Strength speed is sometimes called slow strength because it is trained and developed at slow velocity. There are always problems with special training methods. If only barbell weight is used, it becomes too heavy in the bottom to overcome the load. If only band tension is used, the load will be too heavy at the top to allow the load to be started from the top of a squat. Strength speed development must incorporate the Combination of Resistance method. Westside prefers the combination of barbell weight plus band tension that exceeds the amount of bar weight. An example: 700 pounds of bands with a maximum barbell load of maybe 500 pounds. This would add up to 1,200 pounds at lockout.
1By Louie SimmonsTHE WESTSIDE BARBELL BOOKOF METHODS2THEWESTSIDE BARBELL BOOK OF METHODSBy Louie SimmonsWriter:LouieSimmonsEditor:Sakari SelkinahoPhotographs: Sakari Selkinaho, ScottDePanlisCovers: Ville Turkkinen, VPT Productions, FinlandPrinter:Action PrintingCopyright 2007, Westside Barbell and Louie SimmonsNopart of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any meanswithout the prior written consent of the publisher. Except of thebrief quotes used in reviews.DisclaimerThe author and publisher ofthis material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for anyinjury that may occur through following the instructions containedin this material. The activities may be too strenuous or dangerousfor some people. The readers should always consult a physicianbefore engaging in them.3ContentsPart I..............................................................................................................................................7FOREWORD..................................................................................................................................8FOREWORD FROM THE EDITOR...........................................................................................18WESTSIDE STRENGTH TRAINING FUNDAMENTALS....................................................... 19World ofStrength and Power...................................................................................................19The Organization of Training...................................................................................................21The Regulation ofTraining.......................................................................................................26Percent Training........................................................................................................................29Time in Strength Training.........................................................................................................31Importance of Volume..............................................................................................................31TRAINING METHODS...............................................................................................................35Conjugate Method....................................................................................................................35Maximal Effort Method............................................................................................................39Dynamic Effort Method............................................................................................................40Repeated Effort Method...........................................................................................................41Methods Breakdown inTraining.............................................................................................43Contrast and Reactive Methods................................................................................................45WESTSIDE SYSTEM INTRODUCTION...................................................................................52Overview of the Westside program..........................................................................................52DEVELOPING SPECIAL STRENGTHS....................................................................................60Part II...........................................................................................................................................69TRAINING OF THE POWER LIFTS..........................................................................................69Technique..................................................................................................................................694PERIODIZATION........................................................................................................................69Intensity Zone Loading.............................................................................................................69Controlling Volume..................................................................................................................69Speed Training..........................................................................................................................69Off-Season Training.................................................................................................................69Advanced System for Beginners..............................................................................................69WESTSIDE BENCH PRESS TRAINING...................................................................................69Dynamic Effort Day.................................................................................................................69Maximum Effort Day...............................................................................................................69Periodization for the Bench Press.............................................................................................69Intensity Loading for the Bench Press......................................................................................69Loading for Repetitions............................................................................................................69Sample Bench Press Workouts.................................................................................................69Westsides Top Benchers Training............................................................................................69THE SQUAT.................................................................................................................................70Using the Box in Squat.............................................................................................................70Squat Training..........................................................................................................................70Periodization in Squat Training................................................................................................70Intensity Loading for the Squat................................................................................................70Sample Squat Workouts............................................................................................................70WESTSIDE DEADLIFT TRAINING..........................................................................................70Exercises for the Deadlift.........................................................................................................70More on Technique...................................................................................................................70Using the Conjugate Method in the Deadlift............................................................................70The Reverse Hyper Machine....................................................................................................70Westside Deadlift Favorites......................................................................................................70Periodization for the Deadlift...................................................................................................70Speed Training for the Deadlift................................................................................................70BANDS AND CHAINSRESEARCHING RESISTANCE.......................................................70Accommodating Resistance.....................................................................................................70Using Chains in Training..........................................................................................................70The ForceVelocity Curve, Science Behind Bands................................................................70The Effect of BandsVirtual Force.........................................................................................70Training with BandsAn Overview........................................................................................70OVERCOMING PLATEUS.........................................................................................................70The Mini-maxPoint..................................................................................................................70Staggered Loading Effect.........................................................................................................70The Squat..................................................................................................................................705BenchPress...............................................................................................................................70The Deadlift..............................................................................................................................70PREPARING FOR ACONTEST..................................................................................................70Overall Program Guidelines.....................................................................................................70Designing Your Training Outline.............................................................................................70Delayed Transformation...........................................................................................................70GENERAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION....................................................................................70What is GPP?............................................................................................................................70Sled Work.................................................................................................................................70Extra Workouts.........................................................................................................................70Designing Your Extra Workouts...............................................................................................71Foundational Training for the Power Lifts...............................................................................71Bench Press, Squat, andDeadlift..............................................................................................71SPECIAL EXERCISESTRAINING THE MUSCLES.............................................................71Back