Westside for Skinny Lakkhamu

Training Logs
1

Hi everybody. Let me start by a quick introduction. I live in Turkey and am 16 years old.

I’ve been lifting for about 9 months seriously and have hanged around and just “exercised” about 3 months prior to that. That 3 months of goofing around involved high rep endurance training for rowing (Which weren’t effective even sport-specific), a personal trainer workout written by an idiotic guess-who and some stupid programs written by myself. Then, I got hold of StrongLifts 5x5, which became my bible for about 5 months. I’ve achieved a 100kg/220lbs squat from merely 40kg/88lbs and gained about 8kg/18lbs. But, damn was my upper body weak. I had a stupendous squat, a mediocre deadlift and a laughable bench press (52.5kg/115lbs), military press(37.5kg/85lbs) and especially barbell row(40kg/88lbs). Something was wrong. My legs were also humongous compared to my upper body, which I can say is just genetics.

So, having stalled on squats after one deload, I began a 3x/week push/pull split not very different from SL in template, but had 1/3 the legs. I made some good progress with the barbell rows (47.5kg/100lbs) and a “meh” increment of 2.5kg/5lbs in my bench. Than, after switching gyms so that it was at walking distance to my home, I began Max-OT. I made miraculous gains: A whopping 10kg/22lbs gain in weight (although it wasn’t the “leanest” gain), 65kg/145lbs bench press for 4/4/3/1, a 67.5kg/150lbs row for 5/5/5, a 50 kg/110lbs overhead press for 5/4/3 and a 97.5kg/215lbs deadlift for 5/5/5/5. Oh and a 5kg/11lbs increment for the squat. However, recently, having been on Max-OT for 2 months, I began stalling on EVERYTHING and couldn’t put on a pound to that bar. I knew it was time. After giving a one week rest (due to exams), I began searching for another program, and just as I was setting my mind on doing a bodybuilding split, WS4SB took me off my tracks. I fell in love.

Speaking of diets, I practically didn’t have any. I ate whatever, however, whenever I wanted as long as it wasn’t fast food or was in excess. The result was that I have a 16% bodyfat from 13% at the beginning is SL, but I’m damn sure I wouldn’t have gained as much strength otherwise. My preworkout meals were usually small snacks such as nuts or peanut butter over bread. I’ve drunk one liter of milk post workout as long as I’ve known myself. One thing is that I’ve had, and still have no access to any supplements due to my mom. She allows neither whey protein nor enter supplement name here, but rather allows me only multivitamins by Solgar.

So here are my stats:

Age:16
Height: 1.80m/6’
Weight: 79 kilos/175 lbs.
Bodyfat: 16%
Squat: 107.5kg/235lbs 5/5/5.
Deadlift: 97.5kg/220lbs 5/5/5/5.
Bench Press: 65kg/145lbs 4/4/3/1.
Overhead Press: 50kg/110lbs 5/4/3.
Barbell Row: 67.5kg/150lbs 5/5/5.
Chin-ups: 2 (Don’t laugh please!)
Dips: 9 (Imbalance, anyone?)

So without further ado, my log:

2

Upper Body Max-Effort: 26.03.11, Saturday
Preworkout meal: 1.5 handful peanuts.

Bench Press: 55kg8, 60kg6, 62.5kg4, 65kg3. 2-3 minutes rest. Moderately easy.

Incline Dumbbell Press: 20kg38. 1-1.30 minutes rest. The last set was literally to failure.

Barbell Rows/One arm rear laterals: 60kg10/6kg10. 1.30-2 minutes rest. This was VERY tiring but a hell lotta fun.

Incline Dumbbell Curl: 8kg*8,6,6. 1-1.30 minutes rest. The first set was 30 degrees, the others were 45. Which one is better do you thing? The weight was a bit heavy.
A
bs Circuit *3: 10 crunch/10 leg lift/10 revese crunch/10 bicycle crunch, no rest between exercises, 1-1.30 minutes rest. Gruelling.

Postworkout meal: 1 liter milk, some candy.

