Westside Barbell - Behind These Walls with Louie Simmons

In this video, Louie Simmons shares some of the real history of Westside Barbell and what impact the original Westside Barbell club in Culver City had on him. From training as a twelve-year-old in this basement all the way up to the current location of Westside Barbell. Find out why Westside Barbell has become what it is today in a way that only Louie can tell.
The past training years resulted in Louie’s first book, the Book of Methods. Here you can find the collection of training methods which were obtained in 30 years. The 3-week wave system, circa max, delayed transformation, accommodating resistance and much more, it’s all there.
Need Bands? Need Supplies? Check our store out!
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Video Index:
00:00:12 - The effect of the original Westside Barbell club in Culver City
00:02:22 - What made you choose their methods?
00:04:41 - First equipment and exercises after the army
00:07:29 - First training partners
00:08:56 - How people found Louie
00:09:18 - The effects of having training partners
00:11:35 - Equipment in the basement
00:12:24 - Looking for an edge
00:12:35 - The reverse hyper
00:13:35 - Post-training assessment
00:14:12 - Westside Barbell locations
00:15:18 - World record-holders
00:16:35 - Westside women
00:17:06 - The four greatest lifters
00:17:52 - Asking questions
00:18:40 - Why do you always answer every question now?
00:20:41 - Garage stories
00:22:20 - Hardcore attitude
00:24:28 - No time to change
00:26:03 - Don’t miss lifts
00:26:49 - (John) Blacks Health Club
00:28:01 - George Crawford
00:29:33 - Psychology
00:30:22 - The first generation of lifters
00:31:32 - Team = Family
00:33:29 - Woman of Westside Barbell
00:33:52 - Demorest
00:37:20 - Eskil Thomasson (Sweden)
00:39:34 - Gym competitions
00:41:02 - Dave Tate
00:42:54 - The current Westside Barbell location
00:43:28 - Meets & Records
00:46:23 - Unbelievable stories
00:50:48 - Matt Wenning
00:51:57 - Best day and worst day
00:55:31 - Can’t
00:56:38 - Hilltop fights
For more exclusive interviews, video tutorials, webinars, master class with Louie Simmons, never seen before footage and much more, visit Westside Barbell’s official education system at www.conjugateclub.com
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Louie Simmons is widely regarded as the 'Strength Coaches, Strength Coach' and is the founder of the world-renowned gym called Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio.
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 boundary known to man in doing so.”
This gym has produced more world records in powerlifting than any other in the World, and Louie has been regarded as one of the main reasons that the conjugate style of training has been popularized in today's training methods.
Outside of powerlifting, Louie is a strength consultant for many NFL, NBA, MBA teams, along with having trained gold medal sprinters, pro boxers, UFC fighters, and many more athletes out of his gym via the conjugate method of strength training.
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Website: www.westside-barbell.com/
Website: www.conjugateclub.com/
Instagram: / westsidebarbellofficial
Instagram: / conjugateclub
Facebook: / westsidebarbell
Podcast: westsidebarbell.podbean.com/
Blog: www.westside-barbell.com/blog...
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#strength101 #westsidebarbell #conjugateclub #conjugatemethod

[@jordangroff8978]

RIP. Greatest coach of all time, literally revolutionized the sport 😔

[@aa7x3]

"My memory isn't that good" "Doug Heath weighed 114 when he started training at my gym in the 70's"

[@terrywhitejr9574]

jasper 😂

[@blakemoore1905]

Hahahaha for real he can name every lifter from every year, all they're records too and wieght classes they where in lbs

[@overtenemy69]

it is totally fucking mental. states there weight and what they pulled at a specific comp 40years ago lol

[@MastodonMonkey]

@@overtenemy69 tism powers

[@chrisvig123]

Short term memory goes first but you don’t forget the old stuff 😯

[@blakemoore1905]

"I told this guy your so soft its making me soft. And he quit. THATS HOW SOFT HE WAS" hahahaha damn.

[@veritas2145]

Hahaha

[@kyleshreve6456]

I laughed at that too haha!

[@weinerman]

"Softer than Charmin."

