Tommy D's Westside Story

[TommyD]

Yeah, I thought as much. I'm thinkin that the reason you go past parallel for glute-ham raises is that you have more support for your legs whereas hyperextensions you're not bending your legs as you go up, you're "hyperextending" your back.

[KetoManiac]

awesome Tom, Im trying this also soon, Dave Tate owns .

Good luck with it, I am looking foward to your results

Young

[TommyD]

Thanks Young... Dave Tate is quite the "gangsta" when it comes to Westside!

6/29/04

ME Bench

2 Board Press

2x135
2x155
2x165
2x175
2x185
1x195
1x205
1x210 (PR)

I decided to go in smaller increments this time around, but for some stupid reason I was only doing 2 reps. Anyways, I hit a PR at 210 and I'm pretty happy. I can *definetely* feel like I'm more explosive when I'm benching, and I've only done speed bench once. Maybe it's the placebo effect, but hey, whatever works!

Pushdowns

45lbs
3x10

I decided to do these first since I figured I'd be beat after my 6 sets of skull crushers. Got 'em done lickedy split and felt pumped to do skull crushers.

Skull Crushers

60lbs
6x10

I'm a little bit smarter this week and started out with 60lbs instead of 70lbs. I pulled either my trap or sternocleidomastoid when I was doing these... odd muscle to pull. Either way it hurts so that sucks.

Notes

Short, sweet workout. I tried to do military press after all my tricep work.... mmmmmmm NO WAY. I only loaded up 95lbs for 3x10 figuring I'd go easy b/c my tri's were shot. I got up to 6 reps on my 1st set and quit. I'll do those on either my DE Bench day or my Supplementary lift day.

PR

After what seemed like forever, an exercise involving the chest for me FINALLY went up. [Hallejuah Chorus plays in the background]. I'm stoked for Westside! :

[TommyD]

7/1/04

DE Squat

Speed Box Squat

145
10x2

Speed was good, I focused on form a lot too. I used a different box this time around. Last time I had a box that made me dip below parallel, the one I used this time seemed to be dead on 90 degrees.

Hypers

65lbs 1x8
75lbs 2x8

I didn't go above the parallel point this time around and man these things are a TON easier. I'm gonna have to start loading up a barbell and hold it in my arms instead of these dinky dumbbells I've been using.

One Legged Squats

65lbs
4x10 (1 set per leg)

These things are still HELL. I don't know about the rest of the world, but it is HOT(!!!!!) in Iowa right now so I was sweating up a storm when I was doing these. My next squat day I'm gonna have to wear shorter shorts b/c they interfere when they're past knee-level.

Barbell Shoulder Shrugs

315lbs
3x10

I kicked some ass on these today. My grip didn't give out at all... it's feeling stronger. Like I've mentioned before, I broke the last pair of lifting straps in our gym so I do them raw now. My traps can hold more weight than 315... my grip can't.

Chest Supported T-Bar Rows

135lbs
3x5

35lbs more than last time. The first set was tougher than hell, the 2nd and 3rd weren't as bad. My form isn't perfect but when I'm reaching the threshold of weight, it tends to slip a bit. I think I'm going to add some more lat workout to my supp. workout if I get time for one this week (crazy 4th of July/Birthday comin up).

Notes

Good day over all. Nothing too special. I was happy that I could bang off 3x10 at 315lbs for shrugs without straps. I threw a static hold of about 5 seconds in just for kicks. It was mainly for my grip rather than my traps. As far as the actual DE Squat went, it was alright. I was supposed to use 54% of my 1 RM. Right now, I have no idea what my 1 RM is. I'm guessing it's over 300 so I'm gonna bump up the weight to about 160 next time around.

Westsiiiiiiiiide!

[TommyD]

7/2/04

DE Bench

Speed Bench

125lbs

10x2

Speed felt good. I gave myself 45 seconds between sets for recovery. On abarlament's advice I went down to double's instead of single's and feel that it let's me focus on speed a lot more. I went up 10 lbs b/c I'm supposed to be doing 60% of my 1 RM so I chose 210 for my 1 RM this week.

