New Approach to PLing Routine

New to the boards seems alot more active then the last one i used, not sure if we can post workout logs here? Anyways 5’11 and 195 lbs down from 208 last summer doing the anabolic diet. Feeling great. Best lifts are a 315 bench, 405 squat and 475 Deadlift. Still looking to do my first meet. Its hard because none have been available in the summer and during the school year i have no source of income to do them. The 315 was a bench only meet at school. Routine is the following

Max Effort Bench- Reverse bands, Close grip incline, floor press, Military Press, Incline DBs (deload)

Assistane work consists of triceps and shoulders

then i have a weakness day where i try to add size to lagging parts for this month its back, next month will be shoulders… so ill switch the assistance on ME to triceps and back and do sholders on its own day.

Lower Body Max effort- Manta Ray, Below parallel Box squat,Reverse Band, Sumo Deadlifts, Back Squat.

This is follwed by deadlifts weather its against bands, snatch grip, Stiff legged or Reverse Bands. Then by good mornings either seated or standing

Weakness Day consists of Leg Presses, DB swings and Lactic Acid Training for Quads and calf work.

If i need extra days rest etc, i take em. Im keeping emphasis on conditioning so i dont turn into a complete fat ass and flexability…

I know some will completely slam this but i feel great being able to emphasize what i was told by several elite lifters was my lagging parts while keeping my main lifts going up… Just wanted to share

the logs can be found under the training tab and going to the training logs sub tab then clicking the sub-sub tab training logs…well hope you can go to your first meet in the following year and your numbers look solid

The only thing I see is your “weakness” day. I don’t really see what you’re trying to get out of it, and I’m really confused by your lactic acid training. How is that going to help you?

Another thing I would suggest is to throw in paused squats. Because they’re fucking awesome. Also, as a raw lifter, train the pause every time you bench. Do a full competition pause. By getting stronger at the bottom, you will be able to generate more velocity, moving right through your “weak points” and you’ll be able to get the lift.

[quote]black_angus1 wrote:
The only thing I see is your “weakness” day. I don’t really see what you’re trying to get out of it, and I’m really confused by your lactic acid training. How is that going to help you?

Another thing I would suggest is to throw in paused squats. Because they’re fucking awesome. Also, as a raw lifter, train the pause every time you bench. Do a full competition pause. By getting stronger at the bottom, you will be able to generate more velocity, moving right through your “weak points” and you’ll be able to get the lift.[/quote]

my whole theory is a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle as long as its trained that way, since my quads are my weakness ill push the assistance training on those while still traning my squats and deadlift heavy… Same with Bench i train it heavy yet keep my back/Shoulder work on my weakness day heavy but not to interfere with my bench training. Sometimes on bench my assitance work is long paused 3-5 rep sets of bench i love that idea best one yet to build power on my bench!

I’d throw in a high rep upper body assistance day from time to time like in ws4sb or here…
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/programs/getting-ready-to-powerlift/

ehh i did that all summer, helped add size right now i just want some size to my upper back/lats and shoulders… I wont know my progress till about thanksgiving.

Skip to about 7:40.

This a little dated but still pretty good. If you are going to start talking about max effort days and exercise rotations and shit, you might as well just do the conjugate method how it’s supposed to be done.

[quote]GruntOrama wrote:

Skip to about 7:40.

This a little dated but still pretty good. If you are going to start talking about max effort days and exercise rotations and shit, you might as well just do the conjugate method how it’s supposed to be done.[/quote]

I knew it would come from someone that you have to do 2 DE and two ME days no matter what, but i guess i should have added i have no chains or bands and alot of the Q&As on elite say without bands and chains DE isnt really worth it. Plus with the shitty bars it takes workouts longer to recover from this my Kinesology teacher explained hes actually a big time power lifter. Also im putting more emphasis on conditioning and not being virtually useless besides being able to squat bench and deadlift. From my ME lifts i can get a very good indication where my competition lifts are and can usually tell weaknesses. but when i go back to my 100% westside this summer i will do it the T.