So, any tips that would help, anybody?

3

There’s a thread on here called the bodybuilding bible, ramping weights as Brick outlined in that thread let me make better progress than WS4SB. Good read anyway.

I’d probably do barbell curls instead of incline db curls. And I’d work more on chinups. And deadlifts. Why can’t you deadlift more?

It’s great that you’ve started training, keep it up.

4

[quote]kakno wrote:
There’s a thread on here called the bodybuilding bible, ramping weights as Brick outlined in that thread let me make better progress than WS4SB. Good read anyway.

I’d probably do barbell curls instead of incline db curls. And I’d work more on chinups. And deadlifts. Why can’t you deadlift more?

It’s great that you’ve started training, keep it up.[/quote]

I think it’s partly because of my rowing years. We did set after set of squats without any deadlifts (What a mistake for a rower!) and by the time I began SL5x5, I had a 40kg squat and a 25 kg deadlift. My numbers are luckily moving very fast on the deadlift. I have no idea about chin ups, but I can’t curl a lot either (25kg for 6/6/5), and can’t do bodyweight barbell rows yet, so moving there (I plan on actually adding chin ups to WS4SB though). Thanks for the referance by the way, it has some great material in it!

5

Max Effort Lower Body: 28.03.11

Today, I woke up feeling like shit having slept about 6 hours and literally dragged my ass to the gym with a bold change of heart, but it was all worth it after all. So here’s how it goes:

Pre-Workout Meal: A large dish of a traditional Turkish meal with peas, minced meat and some potatoes, some candy.

Deadlift:
Empty bar x 2 x 10
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
85kg x 8
92.5kg x 6
97.5kg x 4
102.5kg x 3 (PR)
All the sets with the exception of the max effort one felt unusually hard and interestingly the max effort was easier than 97.5x4. I could’ve banged out one more rep but didn’t. Was that a mistake anyone?

Bulgarian Squat:
10kg dumbbells x 3 x 10
The weights were light, but I had a lot of trouble keeping my balance. I need to work on that to lift more weight.

Cable Pullthroughs:
22.5kg x 3 x 10
This worked my back much more than my glutes or my hamstrings. Can anyone explain why? Is my hamstring too strong for my lower back or is my form crappy?

Barbell Shrugs/Pinch Plate Holds superset:
80kg x 6/25kg x 10s
70kg x 12/25kg x 13s
70kg x 12/25kg x 6s

These killed me. During the first set, my grip gave away very fast and my shrugs were limited. The following sets weren’t much more different, although I could do twice the reps I could’ve gone for a lot more. The pinch grip plate holds were also a bit of a failure with these numbers. I really need to do some grip work I suppose. Interesting thing I never have troubles deadlifting!

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

6

Repetition Upper Body: 30.03.11

I was a bit tired today, but this did nothing to stop me.

Pre-workout meal: Spicy chicken, some french fries (Yeah, I know…)

Bodyweight Dips:
11/9/6 (PR). 1.30-2 minutes rest. Unusually hard especially the first reps for an unknown reason.

Lat Pulldown/Straight Arm Pulldown:
55kg/15kg, 10/10 x 3
The first set was hard. The second set was harder. The last set beat the shit out of me. I had to cheat the last few reps of the pulldown.

Seated Military Press:
5 x Empty Bar
3 x 30kg
1 x 40kg
4 x 45kg
6 x 40kg
4 x 40kg
I used to press 50kg for 5/4/3, but the lat superset really f*cked me up and add that to the fact that I did them seated really made me lower the weight, and even so couldn’t bang out the prescribed amount of reps. Should lower next time.

Alternating Dumbbell Curl/Lying Triceps Extension:
10kg x 8 (each arm)/20kg x 10 x 3
Moderately easy. Nothing really to comment on.

Cable Crunches/Side Bends:
30kg/20kg (each hand) x 3
Hard. But doable.

Post-Workout Meal: 1 liter milk.

7

Max Effort Upper Body: 02.04.11

Although had a little soreness, I was in the exact mood to work out.

