Bigger, Stronger, Faster: Meet Mr. Joe DeFranco

[Rev]

Originally posted by RipStone:
should I do eight sets to work up to my max effort lift of 3 reps and then do 5 sets of my max effort wieght with 3 reps. So something like this....

45x5
95x5....
max effort lift
225x3
225x3....

Also, should all my other lifts be going to technical failure? Man I am excited to start this routine. I am gonna start tommorow.

Say you want to work up to a max triple of 225lbs. Do your warm up, which may include the bar for reps or other exercises, and then I would start with 95 or 135 depending on the lift. Like say you were going for a triple with 225 for a squat, I would do this...

warm up bar x squat, then start the sets

95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
175 x 3
195 x 3
215 x 3
225 x 3

So whatever the weight may be, depending on your max triple, go up in increments of 10, 20, or 30lbs usually and evenly space it out. You can see examples of this in my training log and a lot of other peoples logs as well too if you want to check it out.

All your other lifts AND your max effort lifts should be taken to technical failure. Researches are starting to find that going to physical failure is way less productive and rarely serves a good purpose when compared to technical failure.

[RipStone]

Alright, I am all set now. I think I understand the program and I am gonna start tommorow bright and early with my max effort upperbody. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks again for all your help.

BTW, CB I did read the 8 keys article before I posted my question, but I just wanted to make sure I understood it....which I didn't cus I must have read it wrong. woops.

[RipStone]

Had a great workout this morning...whew [img]smile.gif[/img]

I might start a thread in the training-log section but I am not sure if I will have time to always update it. I am on spring break right now that's why I am posting 27/7...hehe. Anyways, here is what my routine looked like today:

Bench press-
warmup: 35lb DB pullovers x 10, bar x 15
-95x5
-135x3
-145x3
-155x3
-165x3
-175x3
-195x3
-205x3 my spotter defintley helped on the last rep.

low-incline DB press:
-55s x10
-60s x10
-65s x9
-65s x7 I started off too light so I added an extra set here. I think 65s are the right weight for next time.

bentover BB rows: warmup: bar x12
-95 x11
-95 x10
-95 x10
-95 x10 got a good burn with these.

incline DB reverse flys(high incline):
10s x15
10s x12
10s x13

weighted ab work

General comments: the workout was great, but it took me a little too long...about 70-75mins. I think I might have been resting too long inbetween sets. How long should you rest for the max effort lift? Hopefully, I w/ this workout I can turn into a hyuggge bastard instead of just a skinny bastard [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Rev]

Hey Rip, you should seriously ask JP to let you have your own Training Log, I think you would be well qualified and I would love to watch your progress and help out.

[Rev]

Originally posted by RipStone:

General comments: the workout was great, but it took me a little too long...about 70-75mins. I think I might have been resting too long inbetween sets. How long should you rest for the max effort lift? Hopefully, I w/ this workout I can turn into a hyuggge bastard instead of just a skinny bastard [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yeah the workout generally runs a hair long on some days so I always use alternate sets on atleast two of the exercises to get out in an hour. I rest 2 minutes between each max effort set because I'm too impatient to stand there for 3 minutes each time, on the last 2-3 sets I'll wait the full 3 minutes though. Everything else is a minute and a half rest for me. If you're eating right, which should be no problem for you since you're heavily into nutrition, theres no reason this program won't help you grow like a mofo. The great thing about it is that a lot of your gains will be functional hypertrophy, nice dense fibers.

[Canadian_Bacon]

Ya, dont skimp on rest for the last sets of your ME movement. The POINT is to lift more weight then you did last time. This means you must be fully recovered. I have seen a few people mess up by trying to treat their ME movement like any other exersise and trying to cut down too much on rest between sets.

Ripstone, you could also SS some of the upper and lower body accessory movements.

For Example Superset the rear flys w/ the weighted ab work. This should cut down on a few minutes. atleast and shouldn't affect performance. Hell, you could probably throw the abs between sets of the exersise(other then the ME) that has the longest rest periods.

If you do warmups for your accessory movements try throwing the warmup between the 2nd and Last set of the previous movement. Do the warmup for your back movement between the 3rd and 4th set of your accesorry chest movement.

[Jason]

I'm interested in starting a version of the westside routine, but I'm a little worried that I could create some imbalances. For example, I will blast my chest and work to gain alot of strength, but my back won't receive the same type of attention. Any comments?

