can ME and DE be comined in one session?

[blackjack]

hey guys.
Ive been reading alot about westside lately and started incorporating some of thier techniques into my routine. . Im not a competitor but i want to use the westside methods because i know it works, just to make myself as big and strong as i can be.
Ill be ordering a sled next week too to strengthen the posterior chain and get some cardio training.
Can anyone help me make a hybrid routine using WSB techniques and 5x5 style. keep in mind i work out at a commercial gym (golds) and i dont have access to bands and chains or squat boxes. unless i build one and bring it with me. the good equipment we do have: power rack, squat racks. T-bar and CSR. GHR. hyper bench. one 6"cambered bar. and all the usual gym equipment. Ill be buying my own bands soon.
any suggestions?
thanks. blackjack

 

[KRAZYLARRY]

to answer your question ME and DE can not be combined in one workout. Lou say Me and De must be atleast 72 hours apart. and u do not need bands and chains to do westside espically if you do not compete. bands and chains are more geared to guys who have just about reached the limit of their stregth.

 

[Mudge]

That would be a ton of volume man, but if you really felt like experimenting like a wildman I'd do DE before ME. :shrug:

 

[blackjack]

so how can i get the benefits of doing ME and DE if I can only get to the gym 3 days?
that would leave me the option of only doing one or the other each week for each lift.

 

[blackbeard]

Matt Rhodes' 3-Day Westside Split

By Matt Rhodes

For EliteFTS



About a year and a half ago I was physically and mentally drained from powerlifting. I have to admit that I was actually thinking about training like a bodybuilder. Luckily, I am proud of my chest and back hair, and I'm also heterosexual - so no bodybuilding for me. But there was definitely a problem. I had no motivation to go to the gym and worse, I couldn't even get motivated when I got to the gym. Even a picture of Britney Spears in her outfit from the 'Slave' video couldn't get me going.



Here's what was wrong. I worked overnights, my sleeping was screwed up, and my body couldn't recover from workout to workout. I was always working around injuries and making no progress. If the elbows felt good, the shoulders were shot. And so on down the line. So, as usual, I made my call to Jim Wendler. The rest is history.



This is what we came up with. I would still have the 4 workouts - ME Squat/DL, ME Bench, DE Squat/DL, and DE Bench - but I would do them in 8 days instead of 7. The schedule would rotate like this:



Wednesday - ME Squat/DL

Friday - ME Bench

Sunday - DE Squat/DL



Wednesday - DE Bench

Friday - ME Squat/DL

Sunday - ME Bench



The way I organized it was like this. I wanted my last DE Bench workout to fall on Sunday the week before the meet. I wanted my last DE Squat/DL workout to fall on Friday, 9 days before the meet. I just set it up and counted backwards. As far as my assistance work, it stayed the same. I may have done an extra set or an extra exercise here and there, but basically, it remained the same. The main difference was that I went all out every workout. I didn't save anything on DE Bench day because I was planning to work up in the shirt the following week.



What I found after 2 weeks was a renewed excitement for training. I couldn't wait to get into the gym and start training. All of my sessions were very focused and productive. I honestly don't remember having a bad day. I know I did, but they were few and far between. I always felt rested and ready to go. My elbow and shoulder problems calmed down and I could actually train to get stronger instead of training around injuries.



I competed in the 2004 Iron House Classic. I squatted 775 (previous best was 650), I benched 465 (previous best was 455 - I suck), and I deadlifted 615 (previous best was 605). I tweaked my hamstring squatting and it acted up on me in the bench and DL. I pulled my opener and passed on my other 2 attempts in the DL.



Looking back, the 3-Day split was very effective for me. It helped me overcome some injury and motivation issues that were holding me back. It also accommodated my schedule at the time. The only thing I would do differently is make sure that on the weeks where I benched once, I'd do ME/Shirt work. The weeks where I benched twice, I would do the ME and DE workouts. For the Squat/DL I would make sure to do DE Squat on the weeks where I only squatted once. I've found that ME Bench and DE Squat are my gauges for progress. If those workouts go well, I'm feeling good and getting stronger.



If you're feeling beat up, worn out, or just need a change, this might be something you'd want to look into.

 

[jcp2]

If i were to do it, i would start out with the speed work, maybe with band for 5-6 sets, than i would strip the bands and work up to heavy box squats or regular squats and heavy benches and or boards. I would probaly not do this indefinately but i would if i were in a bind and could only get to the gym twice a week for a week or two. I would probaby use the same excercise that i did my DE work with for my max effort work. This is why i wouldn't do it indefinately, probably 3 or 4 weeks at most. You may actually gain some strenght for it, i wouldn't do this if you are still going to the gym 4 days a week though.

 

[Mudge]

I have to admit that I was actually thinking about training like a bodybuilder. Luckily, I am proud of my chest and back hair, and I'm also heterosexual - so no bodybuilding for me.

Classic.

 

[blackjack]

one more rookie question:
on ME Squat/DL day. does that mean max effort on both squat AND dead or is it max on squat OR dead and rotate them weekly?

 

[iron addict]

Some of the guys at westside have combined it and have done it on the same day, and there are even versions printed in the westside training template manual that show how they are combined. They usually only do 5-6 sets of DE work when doing it like this. I have done it that way before with good results.

Iron Addict

 

[Starkraven]

sorry to sound stupid but what is ME and DE? im converting into PLing. i follow pullinbig's split, i like it and it works, gives me plenty of rest but i was wondering if i should be following something like that westside split above. thats doing an exercise every 4-5 days. i take it some days are heavy and some speed or what? thanks.

 

[blackjack]

ME=max effort
DE=dynamic effort

 

[blackbeard]

sorry to sound stupid but what is ME and DE? im converting into PLing. i follow pullinbig's split, i like it and it works, gives me plenty of rest but i was wondering if i should be following something like that westside split above. thats doing an exercise every 4-5 days. i take it some days are heavy and some speed or what? thanks.

if you are making gains with a routine then stay on it..
switching to westside may not be the right thing to do for now..you can incoporate more WSB type of assistance moves inot PB's routine