WESTSIDE TRAINING

 

April 2012 - Vol. 35 No. 5

WESTSIDE BB FOR BEGINNERS

by Shane Sweatt | approved by Louie Simmons | 614.801.2060

www.westside-barbell.com

 

The Westside Barbell method has proven to be the most effective method for powerlifters and athletes. It provides the best results in competition along with amazing longevity for the lifter. I have worked with beginners all the way up to world record holders, and I have watched all levels of lifters from all walks of life achieve optimal results from this program. I understand there are many ways to get strong but there is one optimal way. What I want to do with this article is debunk some of the myths surrounding the Westside method for beginners. My wife, Laura Phelps-Sweatt, and I travel around the country doing Westside Barbell seminars. If it does not come out of Louie Simmons mouth or is not approved by him, it is not Westside! This article is Louie Simmons approved; Westside Barbell is copyrighted and trademarked. During our time teaching these seminars we have heard countless athletes claiming they used the Westside system, but did not achieve the results they expected. Every time I hear this, after asking a few questions, I can always find the problem.

 

A few of the problems we run into with beginners:
- Following programs that did not come from Westside Barbell
- Using too much weight on dynamic effort day
- Missing lifts on max effort day
- Not rotating max effort exercises
- No dynamic effort method
- Not picking out the right accessory work
- Not box squatting
- Not following a nutrition plan that supports the program

 

As a beginner, I suggest reading the articles that Louie has posted on his website. These articles are free to the public. He also now has a forum on his website that is very helpful to a beginner. The more you read Louie's articles and books, the more you will see an evolution in training at Westside. When Louie publishes an article, it is the most up to date information at that time, but Westside constantly evolves. We are doing things differently now than we did even last year. So it is important to keep up with the new articles to keep your training optimal. If you want to be good at your sport, you must become a student of it. Read and learn. Don't take someone's word that they are teaching you the Westside method correctly. Educate yourself.

On our dynamic effort upper body day we always use 50% of our 1RM. On our lower body dynamic effort days we use a three week pendulum wave with percentages of 50%, 55%, and 60% being used, with 25% accommodating resistance (bands, chains). Many beginners lift raw and might not have access to accommodating resistance, for them we use 65%, 70% and 75% bar weight. These numbers are based off of a one rep max of a specific exercise. For example, your one rep max safety bar box squat will be different than your straight bar box squat numbers. I do recommend as a beginner to invest in bands as soon as it is possible for you. This will provide you with a variety of exercises only limited to your imagination and allow optimal results. The most important thing is to make sure you are moving the bar at 0.8 meters per second. Most beginners use to much weight on dynamic effort day. At first a beginner's bar weight might be a little lower than our recommendations to achieve the 0.8 meter per second bar speed. With the Westside method, we get our volume to retain or attain muscle mass on dynamic effort days. This keeps injury rates lower than if we made our max effort day our high volume day. Volume on dynamic effort days is roughly double our max effort day. This allows beginners and elite lifters to have the muscle mass needed to reach their goals but lowers injury rates. This is also our time to work on form, while using sub maximal weight. Dynamic effort day improves force rate development and explosive strength, making this a necessary part of your training not an optional one.

On max effort day one of the common mistakes is a lifter missing lifts. We do not want our lifters to miss lifts. When you miss a lift you have a higher chance of injury and it can have a negative psychological effect. Physical and metal stresses, both negatively affect your CNS. Following the Westside method properly addresses both of these issues. At my gym, Sweatt Shop Personal Training, we have a client named Barb Page. At age 25 she had an official 185 pound raw bench, and a 205 pound equipped bench. She didn't lift from 2000–2008. I started training her in late 2008. She had never used the Westside method. She quickly gained strength, hitting new personal records every week. In one year, at the age of 39, she broke the all-time raw world record in her weight class, a record that was over twenty years old with a 295 pound bench. Barb had hit a personal record every week for a year before the meet. When we were at the meet she told me she knew she was going to get the lift because all of the work was done and she was used to making lifts. This shows how this system can have a positive psychological effect on an athlete. Think about how positive it is for a beginner to hit new personal records the majority of time they train. It creates and excitement for new lifters.

