Charles Poliquin was a very influential strength coach and author who was brought to the attention of the general public via the Magazine Muscle Media 2000 and the online website Testosterone. Net. I recently listened to a podcast which referenced Charles, who passed away in 2018 from heart issues. His family had a genetic history …
The board press is a popular exercise that has been used for over 50 years to improve bench press performance. Originally used by the Culver City Westside crew– the board press was re-introduced to the strength seeking world by Louie Simmons’ Columbus Ohio Westside Barbell in the early 1990s. Louie’s articles described how his lifters …
Ken Lain was training as a bodybuilder in the town of Abilene, Texas in the 1980s. Bench pressing became a very popular competitive strength test at that time through out the United States, with John Inzer of Texas also promoting the lift as well as his bench press shirt. Ken had a 525 bench press …
My journey in powerlifting and strength sports, what I would do differently and what I would not change. 2022 marks the 36th anniversary of my first powerlifting contest, when a non sanctioned meet was contested at the YMCA I trained at in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. I always wanted to be a big and strong person …
When I started following Westside Barbell in 1993, they released a bench press secrets tape on which Louie said their best bench was Matt Dimmel’s 575lb effort. Beginning in 1994, Louie had monthly articles in Powerlifting USA Magazine and many of them described how Westside Barbell trained their bench pressers. One of the earliest articles …
I first read about Louie Simmons in 1987 in Powerlifting USA Magazine. Louie wrote a series of articles in the late 1980s which I read but did not really understand. I did not apply any of the concepts that Louie discussed and I trained in the traditional progressive overload method that was popular at that …
My personal history regarding the floor press began when I read about it in Louie Simmons early 1990s articles. A 1995 article by Louie published in the strength journal Milo, gives credit to Powerlifting legend Jesse Kellum for reminding Louie of how beneficial this exercise is for upper body strength gains. I have no doubt, …
General Physical Preparedness, or GPP, was a term I first learned while reading articles written by Louie Simmons in 1995 in Powerlifting USA and Milo magazines. Louie Simmons has justifiably been called The Godfather of Powerlifting as well as the Mad Monk of the sport. Based in Columbus Ohio his entire life, Louie lifted National …
There is a famous clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about how all success in serious strength training all starts in the mind. As a lifter lucky enough to have started out with numerous news stand publications which catered to serious bodybuilders and powerlifters. Numerous bodybuilding magazines, specifically Flex and Muscle and Fitness had articles by …
When I began Powerlifting, I was gifted with a complete collection of Powerlifting USA Magazines, which began publication in 1977. Fortunately for me, many of the authors for the magazine, such as Dr. Ken Leistner, Marty Gallagher, Mike Lambert, Ron Fernando and Louie Simmons had a strong sense of the history of the sport and …