Louie: "I did my best raw bench, 515 not much, I weighed 202." If this quote doesn't tell you how out of touch with reality these guys are nothing will and I mean that with much respect. My best bench is 440 at 223 and I'm pretty proud of that. LOL
@@its_james_fitness Yeah PED's certainly play a roll but I respect Louie and the guys from Westside ( I know a couple very well) because they are up front about it. Not like these youtube stars that are a lean 290lbs claiming it's all protein and creatine, give me a fuckin break. These guys would all be strong as fuck even without the PED's but they become necessary to be able to recover and get through the insane training they do. Most guys who claim they'd be that strong if they used would just be a slightly more bloated and heavier version of their current selves because they wouldn't put the work in.
love listening to Louie, such great insights. Also hilarious when he goes off on a rant, I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets totally lost :P. Like "what 1 accessory if you had to pick" and we got about 15 different exercises haha. In short, train everything and break records :P.
I love that they are posting these videos! There's so many decades of high-level experience being shared here and we get to hear it free of charge. Thank you Louie and everyone at Westside!
Thank you Louis and dave tate. I am 52 and just know have learned how to properly bench. Thanks you so much. Will save my shoulders. Many greats you have trained.
I never understood the conventional knowledge of the "bar path" in bench pressing. As Louie suggests, benching up and down in a straight line is absolutely the most efficient way for the bar to travel. Arcing or creating a bar path up towards the face brings tremendous strain on the front delts and rotator cuff tendons. I always had sore shoulders after benching that way. I've since changed my bar path to straight up and down (as much as possible) and it's been much easier on my shoulders. Of course, I needed to increase my tricep strength and also get a stronger upper back doing it this way, but it worked out much better in the end.
@@seaneriksen2695 I don't know what you mean by "flared shoulders". You mean elbows? It's possible to get it relatively straight if you use an arch and build up tricep strength.
@@seaneriksen2695 it’s not impossible Jim Williams, burley hawk, Larry Pacifico, and Matt wenning all benched in a straight line. People just don’t want to train their triceps. Jim Williams god rest his soul, benched 675 in a comp.
@@andrewclarke3044 maybe for advanced lifters, with rly good arch. For the average lifter, this is bad advice, which can lead to half reps and bad shoulder mobility.
@@seaneriksen2695 none of the lifters mentioned had big arch’s. Larry had a decent arch but it was t extreme. It can be done but it requires an extremely strong upper back and triceps. To simply say it’s impossible is just arrogant. Your body will seek the strongest muscle. If your triceps are the strongest muscle it will be naturally straight. As far as the lats thing lay on a bench bring the bar to your touch point and push your back into the bench. You’ll feel your upper back.
The longer I lift, the more I train and the stronger I get, the more I realise how right people like Louie Simmons and Matt Wenning are 99% of the time. It’s just hard to understand when you’re a beginner but as you pursue strength, you inevitably have these realisations. It’s up to you whether you continue to pursue the knowledge.
@@kyall4205 I can’t speak for him, but agreeing with what he said I’ll give you mine. I’m 43 years old and I’ve only been back in the weight room for a year and a half. Flat bench 275 (only actually trained it 5 times) Back squat 405 Front squat 335 Power clean 225 Snatch 165 Deadlift 435 alt grip raw
Love this. I learned so much from Louie's articles growing up. I also really enjoyed your video with Stefi Cohen. I would love to see you do some collaberations with top level lifters and take them through workouts.
515 @ 202, "not much". 😀 I guess that sheds a little light for those that don't know the history of Westside or powerlifting in general. Just brutally strong mfers.
