Colbstar's Conjugate Log

Alright! My name is and this is my 2nd log here on Testosterone. After reaching a generally unsatisfied point in not only my training, but also my log (which you can find [here] (https://forums.t-nation.com/t/colbstars-high-performance-mass-log/204181/1)), I decided to try the Westside Barbell Conjugate system for a 2nd time. For those of you who are unaware of the system, check out either this article or this article for some general knowledge. Another good resource is Louie’s new website (which can be found here).

Although I am not following HPMASS created by coach Christian Thibaudeau, I still revolve my training around a quote mentioned in [this] (High-Performance Mass Program: Lower Body Pressing - Program Overview - YouTube) video:
“The goal is to build as much muscle as possible while being as powerful and as strong as possible, and also doing as much work - capacity - as possible.”

I want to be the biggest, strongest, leanest, most athletic, BEAST of a human being I can possibly be. Why would I shoot for anything less?

With all this in mind, here are some of my stats/numbers:

All time best lifts: 2 italicized lifts were done while using the Westside system my first time.
Squat - single ply suit, wrapped, belted at meet: 405lbs
Squat - raw, belted in gym: 345lbs
Bench - raw, belted w/ bounce in gym: 235lbs
Bench - shirted, belted w/ strict pause at meet: 210lbs
Deadlift - belted in gym: 465lbs
Military Press - belted: 135lbs
Power Clean - belted: 205lbs

It’s time to make a change, break some records, and be my best.

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Max Effort Lower Body

  1. Mobility

  2. Wide Stance Parallel Box Squat
    Ramped up to 315lbs for 3 reps

  3. Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts
    80lbs each hand - 4x13

  4. Hanging Leg Raises/High Incline Back Raise
    BW - 3 sets/holding 60lbs dumbbell - 3 sets

Tuesday, April 5th, 2016

Bonus Work

  1. Agile 8

  2. Tire Sled
    Forward Pushing - as many rounds with 80lbs in tire in 10 minutes

Wednesday, April 6th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

  1. Mobility

  2. Decline Press
    Ramped up to 205lbs for 3 reps

  3. Dumbbell Triceps Extensions - Elbows out
    20lbs each - 3 sets

  4. Dumbbell Triceps Extensions - Elbows in
    20lbs each - 3 sets

  5. Ring Chin-Ups
    BW - 3x8

  6. Plate Lateral Raise/Plate Rear Delt Raise (superset)
    10lbs each - 3x15/10lbs each - 3x15

  7. Some sparring with friends

Thursday, April 7th, 2016

Bonus Work

  1. Hammer Curls
    30lbs - 3x10

  2. Monster Mini Band (Green) Triceps Pushdown/Hammer Curls
    2x50/2x20

Friday, April 8th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 1 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Agile 8

  2. Wide Stance Parallel Box Squat
    165lbs + monster mini band on each side: 12 sets of 2

  3. Speed Deadlifts
    275lbs - 6x2
    I couldn’t figure out a good way to get band tension with my current setup, so I used raw weight.

  4. Standing Abs with [Econo Lat Pulley] (http://www.roguefitness.com/spud-inc-econo-tricep-and-lat-pulley)
    25lbs - 3x10

  5. Lying Leg Curl
    10lbs ankle weights each leg - 1x50

Because this workout was done first thing in the morning before school, this was all I had time for.

Saturday, April 9th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Upper Body:

Week 1 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Essential 8

  2. Speed Bench: Next week I want to have a closer grip
    105lbs + “doubled” mini band - 8x3 @ ~50% of 1RM

  3. Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press
    40lbs each - 4x10

  4. Dumbbell Row
    90lbs each - 4x10 per side

  5. A little bit of slap boxing with some friends

Bonus Work

  1. Bradford Press
    45lbs: 3 sets of “failure”

  2. High Incline Barbell Triceps Extensions
    35lbs: 3 x 8-10

  3. Ring Push-Ups (decline chest angle)
    Bodyweight: 2x20

  4. Mini Barbell Ab Rollouts
    Bodyweight: 3x10
    These made me incredibly sore!!!

This workout took less than 20 minutes and was very satisfying.

Monday, April 11th, 2016

Max Effort Lower Body

  1. [Essential 8] (The Essential 8 Mobility Drills) by Mike Boyle

  2. Weighted Jumps: Explosiveness
    50lbs dumbbells out to sides - 3 sets

  3. Close Stance Front Squat to below parallel box: Short mini band wrapped around my knees for all sets to focus on the hip external rotation.
    45lbs - 3 reps
    95lbs - 3 reps
    135lbs - 3 reps
    185lbs - 3 reps
    205lbs - 3 reps
    225lbs - 3 reps
    245lbs - 3 reps: Belted
    260lbs - 1 single: Belted w/ 2 second pause (counted by spotter)
    275lbs - 1 single: Belted w/ 2 second pause (counted by spotter) - The same spotter said this rep had a bit of upper back rounding, but not lower back. This is good and indicative to me of an upper back weakness.

