05 November 2013

Raw Westside Program 2: New and Improved

Many believe that Westside, aka conjugate periodization, is only effective for multi-ply lifters.  While it may be true that the program run by the actual lifters at Westside may not be suitable for raw or single ply lifters, that does not mean that the underlying methodology, conjugate periodization, can't be used for any athlete.

This program is a 12 week, Westside-style, conjugate periodization program for raw powerlifters.  The images below are meant to be printed and used as a training log.

I recommend this program to be used after completing an intermediate program such as Madcow or 5/3/1.




Gray areas are meant to be filled in by the athlete.  Days can be switched as desired as long as the weekly schedule is consistent throughout the 12 weeks.

There are four movements in each block (excluding DE areas).  Only one of the four is performed per session, rotating between the four.  For example, the first movement on Sunday will be Reverse Band Squat week 1, Concentric Wide GM week 2, and so on until coming back to the top for Reverse Band Squat week 5.  This way, each movement is performed once per month.

For speed upper, choose any of the 7 movements each week, being sure not to repeat the same movement in consecutive weeks, or more than 3 times total.  The order does not matter.  The idea is to move the weight as fast as possible.

Although specialty bars are not specifically mentioned, their use is encouraged.

On speed days, the % shown is meant to be a percent of a one rep max bench for upper and squat for lower.  For speed bench, do the first three sets with a close grip, the second three with a medium grip, and the last three with whatever grip was used to test the one rep max (if applicable).

Where it says "top 5, then 3x3 at same weight," work up to a conservative top set of five in the first week, and increase the weight by 5-10 lbs for cycles  two and three.

What I call a "Halting Deadlift" is a pull where you pause at the knee for a full second before locking out.

2 comments:

  1. Hey man. Thanks for a great looking program. I was just wondering what exactly are you supposed to do for the days where it says top 5, 2x3, drop set? Thanks for your help setting up a raw westside program!

    ReplyDelete