Pre-Workout Meal: Salmon, steamed (I guess) broccoli and a starchy dessert.

Bench Press:
10 x Empty Bar
5 x 30kg
3 x 40kg
1 x 50kg
8 x 55kg
6 x 60kg
4 x 62.5kg
4 x <67.5kg*
3 x 67.5kg (PR)
2-3 minutes rest.
Everything here was a breeze. Everything was easy and nothing hurt! About the penultimate set, I asked a personal trainer to spot me and he deadlifted the weight while I pretended to bench. That idiot! I think the weight lifted by me was about 62.5-65 kg. Then I decided to bang my own PR after some rest. The first two reps were absurdly easy yet I grinded the 3rd rep and it took about 5 seconds to ascend.

30 degrees Incline Dumbbell Press:
9 x 20kg
8 x 20kg
7 x 20kg
1.30-2 minutes rest.
After the bench press PR and the absurd 9 reps of the first set, the last rep of the third set didn’t come. Stupid me.

Barbell Rows/One arm rear laterals:
3x 11/11 x 60kg/6kg
1.30 minutes rest.
My back felt very good doing these. Moderately hard.

45 degree Incline Dumbbell Curls:
8 x 8kg
8 x 8kg
6 x 8kg
1-1.30 minutes rest.
My biceps were very sore by the third set so that’s all I got.

Abs Circuit:
3 x 10 x (Crunch/Leg Lift/Reverse Crunch/Bicycle Crunch (2 legs one rep))
It was easier than the last time yet still destroyed my core.

Post-Workout Meal: 1 liter milk, sucuklu ceviz (Hard to explain. Not quite candy but consumed for fast carbs. Contains very dense, almost solidified molasses coated walnuts).

8

Max Effor Lower Body: 05.04.11

Pre-Workout Meal: Fish, some beans.

Deadlift:
Empty Bar x 2 x 10
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
87.5kg x 8
92.5kg x 6
100kg x 4
105kg x 3 (PR)
Almost easy. After the last set, though, after a minute of euphoria I felt like total shit and that ruined my workout.

Bulgarian Split Squat:
2 x 10kg (Dumbbells) x 10
After the second set a very sharp pain hit my knees and I didn’t proceed with the third set. It still lingered even before bed!

Cable Pullthroughs:
22.5kg x 11
Another horrible exercise. Recently, they added some circular handles to the rope attachment of the cable and I almost tore my biceps before quitting.

Barbell Shrugs/Pinch Grip Plate Holds:
70kg/25kg x 12/15s
70kg/25kg x 12/15s
70kg/25kg x 12/12s
My grip failed before my traps, but I have trap soreness so I guess it wasn’t all that bad. The plate holds were better than last time.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk

I felt like total shit hours after the workout and drank thi milk in one hour, lol. I was so bloated I thought I would explode. Perhaps I was overhydrated between sets of my deadlift? I drank too much water.

9

Max Effor Lower Body: 05.04.11

Pre-Workout Meal: Fish, some beans.

Deadlift:
Empty Bar x 2 x 10
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
87.5kg x 8
92.5kg x 6
100kg x 4
105kg x 3 (PR)
Almost easy. After the last set, though, after a minute of euphoria I felt like total shit and that ruined my workout.

Bulgarian Split Squat:
2 x 10kg (Dumbbells) x 10
After the second set a very sharp pain hit my knees and I didn’t proceed with the third set. It still lingered even before bed!

Cable Pullthroughs:
22.5kg x 11
Another horrible exercise. Recently, they added some circular handles to the rope attachment of the cable and I almost tore my biceps before quitting.

Barbell Shrugs/Pinch Grip Plate Holds:
70kg/25kg x 12/15s
70kg/25kg x 12/15s
70kg/25kg x 12/12s
My grip failed before my traps, but I have trap soreness so I guess it wasn’t all that bad. The plate holds were better than last time.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk

I felt like total shit hours after the workout and drank thi milk in one hour, lol. I was so bloated I thought I would explode. Perhaps I was overhydrated between sets of my deadlift? I drank too much water.

