I wanna start powerlifting

[lilbull]

I've been lifting weights for about 3 years now, but I've mostly done the Body building lifts, I can manipulate my weight pretty good but I get really pissed about my strength because I don't know what to do to get it up. I'm gonna start doing power lifting because I wanna get a lot stronger. I could use all the advice I can get. Thanks
Bull

[Huge Presser]

Alright bull, glad to see you're gonna try powerlifting! I've been a powerlifter for awhile now and I'm gonna try and do both for awhile and then start focusing on powerlifting only... but that's not for a while.
I'll PM you tomorrow and give you some ideas about what you should try and what's worked for me... there's plenty of other bros that will help you out.
Glad to see you're interested in our little sport bro!

Peace,

HP

[Kärnfysikern]

You will not be disapointed. I did bodybuilding for 3 years then switched over to westside powerlifting for half a year and it realy bumped my strenght and size to new levels(and that was during a cutting diet to).

My best advice to you would be to follow this program for your first 9 weeks of powerlifting

http://www.elitefitnesssystems.com/d...ng-program.htm

If you cant do any of the exercises because of lack of equipment just ask and Il tell you what I did instead of some of the exercises.

You wll be sore every freaking day for the first 3 weeks or so lol

[Kärnfysikern]

ohh and forgot to mention. Read upp on all the articles you can on this site

http://www.elitefitnesssystems.com/

Those articles changed my view on strenght training completely!!!!

[Cubanito17]

they pretty much summed it up with elitefts.com that's the best place to search and in about 2 weeks look on metalmilitia.com for the biggest benchers in the world.

[lilbull]

alright, thanks guys. Johan, I went to the site and printed up the 9 week training thing. I'm not sure what some of the exercise are though. What are box squats? is that the same as normal squats? What are Reverse Hypers? What are board presses? I think these are the only exercises I'm not sure of. Thanks a lot.
Bull

[Kärnfysikern]

Originally posted by lilbull
alright, thanks guys. Johan, I went to the site and printed up the 9 week training thing. I'm not sure what some of the exercise are though. What are box squats? is that the same as normal squats? What are Reverse Hypers? What are board presses? I think these are the only exercises I'm not sure of. Thanks a lot.
Bull

Box squats is basicly squats but in the bottom you sit down on a box(I dont have a box I just stack weightplates to a high so that when Im sitting down on them my legs are paralel to the floor). Pause on the box for a second before you press yourself up from it.

reverse hypers is a exercise you have to do in a reverse hyper machine, if your gym doesnt have one you can do normal hypexstensions or pull thrus instead.

board press is a benchpress done with a couple of boards lying on the chest so the range of motion becomes shorter.

[lilbull]

ok thanks. Also, when it talks about the strap, what does that mean? And how are the boards configured on the board press?

[Kärnfysikern]

Originally posted by lilbull
ok thanks. Also, when it talks about the strap, what does that mean? And how are the boards configured on the board press?

I have never used board so unfortunaly I cant answere that But im sure you can find it on the site somewhere or some other bro here will probably be able to help.

About the strap? Do they refer to revers hyper when talking about the strap? In that case I have no clue because I have never used a reverse hyper machine

[Kärnfysikern]

or I have done board press but it was not with the kind of boards you are suposed to use with the corect thickness and shit. I just took a plate people usualy stand on when doing calf raises in the smith machine.

[lilbull]

how much weight did you put on during this 9 weeks?

[lilbull]

I'm gonna try to put on at least 15 lbs in 9 weeks.

[Kärnfysikern]

because I was dieting I didnt put on any weight at all. But I did lose fat and gained a good amount of muscle and strenght at the same time.

My squat increased like 50 pounds
Deadlift about 40 pounds
and my bench increased maby 20 pounds(my bench has always been the lift that troubbles me the most and it takes AGES for me to get stronger in the bench so this was a big improvement for me considering I had been stuck in the bench for 7 months)

that at the same time as I lost around 6-8 pounds or so in weight.
But I got a different look to my body. I became more solid in some way, thicker and more powerfully built.

