About Us
What is Westside Barbell? Westside Barbell, founded by world-renowned strength and powerlifting coach, trainer and author Louie Simmons, is more than a gym; it’s an honored hall filled...
The Westside Barbell Blog
A resource for serious lifters and athletes seeking proven strength training methods. The Westside Barbell blog breaks down programming, exercise selection, recovery, and performance strategies built on decades of elite coaching experience of founder Louie Simmons and his dedicated team.
We’ve undertaken a project to organize our 1,400+ articles — start with the curated guides below
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The Westside Journey Continues Full Article
The Culver City boys had changed my life with their advanced training methods. They helped others as well. A...
Goodbye to Dr. Squat
Many are called a legend but few can answer to it. Fred Hatfield was a true legend to many including myself. I first met Fred in the 1977...
Forgotten Secrets of the Culver City Westside Barbell Club
Everybody knows Louie and the Westside guys in Columbus, Ohio. The gym has its great and historic past with its lifters, innovative training methods and devices. No one...
The Gym
Westside Barbell is an invitation only training laboratory where only the strongest of mind and body survive. Our goal is simple. To become the best and push every...
THE JOURNEY (Part Five)
Back to West and the gang. The bench is one-third of the power lifts, so the Culver City guys worked on the bench as much as the squat...
THE JOURNEY (Part Four)
Their deadlift training was just as advanced with the partial deadlifts in a power rack. (While the old Westside mostly used one position, the new Westside uses three...
THE JOURNEY (Part Three)
Much like the modern day Columbus Westside, Frenn and West came up with the high deadlift. Like the Russians, they placed boxes under the plate so the bar...
THE JOURNEY (Part Two)
West had an article about box squats. First it was called power rack box squats. After Bill had gotten hurt walking out 900 pounds and found himself in...
THE JOURNEY (Part 1)
I was always intrigued by the sport of powerlifting. I started my journey into powerlifting in 1966. There was a power meet in nearby Dayton, Ohio, in late...
Top 10 Westside Benches
Westside Barbells Top 10 Benches Rank First Name Last Name Total Wt Class Body Weight Coefficient 1 Jason Coker 900 198 195 530.37 2 Dave Hoff 1000 275...
Westside Barbells Top 10 Squats
Westside Barbells Top 10 Squats Rank First Name Last Name Total Wt Class Body Weight Coefficient 1 Dave Hoff 1210 275 271 633.9 2 Dave Hoff 1200 308...