Exercises..........................................................................................................................71Leg Exercises............................................................................................................................71Abdominal Exercises................................................................................................................71Triceps Exercises......................................................................................................................71PLYOMETRICS AND POWERLIFTING...................................................................................71The Practice of Plyometrics at Westside..................................................................................71Explosive Leg Strength............................................................................................................71Using the Virtual Force Swing.................................................................................................71TRAINING OF THE POWER LIFTS..........................................................................................72Technique..................................................................................................................................72PERIODIZATION........................................................................................................................75Intensity Zone Loading.............................................................................................................80Controlling Volume..................................................................................................................80Speed Training..........................................................................................................................81Off-Season Training.................................................................................................................81Advanced System for Beginners..............................................................................................83WESTSIDE BENCH PRESS TRAINING...................................................................................87Dynamic Effort Day.................................................................................................................87Maximum Effort Day...............................................................................................................88Floor Presses.............................................................................................................................90Board Press...............................................................................................................................90Rack Lockouts..........................................................................................................................916Periodization for the Bench Press.............................................................................................92Intensity Zone Loading for the Bench Press............................................................................93Loading for RepetitionWork toFailure...............................................................................94Sample Bench Press Workouts.................................................................................................95Westsides Top Benchers Training...........................................................................................98THE SQUAT...............................................................................................................................101Using the Box in the Squat.....................................................................................................101Squat Training........................................................................................................................106Periodization in Squat Training..............................................................................................108Intensity Loading for the Squat..............................................................................................110Sample Squat Workouts..........................................................................................................111DEADLIFT TRAINING.............................................................................................................115Exercises for the Deadlift.......................................................................................................116Technique................................................................................................................................117Using the Conjugate Method in the Deadlift..........................................................................117The Reverse Hyper Extension Machine.................................................................................119Westside Favorite Types of Deadlifts.....................................................................................119Periodization for the Deadlift.................................................................................................120Speed Training for theDeadlifts............................................................................................123BANDS AND CHAINS RESEARCHING RESISTANCE.....................................................124Accommodating Resistance...................................................................................................125Using Chains inTraining.......................................................................................................128The ForceVelocity Curve, Science Behind Bands..............................................................131The Effect of BandsVirtual Force.......................................................................................133Training with the Bands An Overview................................................................................135OVERCOMING PLATEAUS....................................................................................................138The Mini-maxPoint................................................................................................................139Staggered Loading Effect.......................................................................................................141The Squat................................................................................................................................141The Bench Press.....................................................................................................................143The Deadlift............................................................................................................................145PREPARING FOR ACONTEST................................................................................................149Competition picture................................................................................................................150Overall Program Guidelines...................................................................................................150Designing Your Training Outline...........................................................................................152DelayedTransformation........................................................................................................1547GENERAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION..................................................................................157What is GPP?..........................................................................................................................157Sled Work...............................................................................................................................158Designing Your Extra Workouts.............................................................................................163Foundational Training for thePowerlifts................................................................................165BenchPress.............................................................................................................................166The Squat and Deadlift...........................................................................................................167SPECIAL EXERCISES...........................................................................................................171TRAINING THE MUSCLES.....................................................................................................171Back Exercises......................................................................................................................172Leg Exercises..........................................................................................................................177Abdominal Exercises..............................................................................................................180Triceps exercises.....................................................................................................................185PLYOMETRICS AND POWERLIFTING.................................................................................188The Practice of Plyometrics at Westside................................................................................190Explosive Leg Strength..........................................................................................................193Using the Virtual Force Swing...............................................................................................196Part III.......................................................................................................................................199MISINFORMATION ON STRENGTH TRAINING.................................................................199U.S.Approach.........................................................................................................................199The Bodybuilding Approach Hit or Miss?..........................................................................199Misinformation on Bands.......................................................................................................199Recommended Reading byLouie...........................................................................................199THOUGHTS ON EQUIPMENT................................................................................................199Personal Gear..........................................................................................................................199How to Use a Bench Shirt......................................................................................................199Coaching Equipment The Tendo Unit.................................................................................199Gym Equipment......................................................................................................................199WESTSIDE BARBELL STATISTICS.......................................................................................199Top Ten