I started my first full time strength and conditioning job at the United States Military Academy in February of 2005. I was engaged to be married, but loaded up everything I owned in a 1996 Ford Explorer and drove the nine hours from Newark, Ohio to New York on Superbowl Sunday. I listened to the Patriots and Eagles and I ended up in Cornwall on the Hudson, NY at my good friend Mike Murphy’s apartment by halftime.

Murph was an assistant lacrosse coach and my D-line coach at Denison University in 2002. It was a typical D3 school trying to milk every job they could out of good coaches just begging them to leave. Mike got hired as an assistant lacrosse coach at Army and was probably the main reason I got the job there in the first place. Mike is now the head lacrosse coach at Colgate and one of the best motivators and recruiters I have ever been around. He is also a dear friend and someone I would want my nephews, nieces, or daughters to play for.

So, here I am living out of a car and sleeping on a couch, but coaching at the most historically significant institution of higher learning in the country. It was my dream job. My military background combined with the high quality character of these cadets made it a great situation for me. I knew what these young men and women are up against once they graduate and knew how to balance their military training with the athletic strength & conditioning due to my familiarity with the job requirements. It was a delicate balance which required knowledge of the cadet lifestyle, the demands of the sport, and the culture of the academy. To give you an example of what kind of men and women I was privileged to coach were, check out this article about Legacies Alive and Mike's Hiking for Heroes.

West Point is very unique place for strength coaches. Every cadet pretty much gets the same amount of sleep (practically none) and eats the same meals in terms of calories and nutrition timing. Breakfast and especially lunch are anything but casual meals. 4200 cadets eat lunch in 20 minutes. I would guess, this is the main reason why Arthur Jones conducted a lot of his research at West Point. The subjects were on an even playing field. This is also where High Intensity Training (HIT) was born through research and necessity.

When I interviewed, I didn’t know I would be working with three of the most influential coaches in my life. Scott Swanson is still one of my greatest mentors. I only wish I would have spent less time looking for the next job and more time doing a better job.

I frustrated Scott at times with my unfocused enthusiasm and I appreciated everything he did for me even if I was selfish. Scott’s wife Joy was diagnosed with cancer while I was coaching at Army. She lost her fight after I left, but I have never seen anyone fight as hard or for as long as she did. Scott is an example of character and perseverance for everything he’s been through. He has survived 5 different head coaches and the number of cadets he impacts grows every year.

Gabe Harrington and Corey Crane are still great friends to me. During the interview, Corey asked me why I do the Olympic lifts. They both had their roots in HIT and I tried to give Corey some bullshit answer about how cleans replicate tackling on a football field or some dumb-ass reason. He asked about how the myosin and actin respond differently to training stimulus and how cleans differed from other explosive movements on the cellular level. Although, I may be able to answer the question better now, at the time I was stumped and I learned the most valuable lesson I could ever learn.

Whatever you do in your program, you better be able to explain why you do it, and you better believe in it.

When I took the job at Army, I was neck deep in elitefts™, Westside Barbell and geared powerlifting. One thing people don’t realize is that HIT is not that far off from traditional conjugated periodization. HIT meshes well with undulating or non-linear type periodization schemes. The differences lie in how those work sets are manipulated, the volume of work for certain fitness qualities, and the general progression and rotation of exercises. There are definitely more commonalities than differences.

For my own training, I had the opportunity to train with Scott on a regular basis, especially when I first got to West Point. I wasn’t in favor of the training at first because I wanted to start my own training for a meet. It ended up being the best thing I could have done. The same reason why my interns should have trained with me when I was a head coach is exactly why Scott wanted me to train with him. The only way to truly understand a training system is to get under the bar and perform the sets and reps yourself. As I was learning how the performance of a rep should be done, tempo, and what it truly means to go "all out" on a set. I also addressed some major weak points.

Although the performance of a rep will vary depending on the intention of the training set, session, etc., there are some general guidelines that apply to MOST repetitions, especially for ME and RE work.

Perform the concentric contraction as fast as possible. Regardless of how fast the bar moves, it is the intent to move the weight fast that will develop explosive power.
Control the Eccentric doesn't mean lower the bar at a slow tempo. It means you should be able to utilize the antagonists and be able to stop the barbell at any point during the eccentric.
Inhaling an exhaling should be done before and after the repetition. In other words, take a big breath, perform the rep, and then exhale.

