Strength Training Articles

One exercise that plays a central role in any Conjugate Method program is the deadlift. We utilize the deadlift and include the many variations of the deadlift that are just as effective at building strength and muscle mass. The reason for this is the deadlift's ability to develop posterior strength, often at a rate faster than most other lower body exercises. 

Sun Apr 30, 2023

Whether you are a professional athlete or a hobbyist who enjoys weight training, all humans can benefit from improving the strength of the muscle groups that comprise the torso. Anatomically speaking, these muscle groups are collectively referred to as the trunk muscles. When people hear the term "trunk," they often think of the abdominal muscles. However, the trunk includes both anterior and posterior muscle groups.

Sun Apr 23, 2023

Louie Simmons invented the Reverse Hyper to answer the problems he faced after suffering a severe injury. The Reverse Hyper was instrumental for helping rehab Louie's back and increasing the strength all who used it. This was integral for the heights the Westside lifters achieved and the reason why the Reverse Hyper is used by so many across the world.

Sat Apr 15, 2023

I have said it before and will repeat it; when skill sets are equal or similar, the stronger, faster, and more athletic athlete almost always prevails. If you have to bet on a fight, and all you know about the two fighters is that they are equally skilled in martial arts, but one athlete squats 800lbs while the other squats 315lbs, who would you bet your life savings on if you were forced to?

When skill and technical ability are practically equal, as they usually are at the top of any sport, absolute strength and athleticism make the difference.

Thu Apr 13, 2023

Success in professional grappling demands a combination of skill, strategy, and athleticism. As a highly...

Fri Apr 07, 2023

When programming exercise variations, it is crucial to remember that you want to get the most gains out of the least amount of variation. This means sticking to the standard variations without adding further variation to the exercises as long as you continue to PR and make gains. As much as a new exercise variation can be entertaining, don’t trick yourself out of what is currently working just because you are bored or found a new exercise on social media. 

Wed Apr 05, 2023

Plyometric training is one of the most common methods to enhance an athlete's power output and athleticism. No matter the sport, all athletes need the ability to produce tremendous amounts of force in the shortest time. As an athlete, using plyometrics will allow you to separate yourself from your competition with explosive movements and rapid force production.

Wed Mar 29, 2023

One of the most important aspects of training is fatigue management. Truthfully, you could argue that fatigue management is the most critical aspect of any training program. How fatigue levels are managed will dictate the intensity and frequency an athlete can train, ultimately deciding the progress made each year. If the athlete has to regularly deload, this will lead to many less-than-optimal training days accumulated yearly.

Wed Mar 22, 2023

How Consistency, Trust, and Communication Lead to Greater Skill Acquisition and Injury Reduction Introduction: In...

Fri Mar 17, 2023

The reverse hack squat is an accessory exercise that can be useful for any athlete regardless of sport or training focus. Athletes will always need stronger glutes, hamstrings, and calves, so a machine that can be used in this manner will always remain an appropriate option when selecting accessory exercises. Considering the anterior training options also provided, you can see that the hack squat is a valuable training tool.

Sat Mar 11, 2023

Social media has become a useful and powerful tool for strength coaches and educators to reach and teach the masses, and this is for sure. However, at times, certain aspects of the training process become overanalyzed or overemphasized for the sake of content. There is no doubt warm-ups fall into this category. 

Sun Mar 05, 2023

Instead of focusing on only one strength or athletic trait, we simultaneously focus on multiple strengths and athletic characteristics. By doing this, we avoid detraining and provide the athlete with gains in strength and ability that can be sustained and transferred to sport. We don't want athletes that are strong sometimes, fast other times, and injured most of the time. We want athletes that show up on gameday at their strongest, fastest, and fittest. 

Sun Feb 26, 2023

The simplified meet peak approach begins when an athlete is four weeks out from a powerlifting meet. This is when exercise selection, volume regulation, intensity regulation, and energy management become vital. If you can successfully account for each of these aspects of peaking for competition, you’re good. If not, you can expect to underperform on competition day.

Sun Feb 19, 2023

Training to improve absolute strength is essential for any athlete, no matter the sport. By improving absolute strength, you become capable of higher levels of force output, improve intramuscular coordination, and increase tissue and bone density. Improvements in absolute strength will make an athlete bigger, stronger, faster, and more resilient. However, these are not the only benefits gained by improving absolute strength.

Sun Feb 12, 2023

The Conjugate Method provides a programming template that makes it easy for an athlete to train the triceps to improve upper body absolute strength and muscle mass. For many years, Louie emphasized the importance of tricep development for all athletes. If you have ever visited Westside, you know that much of our training on upper body days directly or passively target the triceps.

Mon Feb 06, 2023

Starting a Conjugate Method-based program for the first time can be challenging. There is a lot to learn and understand for a coach or athlete to build a beneficial and effective Conjugate training program. This is why we encourage those new to our methods to take things slow and keep the programming simple as you begin Conjugate-style training. 

Tue Jan 31, 2023

Dynamic effort training must be performed for an athlete to reap the maximum rewards of max effort training. Max-effort training improves absolute strength, which is the maximum amount of force an athlete can produce. Dynamic effort training improves the rate of force development, which is the amount of time it takes to produce that force. When you effectively combine the two, you have an extremely strong and explosive athlete.

Thu Jan 26, 2023

The powerlifting good morning is an exercise that is considered a cornerstone of lower body training at Westside Barbell. We use this exercise to strengthen the posterior chain, specifically the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. These muscle groups are integral to sports performance and must be trained regularly.

Fri Jan 20, 2023

As with any exercise, the key to success is learning how to deadlift correctly. Execution is vital for two reasons. One, proper execution will keep you from injuring yourself, and two, proper execution ensures the exercise is targeting the correct muscle groups. Either way, failure to execute proper form will ultimately result in failure or injury. 

Sun Jan 15, 2023