[lilbull]

Alright cool. I just got done with the first workout on that list and it was ...different. It wasn't the usual muscles I workout, but I felt good when I left, like I really had a good workout. I forgot to ask earlier what straight leg extensions were. I used hanging leg raises because I didn't know what the extension things were. Thanks for all the help guys.

[Huge Presser]

Lilbull in humble opinion Westside routine sucks balls. They put too much emphasis on lat muscles and lockout, assuming that you will have a bench shirt good enough to rocket the weight off your chest, leaving your lockout power to do the rest. Everyone is different, and Johan clearly responded better to it then I did. It will take months, maybe years, before you find what works best for you. My suggestion: try westside, MM, and every other routine you can find. And if none of them work, invent a routine that works best for you.
I hope you have good luck.

HP

[lilbull]

thanks, Is that what I'm doing? Is that a westside routine?

[Kärnfysikern]

Yupp that is a westside routine.

[lilbull]

ok, well today is my max chest day. I'm excited to see how I feel after I leave the gym today. I'm gonna keep all my info going on this thread

[lilbull]

oh yeah, and what's a bench shirt?

[Kärnfysikern]

Originally posted by Huge Presser
Lilbull in humble opinion Westside routine sucks balls. They put too much emphasis on lat muscles and lockout, assuming that you will have a bench shirt good enough to rocket the weight off your chest, leaving your lockout power to do the rest. Everyone is different, and Johan clearly responded better to it then I did. It will take months, maybe years, before you find what works best for you. My suggestion: try westside, MM, and every other routine you can find. And if none of them work, invent a routine that works best for you.
I hope you have good luck.

HP

I aggre to some extent that they focus to much on lockouts. Thats why I mostly do full rom max bench exercises(cg(close grip)bench,cg incline or decline bench, ordinary incline/decline bench, cg bench with chains ect). I dont know aboyt to much emphasis on lat muscles. I thought it was almost to little lat work, but thats because Im mainly a bodybuilder(I just do westside every now and then to switch things upp).
The westside I follow I have modified to be a little more towards my bodybuilding goals. imo its a good program to tweak until it fits your needs perfectly(but like every program you need to drop it every now and then and switch things upp completely).
But Im FAR FAR from beeing knowlegable when it comes to powerlifting so I might be talking straight out of my ass now

[Kärnfysikern]

Originally posted by lilbull
oh yeah, and what's a bench shirt?

a bench shirt is a shirt you use in pl competitions that is so thight that it will help you push the bar from the chest(if you dont have enough weight on the bar you wont even be able to get the bar down to the chest/upper abs).

[Cubanito17]

huge presser westside doesn't suck if you know how to do it right. Right now I don't have time to answer all your questions lilbull but i've been training westside for a year and a half now since november 2001 my lifts then were SQ(belt) 275/ BP 225(pause,raw)/DL(belt)300
then a year later my best lifts were in november 2002 SQ(belt,knee wraps,suit)475/BP(raw,pause)325 BP(with shirt I couldn't get it to work)/DL(with suit, belt, knee wraps)535

MY TOTAL WENT UP 535LBS IN 1 YEAR!!! I'm 18(19 july27) so I started as a beginner to powerlifting with westside went through ALOT of trial and error the first 6 months but with reading the articles, and getting help from the boards it's helped alot. IN FACT westside is even changing now with more volume so the 9 week program may be changed soon.

[Huge Presser]

Originally posted by Cubanito17
huge presser westside doesn't suck if you know how to do it right. Right now I don't have time to answer all your questions lilbull but i've been training westside for a year and a half now since november 2001 my lifts then were SQ(belt) 275/ BP 225(pause,raw)/DL(belt)300
then a year later my best lifts were in november 2002 SQ(belt,knee wraps,suit)475/BP(raw,pause)325 BP(with shirt I couldn't get it to work)/DL(with suit, belt, knee wraps)535

MY TOTAL WENT UP 535LBS IN 1 YEAR!!! I'm 18(19 july27) so I started as a beginner to powerlifting with westside went through ALOT of trial and error the first 6 months but with reading the articles, and getting help from the boards it's helped alot. IN FACT westside is even changing now with more volume so the 9 week program may be changed soon.