The most important aspect I learned from Scott, Gabe, and Cory at Army was the utilization of forced reps. I was familiar with the concept but never know who to truly perform or coach them. Some coaches even adjusted volume and total workload on the number of forced reps performed with a +1, +2, +3 system. Basically, I adapted the system to have one forced rep after "help" rep. If we were using machines for hypertrophy work, we would add one forced negative. I have never, and will ever, advocate forced repetition for any max effort work, overhead movements, compound, barbell movements, or any movement with an axial load on the spine.

My Last Powerlifting Training Cycle: Stealing, Learning, & Adapting

Before I took the job at Army, my last meet was the IronHouse Classic in Newark, Ohio in the Spring of 2004 where I lifted in the flight before Dave Tate. Through elitefts™ training templates and the website, I finally figured out a training template that worked for me. It was a combination of Chuck Vogelpohl’s split and Bob Youngs beginner split. I have had several discussions bout my training split and there are some things I did that were unique. Maybe they was a better way but here are some general perceptions I had from the previous 8 years of training:

I did not think I could put a bar on my back more than once a week and make significant progress. I alternated ME and DE Lower body sessions every week.
I hardly ever used a shirt or suit during the 9 week training cycle. I would do shirt work and wear the suit for some sessions in the off-season. Once I learned the gear, I used accommodating resistance to simulate the strength curve of assisted lifting. I know this sounds crazy to a lot of lifters today, but my gear back then (non Metal) wasn't that good and I wasn't that strong.

Here's what I did for my last training cycle:

MONDAY Dynamic Bench Press

9 sets of 3 w/ 40% & Mini bands w/ 45sec RI & 3 different grips
Lying DB Tricep Extensions 4-8 sets of 4-8 reps (32-36 total volume) *best ever was 85lbs for 8 sets of 4
Chest Supported Row 4 sets of 10
Rear Delt Raise 3x12
Hammer Curl 2x15

TUESDAY Dynamic/ Max Effort Squat
*Alternate Max Dynamic Method and Max Effort Every Week

DE WEEK

Dynamic Box Squat 40% w/ heavy bands for 8 sets of 2 with 45 sec rest
Speed Pulls 50% for 8 singles
Glute Ham-raise 4 sets of 8-12
Pull-down Abs

---or---

ME WEEK

Max Effort Movement for 1-3rep max
1. - Rev Band Squat - Heavy bands
2. - Squat w/ Chains - 3 chains
3. - Rev Band Squat - doubled lights
4. - Squat w/ Chains - 4 chains
Good Mornings for a 3-5RM
Glute Ham-raise 4 sets of 8-12
Pull-down Abs

THURSDAY Max Effort Bench Press

Max Effort Movement for 1-3 reps max
1. - 2 Board press
2. - Bench w/ Chains 2 chains
3. - Rev Band Press - Average bands
4. - 3 Board press
5. - Bench w/ Chains - 3 chains
6. - Rev Band Press - Heavy bands
JM Presses 5-6 sets of 5-6
Pull-down Variation 4 sets of 10
Rear Delt Raise 3x12
Hammer Curls 2x15

FRIDAY Squat/ Deadlift Accessories

45 Degree Weighted Back Raise or Back Attack Machine 3 x10
Leg Press 1x20 drop set
Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Abs

Best lifts Geared 275 class:
Squat: 715
Bench: 535
Deadlift: 545

Pretty weak, I know, but that was where I was at the time.

Road Trips

Two trips that I would frequently make really took my training to the in a positive direction. After a terrible meet in New Jersey where I dumped 540 pounds on my belly, I had to seek out some experts. I had met John Bott several times and finally reached out to him at the meet in Jersey. He was on the elitefts Q&A and he was incredibly nice to me. He invited me down to his house to train with him and his crew in his basement. So, once a month I would make the trip down the Pallasdes Parkway, exit right before the GW bridge and trained in his basement. Great crew and an outstanding learning experience every time. The other location I went a few times was at Nazareth Barbell in PA. Mike Miller had a great gym there and I remember after one training session with Bobby Fields, I went from not being able to touch 540 with a shirt on the bench to touching with 315 and chains. It is people like John Bott, Mike Miller, and Bobby Fields that make a world of difference and help other lifter simply because somebody did it for them. I ended up PRing at IPA Nationals in 2005 in the squat and bench press. I couldn't have done any of it without help.

The Black Nights of the Hudson

West Point is a very unique place which holds true for strength and conditioning coaches as well. All of the cadets who are college athletes at Army need to have their athletic related meetings, practices, training session, and film sessions between 3:30 and 6:00pm. That means, every sport has less than a three hour window to prepare. So, with all of your sports needing to fit in that window, strength coaches need to be incredibly organized. This was one of the most beneficial experiences I had to prepare me for the logistical nightmare that was D3. The only exception to this schedule was the swimming and diving team, and the wrestling team. Swimmers trained in the morning before breakfast and I trained the wrestlers during my second year at 11:30 am every other day. This made it interesting to program in that one week I would have the wrestlers Monday-Wednesday-Friday and the next week Tuesday-Thursday. In-season, we would keeping a two-times-per-week program, but each would would alternate. There is a big difference for athletes when their last training session is 72 hours as opposed to 48 hours from competition.

