I know this sounds like a newbie question, and it is. Do many athletes, i.e. football players or basketball players, train westside style? I was curious about this after reading some of Dave Tate’s articles. I understand that his focus is with powerlifters who are trying to move as much weight as possible, as quickly as possible. But I was curious as to whether or not Westside training has any sport-specific relevance (football or basketball). I ask this because I am impressed by the amount of weight that guys like Tate lift but I still want to weight train with other sports in mind.
I dont think many people train west side to the T for sports. But I have heard of people incorporating certain methods into their programs.
You should realize and it seems that you do a little bit, that the guys at West Side train to be good in 3 lifts: bench press, deadlift, and squat. They also keep in mind what equipment they will use in competition, ie. squat suit, knee wraps, bench suit, etc. However, there are many priniciples that can and should be used in an athletic program, basketball and football included. Read everything on Dave’s site as well as the stuff on here and you’re off to a good start.
I went to a recent Westside Seminar and had a chance to ask Dave and Jim this question. Jim answered by saying that he used to be a strength coach at Kentucky and he even had pitchers on the baseball team training using their principles and had great success with it. Most sports need explosive power and strength and if you’ve ever seen anyone train westside style correctly you can see how this could really help an athlete.
there is an article on Dave’s site by Jim about Westside training for football
I play D-1aa ball and am an O-lineman. The Westside principles fit perfectly for me. The bench days fits with the punch i need for pass blocking and squat days (and I add in a few oly lifts) works well for driving in the run game. I am planning out my training this summer, a 14 week westside program where AM will be strength work and PM works will be skill training (Turk punches on Upper/ footwork drills on lower) with alot of restoration work (sled drags and non-weighted GPP). However when I am at school I must follow my strength and conditioning coaches program which follows progressive overload.
thanks for the response guys. in response to machine, the question came to me exactly because of the reasons you mentioned - bench shirts, suits, wraps, etc. athletes do not necessarily need to bench 600lbs but i was wondering how the dynamic and max effort days might fit in to an athlete’s training. would this be done with the bench and squat in the beginning of the workout with supplemental exercises done afterwards? my reasons for wondering are two-fold. first, my bench and squat weights are not impressive. second, i like to lift weights, but not in the same fashion as powerlifters, i.e. wide stance on the squat, bench shirts, etc. but i can see how dynamic/max effort can improve lifts. i am trying to read all of davies’ stuff and the dave tate stuff on t-mag, so don’t worry…i am trying hard here.
There are indeed collegiate programs that incorporate Westside training principles (but not whole programs) into their training. The attraction of course is the focus on bar speed that is a cornerstone of Westside doctrine.
The gear question always gets asked in this regard. Gear does not help as much as people believe. If your lifts are 500-250-500 and you put on gear you are not going to go 750-400-600. Its not that easy. Now as far as bench shirts go, the westside guys only use them enough to get used to them. They do not train in them and the only time a suit is used is on dynamic day to protect the hips. Gear is not used any other time. Wraps are NEVER used in training. There as some huge misconceptions out there about gear mostly from people who have never used gear before.
Type in “goldberg dunk” into the search engine, and go into the Overhead Pressing thread. There you will see a picture of the Little Goldie that Could. Dunk, that is.
I just finished my college career last year as an offensive lineman and noticed when i switched to westside training i was more explosive out of my stance, my pass pro punch was better and i was in better anaerobic condition for the game, also i actually felt a little less beat up from westside as opposed to standard periodization.
Jared, you mean dink instead of dunk right?
Westside will only work for athletes if you want your athletes to be srong, explosive, powerfull, and big…I dont see anything wrong with that.
Yes, I dink so.
We have local collegiate athletes train with us from time to time; football, basketball, baseball, you name it. They usually come to train with Paul Childress for a short period of time (couple months or so), and always come away faster and stronger on the playing field.