Percentage Training

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PERCENT TRAINING



This powerlifting routine is based on what many people call 'percent training'. This is nothing more than the type of training that powerlifting guru Louie Simmons has his members at Westside Barbell working on. Some people have tried to write articles on percent training, simply restating what Louie Simmons says better. For those of you who are not familiar with Louie Simmons, I will try to recount his training methods here.

There are a few basic principles underlying Louie Simmons's methods and madness. First is the above mentioned 'percent training'. Simmons and his trainees feel that the important training components to building strength include both load and speed. The speed part of the routine is worked with the 'dynamic effort method' that can be read about in the literature of European strength coaches like Zatsiorsky.

That being said, it follows that Simmons has his trainees perform the bench press on a cycle of somewhere between 50-60% of 1RM and do 9 sets of 3 explosive, accelerating reps. This is one of the two bench days of the week and is followed by assistance work for the rest of the torso. They will then perform a squat/dead lift day with the primary exercise being squats off of a low box at 55-60% of 1RM for 8-10 sets of 3-5 reps. These explosive exercises are often done with bands and/or chains to further 'manipulate' the force curve of the movement.

Next comes the principle that Simmons describes as the 'conjugate method'. This entails doing a heavy day each week for both the bench and the squat/dead lift. However, Louie feels that after performing a particular lift in the 85-100% 1RM range for more than 5 weeks your form breaks down and your strength in that lift regresses. That is why on the second workout, the heavy day, each week Simmons's lifters perform a heavy exercise for sets following something like a 3-3-2-2-1-1 rep range that will resemble the bench press, deadlift, or squat, but will not necessarily be the bench, deadlift, or squat. For example, you might do floor press, cambered bar bench press, DB bench presses for high reps, board presses, or narrow-grip incline press, each for 3 or 4 weeks on the bench day, working up to a new PR. On the squat/dead lift day you might do front squats, dead lifts off of a block, zercher squats, good mornings, or rack deadlifts for 3 or 4 weeks each.

The last principle is 'variety'. As was stated above, Simmons feels that you burn out on specific lifts quite quickly. This is the reason he feels that you must change core exercises frequently and it follows that you should also change assistance exercises. Changing at least some exercises every month helps you to stay fresh.

No one knows the system of training that goes on at Westside Barbell Club like Louie Simmons, so if you are interested in really finding out about it, look for his back articles in Powerlifting USA, or better yet, order his tapes which illustrate his system and his many different exercises. If you can't wait to get started before you have gone to the source, here is how a basic Westside Barbell Club routine might look:

MONDAY: Max Effort Bench Press Exercise (floor press for 3 weeks, then board press for 3 weeks, dumbbell bench for 3 weeks, rack presses for 3 weeks, then regular bench presses for 3 weeks) , Weighted Dips 3 sets of 8 reps, Clean and Press 4 sets of 3-5 reps, Rotator cuff exercise 2 sets of 6-8 reps, Paul Dicks press 3 sets of 6-8 reps, Partner-assisted triangle pushups 3 sets to failure

TUESDAY: Dynamic Effort Box Squat day: do 8-10 sets of 3-4 reps of box squats on a box 2-6" below parallel. Cycle a weight from 50-60 percent 1RM on these, going up 2.5% each week and then waving back down at the fifth week to 50% of your new 1RM., Walking Lunges 3 sets until failure, Reverse Hyperextensions or Glute/Ham Raise 3 sets of 8 reps, Standing Calf Raises 3 sets of 8-12 reps, Chins 3 sets of 8 reps OR DB rows 2 sets of 8 reps

THURSDAY: Dynamic Effort Bench Press day (do 8-10 sets of 3 reps with 55% 1RM while alternating between 3 different grips for these), Flys 3 sets of 8-12 reps, One-arm DB shoulder press 3 sets of 6-8 reps, Bent-over DB raises 3 sets of 8 reps, JM Presses 3 sets of 8 reps, DB tricep extensions 3 sets of 8 reps

FRIDAY: Maximum Effort Squat Exercise (Zercher squats for 3 weeks, deadlifts standing on plates and only using 25s on the bar for 3 weeks, 1-2 RM box squats for 3 weeks, good mornings for 3 weeks, squats for 3 weeks), Weighted Sled Pull (or harness pulls with partner) 3 sets at fixed distance, Pull-throughs or Leg Curls 3 sets of 8 reps, Reverse Hyperextensions 3 sets of 12 reps, Donkey Calf raises 3 sets of 6-12 reps, Seated Calf raises 2 sets of 10-15 reps, Chest-supported Rows 2 sets of 8-12 reps

This is only a rough interpretation of the Westside principles, if you really want to get down and dirty with it check out the Strength Online website and read the books Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir Zatsiorsky and Supertraining by Mel Siff and Yuri Verkoshansky. I have both, and they are both excellent books. Zatsiorsky's book might be a little easier to get (both physically and comprehension-wise), especially for those of you with no academic background in strength and conditioning. Also, I would recommend calling Westside and ordering all of the back-articles Louie has had printed in PL USA. I think it is only about $30, and it is well worth it.

In training for the strongman competition I did, I had to do a lot of grip work, and this can be done twice per week on off days, e.g. Wednesday and Saturday. This routine is possibly the best you can follow if you can grasp all of the components of it and understand all of the different lifts. Louie certainly has the lifters to prove that his system is the best.

I do not use this system exclusively, I like to alternate it with my 'dinosaur' routine simply because I enjoy taking 12-14 weeks to do an exercise and get a feel for it. I also believe that I must, at least periodically, do the 3 power lifts for an extended period of time to really hang on to the quote 'groove' in them.

Right now, I almost always use a routine that is a hybrid of a Westside Routine and some stuff I have gleaned from reading things about Ed Coan. You can find this under my 'Ultimate Routine' and my Dinosaur/Westside combo.



WESTSIDE RESOURCES:

Westside Barbell Club (Louie Simmons): (614) 276-0923


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