So, people would ask me, "If you don't have any teams until 3:30, what would you do all day?" This was the ultimate position to perfect your craft as a strength coach. I was allowed time to read everything I could and had ample time to truly individualize every training session for very small, specific groups of athletes.

In terms of the schedule, we would usually need to be in by 10 am at the latest and were usually done by 7 pm. I would usually help with football after my teams were done in the ODIA weight room. I had Wrestling, Basebell, Softball, Men & Women's Soccer, Golf (never saw them), and Sprint Football. My weight room was about 6000 square feet. Just about every other team trained in the Michie weightroom, which was about 20,000 square feet.

WhenI got to West Point, I was the fourth strength coach in four years there. Not sure what the problem was, but I will blame cost of living. My wife and I had a 600-square foot apartment and payed $1200 a month and that didn't include utilities. We were in the boonies and an hour from NYC. This all being said, there was an urgent need to build a rapport and earn some trust.

To this day, I am still tight with a lot of the cadets to this day I had the privilege to train. There aren't too many young men or women I would hold to such a high standard of respect. They deserved respect, not just for the job they would be asked to do, but the type of people they were. Disregard wins and losses for a moment, and just think of the nine-year commitment cadets are asked to make.

People often asked why some sports sometime struggle at Army. I have been on the sidelines at Lincoln Financial Field during the Army-Navy game in 2005. I swear it was 20 degrees colder for us, as we were getting dominated on that day. As most coaches realize, it all comes down to recruiting. So, why is it so hard to recruit at Army for some sports as opposed to Air Force or Navy? There are probably many reasons I am unaware of and I would never want to make excuses for anyone. It is just my humble opinion that 18year olds have a vastly different perception of what the next 9 years of their lives will be like when comparing the 3 major academies. Here's a fact from the USMA superintendent during his presentation to the athletic department back in 2005: 80% of USMA Graduates will be in Iraq or Afghanistan within 18 months of graduation.

I was warned about Sprint Football. There were about a million of them, it wasn't an NCAA sport, they had no respect for the program, and they did whatever they felt like in the weight room.

Then I figured out why my colleagues and predecessors felt this way.

No one gave Sprint Football the time of day in terms of training. What would the anticipated response be? They just want to get better and no one was even giving them a program for the last three years.

Sprint football is a tough sport. Half of those players were cutting weight during game week to play (sprint football has a weight limit of 175 pounds).

The first thing I did was try to treat them like every other team. I set the expectations very high for them. After we established trust, structure, and work ethic, they ended becoming one of the best teams I've coached. I have a lot of respect for those young men. I had to remember that just because an athlete's sport is not important for everyone else; it is everything for that athlete.

Woody Hayes has said that you should have two hours of preparation for every one hour of practice. Not sure if we we wer quite to that point, but we did spend a lot of time at Army preparing every training session with great detail. There wasn't a lot of leeway to mess things up and the cadets (like all athletes) deserved the very best opportunity to improve. I would enter training numbers for every player personally and make individual adjustments. This is why I laugh at the DI coaches who have three sports and claim they are "so busy." I would have an individualized training program by sport, position, and grade and I was still bored half the time. Then the summer would come. Have you ever set your alarm seven days per week for 3:45 am? That was every summer due to us training our cadets before their 6:30 am breakfast. It sucked, but was necessary.

Lessons That Stayed with Me

There were a couple of adaptations I had to make due to scheduling and facilities. For example, we had to separate the running and lifting sessions for all teams. So here are four program modifications I made (definitely didn't invent) because of the situation at Army. Obstacles create opportunities for professional growth and the limitations at Army helped me become a more selfless and thorough coach. The other coaches and cadets served as great examples.

The Tier System for Wrestling

Some of my colleagues at Army were using an undulating periodization scheme that looked similar to Joe Kenn's Tier system. If they had a three day system, they may perform a horizontal press all three days that week with a different emphasis and volume each of those days. For a basic overview of various Non-Linear systems, check out Non-Linear Periodization for Beginners. Here's an example:

Monday – Barbell Bench Press 3x6-8
Wednesday – Machine Bench Press 3x8-10
Friday – Dumbbell Bench Press 3x10-12

Basically this was waving the rep scheme based on equipment used. As Joe Kenn has talked about many times, the Tier System of training utilizes an undulated periodization scheme with more frequent rotations of exercises. I really like the tier system for sports performance, specifically when we weren't in a cycle in which we were incorporating speed and agility work. At the time, I wasn't really sure how to incorporate speed sessions within the protocol.

