Fairly well. I went into this meet treating it as a training meet without a real absolute peak. I am working with the westside system for the first time and am using this meet as an experiement to adjust training parameters. That being said I squatted ony 358 and 391 (red light for depth). The weight felt like nothing though so there was at least 30 lbs left on the table. Bench 237 with no effort at all (could have tripled) on a third. Deadlift a very conservative 424 conventional which I also could have tripled.
Now for some observations on the westside training system.
Anyone who says “it doesn’t work for raw lifters” either didn’t implement it correctly or is just following internet bullshit broscience (including JTS, RTS, etc.). You need to remember that these guys are selling “programs” which will all work to a degree but will need to be modified to work for an indvidual. Westside is a “system”. There is no “westside program”. You need to figure out how to make it work for you.
You can do the full monte westside (chains, box, bands, etc.) with one HUGE caveat. Your form needs to be dialed in so that your lifting technique is like riding a bike. You need to be able to perform the lifts correctly without having to think about what you’re doing. You need to be able drop down in the squat and bench with speed and confidence and rip the bar in the deadlift without having to micromanage form. If you haven’t reached this level of technical proficiency, you’re not ready and the westside system will fuck you up.
This has nothing to do with the poundage being lifted, but it is purely evaluated on a skills basis. I am not lifting high poundages but I have a past competive career of 17 years and have been strength training on and off since 1983.
This mastery also applies to special exercises. What I do with a special exercise is put it in as an accessory for high reps first, then do it as a supplemental movement. When I feel the form is mastered, I may add it into the max effort rotation.
I began the return to powerlifting 2 years ago fuckign around with different approaches. The results of the first 12 weeks of westside style programming are as follows.
Squat - from a 335 double to a joke easy 391 (slightly high -2 white lights)
Bench (my weakest lift) - 235 to 237 with 15-20 in the tank.
Deadlift - stuck for a year at 405 to an easy 424 with 30 in the tank.
So far it seems to be working, the next 12 weeks will yield more info.
