My Journey as a Strength Coach Part 3- Westside Barbell

So, I wrapped up my junior year hitting .385 and got an honorable mention all-conference, which I was pretty happy about. I hit one of my goals, but the bigger challenge was finding a summer internship.

I was working out at this local gym in Spearfish, South Dakota, called the Downtown Gym. That’s where I discovered Louie Simmons, Westside Barbell, and the conjugate training system. Thanks to the conjugate system, I finally got my weight over 200lbs. I was stronger and faster than ever. At scout day during my junior year, I ran a 6.68-second 60-yard dash, which is the baseball version of the 40-yard dash in football. Some scouts started talking to me until they saw my outfield throw. My arm strength has always been a joke.

I wanted to dive deeper into the conjugate training style, so I emailed Louie Simmons to ask which colleges used his system and where I could learn more. Louie got back to me, mentioned a few schools, and said they did internships too. I thought, why not learn from the man himself? He asked me to send a resume along with my bench press, squat, and deadlift numbers. If you don’t know about Westside Barbell, it’s the strongest gym in the world. Benching 500, squatting 800, or deadlifting 700 is just average there. I stretched the truth a bit and said I benched 275, squatted 450, and deadlifted 500.

The Record Wall at Westside

Weight classes at the very top followed by squat, bench, deadlift, and total (all 3 combined)

I was in my anatomy class when Louie called. I dashed out of the lecture to answer. "You're not a powerlifter, are you?" he started. "Not really, but I play baseball," I replied. "Are you going to go pro?" he asked. "I don't know, I want to. I work hard, and I want to learn," I said, worried he wouldn’t want someone who wasn’t super strong or an elite lifter. To my surprise, he invited me to be an intern.

Leslie and I found a tiny studio apartment in Dublin, Ohio, near Columbus. It came with a couch, a mini fridge, and a Murphy bed that folded out of the wall. When the bed was out, it almost touched the couch. The place was small, but Leslie had an internship too, so we wouldn’t be there much.

On the first day, Louie invited me to breakfast at Bob Evans, his regular spot. It was me, Louie, and three of the biggest guys I’d ever seen. I followed Louie to the gym. There were three other interns, and we all joined a workout. This internship was different; we just trained, seven workouts a week over four days. Morning and afternoon sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and a morning session on Sunday. After lifting, we’d hang around, ask Louie questions, and listen to his stories. He was a great guy and taught us a ton. He always had time for us.

Walking in on the first day was intimidating. Being the smallest, weakest person in the gym is tough, especially coming from a small place like the Mount Marty weight room, which only had dumbbells up to 70lbs. Everyone was cool to me, though. Some guys didn’t say much, but others were great. They didn’t see me as a threat, which probably helped. Westside was invite-only, and if you didn’t perform, you were out. Being the strongest there meant you were one of the strongest in the world.

I learned a lot that summer. I found out I could live in a big city after being in South Dakota my whole life. I learned I could live with Leslie in a 300 sq ft apartment and still get along. I realized I could work hard, doing seven workouts a week and also working at Kroger stocking shelves three nights a week from 10pm-6am. I learned I could get along with all sorts of people. I chose sleep over food with my night schedule, and I lost some weight but was the strongest I’d ever been.

Most importantly, from a coaching perspective, I learned the value of competition. Every day, every lift, the guys competed to be the strongest. It was always a last-man-standing situation. They picked the movement and kept adding weight. When you missed, you were out, and they kept going. Us interns usually had our own rack because we wouldn’t last long with the big guys. Competition drives excellence. If you want to be great and are the strongest in your gym or best player in your league, find another gym or league.

If you were looking for gym wipes, you weren't going to find them.

Three random things from Louie I’ll always remember:

1. On my last day, I brought Leslie in for the first time. He shook her hand and said, "She's way prettier than the girls you usually bring around here."

2. "You're pretty strong...for a ballplayer."

3. "You got big arms."

   
   

   I’m super grateful for my time at Westside and the time I got to spend with Louie.

   RIP Louie.