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

🔥

[@johnvogel4617]

Run with the lame, you’ll develop a limp

[@ferrm1992]

He can act a hardass and pretend not to have feelings all he wants but by the way he talks about his athletes he definitely loved and cared for all his people. Even the most difficult ones

[@Un1t276]

We know Louis has a soft side. Everyone does. He loves his athletes & what they do.

[@mikeschmidt4800]

Of course he loves them, they are his life's work.

[@stepheneldridge3637]

Ed Coan tells a nice story about how he had to have surgery. By the time he got home, Louis had left him bands and weights at his house set up to help him recover. He definitely has another side to him.

[@barndencactus]

He’s not trying to act like a hardass. He’s just got the “strictly business” attitude. Emotions are reserved and kept quiet lol. Everyone knows Louie cares deep down.

[@martin1234512345]

I've never seen louie as a hardass or anything like that. He seems like a super nice guy. I've never seen him be rude to anyone in any interview or video.

[@snappypanda8258]

The way he recalls numbers, names, records... he's a genius

[@waynegriffith5606]

And then he says my memory ismt what it was lol. Yeah 76 Jim hit a 650 deadlift on a Tuesday, he was wearing his blue shorts lol

[@davidsirmons]

Agreed. That always astonished me how he remembered that, me being a numeric amnesiac, basically.

[@gmack3739]

He’s like yoda of powerlifting. 180 his weight was , 675 he deadlifts with 2100 total , gearless he did

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

😂

[@williamgregg6339]

Yoda never bench pressed 600 lbs and squatted 900 or over at 60 + years but Louie Simmons did.

[@dooddoodie2362]

@@williamgregg6339 he was joking 🤣

[@xyzmediaandentertainment8313]

"Gearless"

[@Wtahc]

@@dooddoodie2362 he was too

[@rejsingbil]

I cant get enough of this stuff.

[@JohnR94]

Foreal brother

[@oliverallen5324]

It’s fun to watch.

[@trevordavid3289]

Facts

[@markphillips4682]

The man definitely knows what he's talking about 💯

[@jesssmith4801]

...I can...I love it...but I feel ill watching

[@gravitytraining6516]

Just to be clear folks, Louie welded a rack, bar, some plates and got a box, prolly some bands, and got a 670 deadlift. These young kids thinking that you need every machine in existence to get strong these days :/

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

The basics always work. Bands came later!

[@jasonluzitano7588]

No you don't need all kinds of fancy gym equipment to get big all. U need is basic weightlifting equipment like I use every day compound movements like the greats used back in the day I can maintain maximum results with minimal equipment

[@heinzgunther9500]

You dont need good equip to be a good lifter. Just hard Work, Money for Juice and food..

[@youknowpolo6403]

@@heinzgunther9500 people always look past the money aspect. All this food isn’t cheap 😭😭

[@jeremys3418]

No bands back then

[@Luisperez-lz6ym]

I came here just to hear LOUIE . I miss him. Every time he talks you get that feeling that your are getting sound and proven advice

[@maxxxmodelz4061]

I could listen to Louie tell stories about the gym or lifting for hours. He's a great story teller.

[@DARK24-7]

I still can't believe Louie is gone-and I heard him mention my bro Don Damron, Big Don and I were roomates for a while and trained together.-The world is a weaker lesser place without Louie!!!

[@JigEmUp]

You can just see how he smiles when he talks about his lifters and how proud he is of them. He had such a passion for the sport and all his lifters were his pride and joy! It’s so sad that he’s gone but he will never be forgotten!

[@danielbenavidezjr.4178]

RIP Louie, thank you for everything you’ve done for powerlifting and all sports in general.

[@lesterlong7759]

This man is the reason that Im still in to lifting after all these years!

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

💥

[@Fabio2Fit]

RIP to the greatest of all time , he just gives off this type of energy even through a screen

[@chocoerosion5658]

Truly a special man, RIP to the king

[@awmlawoffice]

I called WB back in the mid/late 90s and Louie Simmons answered the phone and it completely blew my mind.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

💥

[@tboland728]

I called just to see if he actually did answer the phone lol

[@jamesroberts5875]

@@tboland728 did he answer?

[@tboland728]

@@jamesroberts5875 yup. "Westside this is Louie!"