10

Repetition Upper Body: 11.04.11,

After a long while of depraved sleep and shitty nutrition thanks to MUN, finally back in action! Let’s began without further ado.

Pre-workout meal: Some meat and beans.

Dips:
12/8/6. 1.30-2 minutes rest. Nothing of concern, no PR though.

Lat Pulldown/Straight Arm Pulldown:
57.5kg/17.5kg x 3 x 10/10 1.30-2 minutes rest. The last reps of the pulldown were excruciatingly hard. Didn’t really feel it. The straight arm version was really easy though, easier than the previous one.

Military Press: 40kg x 10/6/6, 1.30-2 minutes rest. I think I pushed it too hard on the first set. Should’ve sticked with 8/8/8.

Alternating Dumbbell Curls/Lying Triceps Extensions:
10kg/22.5kg x 3 x 9(each arm)/8, 1.30-2 minutes rest. The curls were hard on my forearms as I did them palms in at the beginning and supine at the end. The extensions were also a bit challenging.

Cable Crunches/Side Bends:
32.5kg/20kg x 12/10(each side), 1.30 minutes rest. The crunches were really challenging but will increment the side bends. Easy.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

11

Max Effort Upper Body: 14.04.11

I was sent to the discipline committee today so I was a bit demoralized today.

Pre-workout meal: Beans and rice

Bench Press:
Empty Bar x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 3
55kg x 1
57.5kg x 8
60kg x 6
65kg x 4
70kg x 3 (PR)
2-3.30 minutes rest. The sets were easy until the last one. I think I had a very tiny assistance but nevertheless could probably bang the last rep out anyway.

Dumbbell Bench Press:
20kg x 3 x 9
2 minutes rest. Easy enough with nothing unusual.

Barbell Rows/One Arm Rear Laterals:
62.5kg/8kg x 3 x 11/10(each arm)
1.30-2 minutes rest. The rear laterals were hard as fuck. The rows were easy.

Incline 30 degrees dumbbell curls:
8kg x 3 x 8(each arm)
1.30-2 minutes rest. I couldn’t use a full ROM on this one for an unknown reason. It felt way too difficult, but could get the last set this time.

Abs Circuit:
Crucnh/Leg Raise/Reverse Crunch/Bicycle Crunch x 3 x 10/10/10/20
1-1.30 minutes rest. This felt REALLY hard this time. I’m not sure why but I think my abs lost some strength, and they certainly did not gain any, unlike my other lifts.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk, some candy.

12

Max Effort Lower Body: 18.04.11

I got greatly sick lately but I was fine today and the boringness of being suspended from school was great, so I felt highly motivated before workout and it really did give.

Pre-workout meal: A broth with chicken, lentils.

Deadlift:
10 x empty bar
5 x 60kg
3 x 80kg
8 x 87.5kg
6 x 92.5kg
4 x 100kg
3 x 107.5kg (PR)
Too easy. The only thing that ever felt hard during this whole procedure was the initial pull from the floor of the last set.

Bulgarian Squat:
3 x 10 (each leg) x 12kg (each hand)
It was abnormally normal. I had problems with this every time I did it, but none now.

Cable Pullthrough:
3 x 10 x 25kg
I wasn’t going to do this today but at the last moment, I received some divine strength and did it anyway. Used the D handle today and it was MUCH better. Problemless.

Barbell Shrugs/Pinch Grip Plate Holds:
3 x 12 x 70kg / 16/15/14s x 25kg
For the first time, my traps gave away before my grip did and I REALLY worked those traps! Also I felt better with the plate holds. After all those months it seems that only with high rep shrugs I could build a strong grip.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk

13

Repetition Upper Body: 20.04.11

This is coming in late unfortunately, but here’s what I did.

Pre-workout Meal: Some rice and peas

Dips:
12/9/6 (PR)
2 minutes rest. I had no real issues with these.

