Strength training

ksteensma

New Member
Recently, a question I had about building strength brought me a response regarding WSB workout.

Can someone explain what WSB is??

Thanks Kevin
 
Westside! My favorite prior to HST. Westside is based on scientific powerlifting principles. It involves 4 workouts a week. 2 bench and 2 squat workouts. Of each pair of workouts, say for bench, one is a max effort workout where you go to your 1RM, the other is a speed workout where you take 60% of your 1RM and do 8sets of 3reps as fast a bar travel as possible. Sometimes you add chains and bands on speed day to increase the explosiveness of it. Speed work is also heavily eccentric in nature increasing 1RM in several studies. The weights are periodized such as 50% - 55% - 60% for speed days, 1 week each. Max effort is always max effort. The complete system can be found here http://elitefts.com/ . But start here to get it all quickly: http://www.testosterone.net/html/133per.html .

Why do I do HST now? Well . . . the funny thing about vastly increasing your 1RM is that you don't necessarily get any bigger. I thought you would . . . I figured when I benched 225 that benching 350 for reps I'd be huge. Not so. I gained maybe 10lbs total, no appreciable loss of BF. In fact, if you think about it, that's what powerlifters are trying to do. They are in weight classes. So lifting more, without getting bigger or gaining weight is what their programs are designed to do. Boy do they work too!! But I want muscle mass. For me, HST is for bodybuilding what Westside is for powerlifting. Success . . . and science.
 
WOW!
Great explanation. I have never tried it before. I am interested in gaining strength in my bench and military press. Will this work on any muscle group? I havent read the threads you provided, so maybe I should read first, ask later.
Thanks for the response. Kevin
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It almost certainly will improve your bench press.
Though you seldomly practice the military press, this too will be improved as your shoulders and triceps will gain great strength from the other exercises.
 
I'm still alittle confused, could I use it on bicep, tricep, delts, or is it for the large movements only?
My bench has stalled for a while, and I would love to add another 25 lbs to it ( who doesn't). I'll try this out in a couple weeks after my long awaited vacation.
Thanks, Kevin
 
Yes, you can adapt the same principles used for the bench and squat to any muscle or any lift, but in powerlifting, delts, tris, etc. are usually worked as assistance muscles only. That's why they don't include them in the same manner- it's all about those big lifts. And you don't really want to go so heavy on triceps work as you would on the bench, there's too great a chance of injury. Other than that you can apply the same routine to triceps or shoulders if they are a weak point, just stay away from the lower rep ranges and be careful about that speed training as well. Also, I just started experimenting with my grip on the bench and it makes a big difference just moving my hands an inch or two. Make sure you aren't short-changing yourself by using the wrong form or grip. If you want to lift more weight, do what they do- press with your feet, arch your back, press in the right groove for you, tuck your shoulder blades, shrug up into your neck, and so on. Identify any weaknesses in the chain and destroy them. :) "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"- and all that.
 
Just remember that the westside program that people generally reference, is just a base, or guide program. Much like HST there is a fair difference in the way people will implement the program.
The basics are that it uses conjugate periodization rather than classical linear periodization
 
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