A few weekends ago, a world record squat was attempted. The lift passed, but the video got torn apart on Facebook. Want to know my thoughts on it? No? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.
Judging the SPF Ultimate Powerlifting and Bench Press Championship in Georgetown, Kentucky, I saw a lot of lifters make easily-correctable mistakes. Here are the ones to look out for.
If you don’t understand the reason behind doing something, how will you know if you are getting the proper results out of your efforts?
I had only one goal and nothing else mattered: to make it to Westside and get as strong as I possibly could.
There are a lot of things to argue about in powerlifting, but you can’t argue about integrity, you can’t argue about desire, and you can’t argue about dedication. You need these things no matter what.
There are two categories for max effort exercises: strength builders and strength testers. Every lifter has their own. Once I found mine, I built an 1160 squat and an 850 deadlift.
No matter which of the many training programs out there you choose to use, or whether you train raw or equipped, one thing will always remain the same.
It takes a long time to be elite—truly elite—in this sport. Don’t try to change the standards. Change the way you work.
Regardless of what program you think works best for you, the form used to complete the lift is still the same.
There are two types of squatters: hip squatters and back squatters. The proper way to execute the lift depends on which technique is best for you.
You know the simple rules of dynamic effort training but may be forgetting the small-but-crucial details that make it effective.
With a limited time frame and many issues to fix for these three lifters, I had to target their specific weaknesses with training adjustments. This is how we did it.
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?
For us, lifting was a priority. Louie and Westside gave us the edge to move our lifters on up in the competitive world. More than a place to train, lifting was our lifestyle.
Out of 16 years at Westside, this is the program I used for my PR 1160 squat and 2673 total.