Great pointers. I can definitely use some ideas on how to move up on bench. Thanks Swole Brother 💪 Your one of the Greatest Louie. Very wise and very strong. Keep Pumping 💪💪💪👍
There is more wisdom in this 1 video than in most books.... at least 50 concepts to unpack and explore on your own. Glad to know I've been successfully incorporating most. Rewatching this a few years later I picked up on even more. Thank you Louie. RIP
I wish he would have expanded on why exactly a power bar will yield better triceps gains for extensions than an EZ curl bar. I say gains and not carryover because extensions (as with all accessories) are used to hypertrophy muscles, not to carryover like an assistance exercise. If someone can handle a little more volume with the EZ curl bar for extensions due to increased comfort and hypothetically add a little more muscle than if they only had a power bar, I don’t see why the power bar is a better tool for hypertrophy with the extensions in particular
Louie, whats your opnion on gymnastics rings. Also can you talk about calasthenics. Would be really intresting to hear your thoughts on body weight exercises like the one arm pull up and the planche etc.
Louie said that sleds ALONE, when he was injured, made him the most powerful/strongest ever. Can a decathlete use ONLY sleds to improve sports performance to world elite levels?
The incline bench takes a lot of the lats out of the movement, if the incline is stronger than your decline. It’s most likely an upper back and lat weakness. Focus on upper back and lats. Hope this helps brother.
@dopelunchbox I know this is old, but I just came across your comment so if you get to see this, I hope my advice works. Just like a comment above by @equippedlifter1591 I believe you are lacking some back strength. You’re shoulders are more than likely taking over and that’s why you have a good incline, but you failed to push heavy out of the hole. I highly recommend doing a lot of sets, a lot of reps and a lot of weight on barbell rows. Start with sets of 12 and pyramid down on the reps until you could do only three clean reps with a full reset at the bottom. shoot for 20 sets total. Then go do explosive rack shrugs. Do this once a week like a madman. This will build a very thick back and traps that will allow you to stabilize the weight and push through without over- compensating with the shoulders.
he names a bunch of lifters from years back and they were all equipment lifters. no westsider ever had a deadlift record and no westsider today has a powerlifting record of any kind in the raw style.
There is actually bar path research and statistics in Russia. All was made by observing benchers and distinguishing best one results wise (IM talkind raw powerlifting here). None of the top ones bench in straight line. There are also 3 types of bar paths associeted with elite ones...others observed were associated with either worse lifters...or lifter with little experience. Unless you want to focus totally on finishing the lift with extremelly strong triceps you have- DO NOT BENCH IN A STRAIGHT LINE. Pectoral muscles at the second half of the movement lose all theyr strength if you bench in straight line...and its all triceps then...
@@L6901Malice All effective ones of top champions involve benching towarss shoulders, pushing bar directly above shoulder joint- Einstein. Thats probably best one...proven with statistical analysis of top champions in raw lifting. Benching towards belly utilizing bench shirt doesnt concern mě.
@@L6901Malice Also utilizing Lats fór benching Is questionable...again yes in equipment all pec work Is Done by bench shirt. Also multiple Lifters in westside already tore theyrs pécs (Dave Tate) So they had to find a way to use Lats. Yes Its a věry strong lift in bottom, but physiologically IT puts extreme load on triceps in thé middle. Pec bechning with elbows out, utilizes all muscles in harmony And Its natural way of pushing. Again all Lifters using Lats raw being champions do So ONLY cause of Věry strong triceps.
@@Petarosus No, I'd rather load up and arc and use my arms with pec support rather than elbows out. There's a reason they blow their pecs out, elbows out isolates your chest. It's not rocket science to figure out people can bench more on a decline than flat.
@@L6901Malice You Are suppose to push Down to legs in first half of thé lift. And how exactly you dont want to use lower part of pec with that Děčline? People lift more in Děčline and dont tuck theyr elbows in decline..You proved my point. Decline Is strong cause it focuses on lower pec.
I am 5'5" and about 165lbs. Do you think I would benefit more from the competition pad or the regular fat pad? I didn't know if the 14.5" might be too wide for me.
Don't I know it! I have a problem with my arms and shoulders flaring in the lift, especially on the left. I believe I injured my rotator cuff on that side. I think this is where my elbow pain actually originates. It's not bad enough that I can't bench, but I really watch it!
