View All Posts: frankie1parke

Now that we have got that out of the way, let’s talk about what people love to argue about, Westside and Raw vs Gear. People all over Facebook are up in arms about Mike’s article, partly because of the title and partly because of the contents but mostly because Louie Simmons says you have to do speed work and they think if Louie says it then it must be true. I like many others have read all the articles on Westside’s site and for a long time was a huge advocate of their style of training and then I found out what powerlifting gear is.

When I was 18, 19, 20 I remember reading Westside and EFS articles and seeing them talk about 1100 pound squats and 800 pound benches and being astounded. How could someone be so strong?! Simple, they can put on special equipment that helps them lift more weight. I understand that competing in gear presents a different challenge than raw lifting and recognize that there are very strong lifters that compete in gear, I have no interest in competing in gear and though I don’t understand what the attraction is to finding out how well someone and their special onesie can (likely above parallel) squat, I have no issue if that’s what people are into.

What I do take issue with though is geared numbers being promoted without qualification. Before I understood what a squat suit or bench shirt was and the performance increases that they can yield, back when I though Westside was the best side, I looked at the numbers they talked about in the article (like I’m sure TONS of other people do) and was amazed and thought that whatever they were doing must be the best thing ever. While Westside is far and away the most effective system for geared lifting, there is a reason that you don’t find the All-Time Raw records lists peppered with lifters who utilize this style of training and that reason is…THE CONJUGATE SYSTEM DONE IN THE MANNER POPULARIZED BY WESTSIDE BARBELL IS NOT THE OPTIMAL TRAINING SYSTEM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAW STRENGTH.

O. M. G. Oh no he didn’t just say that! Yes I did. I believe that a conjugate or concurrent system can be used very effectively for raw strength development (I wrote about it here…http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2012/06/15/how-i-would-wes... but what people understand through articles and videos to be Westside (box squats, bands/chains, Max Effort Method-rotated weekly, Dynamic Effort Method, etc) isn’t going to make raw world record holders. That is why you will not find ONE name on this list (http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/records/raw/world) that utilizes a strict Westside-style system in their training.

Here is a quote from Louie Simmons in the Canadian magazine Muscle Insider. In response to the question “What of the arguments between those who lift using support gear and those who do not?” Mr. Simmons responded “In my opinion people who don’t wear gear have no opinion. Lifters who break records with gear and then train without are always stronger.” Well I guess I should stop writing since my opinion is invalid according to THE Louie Simmons. I really don’t care if Louie thinks that all his lifters are stronger than me and all the other top raw lifters in the World, he is wrong but that is his opinion. Arguing raw vs gear and training styles is more frustrating that arguing about religion or politics, I have no energy for that.

My purpose in writing this post is that hopefully people who look at numbers being publicized by Westside or EliteFTS will take a pause and realize that while yes those athletes are very strong, that they aren’t squatting 1200 pounds or benching 900 and in this writer’s opinion are not as strong as the people at the top of raw lifting. Do not be misled into thinking that the strongest lifters in the World are all utilizing a single system of training, like I was once lead to believe, think critically about the training you are doing. Why are you utilizing a system that’s success has occurred in geared powerlifting, when you compete raw (or in strongman or MMA or football or Track & Field)?

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe since according to Louie Simmons geared lifters are ALWAYS stronger than non-geared lifters, someone will show up at the USPA Beast of the Bluegrass meet on May 18th and prove me wrong…

Wayne_Cowdrey said:You're not thinking of training yoke purely for that reason are you?!

The link between yoking ability and squatting strength is very loose, but yoke should improve your stability. I don't understand why people have trouble walking squats out to be honest.

1369phil said:Awesome strength - I am struggling with the need for a wooly hat but no top !

milsy said:really really good squatting your technique is mint aswell to say that was 220kg on your back you didnt make it look like that

even crazier your only 18 and throwing that wieght round with good technique you will be on for some massive numbers in a few years