Awesome job Cubanito, but trust me I was doing it right. I tried it three times, six weeks each, and didn't see a shit on any of my lifts. And trust me I was doing it TO EACH AND EVERY DETAIL. People are different, it works for some, actually, it works for most, but it doesn't work for others. And if I gave you the routine that I do myself, it probably wouldn't work a for you... why? Cuz people get stronger, bigger and better differently, and by doing different things. Everyone is different bro.

And the lat emphasis is mostly because the bench shirt is so tight you need strength to pull the weight to your chest. Meaning you need strong lats. Halbert and Patterson are all about lats, it's like half the work they do on bench days. No joke... that's another reason I don't like WS, too much emphasis on how much power your shirt gives.

HP

[lilbull]

I don't understand how this bench shirt shit works?
Oh well. I had day 2 of my new 9 week program today and I loved it. I walked out of the gym feeling swole and strong. I'm not sure why but I'm really likeing this routine so far. My back and hams are sore as shit today though. Hopefully my chest and triceps will feel as good tommorrow. Thanks for the help guys.

[lilbull]

oh yeah, what are one arm presses and lying tricep extensions?

[GRIMM]

If all you put in is 6 weeks of time, you can't expect to get much out of it. Thats a pathetic excuse for saying a routine sucks balls.

[Huge Presser]

I DID THE ROUTINE 3 TIMES IN A ROW, 6 WEEKS EACH TIME. THE TOTAL OF THAT IS 18 WEEKS! OR FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS! THAT'S ONE THIRD OF A YEAR! SO DON'T TELL ME I DIDN'T PUT ENOUGH TIME INTO IT! I WORKED MY FUCKING ASS OFF LIKE I ALWAYS DO, AND DIDN'T SEE SHIT. IF YOU WANT TO SEARCH AR AND SEE WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT DIFFERENT ROUTINES, YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE DIFFERENT RESPONSES! THIS IS NOT A THEORY, BUT A FACT. ROUTINES, STEROIDS , EXCERCIES WORK DIFFERENTLY FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ THE WHOLE POST BEFORE YOU SAY SOMETHING STUPID LIKE THAT ALSO, CONSIDERING I MENTIONED ALL OF THIS IN MY POST BRO! DON'T GIVE ME THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE SHIT... EVERYONE WHO KNOWS ME WILL AGREE THAT I DO THINGS RIGHT AND I WORK HARD. PLEASE, NO MORE ARGUING OVER THIS.

HP

[Kärnfysikern]

Originally posted by lilbull
oh yeah, what are one arm presses and lying tricep extensions?

I never figured out what one arm presses is so I just did a shoulder exercise that is a little hard to explain.
Put a bench to a medium incline, then lie down on it on your side and grab around the bench with the arm touching the bench, then with the other hand press a dumbell it straight out from your body.
Hum I hope that made any sense its a killer exercise. If anyone understand what Im trying to explain plz try to explain it better then me

lying triceps exstension I guess is skull crushers

[lilbull]

ok, I did the skull crushers, but instead of doing the presses like you said, I did a bench press with a dumbell on a flat bench; it worked pretty good I think. The program only calls for 4 days of lifting. Should I work biceps any during this? Should I split the days up with a rest day in between them? I'm thinking something like Mon/work, Tues/work, Wed/off, Thurs/ work, Fri/ work. Let me know if I'm doing this right. Thanks again for all the help.