![Louie’s Lesson: The Importance of General Physical Preparedness [GPP]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rW3yS86vYL8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[ ออกกอง ] วัยหนุ่ม 2544 โลกหลังลูกกรง..ทัวร์กองถ่ายหนังใน "คุกของจริง" | JUSTดูIT.](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vB--aOkZCpw/mqdefault.jpg)
The amount of knowledge this man had pre internet is insane iron was this man life
Didn't know how much Louie impacted me until he passed. Incredibly special man that all of us can look up to. Rest in peace brother
He says more in his book got me 30lbs added to my max that I was stuck out for years am sure it’s just going go up.. RIP man you’re a legend
30lbs is good, keep on attacking your weakness 💪
do you remember which book
@ yeah it was the bench press manual
Yes, more of this. These are great!
👍
Louie: "I did my best raw bench, 515 not much, I weighed 202." If this quote doesn't tell you how out of touch with reality these guys are nothing will and I mean that with much respect. My best bench is 440 at 223 and I'm pretty proud of that. LOL
Id be damn proud too. Guess it's by Louies standards, cus he used PEDs
@@its_james_fitness Yeah PED's certainly play a roll but I respect Louie and the guys from Westside ( I know a couple very well) because they are up front about it. Not like these youtube stars that are a lean 290lbs claiming it's all protein and creatine, give me a fuckin break. These guys would all be strong as fuck even without the PED's but they become necessary to be able to recover and get through the insane training they do. Most guys who claim they'd be that strong if they used would just be a slightly more bloated and heavier version of their current selves because they wouldn't put the work in.
@@its_james_fitness i promise you it doesnt matter how much PEDs i give you you wont bench 515 @ 202 bw
@@JW0143 because they're all trying to sell you something. Louie has no fcuks to give, he puts everything out there.
440 at 223 is still easily elite status and not possible for most naturals lol
This is pure Gold for lifters.
You changed my strength training game more than you’ll never know. Love ya Lou. RiP.
A lot of people come down on west side but my man just laid down the 5 commandments of flat bench.
love listening to Louie, such great insights. Also hilarious when he goes off on a rant, I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets totally lost :P. Like "what 1 accessory if you had to pick" and we got about 15 different exercises haha. In short, train everything and break records :P.
💁
"Machines build muscle, not motion. "'
nuff said!
I love that they are posting these videos! There's so many decades of high-level experience being shared here and we get to hear it free of charge. Thank you Louie and everyone at Westside!
Great to see the Godfather of Powerlifting doing videos regularly now!
I totally agree about making it like a decline. The guys a genius
For sure. Less travel and no change of direction.
Thank you Louis and dave tate. I am 52 and just know have learned how to properly bench. Thanks you so much. Will save my shoulders. Many greats you have trained.
First time listening to this. Definitely need to watch/listen to more of these. I like Louie's logic. It all makes sense.
RIP to the Iron Samurai - I’ll still come back to these videos daily to continue to learn.
Appreciate louie and Tom taking time to give out the knowledge and training advice keep it going WESTSIDE..
🔥 🔥
One thing u gotta give Louie. The man was honest and driven. U might not like what he had to say but he told u exactly what he was thinking. No filter
I never understood the conventional knowledge of the "bar path" in bench pressing. As Louie suggests, benching up and down in a straight line is absolutely the most efficient way for the bar to travel. Arcing or creating a bar path up towards the face brings tremendous strain on the front delts and rotator cuff tendons. I always had sore shoulders after benching that way. I've since changed my bar path to straight up and down (as much as possible) and it's been much easier on my shoulders. Of course, I needed to increase my tricep strength and also get a stronger upper back doing it this way, but it worked out much better in the end.
Well its impossible to have straight bar path, if you dont flare your shoulders anyway
@@seaneriksen2695 I don't know what you mean by "flared shoulders". You mean elbows? It's possible to get it relatively straight if you use an arch and build up tricep strength.
@@seaneriksen2695 it’s not impossible Jim Williams, burley hawk, Larry Pacifico, and Matt wenning all benched in a straight line. People just don’t want to train their triceps. Jim Williams god rest his soul, benched 675 in a comp.