[@jamesroberts5875]

@@tboland728 what did you say to him? What did you guys speak about

[@shakenbake6300]

My dad has read all ur books and trained under ur methods and became a very powerful man now I’m following in his footsteps thank you for the books and content ur mental toughness is next level and knowledge of the sport is incredible

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

That is a great story! Good luck with training Garrett

[@TheGildayFamily]

His buddy Bill Whitaker is going to spot him to squat. Louie has a double shift in Springfield, 40 miles away. He was on the crane working from 7 am to 10 pm, gets home at 11 pm and Bill is there in his driveway waiting for him and says, "Ready to go squat?'. He says, Jesus Christ, and down to the basement they go, Louie squats 675 a midnight. "It was grueling but it was fun." Just like a good life, Louie, grueling but fun. Thank you.

[@jefferyaguirre5336]

Joe DiMarco is my friend and coach..89 years old .. he’s the one who came up with the box squat.. he still trains .. also invented the lever belt..

[@thomasc2869]

Jeffery Aguirre This is cool

[@larryfolk3777]

Lol. Just ordered a lever belt and adding box squats to my routine

[@donkle]

RIP, Louie. I'll never forget when you came to GCHS in '87-'88(?) to show us how to lift properly.

[@ShobitJain]

Eagerly waiting for this!

[@rb6120]

So ready for this!!

[@bobstrauss9413]

What a man ! He kicks ass and takes names !!!

[@goffredo29]

Louie's Louie was George Frenn. They were so much alike. Frenn, who was a hammer thrower and holder of the world record for the squat, injured himself, training with the hammer. Tripped during the wind up and sustained spiral fractures in his tibias. Showed up around two weeks later at a meet in casts and squatted.

[@PLeonard71]

These type of videos are priceless. Please keep creating them and recording Louie.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

💯

[@sandrost4243]

He's not lying about helping anyone. Back in the day Louie would put Westside's number at the end of his articles, one I called and Louie picked up. Wow. He answered all kinds of questions. Same thing with another member of that gym, Phil Harrington, took time out of his day to let me call to pick his brain. Not many world class athletes that would do something like that.

[@AgeBetterDotCom]

I've known Louie for years. He's just a great guy!

[@donthejewler74]

Thank you Louie for everything the world was a better place with you in it .

[@aarondedrick9277]

This was gold. I could listen to this stuff all day.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

♠️

[@tortugaracingchannel4402]

Rip legend. Your Netflix documentary changed my fitness life. Thank you Louie.

[@eltrain8694]

Same. Strongest I've ever been at 43...totally inspired by that doc. 🤙

[@williamtaylor5193]

Fascinating man. Charisma, intelligence, and a hell of a memory.

[@cannabubsdoobworld5422]

I love hearing about Matt dimmel. I wanna hear more of his lifts and stints in jail.

[@user-go5hv6dg3d]

Yeah man...when I watch the old footage and they show him and talk about how he was when out at bars and Shit I'm like Fuck.. what a wild dude... Badass!

[@heavyfeather6682]

Just started watching Louie's videos I could listen to his videos all day. This man is an inspiration he has so much knowledge and wisdom.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

Thank you for the comment!

[@bennygilligan]

That was brilliant I could have listened for hours

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

🔥

[@heaven-earth108]

absolutely motivating.👍🏼💪🏼

[@benpai3551]

I will never not watch this stuff, keep it up

[@biggucci3hunna741]

Awesome thank you for this content!

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

🔥

[@BigCheech-wy9os]

REST IN PEACE MR Simmons. I NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO MEET YOU BUT I KNOWN YOU FOR YEARS WATCHING YOUR KNOWLEGE. He Remembers #s and Everything. I WISH I MET YOU IN PERSON YOU WERE REALLY A MANS MAN.

[@sacredstrength]

I love the crazy old stories.

[@M14armorer]

Legendary life & a legendary man. RIP

[@brogandowney7713]

RIP Legend.Bless you guys

[@coach_aziz_saighi]

Great work! 👏

[@afafadsbbrs5503]

Rest in power, thanks for everything!

[@alden2826]

19:45 wow. love louie, new level of respect for this man.

[@SpecialDetermence]

He can talk forever about everything powerlifting related. What a mind 💪🏼

[@johntrains1317]

This is awesome

[@funblog4185]

RIP Louie.....legend

[@Sergefr]

Anyone else missing the gym?

