The Mad Monk Rants...

[Sareen]

My Fictional Dinner with Louie Simmons
By Tom Lowder

My brain works like a puppy on crack. It never seems to stop. Unlike Homer Simpson, I can’t seem to get it to stop working for even short periods. What I can do is try to direct my train of thought. Working in my lab, I often have many experiments that involve tasks that I have performed hundreds or thousands of times before.

Because (as Jim keeps telling me) the radio sucks, it is easy to get bored. In order to keep myself entertained, I often have conversations in my head. This is one that I have been having as of late in which I discuss training philosophies and have a Q&A with the guru, Louis Simmons. Having read everything I could track down from Louis and watching every video and clip of his I could find, I envisioned a conversation something like this…

Me: It occurred to me that a strong midsection truly is the point from which all great squats and deadlifts originate.

Louis: Not just the squat and deadlift, but also the bench. What the hell do you think allows you to arch and drive into the bar? How can you possibly hold on to a 700-pound bar and press it over your chest if you can’t hold a 700-pound bar on your back?

Me: I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had some very knowledgeable and practical physiology professors in my educational training. My favorite told me years ago, “When you’re training, you’re really training your energy systems.” Can you comment on that?

Louis: Of course you’re training your energy systems. Ever hear of “lactic acid training?” Why do you think we train our speed strength so hard? There is no “light day” in our system of training. There are only fast and heavy days. If you can drive a 300-pound bar fast, you can exert enough force to drive a 500-pound bar. You won’t drive it as fast, but you can still lock the thing out. We train to be fast in order to be strong. If you want to train to be fast, you must condition yourself to be fast. That takes energy that is generated from the fuel sources in the muscle. When you train yourself to move a weight fast, you’re training your energy systems to deliver fuel fast. Happy now?

Me: Not everyone lifts in the same organizations and each seems to have different rules. How would you train a lifter who competes in the IPF with their very strict rules on squat depth and bench shirts versus a lifter who competes in the WPO?

Louis: The same. The same rules apply—you must know how to squat, how to place your feet, and how to drive your knees. Most people are going to be weak in the low back anyways so depth is the least of their problem. If you want to squat deeper, then drop the box down and hit your depth. The only thing you will need to keep in mind is that if you’re wearing a double ply or thicker shirt, you will need to work on your lockout more than if you are in single ply.

Me: Do you think that the same training ideas can be applied to drug-free lifters as to those who aren’t?

Louis: Of course. Look at the IPF winners over the past few years. Who keeps winning? The Russians, the eastern Europeans, and all of those whose ideas I have applied to the Westside method of training. Look at those who are winning even small local meets. A helluva lot of them read what we do and they do very well.

Me: Why is it that you can keep up with lifters half your age in training?

Louis: Why is it that most lifters half my age can’t keep up with me? I know what I am doing. Don’t you?

Me: Do you plan all of your training sessions ahead of time?

Louis: I know what I will do. I don’t always know the exercises or the weights, but I know what I want to get done for that particular day. Let’s say it is my max effort day. I walk in and the others have started a few minutes before me. I was going to do good mornings, but they are pulling from the rack and giving me crap for being an old man. I won’t let that happen so instead of good mornings, I pull from the rack. And I pull better than they do because I’m not going to let anyone beat me in my weight room.

Me: Can you train anyone to be strong?
Louis: I can train anyone to be strong who wants to be strong and is willing to work.

Me: I hear that you love the sled for recovery work, GPP, and putting on size. Others say they don’t get much out of it. I put on about 15–20 pounds by incorporating sled work. Actually, I used an old tire and just threw plates on top of it.

Louis: Maybe you will get a sled for Christmas. The sled works for me. Find out what works for you. One reason that I can still lift the way I do is because of my recovery methods. When you know how to speed up recovery, you will be able to hit the weights harder. I used to get injured when I was younger. Back then, I didn’t do much recovery or GPP work. Now, I do a ton, and I’m not injured like back then. I have tried everything and some things many times. You have to be willing to try new things and learn when they work and when they don’t. You only make a mistake when you fail to learn.

Me: Do you follow any special diet?

Louis: I eat.

Me: How important are your training partners?
Louis: Without them, I’m just another lifter. Training partners are everything. Let me say that again—good training partners are everything.

Me: Will powerlifting ever be in the Olympics?
Louis: Who cares?

Me: You have stated that the best movie ever made is Samurai Assassin. What is the second best movie ever made?

Louis: There are no other movies.

