whatever you do log your bodyweight, calories, training.
you would probably put on 6 pounds from the first month of doing deadlifts if you've never done them. i would choose dl or squat, not both.
linear periodization is the simplest and great progress can be made on it, conjugate method which the wsb uses needs more personal tweaking and is better for intermediate/advanced lifters.
.

 

[threelions]

Well i'll be honest i dont know if it'll help you put on weight but when i use it, i always progress in strength.

I like it, its adaptable to your own personal goals and its always worked for me, strength wise. People do talk about only having one lower body day but i found that my lower body lifts shot up with this routine but maybe thats just me, we all react differently.

Best advice? Try it and see what happens.

 

[cosism]

Thanks for all the input fellas. I do appreciate it. I hae been lifting for about 2 years now but for health/fitness reasons and lost ALOT of body fat(approx 35lbs in the last 2 years) at a small but steady(safe) rate. I train BJJ and still seem to get manhandled, even though my technique is progressing just fine. It is funny, at the last BJJ school I trained at, I was on of the larger guys there, yes, larger at 160(at the time), but now, I am definitely one of the 5 smallest out of about 30 consistent students. Also, I want to be STRONGER more than anything else. If I do not look better, but become stronger, I will have succeeded. I work 50+hours a week(in the field as a service tech) and train BJJ 2X a week now, tues and thurs. Mon-Wed-Fri is now my workout schedule. I will keep a log, and keep eating like a champ. Thanks for all the help guys. I will keep you posted.

 

[Eclypse]

Like BabyPhenom said, this program is not for newbies. Here's why:

Lifting anything higher than 85% your one-rep maximum, or a weight that you can only do 5 or less reps with before muscle failure, greatly increases the risk of damage to the systems involved. These are the muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and even the heart and circulatory system. You can train yourself toward this kind of program, but that takes time and experience.

Also, weights of this caliber are usually so difficult to coordinate that you won't likely be able to control them properly. And you're probably going to end up holding your breath, too, increasing your risk of injury yet again.

The number of sets involved, and again the intensity, will make you so sore that you probably won't be able to walk straight or open doors for a few days. If you're a total newbie to training, you need to ease your way in: start with one set, and once that's not doing it for you, once that's not making you remarkably sore for a day or two, then increase sets or add exercises for the muscles in question.

 

[peregrine]

Thanks for all the input fellas. I do appreciate it. I hae been lifting for about 2 years now but for health/fitness reasons and lost ALOT of body fat(approx 35lbs in the last 2 years) at a small but steady(safe) rate. I train BJJ and still seem to get manhandled, even though my technique is progressing just fine. It is funny, at the last BJJ school I trained at, I was on of the larger guys there, yes, larger at 160(at the time), but now, I am definitely one of the 5 smallest out of about 30 consistent students. Also, I want to be STRONGER more than anything else. If I do not look better, but become stronger, I will have succeeded. I work 50+hours a week(in the field as a service tech) and train BJJ 2X a week now, tues and thurs. Mon-Wed-Fri is now my workout schedule. I will keep a log, and keep eating like a champ. Thanks for all the help guys. I will keep you posted.

with this schedule i think this program would do wonders for you. you do not run, but do bjj 2x week so it'll work.

keep us posted on the progress, get some stats like measurements, 1rm, weight, bodyfat etc. then balst it for 6weeks and check.

 

[vigilante90210]

i definitely think its worth trying.....its a solid routine that covers all the bases with plenty of room for variation with all the lifts to choose from...personally i like it since ive made good gains with it despite having tough cardio/wrestling workouts as well

 

[Foulsmeller**]

I think a person should really do a bodyweight program that includes every type of bdoyweight move you can think of, for at least 6 months before ever touching iron.

It would prevent a lot of injuries and it would also let the person know if they can stick with a program before they spend $$$ on all the fancy stuff or a gym membership.
If you cant do three sets 50 pushups and 50 situps three times a week...then you sure are not going to do 10X3 deadlifts

 

[SmashiusClay]

I think a person should really do a bodyweight program that includes every type of bdoyweight move you can think of, for at least 6 months before ever touching iron.

It would prevent a lot of injuries and it would also let the person know if they can stick with a program before they spend $$$ on all the fancy stuff or a gym membership.
If you cant do three sets 50 pushups and 50 situps three times a week...then you sure are not going to do 10X3 deadlifts

I totally agree, I had some stick thin guy come up to me after training and ask about strength training (why he came to me I'll never know), anyway i ask him how many pressups he can do. He says 10, so I told him to come and see me when he's managed 50, doubt I'll ever hear anything about it again.

 

[dexter c]

What the hell? People exist that can only do ten pressups?

 

[SmashiusClay]

What the hell? People exist that can only do ten pressups?

Yeah that kinda scared me too, but the guy looked like a famine victim. he was about 5'10" but must of only weighed 140 if that.