Rather than just writing one cycle, I’ve decided to make an easy to follow quasi-article that contains all the different cycles for the squat that I’ve used with success. YES to chains and bands.
Great coaching, brawls and talking trash all go hand in hand at elite powerlifting gyms. When Dave Tate has a story to tell about Westside Barbell, it’s a good idea to stop and listen.
“Our human potential is much higher than we recognize.” elitefts coach and columnist JM Blakley might be the namesake of the JM Press, but he hopes his impact in the strength sports world will go far beyond that and the weights he’s lifted.
Ohio is the mecca of powerlifting, and elitefts is just one stop on the journey. Doug Heath, one of the Ohio powerlifters who inspired Louie Simmons to develop the Westside Method, joins Dave Tate on this Table Talk Podcast episode.
Even the smartest, strongest, and best of us can learn and improve on what we do or how we do it. The journey for strength is all about education and learning, and this is how we continue to get stronger. All of this takes dedication.
There are two kinds of athletes: the ones that love to win and the ones that hate to lose. The athletes who hate losing are the ones you should be afraid of. Dave Tate learned that the hard way when challenging Chuck Vogelpohl at Westside.
I’ve seen a lot of articles about the max effort method on here lately, but I haven’t seen many address the fact that there are two types of max effort methods! One method might work better than the other for you, so before you give up on conjugate, give this a read.
The things that gym owners and coaches love to do are destroying them. Find what you love to do without it taking too much of a toll on your health, both mental and physical. #BeThe1ToAsk others if they need help.
The goal with this series is to get to you to think about how you can manipulate the max effort, dynamic effort, and repeated efforts to fir your needs and to understand that conjugate is a fluid system that requires experimenting.
In conjugate, accessory work plays a huge role, even if it isn’t one that gets the attention. Accessory work is going to help fill your gaps and prevent you from developing new ones.
As I said in Part 1, conjugate is one of, if not, the most effective training systems when it is executed properly. Moving a light weight fast isn’t enough to make the dynamic effort method work. Moving a light weight fast with intention is.
In my opinion, conjugate is one of, if not, the best training systems — when employed properly. If it isn’t working, don’t disregard the system; instead, check your application.
The documentary Westside vs The World lives up to its name, as the documentary isn't available everywhere — though it's a bit more accessible to watch via Vimeo now.
In this episode of Table Talk Podcast, Dave Tate and Kenny Patterson talk about Louie Simmons, their time at Westside Barbell Club, the documentary “Westside vs The World,” and more.
With this year marking the 20th anniversary of elitefts, Tate acknowledges the significance of the timing of the LTTX seminar for his team, reflecting back on the success of the company in a market where this is not necessarily the norm.
With the muscle-building knowledge he has gained since retiring from the sport of powerlifting, what would Dave change about his years training for the platform? We rewind to Dave’s first Table Talk from 2015.
There are definitely a few programs I have used with success in my lifting career and some that I will still recommend to lifters today, but conjugate is my favorite. It is the one I try to progress all my lifters to.
Something doesn’t feel right as the bar descends, like your left pec is cramping or something. You touch, hear “press,” and then POP! It all goes black.
Nick Showman built his facility with a purpose and, in the process of growing, has found a niche in softball, welcomed serious lifters, and expanded the services he and his coaches provide.
With five years in the sport of powerlifting, my best total before I came to Westside Barbell was 1685. After training at Westside for a little over three years, my best total is 1950. Here are the big issues to avoid if you want similar progress.
For a powerlifter on a conjugate or Westside style program, you first need to make sure you know the role of each exercise you’re doing. This will give you direction on how close to failure to train.
The world records, the surgeries, the comebacks, the nights alone in motels, the tears, the blood, and everything in between needs to have a purpose. This is what I want to leave.
How does this system translate to someone that just wants a bigger set of guns? Incredibly well, actually, due to the fact you will spend the bulk of your training sessions performing hypertrophy work to bring up primary movers.
Life was meant to be lived, not read. Cars were meant to be driven, not parked. The harbor is safe, but a ship was meant to sail. Don’t let articles and books convince you that you understand it all.
To be on the board at Westside, at the time, meant you had to break the all-time world record, because that was pretty much everybody that was on the board.
From 1990 to 2000, there wasn’t a single person who came to Westside and stayed who didn’t get significantly stronger. Everyone got stronger, wearing gear or not.
Training goals after powerlifting, quality time with children, training at Westside, leaving Westside, thoughts on training methods, the purpose of life, the challenges of being a mentor, and more — all in this video.
While raw powerlifting circles have been discrediting the merits of a concurrent approach to training, many have been using a program that is congruent with the very principles that conjugate is based on.
At times, we can be paralyzed by the complexity of our professional lives and it can be very valuable to find simple, yet proven philosophies that help us find our way.
You may have heard or read a few things about Dave’s second hip replacement and the PRs that led to his surgery, but no one has heard the full story. Until now.
I’ve gained 100 pounds over the last seven years and I’m going to share my journey and my experience, both good and bad, this has had on my general health.
With 20 years of lifting behind me, I was scared to death of my double anterior total hip replacement. What would life be like after surgery? Could I ever lift again?