Workout of the Week 101

Hello and welcome to Workout of the Week 101: a four-day modified Westside Barbell intermediate workout.

So what’s the training goal? As with all Westside Barbell workouts, it’s to build strength, especially in the main lifts.

Training variables: The training intensity for our maximum effort is 92.5% to 100% of the one-rep max. For the repeated effort, 65% to 85% of the one-rep max, and for the dynamic effort, 50% to 60% of the one-rep max.

Repetition ranges: Maximum effort, 1 to 3. Repeated effort, 5 to 12. Dynamic effort, 2 to 3. The exertion: moderate to maximum. The effort: a repeated, a dynamic, and a maximum effort.

If we look at the exercises, we looked at that at length in the intro series. It’s the strong exercise classification based on the main lifts. Then we have variations, primary accessories, secondary accessories, tertiary accessories, and the GPP. We move from the main exercise, or a variation of it, through the primary accessory, to the secondary accessory, to the tertiary accessory, and the GPP if it applies.

More training variables: The training frequency is four days a week. It’s a station training including some complexes.

How does it look? Here we are, and we’ll jump right into it.

Here we are inside our Workout of the Week 101, the four-day modified Westside Barbell workout. Once you download the PDF, you get an overview of the workout. Then you see the table of contents, if you’d like. So here we have the structure: Workout One, maximum effort lower. Workout Two, maximum effort upper. Then we have one day of rest. And then Workout Three, dynamic effort lower, and Workout Four, dynamic effort upper.

Workout Number One: the maximum effort lower. Here we have the box squat, the RDL, then a complex of single-leg leg press and good mornings, and then hanging leg raises. For our first exercise, the box squat: well, it’s not the main exercise, it’s a variation of the main exercise, to be precise. We work up to a heavy maximum triple, so three reps at 92.5%. Whatever you see in red over here are suggested warm-up sets. In my opinion, this is the minimum you should do; ideally, you do a few more warm-up sets. And obviously, the higher the level, meaning the stronger you are, the more warm-up sets you need.

Then we go to the RDL, which is three sets of five at 85% of the one-rep max. Then we do our single-leg leg press and good mornings: three sets of six at 80% of the one-rep max. And then the hanging leg raises: three sets of 12.

If we go to Workout Number Two: the maximum effort upper. Again, we have the variation of the main exercise, here the floor press. Same thing: we work up to a heavy triple, so three repetitions at 92.5%, and the numbers in red are the suggested warm-up sets.

Then we have a complex of close-grip bench press and the barbell bent-over row. Why is it a complex? It’s antagonistic movements: an upper body horizontal press complexed with an upper body horizontal pull. So three sets of five at 85% for the close-grip bench press, and three sets of six at 80% for the bent-over row.

Then we do a complex of lateral raises and weighted crunches. This is not an antagonistic complex; it’s targeting different regions of the body. Here we have three sets of eight at 75% of the one-rep max for the lateral raises, and three sets of 12 for the weighted crunches.

Then we go to the dynamic effort lower body. First exercise: box squat band-resisted. We talked about accommodating resistance for the dynamic effort. So box squat band-resisted: six sets of two at 50% of the one-rep max. Then we do speed deadlifts, also band-resisted: six sets of three at 55% of the one-rep max. And then we do a complex of the glute-ham raise and hanging leg raises: three sets of 12.

And then we go to Workout Number Four: the dynamic effort upper body. Here we have the band-resisted bench press, same thing: six sets of two at 50%. Then we have the chest-supported dumbbell rows complexed with the lateral raises and the triceps pushdown. We do two sets of six at 80% for the rows, and two sets of eight at 75% for the lateral raises and the triceps pushdown. My eyes are so bad. That concludes the workout.

Once you download the PDF, you get a glossary explaining the terms. You can read a bit about myself if you like to. You can also read what other people have to say about me: my former athletes, my mentees, and my former colleagues. And last but certainly not least, you get a chance to subscribe to the membership. Inside the membership, you get the four-week periodized program. This was just the first week. Okay, enough promotion of the membership.

Let’s go back and finish the presentation. What are the next steps?

Download the PDF, join the membership, and like and subscribe. Again, I don’t need to promote the membership anymore. Inside the membership, you get the periodized programs. We are at week 101, so do your math: you will be able to do 101 four-week workouts, so you’ll be busy training for some time if you go through all of them. Anyway, like and subscribe. You can grab all previous workouts here. You can watch the previous workout, and if you haven’t already, subscribe.