[Kärnfysikern]

Originally posted by lilbull
ok, I did the skull crushers, but instead of doing the presses like you said, I did a bench press with a dumbell on a flat bench; it worked pretty good I think. The program only calls for 4 days of lifting. Should I work biceps any during this? Should I split the days up with a rest day in between them? I'm thinking something like Mon/work, Tues/work, Wed/off, Thurs/ work, Fri/ work. Let me know if I'm doing this right. Thanks again for all the help.

I usualy workout monday, tuseday, friday, sunday. But you can do it however you want but dont do one ME day the day after another ME day because that is to taxing.

I did include biceps 4 sets on one of the days and sometimes on 2 days. For me the ME and DE bench days I usualy finished in like 30-35 minutes so the rest of the time I did work on whatever I wanted. Just as long as the complete workout didnt go over 45-50 minutes. But dont add to much!!
If you have more questions just ask and Il try to help!

[lilbull]

What the heck are one legged squats? I used lunges in their place today, but I couldn't figure out how to do a one legged squat. I just got through with my DE squat day today, it was ok. It wasn't as much fun as the ME day, but I guess I have to do it the way it tells me. ready for the DE chest day tommorrow. tell me if you think this split is ok: ME squat/Monday; Biceps/tues; ME Chest/Wednesday; DE squat/Thursday; DE chest/ Friday. Let me know if you think this will work. Again thanks for all the help. I'll keep in touch.
Bull

[Kärnfysikern]

the way I did one legged squats was that I put one foot behind me on a bench and then just squat with the other leg(like a lunge but the leg behind you is upp on a bench). But I also switched to lunges because I feelt that I couldnt realy balance myself in one legged squats.

DE days are never as fun as ME days

The split looks fine

[lilbull]

I'm 3 weeks into the program now and I'm seeing GREAT RESULTS. My Bench is a new personal best at 215lbs (up from 195 at the beginning of the program) and I'm weighing 155lbs (up from 150lbs at the beginning). I've been really busy with other stuff lately, so I haven't been posting all that much, but I'm gonna keep in touch. My goal is the max at about 250 by the end.
Thanks for all the help,
Bull

[Huge Presser]

Congrats lilbull.
Enjoy the rest of the westside routine. I hope you continue to see results. Maybe one day you'll be as strong as me .

HP

[lilbull]

haha, I can only hope so.

[lilbull]

ok I got 235lbs on floor press today, I'm not sure what that's like on flat bench, but if someone could tell me I'd appreciate it. I'm really loving this routine. I've never been able to put more than 205 over me and press it off, and now I'm doing 235 after 4 weeks!!! YEEEHA!!! Thanks for the help guys I'll keep y'all posted.

[Kärnfysikern]

ok I got 235lbs on floor press today, I'm not sure what that's like on flat bench, but if someone could tell me I'd appreciate it. I'm really loving this routine. I've never been able to put more than 205 over me and press it off, and now I'm doing 235 after 4 weeks!!! YEEEHA!!! Thanks for the help guys I'll keep y'all posted.

Nice progress
When it comes to floorpress it depends. Some people are weaker in floor press then in ordinary bench and some are stronger. Im usualy around 20 pounds stronger in floor press then in ordinay bench press

[Huge Presser]

Great job!
I'm loving this whole idea of a "journal" of your progress in the PL forum... please keep us updated with every advancement.
BTW check your PMs bro!

HP

[lilbull]

ok, this week on my ME squat day I got 275 1 time, and I floor pressed 235 1 time. I felt really weak on those days this week though because I had a lil bit too much fun last weekend, I'm glad my strength didn't go down though. I think I'll prob hit my 255lbs bp goal by the end of the program. Everything is going good. I'm eating about 2500 calories a day, and about 180g protein and 225g of carbs. I'm bulking up pretty good, I'm up to 159lbs (started at 150lbs). It's not all muscle but most of it is. I'm feeling good today and it's DE Bench day so I'm ready to hit up the gym. I'm gonna keep this page a journal from now on. Thanks for the idea HP.
Bull

[Huge Presser]

Sweet man. Your progress is excellent, lovin the updates. Keep it goin!

HP