Lat Pulldown/Straight Arm Pulldown:
60kg/17.5kg x 10/10, 10/10, 8/10
1.30-2 minutes rest. The pulldowns were very hard. I used a jerking motion and almost turned some of them into rows. So, a stupid personal trainer came near me and insulted my form. After all, not a very good one.

Military Press:
40kg x 8/8/6
1.30-2 minutes rest. I couldn’t go for 8 in the last set. Plus my wrists hurt doing those since there exists no power rack in my gym and I power clean the weight from the floor so can’t use a thumbless grip.

Alternating Dumbbell Curls/Lying Triceps Extensions:
10kg/25kg x 10(each arm)/10, 10/,10, 10/8
1.30 minutes rest. The last set of curls were excruciatingly hard and momentum was really my guide there, and the extensions weren’t much of a relief either.

Cable Crunches/Dumbbell Side Bends:
35kg/22kg x 3 x 12/10(each side)
1.30 minutes rest. It was a pretty normal exercise with nothing to note.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

14

Max Effort Upper Body: 25.04.11

Another one coming in late, but better than nothing.

Pre-workout meal: Some red meat with a salad

Bench Press:
1 x Empty Bar
5 x 30kg
3 x 40kg
1 x 55kg
8 x 57.5kg
6 x 60kg
4 x 65kg
2 x 72.5kg (PR)
2-4 minutes rest. It was actually a triple since the spotter had ME bench that last rep with very “minimal” (as he put) assistance but I couldn’t bang it out alone so it’s really a double. For some reason, the 65kg set was very hard, probably the hardest set of today.

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press:
5 x 24kg, 8 x 22kg, 6 x 22kg
2 minutes rest. I don’t know why, but these were VERY hard. I’ll just continue to do them until I can reap some benefits.

One Arm Dumbbell Rows:
3 x 9 x 24kg
1.30-2 minutes rest. For some very stupid reason I forgot to superset this with an upper-back exercise. It was supposed to be rear laterals on an incline bench, but hell, I’ll do it my next workout.

Barbell Curls:
3 x 8 x 25kg
1.30 minutes rest. These were ridiculously heavy. I really cheated the last few reps.

Abs Circuit:
Leg Raise/Crunch/Reverse Crunch/Bicycle Crunch: 10/10/10/20
1-1.30 minutes rest. The only thing I did with this one was to change the order. Wasn’t particularly insightful but I’ll come up with something more creative later.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

15

Max Effort Lower Body: 27.04.11

Felt great before workout unusually.

Pre-workout meal: Pasta with a lot of minced meat

Deadlift:
2 x 10 x Empty Bar
60kg x 5
80kg x 3
85kg x 1
90kg x 8
95kg x 6
102.5kg x 4
110kg x 3(PR)
2-4 minutes rest. There was no problem until the last set, where the grip was a slight challenge. Other than that, nothing was remarkably difficult.

Dumbbell Step Ups:
1 x 8 x 20kg dumbbells each hand.
My knees were screwed after the first set, which was too damn hard and I stopped doing the exercise. I may drop this whole unilateral quad exercises really or substitute for two legged ones.

Weighted Back Extensions:
3 x 10 x 20kg plate
1.30-2 minutes rest. Hard as fuck. The last reps really killed me with that 20 kilo plate tearing the skin of my forearms but I felt a great burn in my whole posterior chain. I liked this.

Dumbbell Shrugs/Dumbbell Holds:
3 x 10/10s x 36kg.
2 minutes rest. These felt very good both for my traps and my forearms. I let them burn.

Post-workout meal: One liter milk.

16

Repetition Upper Body: 29.04.11

This is coming in even later than usual. Oh well.

Pre-workout meal: Some meat and butter-spread bread.

Bench Press:
Warmup
60kg x 11,6,6
2-3 minutes rest. I went to literal failure on the first set so naturally the rest didn’t come very well. Anyway, I’ll focus on getting more reps with this one than increasing weight.

Barbell Rows/Rear Delt Raises:
65kg/8kg x 3 x 10/10
2 minutes rest. I just love barbell rows too much. Also this is my first tweak to the program. This should’ve been a vertical pull but the hell with pulldowns. The rear delt raises were hard as fuck though.

