The Best of Both Worlds

In case you may not know already, I have sucessfully completing 6 out of 8 weeks on Christian Thibadeu’s 8 weeks to a record bench program, and added 30 pounds to my bench (shatering an almost year long plateau). With that weight off of my chest (quite literally), I have decided to end the program early and get back to training the big 3 (Squat, Bench, Deadlift). For my training, I plan on doing a Westside/Juggernaut method hybrid that looks something like this:

Sunday: Max effort bench

Tuesday: Jugg method Squat

Thursday: Dynamic effort bench

Friday or Saturday: Jugg method Deadlift

The reason for this hybrid program is simple, I have found that I have the best gains on bench press when I bench heavy and with a higher frequency (Westside), and I have found that my squat and deadlift improve the best when I train using submaximal loads with a higher volume (Juggernaut Method).

Bench press goals: I just added 30 pounds to my bench in 6 weeks so im not expecting anything huge here just yet. A nice 10-15 pound gain in the next few months will be nice.

Squat goals: I want to be able to squat 405 in the next few months, so thats anywhere from a 50-60 pounds gain from where I am right now.

Deadlift: I have high hopes for this lift because I am realatively new to it (only been deadlifting for about 6 months) and the sky is the limit. My ultimate goal is to hit 600 about a year from now, but for now I am looking to hit 500 in the next few months.

Current maxes:

Bench: 265x1 (easy), 275x0 (halfway, could have got it if I was fresh)
Squat: 315x5, 335x3 (im not sure what my 1RM is but it should be around 355)
Deadlift: 455x1 (just did this one today and it was a PR, after NOT TRAINING IT FOR 2 MONTHS!!!)

I will be starting up my training next week and I will do my best to get some videos of my workouts posted. If you want to check out my last log it is called: Alex’s 8 Weeks to a Record Bench.

-Alex

Week 1: Max Effort Upper Body

Bench Press: Work up to 5RM
95 2x5
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x3
245x2

Pin press (7 holes showing):
225x3
225x2
225x5 (stopped just before the pins on this set)

Overhead tricep extentions:
60x8
80x8
95x8
100x8

Barbell Rows: 155 4x8

Side lateral raises: 20 3x10

Here is the footage from today:

Notes: The other person in the video is my friend Austin who will also be doing the same training as me. I was hoping to hit 245 for 5 reps but that didnt happen unfortunately. I clearly have a problem with my mid range strength as I seem to get stuck there all the time. I will deffinitly be adding in more board press, floor press, and tricep work in the next few weeks. Austin clearly has an issue with bar speed because he got stuck right above his chest. With a max of about 310, he should have been able to get at least 3 reps with 275, but he is way too slow!!! Because of this, we will be adding bands to our speed bench days.

-Alex

Week 1 JM Squat: Ohhh this workout kicked my ass!!!

Squat: 205 5x10
RDL: 145x8, 195x8

Yep thats it. The high reps on the squat are no joke. After I finished squats, I felt about ready to throw up, but I continued on with the RDL’s anyways. After the second set I had to go sit down and breath for a few minutes because I thought I was going to die lol. My legs hurt, heart was racing, sweating buckets, you get the picture. I can not beleive that I was so gased out today. I assume that it is due to the fact that I havnt trained with high reps on squats in over 4 months. That might have been it lol. Below is a video of my first 2 sets, after which I decided to stop filming because I didnt think you wanted to watch the same thing 5 times. Hopefully next week, I can mount a comeback and actually finish the workout.

NOTES: Did I mention that I almost threw up? lol

Week 1, Dynamic Bench Day:

Banded bench press: 135 9x3

Military: 95x8, 115x8, 135x7, 135x6, 135x6

Weighted dips: 25 for 5 sets. Reps per set: 10, 10, 9, 8, 8

Wide grip pull ups (bodyweight): 7, 7, 7, 6

Underhand pull ups (bodyweight): 8, 8

Barbell curls: 85 3x8

NOTES: I will probobly be using more weight for speed bench next week since all of the sets were pretty fast. I had a monster pump in my triceps from the dips, so I was very happy about that lol. Overall, just a great workout.