[quote]brownstown89 wrote:
I knew it would come from someone that you have to do 2 DE and two ME days no matter what, but i guess i should have added i have no chains or bands and alot of the Q&As on elite say without bands and chains DE isnt really worth it. Plus with the shitty bars it takes workouts longer to recover from this my Kinesology teacher explained hes actually a big time power lifter. Also im putting more emphasis on conditioning and not being virtually useless besides being able to squat bench and deadlift. From my ME lifts i can get a very good indication where my competition lifts are and can usually tell weaknesses. but when i go back to my 100% westside this summer i will do it the T.[/quote]

i just in the last month started using bands, no chains yet. although i have been doing DE work every week since the first of the year. my lifts are going up and all my training partners have noticed an increase in speed on my reps.

i do follow a westside template and i dont even have specialty bars at home. only at the gym i sometimes go to and that is only once a week and even then i hardly use them. i throw that in as some say you have to have all kinds of crazy bars to do westside. to me westside is not about chains, bands, or specialty bars. but about learning to strain, learning to produce force with as much acceleration as possible, and working weak links.

[quote]brownstown89 wrote:

[quote]GruntOrama wrote:

Skip to about 7:40.

This a little dated but still pretty good. If you are going to start talking about max effort days and exercise rotations and shit, you might as well just do the conjugate method how it’s supposed to be done.[/quote]

I knew it would come from someone that you have to do 2 DE and two ME days no matter what, but i guess i should have added i have no chains or bands and alot of the Q&As on elite say without bands and chains DE isnt really worth it. Plus with the shitty bars it takes workouts longer to recover from this my Kinesology teacher explained hes actually a big time power lifter. Also im putting more emphasis on conditioning and not being virtually useless besides being able to squat bench and deadlift. From my ME lifts i can get a very good indication where my competition lifts are and can usually tell weaknesses. but when i go back to my 100% westside this summer i will do it the T.[/quote]

You don’t necessarily have to follow it to a T, but I think your “weakness” day could be better spent doing more productive exercises. Just because you use the conjugate method does NOT mean you have to get out of shape, just back off on the ME work a little and cut out an assistance lift or two. I also have no fucking possible idea in the universe how the quality of a barbell could possibly affect recovery time. I don’t know who said the dynamic method doesn’t work without bands and chains, but that is complete horse shit. The guys at westside used the dynamic effort method for years before ever getting any bands or chains and I have even seen interviews with Ed Coan where he said he used it a bit (although it wasn’t called dynamic effort at that time).

The main thing I wanted to emphasize with the video clip is that a large portion of the time your weakness will be in your hamstrings, lower back, or triceps. On occasion you see someone with weak abs, glutes, or grip, but it doesn’t seem to be as common as the previous three.

[quote]GruntOrama wrote:

[quote]brownstown89 wrote:

[quote]GruntOrama wrote:

Skip to about 7:40.

This a little dated but still pretty good. If you are going to start talking about max effort days and exercise rotations and shit, you might as well just do the conjugate method how it’s supposed to be done.[/quote]

I knew it would come from someone that you have to do 2 DE and two ME days no matter what, but i guess i should have added i have no chains or bands and alot of the Q&As on elite say without bands and chains DE isnt really worth it. Plus with the shitty bars it takes workouts longer to recover from this my Kinesology teacher explained hes actually a big time power lifter. Also im putting more emphasis on conditioning and not being virtually useless besides being able to squat bench and deadlift. From my ME lifts i can get a very good indication where my competition lifts are and can usually tell weaknesses. but when i go back to my 100% westside this summer i will do it the T.[/quote]

You don’t necessarily have to follow it to a T, but I think your “weakness” day could be better spent doing more productive exercises. Just because you use the conjugate method does NOT mean you have to get out of shape, just back off on the ME work a little and cut out an assistance lift or two. I also have no fucking possible idea in the universe how the quality of a barbell could possibly affect recovery time. I don’t know who said the dynamic method doesn’t work without bands and chains, but that is complete horse shit. The guys at westside used the dynamic effort method for years before ever getting any bands or chains and I have even seen interviews with Ed Coan where he said he used it a bit (although it wasn’t called dynamic effort at that time).

The main thing I wanted to emphasize with the video clip is that a large portion of the time your weakness will be in your hamstrings, lower back, or triceps. On occasion you see someone with weak abs, glutes, or grip, but it doesn’t seem to be as common as the previous three.
[/quote]

Something to the fact that the bars we have on campus the collars dont spin which means your fighting the weight and trying to lift ? idk ill have to ask again but i can tell the difference between training with quality bars and equipment vs training at the school gym. But i have the weirdest weaknesses for a raw lifter. lockout on bench like literally 2 inches from the lockout and squat i can get the hole fine and the top is hard… I have had a couple elite lifters tell me to work on lats and sholders and i can add more to my bench so im just following that, making it first priority

[quote]brownstown89 wrote:

[quote]GruntOrama wrote:

[quote]brownstown89 wrote:

[quote]GruntOrama wrote:

Skip to about 7:40.