Charts........................................................................................................................199Westside Club Stats................................................................................................................199WESTSIDE EXERCISE INDEX...............................................................................................1998MISINFORMATION ON STRENGTH TRAINING.................................................................200The U.S.Approach................................................................................................................200The Bodybuilding ApproachHit or Miss?..........................................................................203Misinformation on Bands.......................................................................................................207Recommended reading...........................................................................................................207Books That LouRecommends..............................................................................................208THOUGHTS ON EQUIPMENT................................................................................................209Personalgear...........................................................................................................................209How to Use Bench PressShirt...............................................................................................212Coaching Equipment The TendoUnit................................................................................213Gym Equipment......................................................................................................................215WESTSIDE BARBELL STATISTICS.......................................................................................220Westside Barbell Top Ten.......................................................................................................227Westside Exercise Index.........................................................................................................227Westside Squat and Deadlift Exercise Index:.........................................................................227Westside Bench Press Exercise Index....................................................................................229Table of contents:....................................................................................................................231PART I.........................................................................................................................................231PART II.......................................................................................................................................232PART III......................................................................................................................................2349Part IFOREWORDFOREWORD FROM THE EDITORWESTSIDE STRENGTHTRAINING FUNDAMENTALSWorld of Strength and PowerThe Organization ofTrainingThe Regulation of TrainingPercent TrainingTime in StrengthTrainingImportance of VolumeTRAINING METHODSConjugate MethodMaximalEffort MethodDynamic Effort MethodRepeated Effort MethodMethodsBreakdown in Training Contrast and Reactive MethodsWESTSIDE SYSTEMINTRODUCTIONDEVELOPING SPECIAL STRENGTHS10FOREWORDLou in front ofrecord boardMy powerlifting memories start in 1966, just one monthbefore my induction into the army. I feel like Captain Ahab withhis obsession with Moby Dick. I am strapped to powerlifting. I knowI will be pulled to my chalky death by it eventually, but I cantstop. All my memories and all my friends are involved inpowerlifting so I am drawn to it even more today than ever. This ismy story as I remember it.My rst exposure to powerlifting was at apower meet in Dayton, Ohio, late in 1966. I had Olympic liftedsince I was 12 and competed at 14, doing a 175 snatch and a 260clean/jerk at a body weight of about 155. I really thought I was astrong guy until that rst power meet. There were 11 men in the165s, and I got tenth place, beating only a 55-year-old dude.Thiswas an eye opener for me. I never Olympic lifted again. My Olympiclifting training partners should have worn signs saying I liftweights because if they were brought into court for it, the casewould be thrown out for lack of evidence. However, the powerliftersI saw not only were strong but looked like they were strong.One ofthese men was Milt McKinney, a future world champion in the 132s.George Crawford was amazing at 165, trying a 525 world record squatwith legs like tree trunks. He later squatted 11650 at 165 with nogear back when 500 was good. George was the rst to help me with mysquat form. He was always helpful at meets. His son came to visityears later, and it was my honor to help him. Vince Anello was inthe meet as well, showing signs of his deadlift prowess even then.Vince told me once that anything made his deadlift go up. He wasdoing the conjugate system without knowing it. I just saw Vince atthe 2004 IPF World Bench Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. He stilllooks great.That meet in 1966 was my introduction to Larry Pacico.He would become one of the greatest lifters I ever saw. There wasnothing I did not do to try to beat him. However, I never did, nordid anyone else until injuries and a technical error in the 1980Senior Nationals cost him his chance to win ten worlds in a row. Hegave advice on benching, which was to gain weight and work yourtriceps. Larrys son is becoming quite a shot putter, throwing 60feet as a ninth grader. This group, along with Ed Matz and a fewtop lifters around the world, had a network of training knowledgeat their disposal, which was a major factor in their success. Todaywe have the internet, but unfortunately, many use it to bad moutheach other, cry abouttheir training partners, or, worse, be alegend in their own mind.After that power meet, I went into thearmy. The next month I was in the infantry but did not go toVietnam. Instead, I was sent to Berlin, I think, because of myfathers untimely death in 1968. Now, I could train fairlyregularly, but my lifts were going nowhere. No one knew anythingabout powerlifting.One day I picked up a Muscle Power Builder,which later became Muscle and Fitness. In that magazine, there wasa powerlifting article about the Westside Barbell Club of CulverCity, California. It was about box squatting. I had never heard ofthis, but with nothing to lose, I gave it a try. To my amazement,the box squats worked to the point that I later made top ten squatsin ve weight classes.Through those articles, Bill West, GeorgeFrenn, and the guys got me started on the right foot. I was neverable to visit Westside in Culver City due to work, which I regretto this day. After getting out of the army in 1969, I built a powerrack, got some weights, and started training full-time using what Ilearned from the articles. They were my only training partners.After Bill West died, I referred to my place as Westside Barbellbut never publicly until 1986. Westside Barbell is a trademarkedname (and so is Louie Simmons).I often wondered if I was on theright track with my training. Roger Estep was doing a 1600 total inthe early 1970s. Then, out of nowhere, he made an 1800 total. Iasked him how he jumped 200 lbs so quickly. He said he went out toWestside in Culver City, and the rest WAS history. Chuckie Dunbar,Jack Wilson, Luke Iams, Paul Sutphin, and some others were known asthe Wild Bunch and were a very strong team. They proved to me thatI was on the right track. My problemwas that I had no trainingpartners. When I went to meets, I asked lifters who excelled ineach lift for tips on that lift. When it came to benching, LarryPacico was always telling me to train my triceps and lats. I waslifting in Indiana and met Bill Seno. This dude was huge. He hadwon best chest in many Mr. American contests but was also theAmerican record holder in the bench press. I also asked Bill how toget my bench up to a top ten lift (at the time there was only a topten). First, he stared at me. Then, he grabbed me by the arms andsaid I needed to do illegally wide benches for a six rep max. Whenprogress stopped, he told me to go up to eight reps and then to tenreps with one to failure. I hated the higher reps but the sixespushed my lousy 340 at 181 to 445 at 198 and 12then nally 480 at220 and a top eight bench. Bill was a close-grip bencher, and hewas telling me to bench extra wide?What gives?In the end, he knewwhat he was talking about. Bill was training with Ernie Frantz.Ernie was 12 or 13 years older than me. A former bodybuilder turnedpowerlifter, Ernie was old by my standards but not old-fashioned.He was and still is on the cutting edge with power geardenim shirtsand canvas squat suits, which are still some of the best today. Foryears, he was a top 181, 198, and 220. He also formed the APF andWPC to lift some of the restrictions of the IFF. His wife, Diane,was also a top lifter in the1980s. There were top lifters such asJack Barnes, who could out-squat everyone at 181 and 198 and JohnKanter at 242 with a 2000 total. The heavyweights were always inthe limelightJohn Kuc; Jim Williams, one of the greatest benchersof all time; and Jon Cole, who made a 2370 total at 286 with nogear. I entered my rst national meet, the Junior Nationals inPatterson, New Jersey, in 1971. I got third. I thought I had secondplace locked up until Joe Spack, also known as Spack the Wack, cameout and pulled a 650 deadlift to push me into third. I made the topten in 1972 in Powerlifting News, a Dan Dewelt publication that wasthe predecessor to Mike Lamberts Powerlifting USA. In 1970, I metHerb Glossbrenner, who thanklessly keeps stats to this day. Herband Mike keep it real for everyone.My arch rival was George Clark.This guy was built like a tank. He always beat me by 4050 lbs. Butwhat made it worse was that when he arrived anywhere, everyonestopped and stared at him because he had muscles that did not havenames yet. I dreamed about beating him every day of my life, but Inever did. I did outlast him though.I made my rst Elite total inFebruary 1973 in Toledo, Ohio. I did 605380670 and a 1655 total. Atthat time, there wasnt any gear. I almost made a 700 deadlift. Manygood lifters, including Bill Ennis and Ed Matz, participated inthat meet. It was known as the Key to the Sea. The Chattanooga Openwas a big but not national meet as well. After that meet, I said tomyself that my back was indestructible. Boy, was I wrong. I brokemy fth lumbar vertebra. I was on and off crutches for ten monthsand in severe pain. I could not do any exercises that had made mestrong before. By luck, I came up with the Reverse Hyper. It rsthelped the pain, and then it repaired my back to its formerstrength.Walter Thomas was new and on the rise in the early 1970s.Inaba, Precious McKenzie, Eddie Pengelly, and Ron Collins weremaking names for themselves. Powerlifting was becominginternational. The IPF was formed to organize the rst world powersport. The AAU had run powerlifting in the beginning. The early1970s were the springboard for United States powerlifting. ManyCanadians lifted