[DKing]

My back grew more than anything on a westside based split. Its not ignored. Make sure you do plenty of rows and rear delt work and that you really retract the shoulder blades on the good mornings and squats.
Danny

[RipStone]

Rev and CB- I will try doing some supersets tommorow. I wasn't sure if they were "legal" for this program.

[Simon.]

Hmm... And what if my 3rm, for anything is like REALLY REALLY LOW, and I mean beneath 135...
How are my sets supposed to look like then?

[Rev]

Originally posted by Simon Glumcher:
Hmm... And what if my 3rm, for anything is like REALLY REALLY LOW, and I mean beneath 135...
How are my sets supposed to look like then?

Example

Floor Press
45 x 5
65 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 3

Remember...you're more or less using intervals of 50, 40, 30, 20, or 10lbs, depending on your strength level. The reason is if your bench was 400lbs and you had 8 sets to get there from 135lbs, you damn sure wouldn't use 10lbs increments, you would use 50 to get up in weight then slowly taper down.

135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
385 x 3
405 x 3

This is how I would do it, the other guys might have some better suggestions.

[Canadian_Bacon]

Rev, I saw a post on T-nation about this sort of. The suggestion basically was to not approach WS till the bench got closer to the 200 mark. This is because the volume/load just isnt high enough when you are benching 145 pounds.

[Rev]

Originally posted by Canadian_Bacon:
Rev, I saw a post on T-nation about this sort of. The suggestion basically was to not approach WS till the bench got closer to the 200 mark. This is because the volume/load just isnt high enough when you are benching 145 pounds.

Did not know this, thank you!

[GqArtguy]

Originally posted by Canadian_Bacon:
Rev, I saw a post on T-nation about this sort of. The suggestion basically was to not approach WS till the bench got closer to the 200 mark. This is because the volume/load just isnt high enough when you are benching 145 pounds.

This is what I hated about the first wave of WSSB-frenzy. You had people who havent been training that long and no real base of size or strength trying to go for max triples or singles. I really wouldnt be wipping this program out to anyone without a keen sense of their weaknesses and how to listen to their body. If everything is weak then you should go for an alternative approach like a full-body routine or something to establish a base.

[RipStone]

I think for my dynamic effort upper body day I am gonna do speed bench press instead of body weight dips and toss out the pulldows and do the bodyweight dips there. So the day would look like this...

TH: Upper body repitition:
-speed BB bench press
-bodyweight dips, 4x5-8
-chins, 4x8-10
-DB shoulder press, 3x10-12
-incline DB curls, 3x8-10
-external rotatsion (laterial raises)
-circut ab work

Now the question is how to do the speed bench press. I was looking in Rev's log and he did 135x3 for 5 sets. So do you just lift the weight explosivley on the way up and control the negative....then rest for 45-60 seconds and do your nest set? On the WSFSB site it says "REPETITION LIFT – Work up to 3 sets of max reps, rest 60 seconds between sets." that sounds sorta different then what REv was doing...confused yet again.

[Rev]

Thats because I was doing a traditional westside setup. I switched that recently to repetition work. Take roughly 60-70% of your one rep max which seems to work best for me, and lift it just like you described.

[Rev]

Originally posted by GqArtguy:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Canadian_Bacon:
Rev, I saw a post on T-nation about this sort of. The suggestion basically was to not approach WS till the bench got closer to the 200 mark. This is because the volume/load just isnt high enough when you are benching 145 pounds.

This is what I hated about the first wave of WSSB-frenzy. You had people who havent been training that long and no real base of size or strength trying to go for max triples or singles. I really wouldnt be wipping this program out to anyone without a keen sense of their weaknesses and how to listen to their body. If everything is weak then you should go for an alternative approach like a full-body routine or something to establish a base. [/quote]Yes this program is not intended for beginners. A beginner fresh to weight training would fair better with something along the lines of a full body routine including major compound movements and core strengthening to get conditioned to weight training and build a nice muscular base to work from. Although, in no way does that mean you have to be a certain weight or strength to do this program.

[RipStone]

Originally posted by Rev:
Thats because I was doing a traditional westside setup. I switched that recently to repetition work. Take roughly 60-70% of your one rep max which seems to work best for me, and lift it just like you described.

How many sets should I do and do I do any warm ups? thanks again