  4. Zercher Squats
    135lbs: 2 sets of 1 minute

  5. Seated Band Leg Curl
    Monster Mini Band on each leg: 3x8-10

  6. Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts
    80lbs each hand - 3x15

Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

Bonus Work

  1. Agile 8 w/ some modifications

  2. Tire Sled
    Around the waist forward dragging: 45lbs - 6 sets of about 3-4 houses worth

  3. Lying Leg Raises
    BW - 3x12, stopping around the 8th rep of each set to catch my breath.

This was an awesome recovery session! I loved this variation with the sled - I had never done it before. It really loaded the glutes while taking the stress of the upper body.

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

Warm-Up:

  1. Mobility
    T-Spine Extensions, Rear Delt Raises, External Rotations, Wall Slides, etc

  2. Shot Put Med Ball Throw
    20lbs Ball, alternating sides, spin and all. I had never done these before, so it was interesting to coordinate the entire movement.

Main Lift:

Close-Grip “Board” Press: Foam roller on chest
95lbs - 1x5
115lbs - 1x3
135lbs - 1x3
155lbs - 1x3
185lbs - 1x3
205lbs - 1 single
215lbs - 1 single
225lbs - 1 single
235lbs - 2 sets of 1: The first rep, I lost a little bit of my upper back positioning during the press, so my spotter thought I was dropping the rep and helped me a tiny bit on the way up. So I wanted a 2nd rep just me. This time, I touched the bar a little higher on the foam roller, and the bar shot right up like I had 185lbs on there. This felt incredible, but I went ahead and called it at that.

Repetition Work:

  1. Dumbbell Bench
    50lbs each - 2x20, pumping out the reps

  2. High Incline Barbell Triceps Extension
    45lbs - 3x8, really stretching out the elbow

  3. Barbell Row, pronated
    135lbs - 4x12

  4. Hanging Leg Raises, from bar
    10lbs added as ankle weights - 3x10

This was a great session overall! Very proud of this. I can tell, though, that I need to work on my bench press positioning. I tend to relax my upper back and lose that tightness. Also triceps.

Friday, April 15th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 2 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Mobility

  2. Wide Stance Parallel Box Squat
    175lbs + monster mini band AND mini band on each side: 11-12 sets of 2

  3. Speed Deadlifts
    225lbs + SHORT monster mini band on each side [(For me…) underneath method]: 10x1

  4. Wide Side Stance Good Morning
    135lbs: 3x10

I really wanted to do more repetition work, but I had to stop because of time. I trained before school today, and naturally, I was in a rush. Tomorrow, I’ll make up for it with bonus work.

Saturday, April 16th, 2016

Bonus Work: Lower Body

  1. 5 Minutes of various skips, cariocas, side squats, etc.

  2. Depth Jumps for Height
    5lbs added to EACH ankle (10lbs total extra) - 3x5

  3. Seated Band Leg Curl
    Monster Mini on each leg - 3x10-12

  4. Straight Leg Deadlifts
    185lbs - 3x15

  5. Dip Belt Walks
    4 plates - 2 sets of 1 minute walks

  6. Leg Raises: hips on bench, legs hanging off
    BW - 4x12

  7. Special Exercise Back
    This takes some describing. So imagine a typical reverse hyper mixed with the exercise Klokov uses in this video. I basically did what they are doing, but I didn’t hang my upper body off of the bench. Instead, I laid face down on the bench and grabbed the support underneath, only putting weight on my legs.
    25lbs - 2 sets of 30 second hold, 2 sets of 60 seconds hold

This was a great bonus session. I felt much better after getting in this quality work for the posterior chain especially.

[quote=“Colbstar, post:7, topic:216320, full:true”]
Saturday, April 9th, 2016

Dynamic Effort Upper Body:

Week 2 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Various shoulder movements like all 3 raises, crawling, etc.

  2. Speed Bench: 3 sets close grip, 3 sets normal grip, 3 sets illegally wide grip (technique Louie uses)
    95lbs + “doubled” monster mini band - 9x3 @ ~50% of 1RM
    This band tension was honestly too much. I felt my speed get slower than I’ve been seeing in all of the Westside dynamic videos. But I am definitely working to optimize it.

  3. Dumbbell Bench/Suspended Ring Push-Ups: Explosive, “pumping” reps
    50lbs each - 3x12/3x12
    60lbs each - 2x5/2x5

  4. Econo Lat Pulley Pulldown
    115lbs (two 45s + one 25 plate) - 4x10

  5. High Incline Chest Supported Dumbbell Row
    80lbs each - 1x10, 2x8

  6. Hammer Curls
    30lbs each w/ fatgripz - 1x12, 1x8
    30lbs each NO fatgripz - 1x12, 1x8
    20lbs each NO fatgripz - 1x20

This workout was BRUTAL. My dad, a friend of mine, and I rotated together and kept each other on our A-game. I can’t wait to eat.