in our meets in Ohio. I dont think Dr. Di Pasqualewas one of them, but everyone knows him today by his column inPowerlifting USA. Many powerlifters hang on forever. Bob Cortes wasin many meets in the early 1970s. I recall he was older than dirtthen, and he is still lifting today.In the 19 71 Junior Nationals,I broke the squat record with 565, breaking the mark held by TonyFratto, who was a huge inuence in my squatting. Its funny howalthough you were competing against these great lifters, they werealso great men. They were the pioneers of this great sport. Itrained by myself until I saw Doug Heath at Ohio State University.He was strong as hell but really eccentric to say the least. He hadmany great contests with Ron Mercer of the Glass City Power Team inToledo. Doug is still strong today, making top ten lifts. After myback injury, it took me a few years to reach top form again.Spanjian supersuits came on the scene. They did 13not do much, butI was glad to have some support. I recall that they cost $24.00.Bobs Belts supplied a four-inch power belt, which I still usetoday.Larry Pacico was not only lifting big but was putting on thegreatest power meets ever. I lifted in the 1977 Junior Nationals inLincoln, Nebraska. It was the rst time I saw Fred Hateld. He wouldbecome a squatting machine, maybe the greatest pure squatter of alltime. I met a kid there who told me he was going to break the worldrecord in the bench at 148. His name was Mike Bridges. He did breakthe record. I never saw such a lifting machine. He was and is thestrongest man under 200 lbs that I ever saw. If he would choose touse the best gear of today, it would be crazy. My friend, ArnoldColeman, broke Mikes and Gene Bells total record at the 2005 ArnoldClassic. I was amazed to see Arnold break these records. It wasunexpected, but the unexpected is commonplace today.SamMangialardi, Dennis Reed, and Henry Waters were making big noise aswell as Clyde Wright, Larry Kidney, and Paul Wrenn, who at superheavyweight sure could squat deep. I was now a 198. Estep, Jones,Cash, and my new training partner, Gary Sanger, were doing biglifts. In 1978, I was strong againfourth in the squat, seventh inthe deadlift with 710, and fth in the total at 1825. I wanted to goto 220 but had a hard time gaining weight. I thought my injurieswere behind me so I went to the 1979 Senior Nationals. Bridges waskilling then, but Ricky Crain was right there. Walter Thomas was atthe top of his game. I was there to beat Pacico like everyone else.I did everything I could to beat him, butof courseI didnt andneither could anyone else.The 1979 Seniors was known as theMeltdown in Mississippi for good reason. Bill Kazmaier was making aname for himself and had planned to dominate the meet. I wassitting poolside with some lifters when Bill said, Beam me up,Scotty. His luck got worse when he bombed out with an 804 deadlift.He would have won by over 100 lbs. It was very humid, which causedmany missed deadlifts. I weighed only 212 and made a 733 PR squatand a PR bench of 462. My opener of 677 would place me secondbehind Larry Pacico. I pulled the weight easy, but as I locked itout, my grip slipped a little. The head referee was looking at myhand, and then my bicep tore loose, causing me to drop the bar. Mysecond place quickly became no place. What a meet. Only two made atotalLarry and Dr. Steve Miller. To this day, people ask me, Wheresyour bicep? I reply, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.Two surgeonsrecommended surgery, but one said no and thats the way I went. Manypeople asked if I was going to lift again. I said, Hell yes. Sixmonths later, in January 1980, at the Y Nationals, I was back. Isquatted 765, benched 480 (my rst top ten bench), and deadlifted705 to total 1950. It was the third best total ever for a shorttime. Thats the good news. The bad news was that I had hurt mygroin and lower abs. I was in extreme pain, but I was getting tolike pain, maybe a little too much. Next stop, the 1980 SeniorNationals in Wisconsin. I opened with 722 but failed. I made mysecond attempt but with a lot of pain and a popping sound. For therst time, I used my head and passed the rest of the meet. ErnieHackett, a world record holder and physical therapist, looked at meand said I had torn tendons of the pelvic bone and some lower abmuscles. He was right, and I was out for a while.Meanwhile, LarryPacico had won his ninth world championship at the 1979 Worlds inhis hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Japan, England, and Canada had worldchamps along with the United States. At the 1979 Worlds, Lamar Gantbeat Precious McKenzie at 123 by pulling a 617 14deadlift. Theworld record was 551, and Lamar made 617 to a standing ovation, theonly one Ive ever seen. With there being only one federation, mymain goal was to do top ten lifts in my third weight class. I hadsome time to think about training. I knew I was doing somethingwrong because I was stronger in training than at the meets. Afterbreaking my fth lumbar vertebra for the second time in 1983, Isought medical advice. The doctor wanted to remove two disks, fusemy back, and remove bone spurs. I said, No way, Jose. Larrys stringof worlds stops at nine after jumping 2.2 ks on his second attempt,negating a third.Dan Wohleber pulled the rst 900 deadlift. DaveWaddington squatted the rst 1000 squat. Mike McDonald got a 512bench press at 181 body weight. Remember, no shirts! While I wasrecovering from my back injuries, I found every book on trainingmethodologies from the old Eastern Bloc that I could. I wasdetermined to outlast my rivals. There were many bright stars, butthe brightest stars seem to burn out fast.I found that my newmethods were working well. I decided to lift at 242 body weightjust to get my fourth USPF Elite total. After that, I found a meetin Toledo and decided to try for my fth Elite total at 275 bodyweight. The problem was that I could only weigh 234. Ten milesoutside of Toledo, I started drinking Gatorades. Chuck Vogelpohlkept handing me can after can, but I was still 238 when I steppedon the scale. The ofcial said, Youre good. But I said, Im liftingat 275. So I stayed and drank Gatorades until I went over the 242limit and ofcially made the 275 class. I made my fth Elite exactlywhere I made my rst Elite. I squatted 800 lbs, benched 520, and dida 650 deadlift just to total that fth Elite. By the way, they wereall done with IPF or USPF judges. I was now wearing a bench shirt.They werent much, a bit better than nothing. Shirts came about in1984 or early 1985. I have lifted in every era of powerlifting.Things change and so must lifters.I am one of a few to bench a topten bench of 480 in 1980 without a shirt and sixth at 575 at a bodyweight of 220 in 2002 with a shirt at 54 years of age. Everyoneasked me about Anthony Clarks benches. Were they good? I alwayssaid yes. Now, Gene Rychalk, Jr. is the center of controversy. Isaw Gene from the head judges chair do a perfect 1005 bench. Letterperfect. Im sure if you threw some serious cash at Gene, he wouldshut the mouths of those who criticize him. My hat goes off to Genejust like Jim Williams, Mike McDonald, Ted Arcidi, Ken Lane, andall the other great lifters throughout the decades. Dont takepowerlifting backward. It could end up like United Statesweightlifting, whose road is a dead-end street. There arepretenders, but they know who they are. You must respect eachother.In 1970, I was weighing in, and George Crawford and JerryBell, the rst 700 deadlifter at 165 body weight, were escorting alittle kid at the meet. I asked, Whos this? Jerry replied, This kidwill be famous someday. His name was Bob Wahl, and he got a 661squat at 148 body weight in 1983. To this day, I respect everylifter, young or old, who is brave enough to step on theplatform.My old friends Paul Sutphin, Mark Dimiduk, JayRosciglione, and many others like SteveWilson and John Black ofBlacks Health World of Cleveland were all doing remarkable things.I lifted at the 1987 YMCA Nationals with 2033 at a light 242 andgot fourth place. Steve Goggins wasalready a superstar, just liketoday. My good friend, Matt Dimel, had squatted 1010 at SHW andwastotaling 2300. It was a great loss to Westside when Matt died.Gary Sanger was moving to LSU to teach, Bill Whitaker was going toPennsylvania to start a vet clinic, and Dr 15Tom Paulucci had somemedical problems and had to retire. Doug Heath was going strong.Bob Coe, who showed up at my door 25 years ago, is still atWestside.My knee had been hurting for some time, about ve years tobe exact. I was going to the APF Nationals and was taking a lowhassock record when three-quarters of the way up, I snapped my leftpatella tendon in half. I had heard a few snaps but never thought Iwould hear my own. But it happened. My kneecap was now on theinside of my leg. The emergency squad showed up in ten minutes.They looked at my leg and told me they thought I had dislocated myknee. I told them no way jack. I am very allergic to anesthesia andI have a spinal block so I was awake during my surgery.All wentwell, and 14 weeks later, I went back with my friend, Diane Black,to have the wires removed. They gave me a shot to calm me forsurgery. That shot put me to sleep, and they proceeded to give meanesthesia. I stopped breathing for four minutes so they trached meand then inserted chest tubes when my lungs collapsed. I woke uptwo days later with holes in my chest and throat but no kneesurgery! WOW, that really helped! I didnt know that Dr. Howard andDr. Fine were working on me. Well, they inserted an air tubethrough my nose and nished the job. After seven days in intensivecare to do a four-hour procedure, I was home.I was never going tocompete again, but Kenny Patterson said something to me thatbrought me out of retirement immediately. That was 1996 andpowerlifting hadnt gotten out of hand yet. I lifted seven times in11 months and became the rst over 50-year-old to bench 550 and therst to bench 600. This was in a closed-back shirt. I made a top tenbench again. I heard people say that I wasnt built to bench, squat,or deadlift. If I made top ten lifting all categories then almostanybody can. Except for you lazy bastards who have got some excusewhy you cant! Powerlifting comes in erasno gear, some gear, bettergear, and what I refer to as gangster gear, or legal throughloopholes. Get used to it. It is here to stay. It makes relativenewcomers superstars fast. Big squats, big benches, and most of thetime, a poor deadlift! This shows the true strength of a person.The USPF was kicked out of the IPF. I told Peter Thorne that weshould pull out of the IPF instead of getting pushed out. Rememberfolks, there are drug-tested meets but no drug-free meets. Get itstraight because that is the way it is. Brother Bennett had a goodidea, but unfortunately, there will always be those who bend therules. This has been the way since the beginning of sports. Therewas the ADFPA and the USPF. Of course, both seemed power hungry soErnie Frantz started the APF and the world body WPC. Until the USPF(before the IPF started), I had lifted AAU when the bench wasperformed rst, then the squat, and then the