[@molasorrosalom4846]

Yes......

[@matus8862]

My uncle got little home gym so im fine

[@LevansLawnLandscape]

Sneaking in to certain gyms around town right now; luckily I know some gym owners

[@dontsmackyourscreenimnotar718]

Oh shit, yeah I do. I have no idea when they'll start opening things up again, gyms included.

[@user-go5hv6dg3d]

Got the bench and curl and dumbbells in storage unit.. going there daily now...

[@bitrage.]

He is soo hardened physically and mentally but good heart.... Louie i will move from Florida to join your crew!!

[@fbi9968]

Do it I believe in you

[@bitrage.]

@@fbi9968 Lol thanx bro

[@shreyosibanerjee4906]

This dude is like such an inspiration. I wish I was born in USA.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

🔥

[@mcbeet1]

RIP brother. You will be missed. Do some box squats and hypers today for Louie.

[@astrudlang7557]

..."I don´t know how to stay down...always lokking and improving something for somebody - that´s what I´m supposed to be here for!"

[@NicholasRachuna]

Canadian Sprinter, Ben Johnson would “bench squat” 600 for 2 sets of 6 at 170 and benched 440 for 2. It sounds like he also did concurrent periodization, training all qualities, simultaneously, to some degree or another, throughout the year. The big difference is he stuck to a handful of exercises religiously.

[@Dr_Footbrake]

Never occurred to me before but presuming sprinters do some form of sprint training, and weight training, they’re all essentially utilising concurrent periodisation.

[@kevlancaster1477]

fucking love this guy. You dont meet many people with this kind of passion for lifting.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

💯

[@BAAAKSEEEN]

Louie is the Greatest of all time.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

🔥

[@dossramsey3068]

Louie is a national treasure. A scary, insanely tatted, yoked mad scientist, national treasure.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

👀💪

[@jwdshihan]

Louie has no equal. 天下無双。Additionally, I am very grateful for Tom Barry as well. He has really done a lot for Westside Barbell by utilizing contemporary means of education and communication to promote this phenomenal system.

[@rickiegraham7019]

Rip... Louie your lessons continues on!!

[@DaLooseGoose11]

jesus christ, so many good stories!!! I thought I'd already heard of all the Westside craziness from the Westside vs The World movie lol this guy has the most fascinating life...

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

♠️

[@ryanstott1589]

Legend.

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

🔥

[@jeffreybirnbaum3376]

Louie Simmons = G.O.A.T. RIP.

[@hardfought1842]

Great job to Tom Barry on delivering this content and everything else 👍🏼

[@Justmyopinion761]

Greatest ever

[@johnsonbenjamin887]

Wish there was 10 more of these

[@HEMI5PNTSVN]

RIP Legend!!

[@xbenxwilsonxhighlights7879]

It sounds crazy but having a training partner that is stronger than you is the best thing you can have in the gym.

[@Grant3758]

Doesn't sound crazy, sounds smart right! Someone to push you and keep you from being lazy!

[@WestsideBarbellOfficial]

Exactly.

[@xbenxwilsonxhighlights7879]

@@Grant3758 What the fuck, I'm agreeing with the video. Why are you correcting me?

[@reesmp98]

This is the biggest fucking fact EVER. I lift with my dad he’s 290 lbs I’m 170 lbs. your only goal is to get as strong as your partner? That shit will give you 10x the drive.

[@Grant3758]

@@xbenxwilsonxhighlights7879 Hey I was agreeing with you. I have a lot of friends that don't like to train around people stronger than them. I thought u had a great underrated point man.

[@RonelDelgado]

I gave the first thumbs up👍🏻

[@tonymarini5371]

Let’s go!!!!!!

[@masonmennell8514]

25:30 words he lived by. Rip to the greatest

[@pazjake8753]

I'm going to stare at a candle for the next 32 hours.

[@elroyjetson6380]

😂😂😂😂

[@khoitruong3912]

Rip.., legend..

[@ae746890]

Legend

[@Getstrongordietrying]

Rest in power #Louis 💔

[@zenbodybuilder]

He's going to be dearly missed.

[@samuelclemons508]

At 1:45 ... He describes Bill Starr's game changing innovations on D-lifting.

[@heavycalculus]

More photos!