Week 1: Deadlift Day

JM Deadlift: 5x10 with 245
(on last set do AMAP)
Front Squat: 3x5 with 185
Lunges: 3x6 each leg with 135
Decline sit ups: 3x10 with 10lb plate behind head

NOTES: As you can see, deadlifts are not an issue lol. Front squats on the other hand, well this was the first time I have ever done them so they felt a bit weird. This workout was a breeze yesterday, im looking forward to increasing the weight back into the 300’s in the next wave.

Week 2, Max Effort Upper Body

Bench Press: 95 2x5, 135x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 245x1, 255x1, 270x1(PR), 275x0, 255x1, 255x1

Pin Press (7 holes showing): 225x5, 235x4, 235x4

DB overhead extention: 100x10, 105x7, 105x7

Barbell Row: 135x8, 155x8, 155x8, 185x5, 175x6, 135x8

Joe DeFranco’s shoulder shocker, 2 sets of: 45 plate front raise 8 reps, 15lb db lateral raise 8 reps, 15lb db clean 6 reps (these burned a lot once I started doing the db cleans)

NOTES: I set a 5lb PR today for my 1RM on bench press. Austin almost had 315 lol. After a few more speed workouts, he will crush it. I say this because his mid range/lockout is clearly not an issue if he can do more reps with 285 off of the pins (3-4 inches off his chest) than he can off of his chest. Pin press was way better this week than last week for both of us, and I also set a PR on every set of overhead extentions. Good stuff today. I am looking forward to doing floor press as our max effort movement next week.

Week 2, JM Squat Day:

JM Squat: 225 3x10
RDL: 195 3x8
Seated calf raise: 45 per side 3x15
Ab wheel rollout: 3x8

Yep thats all I did yesterday. I had to get in and get out so I get on with my busy schedule. I also do not have any video of this workout because I was in a rush and forgot the cammera. I will be adding in some sets of leg press and more calf raise stuff just for shits and giggles starting next week, and some extra hamstring work now that i think about it.

Speed bench with bands tommorow…YES!!! lol

Later,

Alex

Week 2, Dynamic Bench:

Speed Bench (w/ bands): 135 3x3, 145 3x3, 155 3x3 (switched grips every 3 sets)

Military: 95x8, 115x6, 135x6, 145x6 (PR), 155x3 (PR)

Weighted Dips: bodyweight x8, 25x8, 45x8, 45x8, 45x7

Pull ups (wide grip) bodyweight 5 sets: 8,8,7,7,6

Barbell curl: 85 5x8

NOTES: My sets on bench today were a bit slower than last week I think, and that is most likely due to the fact that I had to workout early this morning instead of my usual afternoon workouts. Even though I was feeling a bit grogy, I still did really well by setting some PR’s on Military press. On another note…I wish this girl would text me back already lol.

Week 2, JM Deadlift:

Deadlift: 275 3x10 (last set: 15 reps)

Front squats: 185 3x5

Lunges: 65 db’s 3x12steps

Ab machine: 60 3x12

NOTES: Deadlifts were easy as expected. Front squats were a little less awkward this time but they will still take some getting used to. I do not have any more footage of this workout because my battery on the cammera died during my AMAP deadlift set. Great workout yesterday, and I am looking forward to max effort upper body tommorow.

Week 3, Max Effort Upper Body:

Floor Pres(1RM): 45x8, 95x5, 95x5, 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 235x1, 255x1, 265x1(PR), 275x0, 265x1

JM Press: 95x6, 95x6, 115x6, 115x6, 115x8

Overhead tricep ext: 60x8, 85x8, 100x8, 100x8, 100x8

Barbell rows: 135x8, 155 4x8

DeFranco’s shoulder shocker, 3 Sets (8-10 reps each exercise) with: 45lb plate front raise, 15lb db lateral raise, 15lb db clean

NOTES: I have not done floor press in over a year, so I deffinitly did not expect to get 265 today. My original goal was to hit 255, but when that went up easy I had to set my sights a bit higher. I always thought your floor press max was supposed to be lower than your bench max…apparently not for me. JM press took some getting used to as I have only tried them once before. After a few sets I started to find my grove and I added some more weight. The rest of the workout went as expected and I am very happy with my performance (except for those shoulder shocker sets…ohhhhh the pain lol).