deadlift. I believe itshould still be that way, but we had to make concessions withEngland 30 years ago about, believe it or not, gear.This is mypoint. I never made the rules, but I have always followed them.When I dropped out of the USPF, they sent a questionnaire outasking what I would change. It was a little late for that, and Inever lled it out. I always wondered how I killed myself to makeElite totals, suffering injuries and thousands of hours in the gym,when a judge could simply study a book, take a test, and become anIPF judge in weeks and not be a class one lifter. Big men are hardto judge in the squat. You are penalized for not breaking parallelin the squat, which is very tough to do with the super strong suitswe can wear by the rules. But in the bench, we are rewarded by onepound of 700 touching your chest. It doesnt make sense. But benchmeets have become the thing. You see 16countless bench pressers onthe cover of PLUSA. I thought it was called POWERLIFTING USA, notBENCH PRESSING USA. It shows how popular bench pressing is. Even atWestside where we push the squat, we have made only three all-timeworld records, with ve over 1000. Matt Smiths 1124 is the highest,and we have ten 800 deadlifters. We have made over 20 all-timeworld bench records, 15 over 700, and one at 825. That shows what Iknow.Its the year 2000, and Im doing pretty well with an 860 squatat 242 and a 580 bench. I believe I was third with a 920 squat andfourth in a total with 2100 at 235 body weight. Now, the WPO is onthe scene with some money. Its amazing how money can bring peopletogether. Kieran Kidder has brought the best lifters together forthe rst time since Gus Rethwichs Hawaii Record Breaker meet, whereunheard of weights were being lifted. The WPO format pits thegreatest lifters in the top of each money division. The 165s areunbelievable with Ron Palmer, who is fairly new to powerlifting,winning most of the time. But the kingpin in the 165s is TonyConyers, with an 832 squat and a 1978 total. The guy must usemirrors. Hes also one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Hesbeen at the top for years. My friend, Angelo Berardinelli, has alsobeen at the top for years. He started at the famous Blacks HealthWorld. Hes over 800 in the squat and 1900 in the total and stillmoving up. Angelo is a bulldog. Another young lion is Nick Hatch at148. I saw him squat an unreal 788 at the ARNOLD CLASSIC at19years-old. He is out of Big Iron Rick Husseys gym.The secondgroup is the 181 through 220. At the 181, our good friend, ArnoldColeman, broke Gene Bells all -time total record of 2116. Maybethey will rename the meet the Arnold Coleman Classic. PhilHarrington was not at the WPO but squats 900 at 181. Where will itend?Then theres new star, Mike Cartinian, who is aiming at JesseKellums 198 total record. Mike trains with Angelo Berardinelli andKenny Patterson. Speaking of Jesse, I think hes taking it easy backin the swamps of Louisiana training with some bad ass gators. Imust say, Jesse is not only one of the strongest men in many weightclasses but very smart about training. I think Jesse and ChuckVogelpohl are twin brothers from different mothers. At 220, ChuckVogelpohl has owned the squat record at 1025 but has worn out hiswelcome at 220. Travis Mash has rose to the top at 220, breakingEddie Coans total record not once but twice. The WPO has a 48-hourweigh in, which I have had doctors say is no advantage, but itsounds bad. But the 242 and 275 world record holder, Steve Goggins,only weighed 264 when he squatted 1102 and totaled 2535. He weighedlight at 242 and totaled 2481 with a world record squat of 1043.Steve trains in Atlanta with Phil Harrington, the world recordholder at 181 with an unreal 900 squat, and also John Groves, aveteran lifter who has been around a long time. Its important tohave a group of strong experienced lifters. Not to be left out ofthis group is Kara Bohigian. She is extremely strong and veryknowledgeable about training.Mark Spud Bartley, who trained withDonny Thompson at Maximus Barbell in South Carolina, is really onthe rise. At the 2005 WPO Super Open in Columbus, Ohio, he made ahuge 2463 total and took second place. It proves a point that themost important thing in a gym is your training partners. You cantell whos got balls and who pretends to have a set. How? It takesguts to lift with the strongest men in the world. Kieran hasassembled the strongest and summons them to one platform. 17A fewyears ago, 2400 would have won the SHW class. Then it was 2500. NowMatt Smith made 2601 and only took third place. And lets not forgetGary Franks! He made the rst 2500, 2600, 2700, and 2800. With BeauMoore, Andy Bolton and I hope for the return of Brent Mikesell, oneof the best SHW squatters around, but Moore and Bolton could claimit soon. Beau Moore and Tony Conyers bought a reverse hyper from ussome time back and have made unbelievable progress ever since. MattSmith wants me to repossess it from Beau, not for nonpayment butbecause hes getting to be the strongest. All these men aregentlemen and have nothing but good things to say about thecompetition. Its always been that way with the strongest lifters.The strongest men never bad mouth a beginner or those who are notstrong. However, nowadays, there are many on the web who are alwaysbeing disrespectable to the strongest men and women in the world.Why? What have they done? Oh yeah, nothing! These people areconstantly on the web when the men who they are criticizing aretraining, writing articles, and doing seminars. They are also goingto meets and cheering on their competition or are backstage helpingto put on bench shirts or spotting someones warm ups. No one in myhumble opinion should belittle Andy Boltons deadlift, BrettMikesells squat, Gene Rychak, Jr.s bench press, or Gary Frankstotal lifts.Are they prepared to train beside men like these foreven a year and see what they go through? Thenand only then wouldsomeone appreciate the work and sacrice that these guys make. Mygoal has been to share what I have been taught and what I teachthrough my videos and seminars. In addition, my goal has been toshare the work of my friends such as college and NFL strengthcoach, Buddy Morris; college and NFL player and now coach, TommyMyslinski; and my friends and training partners Dave Tate, JimWendler, George Halbert, and now Chuck Vogelpohl. All of them aregiving back to their sport by giving their time to help lifters andcoaches alike learn a similar system that works for everyone.Aftermoving to Columbus and training at Westside, Dave started EliteFitness Systems. He is now not only my training partner, but wecompete every day in the gym. We are in competition in businesswith internet sales on my web site, www.westside-barbell.com. Icant forget Paul Childers, who performs in my workout tapes. He hascontributed much to Westside Barbell from his own experiences withthe Westside system. Also, my Finnish friend, Sakari Selkainaho,has helped elevate the system. I want to thank my training partnersmost of all, but I cant thank everyone or mention their names.There are just too many. But you know 18who you aremy friends fromthe Ukraine, Finland, Brazil, Japan, Ireland, Germany, Australia,New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and everywhere else. All NFLplayers, track athletes, MMA ghters, the late Dr. Mel Siff, and allthe old Soviet Union authors who brought my attention to anadvanced and sophisticated training system. Pavel, the kettlebellmaster, who has backed us for years. I back him and his team ofinstructors for their relentless teaching.Powerlifters, please bandtogether. I respect all federations, their motives, and thedirection theyre heading, but we must travel together to achievetrue success. I would like to thank the three Westside Barbell teamdoctors who work relentlessly to keep us healthyDr. DaveBeversdorf, Dr. Bill Nucklos, and Dr. Eric Serrano. With three moresurgeries under my belt, powerlifting is about to pull me down,maybe for the last Time. However, as a man once wrote, I wont goslowly into the night, but I will rage on into the dying of thelight.Did you know that Westside has only two men on its staff:John Chester Stafford and Matt Wenning? John talks about nutritionon his website. I believe he has the biggest push-pull for a 275pounder. He also has a 733 bench, an 832 deadlift, and a 2502total. Matt Wenning is a graduate of Ball State University with amasters degree in biomechanics. He has already made a 1050 squat, a650 bench, and a 770 deadlift at 275. These two people, along withme, are the only qualied people to talk about the real truth ofwhat goes on at Westside.We see the evolution of strength trainingevery day, and every day it changes for the better for our lifters.If you follow our articles and talk to me occasionally, you knowthat the experiments we conduct are performed on our top men at twoor three major meets to prove that the tested methods work. I dontwrite B.S. I write about what I see at Westside. Some things workand some dont. We put forth a lot of effort to help our lifts and Ihope yours. I appreciate how cooperative our lifters are, young andold, and how loyal they are. Some have been here for years. Bob Coehas been here over 20 years, and Chuck Vogelpohl, Amy Weisberger,and Jimmy Richie have been here for 20 years. Did you know thatWestside contributes to the development of many sports?A former topsoccer player from Manchester United stayed at Westside for morethan a month to learn our system. After returning home, Ben Pleveyopened up a training facility to pass on the system to youngathletes in his home country. Four rugby coaches 19from all overthe world spent considerable time at Westside, and the results havebeen quite favorable to say the least. Many professional footballplayers come to Westside and have made great strides. Did you knowthat the football players never ask me to make them faster but tomake them stronger? Making them stronger makes them faster. Also,many major universities have adapted the Westside system to t theirneeds.There would not be a Westside if not for the likes of HugeIron, Donny Thompson, Spud Barcley, Paul Childress, Andy Bolton(with his 1003 deadlift), and Jeff Lewis (with his 1200 plussquat). Because of them and many like them, we never miss a workoutfor fear that some of you dudes are working on a secret of yourown. I am proud to be associated with powerlifting, and I hope youare too.20FOREWORD FROM THE EDITORI have been involved with weighttraining since my early teens. Now, after more than 30 years, Ihave learned a lot about the great sport of powerlifting andstrength training. I have always tried to get my hands on any typeof training information that I could. I read books, watched DVDs,and talked to lifters. Today, email and instant messenger helps alot. Many top lifters are easy to approach and will offer theiradvice and opinions. I think thats unique to powerlifting.In myrank, one source of information is above all others. Louie Simmonshas helped me greatly, as he has helped so many other lifters andcoaches regardless of sport or federation. No one, even Louie dontmore