Day 89

A. Bench

DB Single Arm Bench Press (4 x 10)

B. Vertical Pulling/ Rear Delt Superset

Neutral Grip Lat Pull-Down (4 x 12)
Rest 30s
TRX Scarecrow (4 x 12)
Rest 30s

C. Medial Delts

Strict Press (4 x 10)

D. Shrug

Overhead Barbell Shrug (3 x 12)

E. Vanity Work

TRX Bicep Curl (4 x 12)
TRX Skull Crusher (4 x 12)

Day 75

A. Squat

1 Pause Front squat + 1 Regular Front Squat - Work up to a heavy set 

B. Bench

DB Bench Press (4 x 12-15)

C. Horizontal Pull/Rear Delt Superset

4 sets of,

Neutral Grip Lat Pull-Down x 8-12
TRX Scarecrow x 8-12

D. Medial Delts

4 sets of,

L-Seated DB Press x 8-12

E. Traps/Arms Tri-set

DB Shrugs x 25
Barbell Curls x 8-12
Straight Bar Push-Downs x 15-25

Day 190

A.) Bench

3 x Max Rep Barbell Bench Press at 60% of 1RM

B.) 4 Supersets of:

Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown x 10

TRX Scarecrow x 12

C.) 4 Sets of:

L-Seated DB Press x 8

D.) Vanity Work (Superset)

DB Hammer Curl x 10

Rope Tricep Push-Downs x 15

Day 179

A.) Bench Press (4-4-4-4)

Warm-up as needed. Rest 2-3 minutes between sets.

75% x 4
80% x 4
80% x 4
80% x 4

B.) DB Bench Press (2 x max)

1 x 15-20 reps – leave one or two in the tank.

1 x Max reps – go to failure.

C.) Single Arm DB Rows (10,9,8,7,6...1) 

(Each side, no rest)

D.) Superset: 4 sets of,

Neutral Grip Lat Pull-Down x 10

TRX Scarecrow x 12

E.) Core: 3 sets of,

Barbell Rollouts x 12

MB Slams x 20

Cross Body Mountain Climbers x 40 (20 per/side)

Day 151

Max-Effort Upper Body

"Not much about the max-effort movement has changed since my original article was published. I still prefer a 3-5 rep max (RM) - as opposed to a 1RM - for my skinny bastards. The one thing that has changed – you’ll notice this later on in this article - is the second movement on max-effort upper body day. We recently started having our athletes perform two high-rep sets of an exercise immediately following the max-effort movement.

This high-rep movement is usually an exercise that’s closely related to the max-effort movement. For example, if our athletes performed a 3RM in the bench press, their second exercise may be two sets of dumbbell benches. We don’t do this all the time, but it’s a new “twist” in our templates that wasn’t covered in previous articles." 

- Joe Defranco

A.) Max-Effort Exercise – work up to a max set of 3-5 reps in one of the following exercises:

• Thick bar or regular barbell bench press
• Barbell floor press
• Rack lockouts / Suspended chain lockouts
• Incline barbell bench press (regular grip or close grip)
• Close-grip bench press (index finger on smooth part of bar)
• Weighted chin-ups
• Board presses or foam presses
• Chain bench press (*recommended for not-so-skinny bastards)
• Band bench press (*recommended for not-so-skinny bastards)
• Reverse band bench press (*recommended for not-so-skinny bastards)

B.) Supplemental Exercise – perform 2 sets of max reps in one of the following exercises. 

(Choose a weight you can perform for 15-20 reps on the 1st set. Use the same weight for both sets and rest 3-4 minutes between sets).

• Flat DB bench press (palms in or out)
• Incline DB bench press (palms in or out)
• DB floor press (palms in)
• Barbell push-ups (wearing weighted vest)
• Blast strap push-ups (wearing weighted vest)
• “Criss-cross” chain push-ups
• “Triceps death”
• Chin-ups (don’t perform these if you chose to do weighted chin-ups for your first exercise)

C.) Horizontal pulling / Rear delt superset - Superset one exercise from “Group 1” with one exercise from “Group 2.” Perform 3-4 supersets of 8-12 reps of each exercise.