Week 3, JM Squat:

Squat: 245xAMAP = 19 reps (thought I did 20 but i wathced the video afterwards and i was one short)

Hack Squat: 90 lbs each side x8, 100 lbs each side x8, 125 lbs each side x6

Thats all I did yesterday because I was going to the beach right after my workout and I didnt want to kill my legs completely as they would surely get worked running around in the sand. Below is the video of my AMAP set with 245 on squats.

NOTES: My new working max for squats will be 355.

Week 3, Dynamic Bench Day:

Bench press w/bands: 135x3, 145x3, 155x3 (3 sets at each weight, switching grips every 3 sets)

Incline Bench Press: 135x5, 185x6, 185x5, 185x5

Bodyweight dips: 20, 16, 16, 16

Bodyweight pull ups(wide grip): 8, 8, 7, 7, 6

DB extentions (elbows in): 25x10, 35x10, 35x10

This was yesterdays workout, but I did not get a chance to post it until now.

Week 3, JM Deadlift:

Deadlift AMAP set: 315x20 (new working max will be 460)

Leg Press: 3pps x8, 4 1/2 pps x8, 5 1/2 pps x8, 6 1/2 pps x8, 7pps x 8

That was it for this workout because i had to go home and get ready for a party.

Week 4, Max effort upper body. (Sundays workout)

Floor Press: 45x8, 95x5, 95x5, 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 245x1, 255x1, 275x0, 245x2

JM Press: 45x8, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 135x5, 135x7

Tate Press: 25x10, 40x12, 45x12, 50x10

DB Row: 50x12 each side, 65x12 each side (3 sets)

Rear delt raise superset with lateral raise: 15x12 each raise (3 sets)

Week 4, Max Effort Upper Body Highlights:

Week 4, JM Squat (Today’s workout):

Squat: 5x8 with 225 (last set: 15 reps)

Leg Press: 6pps x8, 7pps x8, 7pps x10

RDL: 95x8, 145x8, 165x8, 165x8, 165x8

Decline sit up: 10lb plate behind head, 4x10

NOTES: I will not be doing the deload as scheduled in the Juggernaut program simply because I feel like I dont need it yet. This workout went great today and I was not winded from the high reps like I was 3 weeks ago. I will deffinitly be using more weight on the leg press next week because I have not yet found a weight that will limit me to 6 reps (i want to do 3x6 for this assistance exercise). I kept it light on the RDL’s today since my legs were already unsteady from earlier in the workout. Overall, great stuff today.

(Thursday) Dynamic effort bench:

Bench w/ 45lbs of bands: 9 sets, switch grips each set, used 135, 145, and 155 for bar weight

Incline Bench Press: 135x5, 185x5, 195x5 (PR), 205x4 (PR), 205x5 (Another PR, really? lol)

Close grip bench press: 185x5, 205 3x3

DB extentions: 25x10, 40 3x10

Pull ups (dead hang): 5 sets: 6, 6, 6, 6, 5

(Friday) JM Deadlift:

Deadlift: 5x8 w/ 295 (did not go for extra reps today because my back was throbing from the earlier sets)

Front Squat: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5

Lunge: 135x12, 155x12, 155x12

Barbell curl: 65x8, 85x6, 95x10, 95x8, 95x8, 95x8

Forearm stuff: 3 sets each exercise

Week 5 (Sunday) Max Effort Bench:

Bench Press: 95x5, 95x5, 135x3, 155x3, 185x3, 205x3, 225x2, 245x1, 260x1(rather difficult) 245x2, 245x2

Floor Press: 185x5, 225x4, 225x3, 225x3

Tate press: 25x10, 40x10, 50 3x10

Machine rows: 6 sets of 12-15 reps, switch grip each set, 45 and 25 each side

NOTES: felt good warming up for bench press and felt like going for 275 today, but once I barely got 260 I decided it was time to just get some more reps with less weight. this was most likely due to getting home at 3:00 in the morning from universal studios halloween horror night. I should be back in action and ready to attempt 275 next week.

(Tuesday) JM Squat:

Squat: 3x8 w/ 255 (last set: 12 reps)

Leg Press: 6pps x 10, 7pps x 10, 7 1/2pps x 8, 8pps x 6

Leg curl: 110x8, 140x8, 140x8, 140x8 (did these instead of RDL’s because I caught this chick checking me out over by the leg curl machine…which would you have chosen lol)

Decline sit up: 5x10 (10 lb plate behind head)