This a little dated but still pretty good. If you are going to start talking about max effort days and exercise rotations and shit, you might as well just do the conjugate method how it’s supposed to be done.[/quote]

I knew it would come from someone that you have to do 2 DE and two ME days no matter what, but i guess i should have added i have no chains or bands and alot of the Q&As on elite say without bands and chains DE isnt really worth it. Plus with the shitty bars it takes workouts longer to recover from this my Kinesology teacher explained hes actually a big time power lifter. Also im putting more emphasis on conditioning and not being virtually useless besides being able to squat bench and deadlift. From my ME lifts i can get a very good indication where my competition lifts are and can usually tell weaknesses. but when i go back to my 100% westside this summer i will do it the T.[/quote]

You don’t necessarily have to follow it to a T, but I think your “weakness” day could be better spent doing more productive exercises. Just because you use the conjugate method does NOT mean you have to get out of shape, just back off on the ME work a little and cut out an assistance lift or two. I also have no fucking possible idea in the universe how the quality of a barbell could possibly affect recovery time. I don’t know who said the dynamic method doesn’t work without bands and chains, but that is complete horse shit. The guys at westside used the dynamic effort method for years before ever getting any bands or chains and I have even seen interviews with Ed Coan where he said he used it a bit (although it wasn’t called dynamic effort at that time).

The main thing I wanted to emphasize with the video clip is that a large portion of the time your weakness will be in your hamstrings, lower back, or triceps. On occasion you see someone with weak abs, glutes, or grip, but it doesn’t seem to be as common as the previous three.
[/quote]

Something to the fact that the bars we have on campus the collars dont spin which means your fighting the weight and trying to lift ? idk ill have to ask again but i can tell the difference between training with quality bars and equipment vs training at the school gym. But i have the weirdest weaknesses for a raw lifter. lockout on bench like literally 2 inches from the lockout and squat i can get the hole fine and the top is hard… I have had a couple elite lifters tell me to work on lats and sholders and i can add more to my bench so im just following that, making it first priority[/quote]

If your collars don’t spin, then you’ll have to overcome both linear inertia and rotational inertia in order to move the barbell. In movements where the bar barely spins, e.g., bench and deadlift, you probably spend minimal energy overcoming rotational inertia because all of your effort is spent on moving the barbell in a relatively straight line. I doubt lifters even rotate the bar by more than 5 degrees throughout the lift. I’m not too sure about the rotation of the bar during a squat since it rests on your shoulders and your body angle changes throughout the lift. That could be a concern. The main problem with collars being unable to spin is when dealing with olympic lifts, e.g., clean and snatches. In those lifts, the bar rotates by over 180 degrees during the lift. My point is, those bars are okay to use for lifts where the bar barely rotates.

i talked to my teacher about it again he basically said ive been training for 35 years had these bars here on campus and the powerlifting gym by his house for the last 10-15 years and for some reason there is a difference. Something about the benches being a little lower changing how you position it, the bars being thicker and heavier and little things add up and change the mechanics… He said upper body 7-10% lower body about 5% in lifts ill be able to tell exactly how much with floor presses monday

but damn lift206 you seem like you know your shit lol

Lol I’m still new in the powerlifting game. The only reason why I explained it that way is because I studied mechanical engineering and can see that problem from a mechanics point of view. I can relate to your teacher with regard to different gym equipment affecting performance. During the summer I had a gym membership at a community center and the bench sucked. It was higher than normal and was slippery so I could barely get any leg drive.

The gym I’m currently at has a bench that is lower but still slippery. Someone on this forum or another mentioned cutting a square of yoga mat to place over the bench while lifting and it works wonders. I’m not sure how squat and deadlift numbers can fluctuate by much based on equipment since all you really need is a bar and rack. I guess it could be a problem if the bars you’re using had collars that didn’t spin freely like what you mentioned earlier. I’ve only had a problem with grip in the past and chalk fixed that problem. Anyways, you have some pretty solid numbers so keep up the great work!

thanks man! apprciate it but you sure will have that ive sent a couple questions to elitefts and they all say just do your bst on what you have and your competition #s will be the ones to gauge it with so im just doing that gonna try a 425 squat this weekend if my back loosens up!