A client of mine made it a goal to bench press 300lbs. So I said, why not, let’s go for it. He had made it to 265, however we’d been stuck there for a couple of weeks.
I told him about this elite power lifting group down in Columbus, Ohio, called Westside Barbell. I said he may need someone from there to help us bust this plateau.
He thought it would be cool go down for a day and train, I agreed. Then he started talking about taking a da trip down to train with them. I figured he was just talking. Sure Bruce whatever.
However the next day he calls me and says, he spoke to Louie Simmons (the owner and inventor of their training system.) And that he was going to book a flight and hotel for us to go down and train.
WHAT?!
I was very surprised and pretty pumped to go at the same time!
For those that don’t know powerlifting consists of lifting 3 lifts, the squat, bench press & deadlift- whoever totals the most wins their weight class. The Westside barbell club has the most record holders of any gym in the world. And Louie Simmons is the mad scientist who through years of reading has developed the system that has made the men and women who go there lift superhuman weights!
So Tuesday night we flew down to Columbus, and stayed the night at a hotel. That day I had purposely woken up early so I’d be able to fall asleep and get up early, since we had to meet Louie at 6:30 for breakfast and we would train at 8.
Around 10 I started to feel sleepy, and was just about to turn the TV off, then the fire alarm went off!
Now the adrenalin was pumping! Looked out the window, looked out in the hall, false alarm. So now i had to calm myself down again, eventually fell asleep.
Around 11:30, the alarm goes off again! Took two sniffs, i didn’t smell any smoke, so figured i was fine.
But now I could hear every little peep. I swear I heard a feather land on a pillow 100 yards away!
So needless to say it was an awful nights sleep.
The following morning we met Louie for breakfast at a Bob Evans restaurant. Joining us was one of the strongest bench pressers in the world, this dude must have weighted 300lbs. I couldn’t wait to see how much food this guy was going to pack away.
As it turns out ate the most food out of everyone! whats up with that?
Louie was very slow to warm up to us, that is until we started talking training and he saw that I knew my stuff.
After eating we then followed him to the gym, located in an industrial area, with no signage. This was not a “fitness centre” this was a training facility. No change rooms, no cross trainers or bikes, just lots of weights!
There was an aggressive attitude in the air, coming from the other lifters and definitely from the hardcore rap and rock came through the speakers…it felt primal, it felt animalistic, it felt like i wanted to lift something heavy!
Louie’s personality really came out once in the gym, you could tell he enjoyed teaching. I think he saw some potential in me.
But then I almost got myself killed! Forgetting I was in the heart of Ohio, and the amount of love they have for their Ohio State buckeyes, I took off my hoodie as I was getting hot and underneath I was wearing a Michigan Wolverines shirt.
Don't wear the Blue in Ohio!
The wolverines are considered enemy! After seeing that he said he was going to make me hurt the next day. In actuality I hurt for about 3 days after.
Generally the work outs are only an hour, but Louie kept wanting to show me all different things so we were there for two hours (probably because of the shirt!)
He made me do 200 reps, ya I was sore the next day!
It was quite a learning experience. Heck by the end of breakfast he had already changed some of lifting beliefs.
I hope to visit Louie and the Westside gang again some time in the near future, he said that was fine as long as I change my shirt.
I think this is how I want to spend all future vacations, why lay on a beach when you can work out with the best of the best!
With the man himself!
