AZHT.net - Westside Barbell Training *fuk your crossfit*

I personally believe in the Westside Barbell training along with some good hypertrophy this is from my personal experience and two other users as well that I have helped gain mass. this is a very powerlifting style oriented. Thats why I and my other friends have added our own hypertrophy style to help us with our goals. However all the right methods to gain size and lose weight like I have and many others are there. Don't be lazy read all this. I use the 5/3/1 method which is lifting 3 times a week. that was mostly because I was a beginner. Now, I feel like I am tipping the next level and will be going 4 times a week and will be on a more strict training style to gain strength. the style that is explained in this book. The key to success in the WSB training is using the 3 main compounds which is Squats,Deadlifts, and benching. everything else is just to supplement those.

I feel that the conjugate system has so many moving parts anything I personally write up wouldn't do it justice. So I'll leave that to Matt Reynolds. The following is an exerpt from his article, " How to Dramatically Increase Your Raw Bench Conjugate Style"

CONJUGATE TRAINING: WESTSIDE

"Conjugate training is a system developed in the Soviet Union that uses a variety of methods (during the same training period) in order to bring about strength increases. For example, when strength training originated, most lifters would just perform the competitive lifts over and over again. Some countries, such as Bulgaria, still use a form of this method with good success in Olympic Weightlifting. The Soviets, however, in the 1970s gave “70 highly skilled Olympic Weightlifters a system of 20-45 special exercises that were grouped into 2-4 exercises per workout and were rotated as often as necessary to make continuous progress. They soon found out that as the squat, good morning, back raise, glute/ham raise, and special pulls got stronger, so did their Olympic lifts. When asked about the system, only one lifter was satisfied with the number of special lifts; the rest wanted more to choose from. And so the conjugate method was originated” (Simmons).

Max Effort Method

“The max effort method is considered by many coaches and athletes as being the superior method of strength development. It places great demands on both intramuscular and intermuscular coordination as well as stimulating the central nervous system. These demands force the body into greater adaptation and this adaptation is what's responsible for strength gains” (Tate). “The one drawback to using this method is that you can't train with weights above 90 percent RM for much longer than three weeks before the nervous system begins to weaken. When this happens your strength will begin to diminish” (Tate). “The way to overcome this barrier is to switch the exercises used for the max effort method every one to three weeks. This keeps the body fresh so the method can be used year round” (Tate).

Dynamic Effort Method

The dynamic method is defined as “lifting a non-maximal load with the greatest speed possible.” When this is done, the rate of force development is dramatically improved, meaning that the time it takes you to exert your maximum force is much quicker. You’ll be faster, more explosive, and have better neural efficiency in the lift, which will allow you to break through sticking points by literally exploding the weight right through it! The weight used for the dynamic method should be around 60% of your one rep maximum, and through trial and error, it seems that for the bench press 3 reps per set is optimal.

Repetition Method

“The repetition method, otherwise known as the bodybuilding method, is the best method for the development of muscle hypertrophy (growth). This is the method in which all supplemental and accessory exercises are trained. This method is defined as "lifting a non-maximal load to failure." It's during the fatigued state when the muscles develop maximal force. According to this method, it's only during the final lifts that, because of fatigue, the maximal number of motor units are recruited. This system of training has a great influence on the development of muscle mass which is why it's become so popular among the bodybuilding population” (Tate).

Now I will note that while I am a big Westside advocate, I have one main change to program…I believe that there needs to be more heavy gut-busting sets in the 5 rep range with the big lifts; squat, bench press, and deadlift. Many of the lifters that come to Westside are good powerlifters before they ever get there; many with a Western Periodization background or a background in bodybuilding, both of which utilize lots of sets in the 5-8 range. Therefore, when Louie convinces them to start performing max effort and dynamic effort work they get ridiculously strong, because they’ve already built the base of size and strength needed to handle that weight in their previous training. I believe that if you want to get substantially bigger and stronger then dues must be paid in the 5 rep range.

Now, it is important to note that “performing the sets to failure” does not mean that you perform the sets to absolute muscular failure using forced reps, drop sets, negatives, “burnouts,” etc. Nor does it mean to keep lifting even when your form gets flushed down the toilet from exhaustion. When you do those things, you are risking injury and making it so that you’ll never recover in time for the next training session. Instead, on repetition work, stop when your form starts to deteriorate and leave a rep or two in the tank.

Loading/Unloading

It is important to note that during training there must be occasional short periods (1-2 weeks) of extremely stressful training. During these periods intensity and volume are both raised to a point that if continued, overtraining would occur. This is called loading. Following the loading period, an unloading period of 1-4 weeks is utilized where the intensity is reduced to some degree and volume is greatly reduced. Before loading an athlete must be fully recovered and mentally ready to start the loading period. If done correctly, the athlete will be taken to the brink of overtraining during the loading period, then allowed to recover during the unloading period. The result is an incredible physical response that results in a dramatic increase in strength levels." - Matt Reynolds

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Many beginners AND intermediates get overwhelmed by the upper lower splits. Individual recovery is the KEY to success. What most people (bodybuilder's especially) overlook is how a typical WSB template is scheduled. It's NOT a 2 on, 1 off routine like is frequently the case in bodybuilding. Their layout IME really takes advantage of recovery. Mainly, there will always be a day off after an ME day. If you're slinging a lot of poundages, you'd have to have super genetics to be able to walk into the gym following that day lol!

Here's how WSB is layed out:

Monday: ME SQUAT/DEADLIFT
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: ME BENCH
Thursday: OFF
Friday: DE SQUAT/DEADLIFT
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: DE BENCH