questions about 9 weeks basic westside program

[the koala]

i've finished my first 3 weeks of the basic westside program

i followed it as close as i could without having access to a ghr/rh

so far i made great progress on the ME board press and GMs
thanks to wnt2bBeast (as far as i can remember it was you who told me to try it out)

now, my first questions, i'm training raw and don't think on using equipment for quite some time since i want to build a solid base first
the program says 'floor presses for the next three weeks as ME bench exercises'

i was asking myself, especially after reading the post 'raw lifter' on here, if i should substitute it with another ME bench exercise which covers the full range of motion like close gripped bench press to the chest or any such, or if i should continue as prescribed?

another thing
the last 3 weeks for ME bench are 'ball press - 3 sets of 20 reps'
is a 'ball press' a dumbbell press on the stability ball or a plyometric press with a medicine ball (i hope they're called like that in english)?


thanks in advance

 

[wnt2bBeast]

cool glad your happy with the routine so far..

as far as not adding equipment thats fine..you may also want to add some loose single ply equipment down the road depending on what fed you want to compete in..bottom line though as far as adding equipment its always best to get the most out of loose gear..

floor presses are fine even if you dont plan on benching in a shirt anytime soon..i would also concentrate more on the lower (2 and 3 boards) for ME work..those will help your raw more than doing the higher boards..

yep use a stability ball and dbells for ball presses

 

[Chambewy20]

I did the exact same program starting out so don't get lost in the details. I always felt I was messing things up, don't worry over little things, just do your best.

I would go ahead and do the floor presses, for me, I sucked at them at first and still do to this day. You can't be good everything, I know this for sure. Also, be careful with the whole partial deads for 20, I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in these helping you, they could possibly screw you up a little, especially if your CNS is not used to being taxxed in this way. If I were you, I would substitute them for a zercher, romanian deadlift or a good morning as an assistance exercise.

I too did not have access to a reverse hyper or GHR, straight legged deads, pull throughs, band leg curls, or 45 degree raises have had to replace those for the time being.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things go, let me know if you need any tips, I did that program 4 times during the last year, it definately works

 

[wnt2bBeast]

good points chamb..heres a list of replacement for the GHR and Rev hyper

If you don’t have a Glute Ham Raise here are some exercises you can perform:

Romanian deadlift
Dimel deadlift
Straight leg deadlift
Straight leg deadlift standing on a box
Good mornings
Good mornings with Jump Stretch bands

If you don’t have a Reverse Hyperextension machine:

Perform the same movement on a high table or box
Back extensions
Pull-throughs (can be done with a band or a low cable)

like chamb pointed out be careful doing the dealift stuff as it is much more taxing on the CNS than doing GHR's just remember its assistance work and not max effort

 

[Feyed]

i've finished my first 3 weeks of the basic westside program

i followed it as close as i could without having access to a ghr/rh

so far i made great progress on the ME board press and GMs
thanks to wnt2bBeast (as far as i can remember it was you who told me to try it out)

now, my first questions, i'm training raw and don't think on using equipment for quite some time since i want to build a solid base first
the program says 'floor presses for the next three weeks as ME bench exercises'

i was asking myself, especially after reading the post 'raw lifter' on here, if i should substitute it with another ME bench exercise which covers the full range of motion like close gripped bench press to the chest or any such, or if i should continue as prescribed?

another thing
the last 3 weeks for ME bench are 'ball press - 3 sets of 20 reps'
is a 'ball press' a dumbbell press on the stability ball or a plyometric press with a medicine ball (i hope they're called like that in english)?


thanks in advance

Hi!!!

I read a lot about exercises for a raw lifter. I think low board press and pause bench press at the bottom (for about 3 s) could help you in your quest.
The most important part of a lift is setup and i think it's very helpful focus on it. My bench is suck because my bench setup is really punny.
I don't understand how to use leg drive and lats.....

 

[jcp2]

I don't do my speed work conventionally. I do all three my reps paused for a second or two and explode up. I think this helps more than the ballistic reps done on speed day, they kill me. I am not sure if you ever plan on wearing gear or not, if you never plan on wearing gear, i would probably be doing mostly full range motion stuff, maybe some two board on ME day. I have seen a few guys start westside, who never want to compete or put a shirt on and wonder why their bench goes down. Yet they do tons of three board, four board, five board, and lockouts. If i was going to do it i would rotate Bench presses, Decline presses, Incline presses, two boards, and pin presses 3 or 4 inches off the chest. You could also vary grips from max legal to pinkies on the rings, and set pr's for each.

 

[wnt2bBeast]

Ballistic speed bench with bands will kill your delts..im learning that lesson now!!!

 

[jcp2]

Ballistic speed bench with bands will kill your delts..im learning that lesson now!!!

I did those for a few weeks, on the advice of many i stopped.

 

[wnt2bBeast]

I did those for a few weeks, on the advice of many i stopped.

my right delt is telling me the same thing lol

 

[jcp2]

my right delt is telling me the same thing lol

Go take a look at my journal, and look how i have been doing them, i have toyed around with them alot, and the way i do them now is by far the most rewarding. I beleive their was an article in Powerlifting USA about pausing on your DE bench. i beleive one of the MM guys wrote it. I can tell you my bar speed has improved incredibly since i started and i doubled 405 the other day.

 

[wnt2bBeast]

Go take a look at my journal, and look how i have been doing them, i have toyed around with them alot, and the way i do them now is by far the most rewarding. I beleive their was an article in Powerlifting USA about pausing on your DE bench. i beleive one of the MM guys wrote it. I can tell you my bar speed has improved incredibly since i started and i doubled 405 the other day.

what issue of plusa?
i used to be able to get it but not anymore

 

[jcp2]

what issue of plusa?
i used to be able to get it but not anymore

Not sure, i don't read it. i was just told that.

 

[wnt2bBeast]

Not sure, i don't read it. i was just told that.

i dont know why i was using ballistic form..i dont squat like that on DE day but in an attempt to move the bar fast i resorted to it..its only after my delts started killing me that i realized why lol

 

[the koala]

so far the program is working great

today was DE bench day and i also do the dynamic benches with a pause on my chest instead of touch-'n-go

speed at the bottom wasn't that explosive, i always have trouble at the bottom, but i greatly picked up speed after a few inches off the chest

after that i worked up to 2 sets of 3 close gripped as is said in the program
i managed 80kgs for 2 sets of 3, a few weeks back i did close gripped presses for an ME exercises and barely managed 77,5 for one, awesome

as for shirts/suits, there are women on here outlifting me by far, so i want to build up a solid base first, but i definately want to use some shirts/suits in the future

i'm still thinking what ME exercise i should take for the next 3 weeks
in the program it says floor press, but i already did 2-boards as ME for 3 weeks
nevertheless i guess i stick with the floor presses because the last 3 weeks the ME execises are ball presses for 20 reps, i guess those really work the bottom part of the bench press

thanks for all the help, greatly appreciated

 

[the koala]

today was DE squat day

afterwards i worked up to a heavy double in the squat as written in the program

i managed to get 120kgs for 2 reps

120kgs was my previous personal best in the squat for one rep!!!!

 

[wnt2bBeast]

today was DE squat day

afterwards i worked up to a heavy double in the squat as written in the program

i managed to get 120kgs for 2 reps

120kgs was my previous personal best in the squat for one rep!!!!

awesome job feels good setting PR's doesnt it??\