Lying Overhead Dumbbell Press

70lbs DB
4x8

In the words of Nigel Powers: "Easy Breezy Lemon Squeezy". Yeah I don't know what that means, but this was pretty easy. Up a few pounds from last week.

Dumbbell Side Laterals

25's
3x10

I thought it couldn't be done, but I actually went up in poundage for side laterals. Whether it's the [kick ass] placebo effect, or me actually getting stronger, this is pretty F'in cool.

Bent Over Dumbbell Side Laterals

45's
3x10

I wasn't sure if I was doing these correctly last week, but this week I just pulled my arms as far up as I could (a little bit past parallel) and today I have some nice DOMS in my posterior delt. Good stuff.

Notes

Awesome workout, I feel like I'm really gettin stronger. I'm loving this Westside stuff. My triceps are definetely getting stronger. I'd like to do some 4-6 rep work with them to see where I'm out for strength with them in lifts like skull crushers and pushdowns, I'm thinkin I can do some pretty good weight these days.

Oh, and I asked the girl that I'm crazy about to be my girlfriend, and she said yes. And then we kissed.

Ever heard the song by Joe Walsh... Life's Been Good? That's my theme song right now besides having mansions and tearing out the walls of hotels (knock on wood). Onward! :

[Klinger]

Amazing Progress, Tom. And it's good to get the girl, too. :

Did you do anything for your grip to get to 315 on the shrug? I've had some problems lately and I'm wondering how I can improve my grip so I can shrug more weight.

[SurfinAmy]

Originally Posted by Tom_Drahos

Oh, and I asked the girl that I'm crazy about to be my girlfriend, and she said yes. And then we kissed.

"Sky Rockets in Flight! Afternoon Delight!!!" Remember that song???
Now that's motivation to kick some butt Tom!!!! :
-Amy

[TommyD]

Klinger and Amy - It is a great motivation to get the girl, but now I'm just gonna work even harder than before... this is only the beginning! :

Concerning the grip Klinger, I did a pretty extensive forearm routine the other day. I blew away my forearms with wrist curls, reverse fat bar curls, fat bar curls, and preacher curls... the two exercises that I felt helped the most with the my grip were the fat bar exercises. I had an intense burn after those and my grip seemed to respond quite well to the stimulation.

Hope that little bit of insight helps to some huge shrug and deadlift poundage. :

[TommyD]

7/5/04 - 18th Birthday

ME Squat

Good Mornings

3x45
3x95
3x115
3x135
3x155
1x165
1x175
1x180 (PR)

Hyperextensions

90lbs
3x8 (PR)

I just grabbed a EZ Curl bar and loaded two 45's on it and held on to it as I did my sets. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but then again if weight lifting was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Leg Curls

110lbs
2x6

Again, I don't know what to do to replace Glute-Ham Raises, so I just do leg curls. They hit the lower back and hammy's pretty good IMO, so I'll stick with them until I get an answer.

Dumbbell Flat Bench

70's (140 total)
2x8

I was a little frustrated at life today (my damn rearview mirror broke off), so I decided to take my frustration out on my stabilizer muscles. Probably not the smartest thing to do before ME Bench day, but what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger (oh wait, no it doesn't!).

Lat Pulldowns

190
2x6

I had to skip weighted chins due to the fact that the gym was packed and kids were dinking around the power rack I like to do my weighted chins on. I just did some not-too-intense, light Lat Pulldowns instead. I should have done some rows to train my lats on the same plane as bench, but I like to stretch the ol' Lats.

Notes

It being my birthday and all, I had a short gym experience before my girlfriend and a few of my friends took me out to eat. I missed all my ab work, but I'll throw some Ab Pull Downs, Weighted Sit-Ups, and some Leg Raises (time permitting) tomorrow. Also, I got a scale that measures weight and body fat for my birthday. Probably not the most accurate machine, but it will help me track progress. Until next time... :

[Acuarius69]

Hi Tom, great journal! keep up the good work. Congrats on your new girlfriend, and Happy Birthday!
Jo

[TommyD]

Thanks Jo! Now I can legally smoke those cigars!