Many people get max effort and heavy effort methods confused. Max effort is a one rep max, on max effort day three lifts at and above 90% is optimal. Training above 90% of a 1RM for reps is the heavy effort method. The heavy effort method raises volume but does not give you the psychological benefit of hitting an absolute 1 rep personal record. Westside does not use the heavy efforts method where two reps for multiple sets are used. Training at 90% or more for three weeks or longer will degrade your central nervous system and halt or reverse your progress. This is why no matter if you are a beginner or an elite lifter, you must rotate core lifts each week. This will let you train at and above 100% each week without the negative effect on your CNS. Rotating your core exercises each week will also increase your athleticism, and improve form by making sure you have no glaring weaknesses in any muscle groups by providing unidirectional loading and stimulate motor potential. Also, many times you will hear people say to have beginners do 3–5 reps, not singles, for safety. This does not work, as the majority of injuries come from repetition, not singles. During reps small muscle groups fatigue faster than large muscle groups increasing their injury rate. This is one reason why people tear small muscle groups in their shoulders instead of big muscle groups like their lats while benching. It is also easier to teach people form one rep at a time; it is less confusing to them.

Picking the wrong accessory movements when doing repetition method is also a common mistake made by beginners. An easy way to pick the correct movements is by doing what you are not good at or what you do not like to do. If you constantly work what you are good at, you will make minimal gains. The repetition method is used for hypertrophy (increasing muscle mass). We use this to improve leverages where we need it for our sport. Every sport has an ideal build. Mimicking that build is an easy way for a beginner to figure out where they need to increase their leverages. Speed skaters have big quads and glutes. If you want to be a top speed skater and you have small quads and glutes, then you know what you need to work. If you want to be a top bench presser and you have small triceps and a small upper back, that will be what you want to work on. As you gain experience you will be able to pick out accessory work by where you miss a lift at. For example if you miss a deadlift off the floor, various forms of plyo jumps can help. JM presses and flared arm extensions are great if you tend to miss your bench at the top. When a lifter raises their work capacity to the point they can add another 10–15 minute workout, we then add special exercise workouts in to raise volume and improve weak areas.

Not box squatting on max effort days in fear of hurting your back is also a mistake. With new clients, I teach them to box squat first. Teaching a beginner how to box squat is easier than teaching them to free squat. Box squatting slows the movement down making it easier for less experienced coaches to pick up mistakes. Box squatting also insures the lifter hits proper depth and teaches a lifter where proper depth is. Once a beginner learns the box squat, it is much easier to teach them to free squat. Using box squats on max effort day is the safest most effective way to raise a beginner or advanced lifters squat.

There are many things that also affect your results. If you are under recovered or under prepared. Make sure to get plenty of rest and follow a nutrition plan that supports athletic performance. Remember carbohydrates are the best source of energy to fuel muscle contractions. In a study done by (Jacobs et al. 84), it was found that glycogen depletion in both fast and slow fiber types was associated with impaired maximal muscular strength produced during a single dynamic contraction, as well as with increased muscle fatigue patterns. So avoid Paleo and Paleo style diets if optimal performance is what you are after.

It's a mistake to start an athlete with an inferior system then make them re-learn a new system. I hear of people often starting training systems they know to be inferior to ramp up to doing the Westside system. This just raises your chance of injury and lowers results. As Louie often says: all training is, are biomechanics, mathematics and physics. Biomechanics, mathematics and physics prove that the Westside Barbell method is optimal. Westside method covers all aspect of training each week unlike any other program. If a lifter does not train a specific type of strength (ex. dynamic effort method) during a three-week period the lifter will experience a loss in strength of 10% or greater.

The Westside Barbell Method is optimal training. So it is perfect for beginners and drug-free athletes. For more information, please check out Westside Barbell's new forum at Westside-Barbell.com. This is a great place for beginners to learn how to correctly do the Westside Barbell method and interact with Westside lifters and coaches. Since having the honor of learning from Louie, it has forever changed the way I look at strength training. My powerlifters, athletes, and clients lives are forever changed for the better because of his dedication and sacrifice to evolve strength training. Follow his system properly and it will do the same for you.

 

About the author: Shane Sweatt is a Westside Barbell certified coach and an instructor for Westside barbell seminars. Believing the Westside Barbell method to be the best system to train athletes and powerlifters makes one of his main goals to educate people on the Westside method. Shane has extensive experience in sports specific weight and conditioning training, including powerlifting, bodybuilding, mixed martial arts, tae-Kwando, football, and more. His powerlifting athletes have broken many world records. Since working with Shane, some of his mixed martial arts athletes have advanced from the amateur to the professional ranks and have been featured in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships), IFL (International Fight League), K1, all the top and most highly publicized Mixed Martial Arts organizations in the world. Shane's athletes have been featured in such magazines as Powerlifting USA, FLEX, Triathlete, Parrillo Performance, and on several cable channels, such as SpikeTV and HD Net. Shane is also the owner of the Sweattshop personal training at Sweattshop.com. You can also see his athletes at work at Sweattshopcincinnati on YouTube.

 

*photos courtesy Shane Sweatt/Westside Barbell

POWER SPONSORS