@@andrewclarke3044 maybe for advanced lifters, with rly good arch. For the average lifter, this is bad advice, which can lead to half reps and bad shoulder mobility.
@@seaneriksen2695 none of the lifters mentioned had big arch’s. Larry had a decent arch but it was t extreme. It can be done but it requires an extremely strong upper back and triceps. To simply say it’s impossible is just arrogant. Your body will seek the strongest muscle. If your triceps are the strongest muscle it will be naturally straight. As far as the lats thing lay on a bench bring the bar to your touch point and push your back into the bench. You’ll feel your upper back.
Very impressed how he retains every dot of information. And all the records as well. What a wealth of knowledge, and I'm getting to listen.
plz more of this content
👍
@@WestsideBarbellOfficial Awesome content. The video quality is only improving. I would love to see a collab with Mark Rippetoe.
I was on the way to the gym when this video dropped, grateful for Wsbb crew and Louie🙏🏽
The longer I lift, the more I train and the stronger I get, the more I realise how right people like Louie Simmons and Matt Wenning are 99% of the time.
It’s just hard to understand when you’re a beginner but as you pursue strength, you inevitably have these realisations.
It’s up to you whether you continue to pursue the knowledge.
What’s your numbers on your lifts?
@@kyall4205 I can’t speak for him, but agreeing with what he said I’ll give you mine.
I’m 43 years old and I’ve only been back in the weight room for a year and a half.
Flat bench 275 (only actually trained it 5 times)
Back squat 405
Front squat 335
Power clean 225
Snatch 165
Deadlift 435 alt grip raw
Please do one of these for the overhead press!!!
dont worry this is enough, if your bench goes up your overhead will go up
We can look into that!
Daniel Lewis I have yet to see a big standing overhead presser. A few can but no one is making a bunch over 300 lb ohp.
Daniel Lewis if your bench goes up your OHP will go up? Other way around my friend.
@@Tdunksmane actually no it's the other way around from what you think
Love this. I learned so much from Louie's articles growing up. I also really enjoyed your video with Stefi Cohen. I would love to see you do some collaberations with top level lifters and take them through workouts.
What a wise man he really was. I’m actually tearing up watching this
@old man strength will do
Get a grip
515 @ 202, "not much". 😀 I guess that sheds a little light for those that don't know the history of Westside or powerlifting in general. Just brutally strong mfers.
Some of the best strength training content out right here
RIP, Sir.
Thank you Louie for these new videos. Very appreciative.
☺️
Love listening to this guy.
I'm surprised this channel only has 23k subscribers.
Great pointers. I can definitely use some ideas on how to move up on bench. Thanks Swole Brother 💪 Your one of the Greatest Louie. Very wise and very strong. Keep Pumping 💪💪💪👍
Great content. Old school is Pat Casey doing a shitload of weighted dips.
Best video on the Internet to a successful benchpress!😁
This is gold thanks westside
😉
Thank you Sir.
515 at 202 not impressive? That's a fuking amazing bench. Louie you were way stronger than you realise! This video has possibly saved my back.
Thank you Louie!
I could listen to Louie all day! HIs knowledge about lifting is unfathomable!
✊
Taking branches from the tree of knowledge...
THEY'RE BROKEN AND TIED WITH TAPE ON HIS DESK BY THE POTRAIT DEWD
Take the whole tree 💪🏽
These are great. Keep em coming
There is more wisdom in this 1 video than in most books.... at least 50 concepts to unpack and explore on your own. Glad to know I've been successfully incorporating most. Rewatching this a few years later I picked up on even more. Thank you Louie. RIP
@old man strength I tell my clients every black friday and national book day. BUY THE WSBB LOUIE BOOK SET. -$100 for a double pHD 🤣
I wish he would have expanded on why exactly a power bar will yield better triceps gains for extensions than an EZ curl bar. I say gains and not carryover because extensions (as with all accessories) are used to hypertrophy muscles, not to carryover like an assistance exercise. If someone can handle a little more volume with the EZ curl bar for extensions due to increased comfort and hypothetically add a little more muscle than if they only had a power bar, I don’t see why the power bar is a better tool for hypertrophy with the extensions in particular
Thanks westside glad yall are getting Lou to break some info down goats
I like this guy.