[Klinger]

180 on the good morning? Hella strong, Tom -- :

[TommyD]

It felt like a hella ton of weight! I think my form was slipping and my back was rounding when I was doing 180 so I decided not to go any further. I'd rather have a strong, uninjured lower back over a kick ass good morning PR!

[TommyD]

7/8/04

ME Bench/DE Squat (sigh)

In the order I did everything...

Speed Box Squat

155lbs
10x2

I've been slowly increasing the weight and my speed seems to keep up with the added weight so I believe I'll continue in that manner until I notice a speed decrease.

2 Board Bench

135x3
155x3
175x3
185x1
205x1
215 (Miss!)
210 (Miss!)

That really sucks. I was sure I could put 215 up but I was sadly mistaken. I tried 210 right after the 215 so I think that contributed to the fact that I missed 210. Next week I'm going to try a suspended rack press to see how that works out.

Skull Crushers

60lbs
3x10

...supersetted with...

Leg Press

275lbs
2x6

Whoever said leg press was cake compared to squats I believe to be wrong. I think I must have a muscle that's not proportionate in my leg to other muscles but I can't figure out what it is. When I isolate both my quads and my hams I put up some good numbers, so I have a sneaking suspicion that my glutes are lagging...

Pull Throughs

45lbs
2x10

First time doing this exercise, I can probably use a good 30+ pounds next time around. I was kind of falling back into the pulley machine so I had to get nice and close to the machine. I swear, the machine we have in my gym looks like someone's C+ job in welding class. It's got frayed wires and crappy welds everywhere. Without any plates on it, the machine probably weighs a good 15lbs too! At least it's something though...

Notes
I've just been so busy this week that my workouts have been lagging. I'm really hoping to be able to fit my DE Bench in but this week has included the following: 2 Parties, 4th of July, Birthday, Job Interview, Work, a trip to an amusement park, and a trip to a water park. Yikes! Busy boy! Anyway, this workout probably set me back a little, but it was better than doing nothing at all.

This is my last week with these lifts for my ME so I get to try something fun and new next week. I'm thinking I'm going to go with Suspended Rack Press about 2" above my chest for ME Bench, and possibly Sumo Deadlift for ME Squat/Deadlift. I'm going to start a job that I'll be working/driving to work from 1:30 to 11:30PM here probably this next week so I'm gonna have to start lifting mid-morning. My summer just got not so fun...

[TommyD]

Gettin back on track...

7/11/04

ME Squat

Sumo Deadlift

145x3
235x3
285x1
305x1

Yuck, I wasn't really in the zone for these... I barely had any sets at all. My back kept rounding so I stopped before I hurt myself. I think next week I'm going to do trapbar deadlift. I think that will be more squat-orientated since it's basically a mixture of a squat and a deadlift. I could have pulled a lot more IMO but I just didn't want to kill my lower back.

Hyperextensions

100lbs
3x8 (PR)

I continue to go up in weight for these. I just held two 50lbs dumbbells and did my hypers. Ever since I stopped going past the parallel point, hypers are cake!

Pull Throughs

65lbs
1x10

90lbs
2x10

Basically I decided to use that intestinal fortitude that I so aptly used during track season and put on another 25lb plate. I like this exercise, reminds me of a reverse Pull-Down-Abs.

Weighted Crunches

45lb Plate Overhead
3x10

My lower abs are like bricks now. Hadn't done these in a while, felt goooooood.

Notes

It's been a hectic time as of late so my workouts seem to be on the **** end of the stick. I'm going to get a little more focus in now. I didn't do many leg exercises besides the pull-throughs and hypers. Nothing to really hit the quads and the glutes (besides the DL's for glutes). Oh well, I'll get em good on DE Squat. I've been partying a lot too lately so that could affect the ol' body a bit. Oh well, onward!