Me: Who is crazier, you or Vogelpohl?
Louis: Chuck is crazy if he thinks he is better looking than me.

[Sareen]

The Mad Monk of Power Lifting
An Interview With Louie Simmons
By Nelson Montana



Louie Simmons knows strength. To most bodybuilders, strength is a fringe benefit to weight training. A means to an end. To power lifting guru Louie Simmons and his disciples, strength is the end, the beginning, and everything in between.

Louie owns and works out at the Westside Barbell in Ohio. This is not your ordinary health club. It's more akin to a dark and dank torture chamber. Its members are warriors. A squadron of strength with one ultimate quest: lifting more weight. Nowhere in sight are there treadmills, neon lights, or even a leg extension machine. Only iron, and lots of it. It's a safe bet you won't see too many of its inhabitants flexing their calves in the mirror. This is a place where only the most serious of elite strength-training athletes come to push the boundaries beyond what any mortal man (and woman) would consider unfathomable. Some of Louie's personal bests in the major lifts defy belief. He has squatted over 800 pounds and benched over 600 pounds, at the age of 51! He is the only man over 50 to accomplish such a feat.

Mention things like "going for the pump" or "training instinctively" to Louie Simmons and you're sure to get a glare from his steely eyes that would turn your blood cold. To Big Lou, training is a science. Pure and simple. But unlike so many of the pseudo-science pundits that espouse their concepts by presenting unnecessarily complicated (and often contradictory) information that sounds more like it was meant to subjugate than enlighten, Louie provides clear cut, practical training advice that has proven itself in numerous case studies. Even if your goal is not so much strength, but increased muscle, there comes a time when the stone cold facts toward more growth means lifting weights that are heavier than you've ever lifted before. In this exclusive interview for Testosterone magazine, powerhouse Louie Simmons shows you how it's done.


NM: Louie, let's start by telling the readers a little about yourself and your training facility.

LS: I own Westside Barbell, which is a private gym. The strongest gym anywhere! I can show that by saying this...we have 22 people who have squatted over 800 pounds. Seven of my members bench press over 600 pounds, three of which are world record holders. One guy does 657 at a bodyweight of 220. Another does 688 at 242, and another still can bench 728 at 275.

NM: Unbelievable! These are all clients of yours?

LS: No, I don't believe in personal training. I accept a member into the gym, and I'll toss him out if he doesn't do his work. I have, however, been a consultant to the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots, plus lots of major college teams.

NM: What are the basic principles of your strength-training methods?

LS: I'm a speed/strength expert. It's all about speed. If you're fast, I can make you strong. I believe in working within the relationships between force and velocity, and you have to train at 60% of your one-rep maximum to do that. If you work heavier than 60%, the bar will move too slowly to build maximum force. We do not use any machines because they don't accommodate resistance correctly. We also include stretch bands and chains attached to the bars.

NM: And all movements are fast and explosive?

LS: Correct. Things like slow repetitions and negatives just make you sore! They will increase size, but they do nothing to increase strength, so we don't do them! For our bench, as an example, we do eight sets of three reps at 60% of the max, with 30 seconds rest between sets.

We at Westside don't concern ourselves with muscle growth, but I will say this: the average guy who trains here gains about 40 pounds in two years! Mostly from squats and good mornings. We live on good mornings. Standing, straddled on a bench, bent leg, straight leg, flat back. Everything! Even seated.

NM: Seated? That's a new one!

LS: It's a great rehab exercise.

NM: Good mornings are an excellent movement that you rarely see anymore. A related movement is the hyperextension, and I understand that you invented a "reverse hyperextension" machine?

LS: Yes, I invented it in 1974 as a rehabilitation device after I fractured my fifth lumbar vertebrae and I couldn't do anything else. It's the only device that rotates the sacrum and actually opens up the disk area, allowing fluid to go into the soft tissue. So it not only builds up the lower back, but it works as restoration.

NM: Explain the "kneeling squat."

LS: Basically, you load the bar on a power rack and, while on your knees, you sit back, much like a child would sit back on his feet while watching television. The only thing that moves is the hip. Watch a good squatter and you'll notice the shins never move. The back stays straight. The only things that moves are the hips.

All the standing squats we do are box squats. You go from yielding the weight downward and, as you're "sitting" on the box, the action is overcome by dynamic effort?that's why it makes you so strong. Even though you're on the box for a second, you're still maintaining the energy of the eccentric portion of the lift. We do believe in doing many different exercises because the more exercises you do, the more coordinated you become at doing any one exercise.