Thank you for the video, very helpful. I must have watched all Louie videos on this site by now!
Thank you for your support!
Thank you for this content
✊
Id kill to train with these guys
Thank you for this!!!
I started pushing my straight bar extensions Louie showed me and I am getting 5lb PR almost every bench session.
Sora I didnt talk about any video
@@ShobitJain When you say straight bar extensions, you mean straight bar skullcrushers?
Ben Dover yes skull crushers but to the throat with a slight rollback towards chin, keeping the elbows tucked in.
@@ShobitJain To the throat? Shouldn't they always be done at your forehead/slightly past your head?
Sora th-cam.com/video/5WikqV1XO_Y/w-d-xo.html this is exercise I was talking about, the first one
Nice I’m going to do this
👊
I really needed this video about now 👍🏻
👊
What percentages are used to the three different grips benches for the 9 sets?
~50%, all grips
Unreal content I love it 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
👍
Badass intro
Louie, whats your opnion on gymnastics rings. Also can you talk about calasthenics. Would be really intresting to hear your thoughts on body weight exercises like the one arm pull up and the planche etc.
Rings are great, especially for doing push ups. The first weight you have to learn to control is body weight.
Louie said that sleds ALONE, when he was injured, made him the most powerful/strongest ever. Can a decathlete use ONLY sleds to improve sports performance to world elite levels?
Thank you🙏🏼
👌
Great questions. Awesome answers!
11:40 What does he mean by 'straight bar extensions'?
@Phillip Hickman Hahaha yep don't want no gay bar extensions for sure!!
Were can i get a westide barbel shirt
He's so strong like a bulldog
What's a straight bar extension??
How many days a week do you recommend explosive bench training?
WHo is this kid he talked about at the end with the 605 bench at 220? Sounds like someone good to learn from
Good tips!
👌
After watching this, you'll never need to watch another bench press video ever again.
Louie's the type of person to train chuck Norris only for him to call him a failure
Genius you are!
My incline is stronger than my decline and I can't get past 195 on my flat bench. It's so frustrating
The incline bench takes a lot of the lats out of the movement, if the incline is stronger than your decline. It’s most likely an upper back and lat weakness. Focus on upper back and lats. Hope this helps brother.
@dopelunchbox I know this is old, but I just came across your comment so if you get to see this, I hope my advice works. Just like a comment above by @equippedlifter1591 I believe you are lacking some back strength. You’re shoulders are more than likely taking over and that’s why you have a good incline, but you failed to push heavy out of the hole. I highly recommend doing a lot of sets, a lot of reps and a lot of weight on barbell rows. Start with sets of 12 and pyramid down on the reps until you could do only three clean reps with a full reset at the bottom. shoot for 20 sets total. Then go do explosive rack shrugs. Do this once a week like a madman. This will build a very thick back and traps that will allow you to stabilize the weight and push through without over- compensating with the shoulders.
Thanks guys 😁 I appreciate the advice
What’s the name of the song?
Does anyone know the intro background music? I'm feeling like that would be a good to song for focus
Man is a genius
☺️
I thought that the faster you pull the weight down the faster it goes up ? Kinetic energy staying tight !
Like a coil
Keep this upppppp
🙌
Stuff like this is better than any protein powder out there
he names a bunch of lifters from years back and they were all equipment lifters. no westsider ever had a deadlift record and no westsider today has a powerlifting record of any kind in the raw style.
because they don't care about raw. Could Hoff or Kovatch go and dominate raw? Maybe. Will they? No.
Vanguard look at burley hawk
They only really care about moving the most amount of weight with any tricks they can find even with suits and all that stuff
So what?
Chase Watkins nobody knows who hoff is
Master
💪
Wow 😳
Is the 6x6 and 8x8 with accommodated resistance still 50%bw + 25 bt?