For a more detailed look at the Tier System, check out Joe Kenn's Tier System of Training Presentation from the 2015 Sports Performance Training Summit.

Here's the general idea. We would perform a double leg push three days per week, but one day may be box jumps, one day may be squat with chains, and another may be leg press for a drop set of 20. All three days share a basic movement pattern but the method is different. This is similar to what Cal Diet has implemented at The University of Minnesota.

Mondays = DE
Wednesdays = ME
Fridays = RE

The number of strength coaches who have been influenced by the Tier System is widespread and components of the unique organizational system of training can be seen in professional, college, and high school weight rooms across the country. Kenn has listed some of the key characteristics of the Tier System being full body, ground based, explosive, and variable. One of the many advantages of the Tier System is the program density.

Comprehending the Tier System as a strength and conditioning coach was made easier when I was able to adapt it to the situation that I was in. When explaining to athletes or interns, the easiest way to demonstrate the basic concept usually started with reviewing Vladimir Zatsiorsky's three methods from Science and Practice of Strength Training: The Dynamic Effort, the Max Effort, and the Repeated Effort. This was how I would break it down to its simplest concept. Keep in mind, this is my explanation and not necessarily Coach Kenn's. Let's take a movement like a double-leg push or squat variation and see how it will fit in a typical micro-cycle (7-21 days).

Dynamic Effort Method: Speed Box Squats with Chains—8 sets of 2 reps w/ 60% and 1 minute rest interval.

Maximum Effort Method: Barbell Back Squat—Work up to a 3-rep max, then perform 3 singles with same weight.

Repeated Effort Method: Dumbbell Goblet Squat— 25% of body weight for as many reps as possible in one minute.

As you can see, the athlete would squat three times in a cycle. The movement would be the same, the method would vary. This would provide the athlete an opportunity to address all three methods with the same basic movement pattern on different training days.

Setting Up the Tier System

TIER	Method	MONDAY	WEDNESDAY	FRIDAY
Tier 1	Dynamic Effort	Total Body	Lower Body	Upper Body
Tier 2	Circa-Max Effort	Lower Body	Upper Body	Total Body
Tier 3	Sub-Max Effort	Upper Body	Total Body	Lower Body
Tier 4	Repeated Effort	Total Body	Lower Body	Upper Body
Tier 5	Repeated Effort	Lower Body	Upper Body	Total Body

You don't have to do Olympic lifts

I didn't have the facility with the ODIA weightroom to incorporate them in my program. I had no bumpers, no platforms, and no space to have athletes perform them safely. We ended up using some alternatives in the program. Football, who trained in a 20,000 sq ft weight room with platforms and Elieko bars and bumpers, was one of the few sports who performed cleans at the time and it was only because Bobby Ross said they were to be doing cleans and "that was that." One of my main responsibilities at Army was to teach all freshman football players our clean progression. With my own teams, I could have eventually progressed into a hang clean from the rack, I just didn't get there yet. Here are some of the hybrids/alternatives we did:

Dumbbell Swing (didn't have KBs)
Med ball throws
DB High Pulls
1 Arm DB snatch
Barbell Shrug Pulls (RDL from Rack)
Barbell High Pulls
Band Squats
DB Squat Press
Barbell Push Press

I am not saying that Olympic Lifts aren't beneficial. I am just implying that your situation must allow for them. Here is my basic checklist.

Anytime you are programming Olympic lifts, always ask these questions.

Do I have the knowledge base to teach the bio-mechanical positions and the movements?
Do I have the experience with identifying and addressing technique discrepancies while instituting corrective strategies?
Do I have enough qualified coaches for the number of athletes I have at one time in my facility?
Do I have enough time during the training session, training week, and training cycle with my athletes to ensure technical proficiency of the lifts?
Do I have enough space and enough stations to safely accommodate novice athletes performing explosive movements (some of them overhead)?
Do I have the proper equipment (the correct bars, bumpers, platforms, or appropriate flooring) for my athletes to execute these movements?
Are my athletes' chronological, biological, and training ages all conducive of productive training sessions using Olympic weightlifting movements?

For a comprehensive look at Olympic Lifting for Athletic Performance, click here.