Monday, April 18th, 2016

Max Effort Lower Body

  1. Dynamic warm up including skipping, backwards running, side squats, lunges, and cariocas.

  2. Weighted Jumps: Explosiveness
    45lbs kettlebell - 3 sets of 5

  3. Banded Rack Pull: Just below knee, monster mini doubled looped on each side of power rack pins (standing on concrete cinder blocks - for me)
    45lbs + bands: 2x5
    165lbs + bands: 1x3
    215lbs + bands: 1x3
    255lbs + bands: 1x3
    295lbs + bands: 1x3
    335lbs + bands: 1×3
    375lbs + bands: 1x3 (belted, over under)
    415lbs + bands: 1 rep (belted, over under)
    445lbs + bands: 1 rep (belted, over under)
    475lbs + bands: 1 rep (belted, over under)
    500lbs + bands: 1 rep (belted, over under)

Due to some time constraints - along with the time it took simply to ramp up to this AWESOME MAX that I’m super proud of (despite not being a super low rack pull), I was not able to perform any special exercises after this.

Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

Bonus Work: Lower Body

  1. Poor Man’s Glute Ham Raise
    Bodyweight: 3 sets of 8
    Holy crap! These were very difficult. Not only could I not fully curl with my hamstrings on the concentric, but I also couldn’t even lower myself all the way on the eccentric! I literally was too weak! This humbled me for sure. I’ll be working on these.

  2. “High Incline (for me)” Back Raises
    45lbs barbell behind head - 3x15

Short and sweet. My session yesterday revealed just how strong my deadlift lockout is - also reproving my thought that my lower back may be the weak link at the bottom of the classical deadlift.

Wednesday, April 20th, 2016

Max Effort Upper Body

  1. Front, Side, and Rear Delt Raises
    10lbs each hand - 3x10 each direction

  2. High Incline Press
    45lbs
    105lbs - 1x3
    125lbs - 1x3
    145lbs - 1x3
    165lbs - 1x3
    175lbs - 1x3
    185lbs - 1x1: Belted, butt came off bench a little
    190lbs - 1x1: Belted, butt came off bench
    I guess this wasn’t terrible, but I felt bad about arching too far up off the bench on the concentric. Something to work on.

  3. High Incline Dumbbell Press
    60lbs each - 2 sets of 10

  4. DB Triceps Extensions, neutral
    30lbs each - 1x8 ROLLING
    20lbs each - 2x8 stricter

  5. Sternum Chin-Ups
    BW - 3x8

  6. Very Wide Grip Pull-Ups
    BW - 2x6

  7. Econo Triceps Pulley Pushdown/Constant Tension DB Curl
    25lbs - 3x15/20lbs each - 3x10

Thursday, April 21st, 2016

Bonus Work: Upper Body

  1. Dips
    Bodyweight - 1x30, 1x24, 1x18, 1x12, 3x15

  2. Close Grip Pushup
    Bodyweight - 3x10

This was all I could do while working at the Snocone Factory! No, I do not eat the snocones. Only every few weeks will I sample a few new flavors. It’ll satisfy some wants for a while and help me help customers.

Friday, April 22nd, 2016

Dynamic Effort Lower Body:

Week 3 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Jumps onto box, starting from a dead start deep squat
    45lbs vest -3x5

  2. Wide Stance Parallel Box Squat (14 inch box)
    185lbs + monster mini band AND mini band on each side (is 60lbs of tension at top): 10 sets of 2

I skipped the speed deadlifts because of the time I had already spent trying to figure out the best way to setup the bands.

  1. Hip Belt Walks
    4 plates hanging - 3 sets of 2 minutes

  2. DB Power Cleans - standing
    50lbs each - 3x10

  3. Snatch Grip Barbell Rows
    135lbs - 5x8

  4. Floor abs
    3 sets of various movements

Saturday, April 23rd, 2016

Dynamic Effort Upper Body:

Week 3 of the 3-Week Pendulum Wave

  1. Various small exercises to warm up

  2. One arm overhead med ball throw
    20lbs - 3x3 each side

  3. Speed Bench: 3 sets close grip, 3 sets normal grip, 3 sets illegally wide grip (technique Louie uses)
    105lbs + “doubled” mini band - 9x3 @ ~50% of 1RM
    With 30 seconds rest in between

  4. One Arm DB Overhead Press
    50lbs - 2x5
    50lbs - 1x4
    50lbs with fatgripz - 24

  5. DB Rows
    120lbs - 3x8 each side

  6. Barbell Triceps Extension
    55lbs - 3x10

  7. Sled Lat Rows
    45lbs in tire - 9 houses worth total

  8. High Incline reverse hammer curls
    30lbs each - 3x10