We don't use acc. resistance with that cycle, but you could...
Westside Barbell nice one cheers for the reply 👍
My arms shake a lot when I bench I am advance novice any tips?
Either your training when tired, to soon after a back workout or you have a weak upper back
Doubt I'll ever get in but what's the standard for a Westside athlete?
Netflix watch the westside doc
@@jordanhenshall8078 thanks!
it's good makes u wanna go lift some crazy shit 😂😂
@@jordanhenshall8078 yeah! I'm one of the stronger guys in my gym but this makes me feel weak. I like it.
real
The guy being interviewed should open up a gym....he seems to know a lot about training.
There is actually bar path research and statistics in Russia. All was made by observing benchers and distinguishing best one results wise (IM talkind raw powerlifting here). None of the top ones bench in straight line. There are also 3 types of bar paths associeted with elite ones...others observed were associated with either worse lifters...or lifter with little experience. Unless you want to focus totally on finishing the lift with extremelly strong triceps you have- DO NOT BENCH IN A STRAIGHT LINE. Pectoral muscles at the second half of the movement lose all theyr strength if you bench in straight line...and its all triceps then...
Then what's the best path einstein? I think it's loading up like a decline, then straight up, lats doing most of the work most times
@@L6901Malice All effective ones of top champions involve benching towarss shoulders, pushing bar directly above shoulder joint- Einstein. Thats probably best one...proven with statistical analysis of top champions in raw lifting. Benching towards belly utilizing bench shirt doesnt concern mě.
@@L6901Malice Also utilizing Lats fór benching Is questionable...again yes in equipment all pec work Is Done by bench shirt. Also multiple Lifters in westside already tore theyrs pécs (Dave Tate) So they had to find a way to use Lats. Yes Its a věry strong lift in bottom, but physiologically IT puts extreme load on triceps in thé middle. Pec bechning with elbows out, utilizes all muscles in harmony And Its natural way of pushing. Again all Lifters using Lats raw being champions do So ONLY cause of Věry strong triceps.
@@Petarosus No, I'd rather load up and arc and use my arms with pec support rather than elbows out. There's a reason they blow their pecs out, elbows out isolates your chest. It's not rocket science to figure out people can bench more on a decline than flat.
@@L6901Malice You Are suppose to push Down to legs in first half of thé lift. And how exactly you dont want to use lower part of pec with that Děčline? People lift more in Děčline and dont tuck theyr elbows in decline..You proved my point. Decline Is strong cause it focuses on lower pec.
Genius
should have put this out on Sunday right before Monday (chest day) lol Gym woulda been going crazy with dudes benchin and shit hahah
What do i have to train to het stronger louie?
Louie: you gotta push everything u can think of being pushed. Push coke if u have to!
I seen eddy halls 500kg deadlift very impressive but a 900lb deadlift in a powerlifting meet is more impressive , louie knows his stuff for sure.
I am 5'5" and about 165lbs. Do you think I would benefit more from the competition pad or the regular fat pad? I didn't know if the 14.5" might be too wide for me.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
Does Louie like Chinese food? I like boneless spare ribs mixed with beef fried rice.
Glad Louie knows about Julius Maddox. But at this time, who doesn't?
Anyone who breaks Any record Louie watches .
Probably just cause julius visited his gym. He doesnt seem to care about the world beyond westside barbell.
westside . Records and getting stronger . Those are the only 3 things he cares about
And dogs.
Westside !!!!!!
✊
What kind of tree is that behind him
👏👏👏👏
RIP
It's like listening to a bulldog trying to talk with a mouth full of worms lol
Don't I know it! I have a problem with my arms and shoulders flaring in the lift, especially on the left. I believe I injured my rotator cuff on that side. I think this is where my elbow pain actually originates. It's not bad enough that I can't bench, but I really watch it!
Who's the Irish Guy asking the questions?
His office manager
I think he also helps with training the fighters that come to Westside.
🍀
He does indeed!
⚡