The year was 2001, the package came in the mail. The shape of the plain brown wrapper indicated my illicit contraband VHS tape had arrived. I carefully opened it and there on the label shining in all it's glory it said "Westside Barbell Bench Workout"....
Now, I had been reading Louis Simmons articles in Powerlifting USA for about two years leading up to this point. I used to read them over and over and over, because, let's face it, he had the goods. He had bands and chains and boards and boxes and a plethora of gimmicks and percentages that led me to believe that FINALLY, I had struck gold. I had sailed beyond Fred Hatfield's compensatory acceleration technique and landed on the golden shore of heavy banded box squatting barbell paradise sure to make pound after pound of easy weight land on the bar. I invested in some bands, Kaz's Fitness Center had some chains and I began training Old school Westside style in earnest. After a few months and a little progress, the next logical step in becoming a Westside disciple was, of course, order the videos...
The warm glow of the screen filled the room and there I watched the most poorly produced, low-budget, home video camera with Vaseline on the lens training video my eyes had ever beheld. It was glorious.
Back in that day, Louis pushed the accessory movements. You want a big bench, you gotta have strong triceps (which is true). And obviously if lying dumbbell tricep extensions with 65lbers. with 10 seconds rest between sets was good enough for Louis it was good enough for me (I was so naive ya'll).
So the course before me was set. Max out every week (just rotate the exercises, you'll be fine Mr. Raw drug free lifter), dynamic (nay almost plyometric) bench pressing every week and dumbbell tricep extensions until the cows come home... After all Louis said pushing the accessories was the key... And it works... especially if you add some testosterone, and 2 ply canvas gear... (so, so naive, ya'll)
It wasn't long before the too heavy tricep extensions (and a million other things I did) had caused this dreaded plague of medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow) to find it's home in both my arms. I tore my left hamstring doing another stupid exercise. Not only that, but the perpetual max effort work had left me stagnant and I had gotten stronger in all of my accessory lifts with little to show for it where it counted, on the barbell. I was about burned out before I even got started.
I took several weeks off from training after that, and started over, I start over a lot, that was about 2002... 11 years ago, wow.
I left the Westside training methodology behind, and I would give anything to have those days back with a copy of Starting Strength in hand. However, I still use bands and chains some, but they are not anything close to essential for strength (in fact they can be a huge distraction).
Now that I am older and minimally wiser I have learned a little about what works for me in the gym. Accessory movements are more about keeping healthy, correcting weaknesses, and hypertrophy than they are for pushing a heavier barbell. Do I want stronger triceps, biceps, hamstrings, ect., you bet, but I'm not so sure those things can be found in training those muscles soley in isolation.
So I've been doing a good amount of shoulder complexes with a mini band before I press. I've been doing some upper body sled dragging for my ailing left elbow, and I've been doing some calf raises because lately I've had an irrational fear that I'm going to tear my Achilles tendon... It's all extra bricks for the foundation. Are movements like these a secret ingredient? No, but they make me feel good, and keep things interesting.
A couple of months back I started a loose version of The Cube Method for Strongman by Josh Thigpen. I have a de-load week every 4th week and that is the week I do all the little silly exercises that I enjoy, and step away from the platform to make sure I heal up, spend time with my family and take Ferris Bueller's advice. Curls in the squat rack, overhead squats, that grip/forearm exercise you've been wanting to try - they all land right there in the de-load week where you're healing up for what really matters - adding weight to the bar, log, or axle as the case may be.
Training for me will be a lifelong process, I'm settling into that notion. The point now is consistent, thoughtful training over a very long time. Lift heavy, do what keeps you healthy, do what gets you better... and every now and then, stop smells the roses until you're ready to lift heavy again.
Now, I had been reading Louis Simmons articles in Powerlifting USA for about two years leading up to this point. I used to read them over and over and over, because, let's face it, he had the goods. He had bands and chains and boards and boxes and a plethora of gimmicks and percentages that led me to believe that FINALLY, I had struck gold. I had sailed beyond Fred Hatfield's compensatory acceleration technique and landed on the golden shore of heavy banded box squatting barbell paradise sure to make pound after pound of easy weight land on the bar. I invested in some bands, Kaz's Fitness Center had some chains and I began training Old school Westside style in earnest. After a few months and a little progress, the next logical step in becoming a Westside disciple was, of course, order the videos...
The warm glow of the screen filled the room and there I watched the most poorly produced, low-budget, home video camera with Vaseline on the lens training video my eyes had ever beheld. It was glorious.
Back in that day, Louis pushed the accessory movements. You want a big bench, you gotta have strong triceps (which is true). And obviously if lying dumbbell tricep extensions with 65lbers. with 10 seconds rest between sets was good enough for Louis it was good enough for me (I was so naive ya'll).
So the course before me was set. Max out every week (just rotate the exercises, you'll be fine Mr. Raw drug free lifter), dynamic (nay almost plyometric) bench pressing every week and dumbbell tricep extensions until the cows come home... After all Louis said pushing the accessories was the key... And it works... especially if you add some testosterone, and 2 ply canvas gear... (so, so naive, ya'll)
It wasn't long before the too heavy tricep extensions (and a million other things I did) had caused this dreaded plague of medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow) to find it's home in both my arms. I tore my left hamstring doing another stupid exercise. Not only that, but the perpetual max effort work had left me stagnant and I had gotten stronger in all of my accessory lifts with little to show for it where it counted, on the barbell. I was about burned out before I even got started.
I took several weeks off from training after that, and started over, I start over a lot, that was about 2002... 11 years ago, wow.
I left the Westside training methodology behind, and I would give anything to have those days back with a copy of Starting Strength in hand. However, I still use bands and chains some, but they are not anything close to essential for strength (in fact they can be a huge distraction).
Now that I am older and minimally wiser I have learned a little about what works for me in the gym. Accessory movements are more about keeping healthy, correcting weaknesses, and hypertrophy than they are for pushing a heavier barbell. Do I want stronger triceps, biceps, hamstrings, ect., you bet, but I'm not so sure those things can be found in training those muscles soley in isolation.
So I've been doing a good amount of shoulder complexes with a mini band before I press. I've been doing some upper body sled dragging for my ailing left elbow, and I've been doing some calf raises because lately I've had an irrational fear that I'm going to tear my Achilles tendon... It's all extra bricks for the foundation. Are movements like these a secret ingredient? No, but they make me feel good, and keep things interesting.
A couple of months back I started a loose version of The Cube Method for Strongman by Josh Thigpen. I have a de-load week every 4th week and that is the week I do all the little silly exercises that I enjoy, and step away from the platform to make sure I heal up, spend time with my family and take Ferris Bueller's advice. Curls in the squat rack, overhead squats, that grip/forearm exercise you've been wanting to try - they all land right there in the de-load week where you're healing up for what really matters - adding weight to the bar, log, or axle as the case may be.
Training for me will be a lifelong process, I'm settling into that notion. The point now is consistent, thoughtful training over a very long time. Lift heavy, do what keeps you healthy, do what gets you better... and every now and then, stop smells the roses until you're ready to lift heavy again.
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