Questions Related To Westside

[Tom Treutlein]

The most important one concerning reverse hypers. I workout at home. I'm not able to purchase a reverse hyper machine at the time, which is said to be ideal and almost necessary for Westside, using it as a movement on your ME and DE squat/deadlift days. What should I do, since I can't purchase one of these?

Second, I need to make a box for squatting, both for my ME squat day exercise which at some point will be a low box squat and for my DE squat day. How high should this box be (can I use the same one?) and what should I make it out of? I want to make sure it won't collapse and end up getting me killed.

Third, if I have no workout partner or anything, should I try to do floor presses or something anyway, or should I stick with variations of the bench press that I can do on my own? I.e., closegrip bench, board presses (I can probably just put the boards on my chest before I begin lifting), incline benches, and more...

Finally - what are some rotator cuff exercises I could incorporate to keep them strong?

 

[40butpumpin]

reverse hypers are good, however, there's a lot of other assistance exercise you can do. just do what you have to until you have access to a rev hyper. if you feel really ambitious, they're not too hard to make imo.

as far as box squatting you don't want to use the same height time after time. you should mix it up. make boxes that can stack and combine to achieve different heights. there's a few links on the net that explain how to make a decent box for squatting.

imo you won't be able to do board presses by yourself, and if you do i think it's more dangerous than trying to do floor presses alone. with the board presses you're doing the top part of the lift which is where you're strong so you'll be using a lot of weight typically. you also should have the board held stable, it just won't work alone bro. i've used a power rack as a low rack for floor presses w/o any problems.

the best rotator cuff exercise are internal and external rotations. however, the best way to protect your shoulders, at least imo, is to learn how to pull the scapula together, and then down. this will stabilize the entire shoulder complex. scapula together and then down before and during lifting.

hth.

The most important one concerning reverse hypers. I workout at home. I'm not able to purchase a reverse hyper machine at the time, which is said to be ideal and almost necessary for Westside, using it as a movement on your ME and DE squat/deadlift days. What should I do, since I can't purchase one of these?

Second, I need to make a box for squatting, both for my ME squat day exercise which at some point will be a low box squat and for my DE squat day. How high should this box be (can I use the same one?) and what should I make it out of? I want to make sure it won't collapse and end up getting me killed.

Third, if I have no workout partner or anything, should I try to do floor presses or something anyway, or should I stick with variations of the bench press that I can do on my own? I.e., closegrip bench, board presses (I can probably just put the boards on my chest before I begin lifting), incline benches, and more...

Finally - what are some rotator cuff exercises I could incorporate to keep them strong?

 

[mattwray]

Regarding Reverse Hypers

From Jim Wendler
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)

I made 2 boxes. One using 2x4's and one using 2x8's. Then I stack mats till I hit parellel on DE day, and different combos on ME day.

If you have a power rack, you can either set the safety pins or some chains up at the proper height to save your ass if need be.

Rotator Cuff Complex

 

[salemlot]

I train by myself also, I am able to do board press. Just use something to secure the board on your chest. I workout in a power rack if I fail, I just dump the bar on the safety rack pins. So far I haven't had any troubles just dumping the bar. My bench is nearly 400 raw.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Sounds good you guys.

By the way, when doing assistance work, they give a very general number for the set and reps. Like, 3-6x5-12 for abs. Should one vary those every workout, even on the ME and then DE days? Or be consistent with some number (3x10) for a few workouts, then switch it up every couple weeks?

Or does it not really matter, as long as the muscle is stimulated and microtrauma is caused?