than all others together, but he will teach you to think. Irst trained using the Westside method back in 1996, and my benchjumped 17.5 kilos (38 lbs) in six months. That convinced me. Beforethat, I would try anything I could get my hands on. Russian- andBulgarian-based training routines gave me the best results, butnothing beat Westside, especially because the results are measuredby long-term progress. Both systems are still utilized in Westsidetraining. Today, Westside training has introduced many newtechniques and methods in strength training. The most important isthe conjugate method, which is what the entire system is built on.The methods and exercises utilized by Westside, such as squattingwith a box and utilizing bands, are now used worldwide.The Westsidesystem uses many principles that were developed many decades ago.Those principles still stand today. Many times people dontunderstand the idea of Westside. Reading one article or even tenmay not clear the picture.This book is based on Louies articlesover the years. You will notice changes and differences in percentsand some other things while others have stayed the same. The mainpurpose is to outline the information so that the system is easierto gure out. You can study the theory behind the methods or justlearn how to bench press. This book is meant for coaches andlifters and will teach you to analyze training so that you cancoach yourself and others.I want to thank Louie for being such agreat friend and for his patience and trust on this project. We allknow he reads a lot, and its about time for him to have a book ofhis own!Sakari Selkinaho21WESTSIDE STRENGTH TRAININGFUNDAMENTALSWorld of Strength and PowerIn Bulgaria where many ofthe greatest lifters come from, the system is straightforward.Anyone who wants to reach the top (juniors and seniors) must gothrough the main training facility. They do few exercises. One mustbe ideally built to succeed and have a particular body structureand muscle type. One must also possess a high work capacity withnear limit weights. They use as many as six training sessions perday. This was a proven system and was used for more than 20 years.Only the strongest survived. This system produced high results aswell as a high burn-out ratio.Bulgaria is a small country and iseconomically depressed. Sport was a way out of poverty. This meantthat everyone tried his best for himself and his country. For everylifter who makes it, many go back home denied entrance. TheBulgarian training system was designed to produce one goalanOlympic medal run. They succeeded through the process of selectionof body structure to progress with a small number of exercisesincluding the snatch, clean and jerk, power snatch, power clean andjerk, and front and back squats. The athletes had to have theability to lift maximum weight in more than one workout a day witha 30-minute break between workouts. They had to be able to do thesecond workout with less time on warm ups. The junior and seniorteams trained together. There had to be top coaches. Normally,there were three involved with the top 20 lifters.Their nationalcoach was Ivan Abadjiev. Because he was the top coach, littlevariation in the system occurred. Another super power was theformer Soviet Union. Their system was very thought out. They soughtto develop top lifters with an assortment of means. The formerSoviet system was vast, consisting of many thousands of lifters anda large number of coaches, many former highly ranked lifters. Withso many coaches, many combinations of training evolved consistingof different loading schemes, exercises, tapering methods, andrestoration. Because of the many types of body structures, itbecame clear that the same exercises would not work for everyone.In 1972, the Dynamo Club experimented with a system of exercisesthat were constantly revolved. A group of 72 lifters, all mastersor international masters of sport, used 2045 different exercises.At the end of the experiment, only one lifter was satised with thenumber of exercises. The rest wanted more. This was the conjugatemethod. Much research was brought to the United States after thefall of the Iron Curtain.Do you know who the rst Soviets were toparticipate in the Olympics? They were not 22sportsmen but cameramen and biomechanics experts and coaches. They studied the bestathletes from all over the world and at rst copied them. Later,however, they introduced new innovations in training. This isexactly what Westside has done. They had so much training data thatmany of their own coaches could not access it all. Nevertheless,they had hard proof of what works and what doesnt. Many of theircoaches were top lifters, training along with other lifters. Thevery best were on the national or military teams. They were proudof their heritage and defended it ercely. Their training methodsspread to other communist countries. They had templates to examinethe strength and weaknesses of all athletes. Here is an example fora 110-kg lifter (from Weight Lifting Fitness for All Sports). To besuperior, a 110 kg (242) had to be capable of the followingpowersnatch 396 lbs, power clean 484 lbs, front squat 573 lbs, backsquat 639 lbs, and close-grip bench 418 lbs. Does the U.S.weightlifting team do this? Hell, no. This can be the differencebetween progression and regression.I have used the methods of manyRussians. I have thanked some of them before, but cant possiblythank all of them or mention all their names. But here are some ofthem. V. Zatsiorskys book, Science and Practice of StrengthTraining, conrms that Westside is on the right track. YVVerkhoshansky was the father of the shock system of training. ASMedvedyev, with his insight into training and restoration, broughtmy attention to the importance of changing volume and intensityduring different phases of training. AS Prilepins research indetermining the optimal training loads by intensity zone and numberof lifts per workout is the foundation of training atWestside.Another super power is the Chinese. They have made greatstrides in all sports, but weightlifting is in the forefront. TheChinese have always been procient in weightlifting. They havethousands of candidates to choose from. They have always led theway in acupuncture, acupressure, Tai Chi, and meditative methods.Their system was strengthened by adding former Soviet coaches. Theyhave raised high volume training to new heights. In a video lmed ina world championship training hall, I saw a 14-year-old boy squat370, snatch grip deadlift 330, and clean and jerk 242. This was ata body weight of 110 lbs!The Chinese select a group a lifters whosebody can withstand the maximum loads required to reach theOlympics. They have barracks after barracks of lifters to choosefrom. Its a way out of poverty. They pick the best coaches and thenassemble the best lifters. They already had perhaps 23the bestpsychological and physiological methods. Add all this up and youhave a juggernaut. Its quite simple really. They break trainingdown into separate units to make a whole. This is an example of theconjugate method. In addition to the Russian method, now we havethe Chinese method to learn from. But will we?With similar methodstaught by the Russian coaches but with a higher work capacity,there seems to be no limit. I have talked about three powerhousecountries. What about the fourthWestside Barbell? Many peoplecompare the worlds best lifters to ours. Some say, Hey, Louie,those Russian lifters are some of the greatest and they dont followyour methods. They also bring up names such as Ed Coan, SteveGoggins, Beca Swanson, and Gary Frank, who is the strongest man Iveever seen. They say, Why dont your guys squat as much as BrentMikesell or bench like Gene Rychlak? And what about Andy Boltonsdeadlift? Well, these lifters are spectacular to say the least, andthey have my admiration and respect. They make a lift that seemsunbreakable but then manage to break it. But nowhere else is therea stronger collection of lifters than at Westside. Our top six guysrival those from any other nation. Take a look at the Westsideall-time ranking lists and clubs later in this book. The besttotals and lifts are mostly made within the last 12 months. Inaddition, we have more back up than an NWA concert. Amy Weisbergerhas more than ten times her body weight total at 132. We had theyoungest 700 bencher, Kenny Patterson, at 22-years-old in 1995. Inhis time, Kenny was also the lightest to bench 700 (701) at 238.Back in 1995, we had three teens bench over 600. Anthony Clark wasthe rst to bench 600 as a teen. Then it was Westsides Andre Henry(605), Tim Harrold (615), and Mike Brown, who as of April made 670easily at barely 19-years-old. At the same meet, JL Holdsworth made775 at 284, and another lifter, Paul Keys, who may not be sofamiliar, hit 750 at 286. The last two hit 800 on third attemptsbut got them turned down. At the time of this writing, Tim Harroldbecame the youngest man at 20-years-old (2/4/84) to bench 700 andthe youngest to total 2400. No gym has totals like Westside. Wehave had four men break the all-time bench recordDoug Heath, KennPatterson, George Halbert, and Rob Fusner. These men haveaccumulated 20 all-time records. A few years ago, we dropped the500 bench club at Westside. We felt that having 63 members on thelist over the years took some luster off it. So now we calculateonly 550 and up. We have 43 on this list. Chuck Vogelpohl is thelightest lifter to squat 1000. At 220 body weight, he has made1025. His best lifts add up to 2419.I wrote this book for all ofyou. As Roy Jones, Jr. says, in case you forgot, take a look at theWestside record lists and clubs. Some of our own lifters dont knowour history, and I just wanted to inform our fans and anyone elsewho would listen. The Organization of TrainingWhen planningtraining, one must not plan for the next meet but rather the nextyear or even longer. The effectiveness of your training is based onmany considerations. The following are some issues to consider:24Weight gain or lossImproving form on competitive lifts or specialexercisesRaising work capacity and improving general tnessGaininggeneral training knowledgeTesting character and courageLearning howto use legal equipment Weight gain or loss: First, you must be inthe correct weight class. If you are six feet tall and weigh 180lbs, you need to gain weight. A lifter like this should increasehis protein and calorie intake, or he cannot compete with the top181s of the world. To solve the problem, on max effort day do max3s up to max 6s. This will build extra muscle mass while alsobuilding absolute strength. At Westside, we recommend doing only atotal of four exercises per workout. To gain weight, add twoexercises to add muscle mass. When you gain up to the proper weightclass, drop back to the original four exercises not counting abs.As far as food intake, skip the chocolate milk and cookies andlearn about proper nutrition. Buy a book or two and read and learn.You have gained too much if your deadlift goes backward. Yourwaistline will get too big, and your hands will get too fat. Iknow. It happened to me. You must be disciplined. It might take veyears