NM: Many of the exercises you employ contain unorthodox movements throughout their execution. I would imagine that moves like squatting on your knees or seated good mornings must be seen in order to be executed correctly.

LS: For that reason, we have two videos available. One for squatting, and one for benching. They go into great detail...all the great stuff we're doing. (To order, call 614-276-0923.)

NM: Some people's body types are better geared for heavy training. Do you have any examples of people who may not have been too strong to start out with, but showed considerable improvement using your methods?

LS: Well, I have trained five women, all of whom have squatted or deadlifted over 500 pounds! Anyone can benefit from this because I don't work on the muscle, I work on the central nervous system. That's the key. You can have a large body that isn't nearly as strong as a smaller body. People think that tendon strength is a factor, but tendons have very little blood supply. The best way to work the tendons is through ultra-high reps.

NM: What is the biggest mistake people make when trying to obtain more strength in a lift like the bench press?

LS: They need to strengthen their arms! The pecs are weak muscles. That's why the pecs can get sore or injured from benching, but the tris rarely get sore or injured. It's important, also, to lift in a straight line. In order to improve your squat, you need to strengthen the stomach, especially the external and internal obliques. This is why people wear lifting belts. They either have bad technique or weak abdominals. All my abdominal work is done standing up. I do pulley crunches facing away from the machine, but instead of kneeling, I remain standing. It's a much more natural use of the abs than while sitting or kneeling. Muscles have to relate naturally to one another in order for a person to be strong.

Another problem with most training techniques is that there's too much rest in between sets. Even training to ultimate intensity, if you wait five minutes before doing the next set, you're not really working any new muscle fibers. It's just a repeat of the first set. With our methods, we rarely have injuries. And we never burn out, which happens a lot with guys who use the HIT or Heavy-Duty methods. Personally, I work out 13 times a week, year-in and year-out. I do four normal, 60-minute workouts, and the rest is "specializing training" like erector work. And I never burn out, even on little sleep. If someone were to use the high-rep, high-intensity style of training for more than four weeks, their progress will start to go backwards!

I worked with Mike Francois for a short period, and we used the same techniques. But we worked on what he needed. He wanted his legs bigger, which I thought was impossible, and we worked doing incline squats (similar to a hack squat), and he would never lock his legs. We got them bigger!....

[Sareen]

NM: Are there any supplements that you've found to be helpful in your strength training?

LS: I'm not really an expert on supplements. I think glutamine is good. But for the most part, I take lots of Tribulus and Saw Palmetto. That works great. I do not like creatine due to the fact that it can cause cramps.

NM: What is your stance on the use of steroids?

LS: The dangers are way overrated. It's corticoid steroids that they inject football players with every day that will kill you! Personally, I've done anabolic steroids straight for the last 28 years.

NM: Do you cycle?

LS: No, I stay on. I don't believe in periodization in training, either. I use mostly anabolics like Equipoise and Laurabolin until it's time for a competition, and then I do the harder androgens. I do not take Anadrol. I've never had any problems. I know guys who take much more than I do, to the point where you can call it abuse, and they don't seem to have any problems, either. There's no possible way I can train the way I do without taking anabolics, but the same techniques of training apply even if you're natural. I've also used the andro products and find that they give a greater boost in aggression than steroids! At least temporarily. I use them right before training.

NM: After reading this interview, I'd venture to guess that a lot of our readers will want to get in touch with you or, at least, have a consultation over the phone. Is there a number where you can be reached if someone wants you to work with them?

LS: You don't have enough money! I only work with the people in my gym, and I'm very selective about who I let into my gym. For example, I have a guy named Brett Bartley who now squats 925...

NM: 925?! That's amazing!

LS: He's a total freak of nature: 25-inch arms! It's people like him that I work with. I decide who to let in, and I decide who to kick out. We have some of the strongest men in the world training at Westside because these methods work. This is not a "theory." It's proven.

NM: Lou, at age 51, you are showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

LS: I'm stronger than ever.

NM: I hope we can do this again. And the next time we speak, I'll be expecting your numbers to be even higher [jokingly]!

LS: You can count on it.


After our interview, Louie returned to his beloved domain of pain to join his legion of supermen. His is an imposing, almost menacing figure: 242 pounds of raw power dressed in oversized shabby sweats that evoke the image of a mad monk overseeing some select cult. As he lurks among the catacombs of the gym, one gets the feeling that he looks upon its members with an almost parental pride.