One Arm Dumbbell Military Presses:
22kg x 5, 20kg x 8, 20kg x 6
2 minutes rest. These were grueling. The first and the last sets were done more like jerks than overhead presses. I need to fix that. Also my obliques hurt doing these.

Dumbbell Hammer Curls/Rope Pushdowns:
12kg/25kg x 3 x 8/8
1.30-2 minutes rest. The curls were easy but the pushdowns were challenging. I couldn’t feel my triceps but who gives a fuck I do this program as a powerlifting one.

Weighted Crunches/Dumbbell Side Bends:
5kg/24kg x 3 x 12/10
1.30-2 minutes rest. The damned plate kept hitting my spinal chord and my neck and that nagged me and the grip was a challenge with the side bends, probably due to them being fatigued by the rows.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

17

04.05.11: Max Effort Upper Body

Couldn’t write anything for some time because I was on a vacation, but nevertheless I kept a notebook handy and recorded my workouts. Here is the first one.

Pre-workout meal: Beef and rice

Bench Press:
2 x 10 x Empty Bar
5 x 30k
3 x 40k
1 x 55kg
6 x 90kg
4 x 62.5kg
3 x 67.5kg
3 x 72.5 kg (PR)
2-4 minutes rest. Too easy. Definite increment.

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press:
3 x 8 x 22kg
2-2.30 minutes rest. Felt much better than last time. Could properly keep my balance.

One Arm Dumbbell Rows/Incline Rear Delt Raises:
3 x 10/10 x 24kg/6kg
2 minutes rest. The rows were objectively easy, but the delt raises gave me hell. I couldn’t use a hell of a momentum and that was a problem.

Barbell Curls:
3 x 8 x 25kg
1.30-2 minutes rest. Felt much better than last time but I still cheated on the last reps and did some pause-rest style ones. Will improve.

Abs Circuit:
Leg Raise/Crunch/Reverse Crunch/Bicycle Crunch: 10/10/10/20
1-1.30 minutes rest. No matter what I do these don’t improve. Couldn’t give any less shit.

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

18

Max Effort Lower Body: 06.05.11

See above. I radically changed my max effort working philosophy to 3x3. If anyone’s reading this what do you think?

Pre-workout meal: Beef stew, rice and some beans.

Deadlift:
2 x 10 x Empty Bar
5 x 60kg
3 x 80kg
1 x 95kg
3 x 102.5kg
3 x 107.5kg
3 x 112.5kg (PR)
2-4 minutes rest. Interestingly the warmup was challenging. The last set was also a bit difficult from the lockout.

Step-Ups:
3 x 8 x 14kg dumbbells
1.30-2 minutes rest. I hate unilateral exercises for high reps. Brings back rowing memories. As soon as I finish negotiating for the power-rack I’m going for squats for reps.

Back Extensions:
3 x 10 x 20kg
2-2.30 minutes rest. I learned to love this exercise. It’s a real challenge for the posterior chain. I saw a powerlifter here working out with 3 20kg plates, hope I can get to that point someday.

Dumbbell Shrugs/Dumbbell Static Holds:
3 x 10/10s x 36kg/36kg
1.30-2 minutes rest. The shrugs felt easier, the holds felt harder than the previous time. Perhaps due to the dumbbell holds at the step ups?

Post-workout meal: 1 liter milk.

19

Hey Lakkhamu. it looks as though you’ve done the bench press, and the deadlift for every max effort session so far. Is that correct? You should be putting at least two more exercises in your rotation

20

[quote]GhostOD wrote:
Hey Lakkhamu. it looks as though you’ve done the bench press, and the deadlift for every max effort session so far. Is that correct? You should be putting at least two more exercises in your rotation[/quote]

Those are my weakest lift aside from the chin up. I really first want to get the max out of them and stall big time before moving on to other exercises. They still are not on par with my squat. and I still consider myself too much a beginner to do the max effort exercises real westside style since I’m putting weight on the bar currently fast.