Group 1

• DB rows
• Barbell rows
• Seated cable rows (various bars)
• T-bar rows
• Chest supported rows

Group 2

• Rear delt flyes
• Scarecrows
• Face pulls
• Seated DB “power cleans”
• Band pull-aparts

D.) Traps – Perform 3 – 4 sets of 8-15 reps of one of the following exercises:

• DB shrugs
• Barbell shrugs
• Safety squat bar shrugs
• Behind the back barbell shrugs

E.) Elbow flexor exercise - Perform 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps of one of the following exercises:

• Barbell curls (regular or thick bar)
• DB curls (standing)
• Seated Incline DB curls
• Hammer curls
• Zottmann curls
• Iso-hold DB curls

Here's what we did:

A.) Thick Bar Bench Press (Fat Gripz)

- Work up to 5RM

B.) Incline DB  Bench Press (2 x max)

C1.) Seated Row 4 x 12

C2.) TRX Scarecrow 4 x 12

D.) DB Shrugs 3 x 10

D1.) Barbell Curls 3 x 10

D2.) Rope Tricep Push-Down 3 x 15

Day 93

A.) Bench Press 2RM (Fat Gripz)

B.) DB Floor Press 2 x Max Reps

(Choose a weight you can perform for 15-20 reps on the 1st set. Use the same weight for both sets and rest 3-4 minutes between sets)

C.) Superset: Four sets of,

Seated Row x 8, across

Rest 30s

TRX Scarecrow x 12

Rest 30s

D.) Joe D's "3-6-12" Badass Biceps Builder

1.) Eccentric Chin-ups (close, underhand grip): 3 reps, 10sec. each lowering

2.) 1½ rep Incline Dumbell Curls: 6 reps
3.) Band Curls: 12 reps

- Rest 10-15s between each exercise. 

- Rest 3 minutes between each tri-set.
- Repeat for 2-5 tri-sets.

- DEMO

Off Season: Day 39

Westside for Skinny Bastards, Part III

Max-Effort Upper Body

"Not much about the max-effort movement has changed since my original article was published. I still prefer a 3-5 rep max (RM) - as opposed to a 1RM - for my skinny bastards. The one thing that has changed – you’ll notice this later on in this article - is the second movement on max-effort upper body day. We recently started having our athletes perform two high-rep sets of an exercise immediately following the max-effort movement.

This high-rep movement is usually an exercise that’s closely related to the max-effort movement. For example, if our athletes performed a 3RM in the bench press, their second exercise may be two sets of dumbbell benches. We don’t do this all the time, but it’s a new “twist” in our templates that wasn’t covered in previous articles." 

- Joe Defranco

A.) Max-Effort Exercise – work up to a max set of 3-5 reps in one of the following exercises:

• Thick bar or regular barbell bench press
• Barbell floor press
• Rack lockouts / Suspended chain lockouts
• Incline barbell bench press (regular grip or close grip)
• Close-grip bench press (index finger on smooth part of bar)
• Weighted chin-ups
• Board presses or foam presses
• Chain bench press (*recommended for not-so-skinny bastards)
• Band bench press (*recommended for not-so-skinny bastards)
• Reverse band bench press (*recommended for not-so-skinny bastards)

B.) Supplemental Exercise – perform 2 sets of max reps in one of the following exercises. 

(Choose a weight you can perform for 15-20 reps on the 1st set. Use the same weight for both sets and rest 3-4 minutes between sets).

• Flat DB bench press (palms in or out)
• Incline DB bench press (palms in or out)
• DB floor press (palms in)
• Barbell push-ups (wearing weighted vest)
• Blast strap push-ups (wearing weighted vest)
• “Criss-cross” chain push-ups
• “Triceps death”
• Chin-ups (don’t perform these if you chose to do weighted chin-ups for your first exercise)

C.) Horizontal pulling / Rear delt superset - Superset one exercise from “Group 1” with one exercise from “Group 2.” Perform 3-4 supersets of 8-12 reps of each exercise.

Group 1

• DB rows
• Barbell rows
• Seated cable rows (various bars)
• T-bar rows
• Chest supported rows

Group 2

• Rear delt flyes
• Scarecrows
• Face pulls
• Seated DB “power cleans”
• Band pull-aparts

D.) Traps – Perform 3 – 4 sets of 8-15 reps of one of the following exercises:

• DB shrugs
• Barbell shrugs
• Safety squat bar shrugs
• Behind the back barbell shrugs

E.) Elbow flexor exercise - Perform 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps of one of the following exercises:

• Barbell curls (regular or thick bar)
• DB curls (standing)
• Seated Incline DB curls
• Hammer curls
• Zottmann curls
• Iso-hold DB curls

Here's what we did:

A.) Thick Bar Bench Press (Fat Gripz)

- Work up to 5RM

B.) Single Arm Alternating DB Bench Press (4 x 10)

C1.) DB One-Arm Row 4 x 10

C2.) TRX Scarecrow 4 x 12

D1.) Strict Stationary Dips 4 x 10

D2.) Barbell Curls 4 x 10