[@jamiemorris6088]

What a legend

[@johnsambo9379]

John Saylor and the Barn of Truth. I trained Judo and Sambo under Steve Scott who was a student of his.

[@stubruce675]

Rest In Peace Louie

[@hackweight1]

RIP Louie

[@HarmonicGrunt]

R.I.P Louie † ♥

[@jakeofreshly]

RIP LOUIE. YOU WILL BE MISSED

[@SkylerKing]

I've never understood why Westside (in its current form) is all about maximum equipment. The longest, thickest, heaviest wraps (knee or wrist) - multiply squat suits - multiply bench shirts - heavy briefs - erector shirts - etc. Westside was initially built on raw strength, raw performance, and competing raw. Even up into the 90's, when equipment was at its peak popularity, Westside is said to not use it much during training and only using it during a meet. While Louie tells all of these stories, he keeps repeating "and that was raw" or "now remember, that was without any equipment" or "this was before equipment, there was nothing". He keeps repeating things similar to that, because even Louie understands and appreciates that equipped lifting is not as impressive as raw lifting. At one point he even says that he truly believes that the guys from the old old Westside (raw) are far stronger than any of the guys today (equipped). But, somehow, Westside went from being a legitimate, top level gym that created legitimate, top level competitors - to being a bit of a growing joke, doing everything in maximum equipment at all times, squatting as high as possible, not locking out deadlifts, not pausing on the bench, and all while the guys run around screaming and pushing each other and acting like the baddest motherfuckers alive. I honestly don't understand it.

[@thomasc2869]

Skyler King You should Check out some of their raw ppl like burley hawk also I would have to think Dave Hoff would likely be close to if not breaking world records if he went raw

[@thomasc2869]

As a younger person I can say that powerlifting is not popular and has not been popular for a bit now. All the strongest and most badass people get pulled to the football field and everyone else just cares about aesthetics in general. Shitty training modalities are becoming widely popular too. I think there’s a lot that goes into it.

[@socraticwarrior9490]

It might not be 'popular' with younger people, and some of us older people (I've been lifting and competing for more than 40 years) don't really care, but every meet I've competed at has filled up. I qualified for this year's nationals, north Americans and world championships, but nationals--200 lifters/day--was already full! And yes, I qualified in two weight classes, both with gear and raw...and BTW, I've followed Westside methods for almost 35 years!

[@rlfs2853]

Skyler King agreed. Can’t stand equipped

[@tropicalpalmtree]

Word, this is the best comment

[@NgarimuAhipene]

Metric guy sitting here with a calculator trynna figure out all these numbers.."615 at 18 y/o with a 260 cj in a meet at 181?!!"

[@elroyjetson6380]

615lbs 260lb cj weighing 181 pounds

[@robertbailey3057]

RIP Lou

[@samuelclemons508]

At 1:20 he names the true royalty of Powerlifting.

[@jonathancristobal4724]

he cold blooded real life

[@tielvandenheuvel5168]

Is it weird waiting for this with your pants down? Asking for a friend

[@Sergefr]

Not at all.. im with you

[@Insaniya.humanity]

What a class act Louie was. He talked good about Wenning, while Wenning up to this day is still bitter with him

[@jeremywilson6148]

They made good before louie passed, and Matt gives louie tons of credit.

[@BAAAKSEEEN]

We lost a real one today 😞😞

[@pkfit445]

Rest in peace

[@zacharyperez2427]

"There's no tomorrow, you might DIE!!" Lol dude's right

[@ruairimckenna830]

52.35 'they haul me home, dump my ass on the floor and I laid on the floor for 3 days peeing in a coffee cup'😂 this guy in a nutshell

[@veganbloho3543]

Is Jason Blaha part of the Westside "Roundtable of Coaches". He does,drop your name aylot

[@chrisarp4111]

Frazier Ferguson helped me back in 1985 at O’Briens gym. Interesting how he motivated Louie by not helping him. Maybe he learned a lesson by 85?

[@kileNoe]

"Puny ass bodybuilder" true

[@samuelclemons508]

Estep was trained by Frenn.

[@Dr_Footbrake]

9:37 shots fired

[@bagman147]

Interviewer: Theres one word you hate to hear, a word you don't believe in. And thats Can't Louie: Well I can't lift no more