of hard training to build your self up to the right weightclass. Improving form: Improving form is a necessity, but it issometimes difcult. At Westside, we have people who are very good inall lifts. To teach a new lifter, we place them in one of ourgroups. By interacting with that group, they are taught good formthrough watching and listening. We never criticize but ratheranalyze. We always tell the truth to each other, especiallyvisitors because many of them dont have the luxury of greattraining partners to watch over them. Special exercises will play alarge role in perfecting top form in all three lifts by doingexercises for whatever muscle group is lagging. This in itself willhelp perfect your form. It only stands to reason if you have aweakness in a muscle group, it can destroy your form. A word ofcaution: If you are starting out, start out right. Matt Dimelalways had a triceps problem. But year after year, he would gainlittle by little and his poorest lift, the bench press, wouldincrease. After rupturing both patella tendons, he eventually wonthe APF Seniors again. His improved bench press helped. A championwill become a champion by becoming better at his worst lift.Raising work capacity and general tness: Why is this so important?First, we all need to work on our weaknesses. Sometimes it is theability to train at a fast pace. During a workout, your energylevel can drop quickly. Some experts say within 45 minutes.Therefore, one must train at a fast pace to ensure that the mostimportant work is completed in 45 minutes. This involves lacticacid tolerance training. That is, while training, a pump in thehips and lower back will occur while squatting and doing back work.To think that one must fully rest between sets is old thinking tosay the least. If you do a work task and fully recover and thenrepeat the same work, you will use the very same muscle ber. Yougain nothing by training this way. But, by enlisting shorter andshorter rest intervals between 25work sets (i.e. the intervalmethod), the work will be far more intense involving more muscleber. You will nd that the last half of your speed sets will be moreexplosive of all. When lactic acid is produced, so is the growthhormone. If you have a high work capacity, a high volume, highintensity workout is not as tiring for you as it would be forsomeone out of shape. This enables you to train a little heavierand longer and a little faster than your enemies. This requires oneto do small, roughly 20-minute workouts during the week. Theworkouts are directed toward any particular weakness you have. Itcould be a muscle group, exibility, conditioning, or evenconcentration. It may take years to raise general tness to a highdegree. A lifters goal should be to raise his classication rankingfrom class four to USPF standard Elite.At Westside, we havedeveloped 56 Elite lifters, who started out with nothing. Some haveachieved all-time record performances such as Chuck Vogelpohl,Kenny Patterson, and Rob Fusner to mention a few. They continuallyraised their work capacity. As they became stronger, their abilityto recuperate, perfect form, concentrate, and raise volumeincreased. Chuck and I do about 14 workouts a week. We will do acouple sets of dumbbell presses to failure or timed sets with somelat and ab work before squatting. We may do sled work and glute hamraises before a bench workout. You can even do sled work or thereverse hyper machine before a squat or deadlift workout with noadverse effects when you are in top condition. By doing a lot ofsled work of all types your work capacity will greatly improve.Onmax effort day, the heaviest sled work is performed. It may involvepulling up to six, 45-lb plates on a at, steel sled. The sled ispulled in two wayswith the strap hooked to the back of your belt orholding the strap in your hands between your legs with an uprightposture and your arms straight. The amount of weight is reducedthroughout the week until possibly a weight of roughly 60 lbs isused. The weight is lowered, but the length of pulling isgreater600 feet for the heaviest work and up to 2000 feet for lightwork. For upper body work, I have dragged for two miles nonstop. Isometimes do a lot of box jumps as a replacement for some of thesled pulling. Light remans carries can also be done. We throw amedicine ball for a set time, usually 315 minutes with a ballweighing 1040 lbs. Light power cleans are also very benecial forconditioning. Do them in one of two ways. First, drop to a hangclean and do power cleans with the interval method. A set can bedone every 60, 45, or 30 seconds depending on your level of tness.Asecond variety is to add a push jerk or push press with each set.The sets should last 520 minutes. This is a tough one. Dumbbellscan be done in a very slow fashion for up 26to eight minutes. Usethe shortest time, two minutes, with the heaviest bells. Forexample, use 50-lb dumbbells continuously for ve minutes keepingtrack of the reps. Walking lunges can also be done. But whateverexercise you do, it should slowly increase in intensity and volumeas the years pass. Ease into the work but always aim to increasethe amount of work. The better condition youre in, the faster yournew records will come. There is much to learn if you are tosucceed, and it takes time. You must gain mentally, technically,and physically. So be patient. It will come.Testing character andcourage: I am a huge fan of most sports, but when I watchbasketball, I frequently hear the announcer say the player passedup an open shot to another player because he did not have thecondence to shoot the ball himself. Or during a football game, theannouncer will say that a certain player is a natural leader. Sowhat are the other ten players? Natural-born followers? I hope not,but who knows? Why cant the other ten teammates step up and takeover? Angelo Berardinelli said it best: They are two types ofpeoplethe prey and the predator. Which are you? And dont strokeyour ego. I watched Angelo try to break the world middle-weightsquat record for years. He was always close but was never able tobreak it. The record kept going up from 766 to 771 to 773. Finally,at the WPO in York, Pennsylvania, in June 2002 he made 777. Now,Angelo has that world record, and he dares anyone to take it awayfrom him. The top middle-weights this year are all predators. WhenI hear someone tell me what place he got in a meet rather than whathis numbers were or if he got a personal record, I know his egowill hold him back. The real contest is with yourself. A trophyproves only what you have done but has no bearing on what willhappen next. You must always do better and better. Thats the realworld. You can be the greatest powerlifter in the world, but theday you retire, youre forgotten. If you quit one time, youre aquitter. You may go for a year or two without progress beforecoming out of a slump. Training knowledge as well as technologywill make it possible to make progress for a very long time if youwant to. Powerlifting is a tough sport. No one said it wasnt. Asfar as training partners go, if you run with the lame, you willdevelop a limp. So only train with those who have the same goals asyour own. Everyone cant be a world champ, but we all can be better.At Westside, we have many in-house contests mostly on max effortday. They can happen without notice, and most often, thats thecase. I recall pulling a heavy sled on a 27Monday a few years ago.I was minding my own business when Chuck Vogelpoh yelled out thedoor, Get your old ass in here. Were going to have a deadliftcontest off pin one in the power rack. Well, I was dead tired frompulling the sled, but someone was running their mouth as usual.Now, I was being pulled into a contest on something I had notbroken a PR in 15 years. But I obligated to take part, and somehowI broke my record. How? I guess I was so pissed off at thosenitwits that the only way I could get even was to get a PR. When Ilose, I use my age (54) as an excuse. But if I win, I rub it in.Its been said show me a good loser and Ill show you a loser. Thankgoodness we have some very bad losers at Westside.If someonerefuses to engage in a spontaneous contest, we will throwchallenges at him when he least expects it. If someone regularlybacks out, we boot him out of the club. We know by experience thatif a lifter will not take a challenge in friendly surroundings, hewill fall apart in a real meet. Our training in general is designedto build condence year round by doing so many different exercises.We are always breaking records. Remember, you must raise yourmental and emotional limits as well or you wont raise your weights.It may take years to learn to focus on training let alone meets.Some of us are late bloomers while others start fast but fade justas fast. Many times the brighter star burns out the fastest.Westside loves to see successful teams like Donny Thompsons Maximusteam rise fast. The LA Lifting Club is moving up fast as wellthanks to Joes pushing and pulling with the help of his wife,Nance. And theres my Finnish friend, Sakari Selkainaho, who liftsand coaches his teammates Jarmo, Ano, Mikko, and the rest. I loveto see teams or individuals gaining momentum to see how the guys atWestside react to it.Just remember, if youre a betting man and twolifters are coming out to squat and ones psyching up to DMX and theother one is listening to Patsy Clines I Fall to Pieces, which oneare you going to put your money on? Why do some lifters putlimitations on themselves? What Im talking about is all the worldchamps and world record holders I talk to every day. Now, wait aminute. Theres only one world record in each lifting category andone world champ per weight class. That person holds the biggesttotal of the present year or of all-time in his weight class. Yes,Im talking to you master and teen lifters. You may think Im anasshole for saying this, but you are selling yourself short, myman. If you get in a ght and youre a master, do you get to throwthe rst three punches? Hell, no. When theres a hottie in thelounge, us old guys are always hitting on the young babes, right?So why limit yourself by age? Just do the best you can, and you area champ. Using equipment: For example, why dont all federations usemonolifts? Or a bar for each event? Not only is it stupid not to doso, it is dangerous. Dont be stuck in the past. If NASCAR kept thesame pace as powerlifting, the cars would be much slower because oftire restrictions and other safety factors. How many times do youhave to walk out before disaster strikes someone? Some federationsare held together by one or two great lifters. Please dont get28them hurt because your backward thinking has you on the verge ofextinction. Just look at your membership totals slipping lower andlower. If theres only one top 100 list, make all things equalsuits,shirts, weigh ins, etc. Its not the gear, drugs, or equipment thatmakes the list. But as Vince McMahon says, Its the size of yourgrapefruits. You are paying card members so speak up. Take controlof your own destiny.Gaining general training knowledge: I hate tosay this, but at Westside, we have lifters who dont even readPowerlifting USA let