Over the years, I’ve seen many powerlifting/strength training clubs come and go. In my home state of North Carolina, I have personally witnessed at least five come and go in the last four years, and I have watched the camaraderie among the lifters disintegrate. It’s a sad fact that we have so many national and world class lifters in the same state and none of them train together. The state of powerlifting in North Carolina actually persuaded me to look at clubs that have survived the times and seemed to have dealt with the ever changing trends in powerlifting today. It was interesting how they all had at least two factors in common—one person in charge and clearly defined objectives.

Let’s look at two of the most prominent clubs—Westside Barbell and Big Iron Gym. Starting with Westside first, we all know Louie Simmons. He makes it quite clear that he is in charge and for good reason. He personally has trained more world champions than any man on the planet, and he is constantly looking for new ideas. He also makes a couple of other truths clear. For one, you are expected to succeed. If you are looking for a place to simply hang out or if winning isn’t a big priority, don’t go there. For another, he doesn’t care about equipment or drugs. Now, that doesn’t mean that you can’t train there for single ply meets. It just means that you can’t get offended or talk trash about others who are doing drugs and who use multi ply equipment.

Westside is a family, and you are expected to help each other out during training and at meets. If you are not competing, you can wrap knees! To sum it all up, Westside is a place to become the best powerlifter that you are capable of becoming. So if you’re going to put down multi ply equipment or talk about getting beat because someone was taking drugs and you weren’t, don’t go to Westside.

Next, we have Big Iron Gym and the infamous Rick Hussey. Now here is a club that is quickly becoming legendary for its ability to mass produce world champions. They have many of the same ideas as Westside. They are expected to win! They don’t care about drugs or equipment so if you do, train somewhere else. They aren’t saying that you have to take drugs to get strong. They are simply saying shut up and lift heavy weights PERIOD! The only difference in Big Iron and Westside is that Big Iron uses straight weight. They are not big proponents of bands and chains. Here is where I become very interested because you have two clubs each with a totally different training regimen and both are producing world champions like a factory. The one constant is an atmosphere of excellence. (This is something that I am going to touch on in another article in the near future.)

Based on my experiences in powerlifting, here are my suggestions for forming a successful powerlifting club. First, one person is in charge. Let’s call this person the president. Usually that is the person paying for the gym or the person who put in the most money. Secondly, have a clear cut mission statement that all founding members are a part of forming. For example, “At East Coast Barbell we are committed to taking powerlifting to the absolute next level with constant broken state, national, and world records. We are committed as a team to assisting, protecting, and supporting each other. We are also committed to a constant search for new ideas that might aid in our quest of domination!” Last, you need clearly defined principle objectives so that every current and future member knows the expectations, beliefs, and standards.

For example:

  • Loud, energetic music, possibly with profanity, will be played at all times.
  • Cell phone use is prohibited inside the complex.
  • All members are expected to attend 75 percent of the meets that they are not competing in to assist other teammates and support their efforts.
  • All members are expected to total Elite within one year and a half of joining.
  • Members can compete within any federation, but there is to be no trash talking whatsoever about equipment or drug use preferences.
  • There will be profanity used at this facility and lots of it.
  • Politics and religion are not to be discussed at this facility.

You get the picture. So what does this prevent? Well for sure no one would want to bring their kids there. People who are against the use of equipment and drugs probably wouldn’t want to attend unless they aren’t concerned with what others are doing. People who don’t want to kick butt wouldn’t want to be a member.

What chain reaction does this cause? A “culture” is formed over time. One of excellence. A “culture” is defined as “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.” When people of similar characteristics come together, a synergistic atmosphere is formed. The problem with most powerlifting clubs is that everyone has their own opinion or idea about the way powerlifting should go so divisions within the club start to form. The next thing you know, people are leaving and starting their own club.

To sum things up, simply form a culture of excellence by having a clearly defined mission with clear cut objectives that potential members can either choose to be a part of or not. Westside Barbell might claim to be not so corporate in their approach, but let’s analyze. They have a culture of bad ass athletes crushing world records, and they constantly have a band of supporters and helpers at each and every meet regardless of the size or prestige. Their mission statement is to crush world records and support one another. Their principle objectives are 1) crush records, 2) don’t make equipment and drugs a concern because they aren’t, 3) support one another, and 4) Louie is in charge PERIOD. See what I mean? They have clear cut objectives!

Good luck in forming your club! It’s a true pleasure to be a part of great powerlifting teams if done properly. In North Carolina with the help of several of our Elite lifters, we are trying to properly put together East Coast Barbell and bring together all of our superstars under one roof.