Four day cycle for a three day week

Originally got this from Kevin Yoxall when he was at Auburn. This worked great for many of the sports I had. It was basically two upper and two lower days. It would be similar to 5/3/1 in terms of the breakdown. Squat, Bench, Deadlift, OHP

Week 1: Squat, Bench, Dead
Week 2: OHP, Squat, Bench
Week 3: Dead, OHP, Sqaut
Week 4: Bench, Dead, OHP

For the most part, the advantage was repeating the same workout every 9-10 days so every day was a max-effort day. Also, not every Monday was a squat day, etc. It kept the athletes engaged and not complacent. This allowed for more recovery time as well.

The disadvantage was that athletes had less frequency to learn specific movements and improve from a technique standpoint. So, it was important to include a dynamic or submaximal movement to address all movement categories. For example, performing SLRDLs on Squat days or DB BP on Overhead days.

Adapting Westside for WestPoint

I think life would be much easier if everyone would just come to the agreement that not too many people truly understand the Westside Barbell method of training. A lot of younger lifters make assumptions and think they understand what goes on in Louie's mind, but only a select few really comprehend it.

I certainly am no expert in the WSBB method of training, but I know enough to know what WSBB is not. Too many people lump Conjugate periodization with WSBB and that is a mistake. That is one of the reasons I wrote You May Have Conjugated Periodization All Wrong.

The combination of training in a similar manner, doing everything I can to better understand the system since 1994, and picking Dave's brain while listening to the stories he tells from the gym gets me a little closer to being able to decipher the principles than most. Whether you are an advocate or not, here are a few points I will say about WSBB.

Louie has gone out of his way to help me every single time I have talked to him. The stories I have heard about him giving his time and wisdom to others have just reinforced my impression.
There are only a handful of coaches on this planet that can legitimately mention Siff, Verkoshansky, or Zatsiorsky without hearing about their knowledge from Louie first. Anything from Prilepin's chart to the dynamic effort method, to GPP, to Special Exercises was made known to coaches and lifters first through Louie.
Anyone I have ever met and personally watched coach that spent significant time at Westside proved to be some of the best technical coaches I have seen. Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, Matt Wenning, JL Holdsworth, I am sure the list goes on.

Adapting WSBB for Athletes

I will admit that Joe DeFranco had it right and his WS4SB program is still one of the most solid templates for athletes. There are a few things I may have done differently because of the extenating circumstances we often dealt with. You will definitely see similarities. For sake of argument, I'll just use a traditional WSBB template with a DI split.

Modifications

Dynamic box squats = box jumps
Alternate pushes and pulls
Max effort upper body movement could be a pull (weighted chin-up for pull-dominant sports)
Additional work-load sets or drop sets after max effort work
Balance single leg and double leg work
Three pulls for every two pushes

The biggest difference at Army ( and everywhere I've been) was doing non-barbell time movements for Dynamic Effort work.

Here is a much more detailed look at how coaches can adapt the Dynamic Effort Method for Sports Performance.

This is a basic plan we did at Army for some sports, specifically baseball:

Monday

Box Squat with chains - Wave Cycle 60-80% for 5-8 doubles
Seated Box Jump Complex: 8-10 sets of 1-2 jumps
Glute Ham Raise supersetted with
SL DB RDLs

Tuesday

1 Arm DB Snatch or DB High Pull: 6x3
Half Kneeling 1 Arm DB Press: 5x3
Chin-Up: Work up to 5RM supersetted with plyo push-ups 8x3
Rear Delt work
Arm Work

Thursday

Trap Bar Deadlift: Work up to 3-5RM
DB Split Squat or Reverse Lunge
Glute Ham Raise
Abs

Friday

Various Medicine Ball Throws
2-Board Bench Press: Work up to a 3-5RM
1 Arm DB Rows
Incline DB or Stability Ball DB Press: 3x20
Pull-Downs

This isn't a bad program if you want to keep within the spirit of the DE, ME, RE system. I have modified the program in years following, but between the WS4SB, the WSBB, and the Tier System, I was able to have some adaptability based on the situation and the athletes.

There is Only One Westside

It is almost a cliche at this point when people say, "you aren't training Westside unless you are training AT Westside." This is absolutely true. But, because Louie has been so willing to pass on his knowledge and empower others to pass on their interpretations of his system; all coaches have benefited.

I have been humble enough to realize that there is not as many differences in training methodologies as most would think. There is not much out there that isn't borrowed from others. Being realistic and humble about your experience is key.

I am truly blessed to have spent time at West Point as a full-time strength & conditioning coach. I am also glad I was able to bring a system I learned to other coaches and had a "lab" to make it my own. It's people like Louie Simmons, Scott Swanson, and Dave Tate that have given so much to others.