WS4SB 3
By Joe DeFranco · From Original Source
Joe DeFranco's Westside for Skinny Bastards, his four-day template from Part 3. Monday: work up to a 3-5 rep max on bench press, two big sets of dumbbell bench press, then rows, rear delts, shrugs and curls. Tuesday: box jumps, split squats, Romanian deadlifts and abs, with no bar on your back. Thursday: three sets of max reps on incline dumbbell press, then pulldowns, rear delts, laterals, a shrug and triceps superset and grip work. Friday: work up to a 3-5 rep max on box squats, then step-ups, glute-ham raises and an ab circuit.
Free to use · auto progression, rest timers & PR tracking built in
What is WS4SB 3?
Westside for Skinny Bastards is Joe DeFranco's take on the Westside method for young, underweight athletes, and Part 3, written in 2007, is his final version. It moves to four lifting days a week: max-effort upper body on Monday, dynamic-effort lower body on Tuesday, repetition upper body on Thursday and max-effort lower body on Friday, with Wednesday and the weekend off.
Each day is a short list of slots, and for each slot he gives a list of lifts to choose from. Durata picks one from each list and names the others it carries in the lift's note. Where he gives a range of sets, such as 3-4, the plan builds the higher number and marks the extra set optional. Monday works up to a max set of 3-5 reps on bench press, then two all-out sets of dumbbell bench, rows supersetted with face pulls, shrugs and curls. Tuesday is box jumps, split squats with the front foot raised, Romanian deadlifts and hanging leg raises. Thursday is three sets of max reps on incline dumbbell press, pulldowns with rear delt flyes, lateral raises, barbell shrugs with triceps pushdowns, and a wrist roller. Friday works up to a max set of 3-5 box squats, then step-ups, glute-ham raises and a high-rep ab circuit.
Is WS4SB 3 right for you?
Athletes and lifters who want to get bigger, stronger and more explosive without a powerlifting meet in mind. DeFranco's skinny bastards are usually young and light, and the template is built around them: no barbell on your back twice a week, because he found they could not recover from it, so the second lower day is jumps and lighter single-leg work. Sessions take about 45–60 minutes.
How progression works
On the max-effort days you work up to the heaviest set of 3-5 you can manage that day, using several lighter sets of low reps to get there; he wants a weak skinny bastard to do at least five sets in all. DeFranco gives no load rule, so Durata's is simple: when your max set reaches 5 reps, the weight goes up next time; under that, it holds. The dumbbell bench after Monday's max set is two sets of max reps with one weight, chosen so the first set lands at 15-20 reps; reach 20 and it goes up. Everything with a rep range moves when every set reaches the top of it. Nothing is ever cut automatically.
Durata runs this progression for you — there are no percentages to work out, so each session's target carries over from what you logged last time and the weight moves when you hit or miss the prescribed reps.
WS4SB 3 — every set, every session
AMRAP = as many reps as possible on the sets marked AMRAP.
Max-Effort Upper Body
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Bench Press (Barbell) | 1×3–5 | — |
| Bench Press (Dumbbell) | 1×15–20+ AMRAP 1×AMRAP | 4:00 |
| Dumbbell Rowsuperset A | 4×8–12 | — |
| Face Pullsuperset A | 4×8–12 | — |
| Shrug (Dumbbell) | 4×8–15 | — |
| Bicep Curl (Dumbbell) | 4×8–15 | — |
Dynamic-Effort Lower Body
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Box Jump | 8×1–3 | — |
| Bulgarian Split Squat (Dumbbell) | 3×8–10 | — |
| Romanian Deadlift (Barbell) | 3×8–12 | — |
| Hanging Leg Raise | 4×10–15 | — |
Repetition Upper Body
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell) | 3×AMRAP | 1:30 |
| Lat Pulldown (Cable)superset A | 4×8–12 | — |
| Rear Delt Reverse Fly (Dumbbell)superset A | 4×8–12 | — |
| Lateral Raise (Dumbbell) | 4×8–12 | — |
| Shrug (Barbell)superset B | 3×8–10 | — |
| Triceps Pushdownsuperset B | 3×15–25 | — |
| Wrist Roller | 3×2–3 | — |
Max-Effort Lower Body
| Exercise | Sets × Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Box Squat (Barbell) | 1×3–5 | — |
| Step Up | 3×6–12 | — |
| Glute Ham Raise | 3×8–12 | — |
| Sit Upsuperset A | 3×10–20 | — |
| V Upsuperset A | 3×10–20 | — |
| Toe Touchsuperset A | 3×10–20 | — |
| Hip Thrustsuperset A | 3×10–20 | 1:00 |
WS4SB 3 — common questions
Do I have to use the lifts Durata picked?
No. DeFranco lists several choices for every slot and expects you to pick. The note on each lift names his other options that Durata carries, such as floor press, close-grip bench or weighted chin-ups for Monday's max-effort lift, and free squats, deadlifts or rack pulls for Friday's.
How do I do the repetition day?
Three sets of max reps on the main lift, leaving one or two reps in the tank on the first two sets and going all out on the third. Rest 90 seconds if you are a beginner, up to three minutes if you are stronger. Every four to six weeks he sometimes swaps in two or three weeks of four sets of 12-15 to stop you burning out.
Why jumps instead of speed squats on Tuesday?
DeFranco found that skinny bastards could not handle a bar on their back twice a week, and most cannot yet box squat with a controlled tempo, let alone explosively. Box jumps train explosive power, mobility and balance without the soreness of squatting, so they do not take away from Friday's heavy day.
When should I skip the grip work?
If you plan to deadlift the next day. Durata's Friday lift is the box squat, so the Thursday wrist roller fits, but if you choose a deadlift for Friday, drop the grip work.
Is there an app that runs WS4SB 3 for you?
Yes. Durata runs WS4SB 3 as written, free: the 4-day-a-week schedule, every set and rep, and the progression built in. Log your sets and the next session's weights are worked out for you, with the stalls the program calls for; a tap on any lift shows why the weight moved. It is on iPhone and Android, works offline, and your history from Hevy or Strong imports free.
Source: Joe DeFranco — "Westside for Skinny Bastards Part 3" (2007)
Durata is not affiliated with or endorsed by the program's author. The program structure (sets, reps, exercise selection) is presented as published methodology.
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