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We have 17 men who squat over 1000 pounds. The top five average 1,143 pounds. Our top five totals equal 2,690 pounds. How can one gym develop such a strong group? The answer is hard work, coupled with science, experience, and dedication.

But what is the system that produced this top five average in the squat? It’s a two-day system. One day is max effort day, which is done on Monday. Three days later, on Friday, we devote to special strength, explosive speed, or strength speed. Let’s look at speed day on Friday. 

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It was late 1969, and the Culver City, CA, Westside boys were writing an article called Conditioned Legs Break Record Squat. Well it's as true today as it was back then. Here at the Columbus Westside Barbell, we have held world records at 181, 220, 242, 275, 308, and SHW in the squat or total. Westside has a variety of leg exercises that we choose from. Everyone knows we box squat all the time, but what do we do to supplement leg strength or to complement our hip strength? First, belt squats.

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I am often asked, how do we recover from two max effort workouts each week, on top of two high-volume speed days? The two max effort workouts are done at least 80% of the year. The remainder of the year, they are replaced by high-volume hypertrophy days aimed at increasing strength in lagging muscle groups. A speed bench workout can account for 12,000 pounds, not counting special exercises. A squat speed day can be 10,000-12,000 pounds plus special exercises. One reason we use a three-week pendulum wave is for speed benching. We use a rotational system of change.

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Before bench shirts, there was a saying, "the meet does not start until the bar touches the floor". At Westside, we have always had very good deadlifters: 18 at 800 pounds or more; the top five average 845 pounds. How does Westside train the deadlift and the squat without them interfering with each other? How can the deadlift be kept explosive? These are two questions that are asked over and over. Here are the answers to both.

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It was inevitable, but luckily, I always had a back-up plan.

Without fail, after a certain amount of time my training would stall on a new program I tried back when I was younger. My back-up plan was a good one, though: German Volume Training.

Like BMW and Mercedes, the Germans got this one right with GVT training, which is an all-out thrashing on your body. Basically, you perform 10 sets of 10 reps on core movements like squat, bench press, rows and military press.

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If you've stepped into a weight room, you more than likely have heard of the 21's method for biceps. If not, you may want to step out from that rock from where you've been living.

You know the 21's drill – grab an EZ-Curl bar, perform seven reps going halfway up, seven more halfway down, and then finish it with seven full reps. Well, I've got something even better for you to tackle.

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Have you ever wondered why certain training protocol might be extremely difficult for one athlete and leaving him wrecked for over a week, but to another athlete, it may be easy? Of course, it’s dependent on a huge number of factors from work capacity, energy systems, fundamental capability, fatigue tolerance and so on. How do you find out which athlete you are and, more importantly, which way you should train? For that, you’ve got to be able to train according to your body’s needs.

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The log press is a staple event in most Strongman contests and is a critical event to master in order to obtain top results. It is a movement that must be trained consistently to reach peak performance. Some of the best bench pressers and Olympic lifters have been humbled the first time they attempted a log press. The movement requires precise technique, overhead strength and repetition to hit big numbers. In this article I will go through the basics to explain the log press, and offer some tips on how to improve results.

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Jeremy Hoornstra is the strongest bencher I have ever seen. He’s got the formula for getting the best raw bench out there. We can all follow his advice, especially raw lifters, for a more powerful bench. He is not overly massed like yours truly, and that rules out mass leverage.

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Strengthening a raw bench is like building a house. You start with a solid foundation. As powerlifters, our body is our foundation, so we must develop a routine for the chest, shoulders, back and legs.

Build the chest

Developing the chest is the first step. A chest routine needs to promote growth and develop strength. It should contain basic barbell and dumbbell movements, use different hand positioning and vary the number of sets and repetitions. Recommended chest exercises include barbell/dumbbell inclines, close-grip bench, wide-grip bench and floor presses.