alone some of the books I frequently mentionsuch as those Im about to describe. Michael Yessis published TheSoviet Sports Review. There was some valuable information in thosearticles translated from mostly Russian sports scientists in aquarterly magazine. It covered many sports but was invaluable to meat the time. The rst book that made me a believer was The Managingof the Weight Lifter by Laputin and Oleshko. In this book, theyshowed a table that explained how to regulate volume by intensityzones. The writings of Verkhoshansky such as Fundamentals ofSpecial Strength Training in Sports and many more includingSupertraining by Mel Siff are valuable books. A highly respectedauthor is AS Medvedyev, who wrote A Program of Multi-year Trainingin Weightlifting. Of course, there are several other highlyaccomplished authors including PV Komi, Thomas Kurz, Tamas Ajan,and Tudor Bompa. Lazar Barogas book Weightlifting Fitness for AllSports is a must read. Zatsiorsky is particularly valuable toanyone who participates in sports or weightlifting. Try Science andPractice of Strength Training for one. I also enjoy Starzynski andSozanski for information on explosive power training and PavelTsatsouline for stretching and ab work. Without these men who havededicated their lives to the promotion of sports science used in apractical environment, I would have ended my lifting career in1983. The results worldwide speak for themselves. I wish I couldthank each of these men personally. Thank goodness I have theopportunity to speak with Dr. Siff and participate in a fewseminars with him so I can play a small role in the development ofothers.The Regulation of TrainingOne must consider how many liftsto do in one particular workout and calculate what percent is bestused for explosive and accelerating strength. It is also importantto establish the number of lifts for the development of yourabsolute strength. This is a major factor if you want to reach yourtop potential. Also keep in mind all the components oftrainingphysical, technical, and psychological. If training isregulated correctly, then all of the above can be accomplishedwhile increasing hypertrophy and building general physicalpreparedness (GPP). This can be done at one time without the use ofperiodization where one breaks up the training into differentphases every 34 weeks. By closely following the rep/setrecommendations of AS Prilepin, here at Westside we have had 18lifters bench 550 or better. This method is commonly known as thedynamic method. We use 60% of a no-shirt best bench for 810 sets ofthree reps. This is how speed-strength is best developed. Siff andVerkhoshansky used a force plate machine to determine the maximumeffort a highly skilled weight lifter could display. This liftergenerated 264 lbs of force on a 154-lb bar. The 154 is 58% of 264.This demonstrates the optimal relationship between force and29velocity where speed-strength is best developed. For the bench,we do roughly 120 lifts at 60% of a no-shirt max in a one-monthtime period (ten sets of three reps equals 30 lifts per workouttimes four workouts) for the development of starting andaccelerating strength. By using a weight that is 60% of a one repmax, a 600-lb bencher can train along with a 400-lb bencher withoutone overloading or one underloading. How? The 600-lb bencher woulduse 360 for his sets, and the 400-lb bencher would use 240 for hissets. The workload is regulated to ones strength limits. If the400-lb bencher uses more than 240, his bar speed is compromised,thus destroying the optimal relationship between force andvelocity. You may ask, how does a 400-lb bencher eventually bench600? The answer lies in the improvement in and development ofspecial exercises. When the 400-lb bencher has brought up hisextensions, delt raises, and back and lat work to that of a 600-lbbencher, he has grown to be a 600-lb bencher as well. The benchpress itself is not used for muscle hypertrophy (growth). Thespecial exercises serve two critical purposesthe development ofstrength in individual muscle groups and an increase in muscularsize, which helps increase leverage in the bench and squat.Prilepins recommendations for weights above 90% (done on the maxeffort day) are 410 lifts. Here, we are referring to classicallifts or major bar exercises such as good mornings, box or rackpulls, and of course, a variety of squats. Prilepins Table: Numberof reps for percentage trainingPercent Reps per set OptimalRange5565 36 24 18307075 36 18 12248085 24 15 1020above 90 12 7410Like Medvedyev and other sports scientists, we have discoveredthat too many weights above 90% will cause deterioration incoordination, which causes deterioration in form. When trainingwith weights that are over 90% of your current one rep max for 45weeks, negative effects occur to the central nervous system (CNS)and your progress will decrease. Yet, one must train with veryheavy weights to make gains in absolute strength. So whats theanswer? Train a bar exercise for only two weeks and switch. Forexample, do bent over good mornings for two weeks, safety powersquat bar for two weeks, rack pulls for two weeks, and front squatsfor two weeks. These are just a few exercises to choose from.Always max out on this day for one rep in squatting exercises orpulls, such as rack pulls, high pulls, pulls off a box, snatches,or cleans. Do a three rep max in good mornings. The max effort dayoccurs three days after the dynamic day. We have adjusted thenumber of 90% and above lifts in one workout to 35 lifts. Thereasoning behind this is that the special exercises forpowerlifting are much heavier compared to the Olympic lifts thatPrilepins data were based on. To become very strong, many liftsmust be performed in limited movement exercises such as boardpresses for bench pressing, rack pulls for the deadlift, and aboveparallel box squatting for the squat. We have discovered it is bestto do a single in most cases instead of a triple. Why? A 500-lbsingle equals 500 lbs of work. A 500 triple is 1500 lbs of work,which is much too demanding on the CNS. However, three reps willproduce 30muscle tension. It is advised that the more massivelifters do 3s instead of ls to achieve adequate muscle tension.Extra body mass can reduce the range of motion in many lifters. Weusually do a 90% weight as a last warm up and then hopefully arecord over 100%, possibly two or three PRs. We invariably go untilwe miss a weight. This is the best way to achieve a true maxeffort. Lets look at the ratio of the dynamic day to the max effortday. Dynamic day120 lifts per month. Max effort day1220 lifts permonth. This is how we are able to train heavy throughout the yearbyrotating exercises on max effort day. Remember, do one type oftraining per workout day: speed bench, Sunday; speed squat, Friday;max effort for bench, Wednesday; and max effort for squat anddeadlift, Monday (the exercises for the squat and deadlift are thesame). You cant and should never do two types of strength trainingin one workout. Your brain will not know what to do when asked todo two completely different tasks in one training session.This canbe best illustrated by watching a professional boxing match. In theearly rounds, up to six, is when most knockouts occur. This iswhere explosive strength is demonstrated. Endurance plays littlerole in the early rounds. But after six rounds, the explosivestrength diminishes, strength endurance is dominant, and fewerknockouts occur. Not only is it best to do only one type of specialstrength training per session, but while doing the dynamic methodusing only one weight (after a warm up), your CNS can accommodatethe task it is asked to perform.To summarize, change the coreexercise on max effort day every week. Use 35 special exercises tocomplement your core exercise. Train speed bench press at 4550% ofyour max bench without a shirt. Train speed squat in waves of5060%, jumping 2.5% each week and then start over with 50%. The boxsquats on dynamic day are done with a pair of groove briefs or asuit with the straps down. Never wear knee wraps but wear a belt.Asyou can see, speed work is done on one day and max effort work isdone on another, 72 hours apart. Friday is our speed day, andMonday is our max effort day. Speed day is designed for explosivestrength and acceleration for the development of force. Max effortday develops absolute strength. Chuck Vogelpohl, who has woneverything from the Y Nationals to the worlds, simply says it ismost important to push up the special work and concentrate on barspeed for squatting and deadlifting. Just remember to push thespecial core exercises that work best for you closest to the meet.For the bench press, two workouts are done per weekone for speedand acceleration and one for the development of reversal31strength. Yes, reversal strength can be stored for the pauserule. Sunday is the dynamic method day. Always train at 60% of ano-shirt max (240 for a 400-lb bench, 270 for a 450 bench, 300 fora 500 bench, and so on). We dont wave the weights in the bench. Wealways train at 60%, 810 sets of three reps. Use close andmoderately close grips, with your little nger inside the narrowrings on the bar. Lower the bar as quickly as possible. Reverse itas quickly as possible and accelerate to lockout. Always use chainsor light ex bands on these sets. After the 810 sets, train thetriceps very hard. Attempt new records in a bar or dumbbellextension. JM presses or any other triceps exercise will do ne.Triceps are most important. Lats are next, followed by delt raises,upper back, and forearms. All this should be done in less than anhour. Three days later, Wednesday, is max effort day. On max effortday, you must max out (but not in a regular squat, bench, ordeadlift). Do a one or three rep max in exercises such as the boardpress, oor press, incline, decline, or seated press, or racklockouts. You can have records with added chains or bands. Make asmany combinations as possible. This is known as the conjugatemethod. When one trains a particular exercise maximally for eventhree weeks in a row, growth hormone production is greatly reduced.That is why you must use special core exercises and rotate themevery two weeks. Sometimes we even modify a special core exerciseslightly each week.Remember to pursue greater bar speed in alllifts. Push up special exercises and rotate as often as necessaryto maintain progress. Stay with short rest periods on dynamic day.For squats, rest 45 seconds and for the bench, rest one minute. Anyfaster and the CNS may be negatively affected. The short restbetween sets causes lactic acid to accumulate. By working throughthe lactic acid, growth hormone production increases greatly. Sodont be a wimp. This pain pays. Dont take openers. If you areworried about your opener, what are you going to do with yoursecond and third attempts? Pick the exercises that work best foryou closest to meet time. Percent TrainingIn the squat, what is tooheavy to train with and too light to train with? In Russia, muchresearch revealed that 6582.5% of a one rep max is best to buildstre
The Westside Barbell Book Of Methods Pdf 93
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