Making Progress

[Stickman]

progress form February to now, im quite please, primary focus is strength which is going well, currently following a westside template and enjoying it a lot and really making progress, current stats:

Weight: 79kg
Height: 1.7m (5ft 7)
Training days: 4000kcal
Non Trainging: 3000-3500kcal


Lifts (max):
Bench: 97.5kg
Squat: 145
Deadlift: 160

I Hope these Pictures aren't huge, apologies in advance if they are
Pictures comparing from feburary to today:

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I think progress is fairly good i am happy

any comments or suggestions/constructive criticism welcome

[hailtotheking]

Looks like you have leaned out a bit (abs and face look leaner), and your shoulders look much better developed. you seem to have sorted out a shoulder asymmetry postural issue you had in the 1st pictures.

Are you using Westisde for bodybuilding, or powerlifting? Its a powerlifting template mate, so if you are interested in aesthetics its not really designed for that.

[Stickman]

yeah i did notice the shoulder symmetry, overall shoulders have improved a lot i feel, and leaner definately really cleaned up diet even though more calories, and i reduced protein intake to about 150g per day which i feel really helped, made me less lathargic and seen much better strength gains since then, probably due to higher carbs more though

strength training pal, just asthetics is a benefit that is coming along nicely at the same time which is nice. Would idealy like to eventually get into the powerlifting scene just looking to inrease weights a bit more and possibly check out a few meets to see how it all goes down and get a feel for it. And while im working towards that asthetically im also improving so might aswell enjoy that aswell as an added bonus.

[MiniHulk]

I see an improvement - look more compact. Keep up the work. Up your calories on the non-training days to 3500 - 4000. A lot of repairing is done on rest days and you don't look like you're at risk of getting fat.

[hailtotheking]

Well, you are doing well then mate! Its great when aesthetics increase as a side effect of your training, rather than being the primary goal of it. I noticed the same thing with powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting.

One thing i would be cautious of with the Westside template, is if you ever intend to do a RAW powerlifting comp doing too much box squatting doesnt really help you on the raw squat that much. Apart from doing the occasional low box squat (when i mean low, i mean below parallel), i would stick mostly to standard power squats and make sure you hit below parallel consistently. Thats my experience anyway.

[Stickman]

cheers for the advice, Ill try to up calories on rest days maybe milk with tblsp of olive or so because i really struggle eating that much on non training days


Yeah with squat days im mixing it up with power squats, using resistance bands, box squats. My gym has some really low benches, easily below parallel if not stack some weight plates under a step up box to give a good height and then squat down to that. Ill def keep that in mind whilst training and see where im finding results and then stick with it.

[James]

Holy hell, that is a LOT of calories! You are the weight as me and I use 3000-3100 calories on training days when adding strength and mass, wowzas!

EDIT: Also, looks like great progress! Well done and keep it up.

[hailtotheking]

Quote

cheers for the advice, Ill try to up calories on rest days maybe milk with tblsp of olive or so because i really struggle eating that much on non training days


Yeah with squat days im mixing it up with power squats, using resistance bands, box squats. My gym has some really low benches, easily below parallel if not stack some weight plates under a step up box to give a good height and then squat down to that. Ill def keep that in mind whilst training and see where im finding results and then stick with it.

Good stuff. Just bear in mind most of the Westside special movements used in the ORIGINAL template are designed to assist the sticking points when using equipment. Another example is using bands increases resistance at the top of the movement, but the hardest part of a raw squat for most is in the hole at the bottom.

[Stickman]

Yeah I hadnt really realised i was eating that many until recently i thought i would check just out of curiosity and weighted everything i cooked and took the info off everything and used online calorie tracker and was at 4000 for the day, i had a rough idea before because i weigh out food when i buy it on the day and keep it in portions for meals to make it easier to cook with throughout week but had never really included snacks, or thing like sauces, rice or anything i would have with the meal.


With the training the hole at the bottom what sort of excersices would you use, perhaps if you set safety pins low (at bottom depth) loaded the bar up and then squatted from the bottom? I always make sure i squat below parallel anyway, at the moment as i mention in a thread in the power and strength section, its more my lower back giving out before and thing else so i am aiming to add some more accesorry work to aid in this and work on weaknesses as the arise, tho if you have any suggested excersises for a squat day or anything it would be great to here them or maybe example routines to work on squat u may have done and found effective? all advice is greatly appretiated

[MiniHulk]

I don't squat unless I can practically touch my butt on my feet, I love the feeling of being so close to falling on my ass but managing to get right back up again. I personally think you should hold the squat at the top position while someone else sets the pins low if you have a partner. I always feel more capable of pulling off low squats if I start with the negative... Just make sure you don't drop it on your buddies head lol.