Post by Chris Mangano on Aug 14, 2006 11:29:46 GMT -5
Story Time
About a month and a half ago I switched gyms. I went from LA Fitness (a commercial gym) to World's Gym. I knew if I wanted to improve my lifts I had to get in a gym more suited to that. This new gym had it all, everything you read about in Westside articles. Boards, boxes, reverse hypers, lifting platforms, chains, bands, etc. They even let you use chalk (something that is forbidden in most commercial gyms).
So each day I would go into the gym and do my "Westside" workout all the while watching the powerlifters in my gym train while I was resting for my next set. Last Wednesday I was in the gym for my bench day and there were a few other guys in there also on their bench day. I noticed that they all had great arches on the bench, so after my workout I waited for a break in their training and approached them. I asked them how they learned to arch like that and they told me some sites to check out and said it just takes time. We talked for a bit about powerlifting and I mentioned I had my first meet planned in Modesto on the 26th. A couple of the guys said they had gone to that meet when they first started and said it wasn't run very well. We talked briefly after that and then I thanked them for their help and let them get back to their workout.
Friday I returned to the gym for my DE squat day and the place was virtually empty. I think there were 5 other people in the gym with me. Well, 2 of these people were the powerlifters I had talked to on Wednesday. They saw me there and one of them approached me and asked me about the meet on the 26th. Again he said I shouldn't go and that there are meets much closer to me that are better run. He then asked me why I got into powerlifting and I told him the truth "to see how strong I could get."
Then, and I am not really sure how this happened, they both just started asking me a lot of questions about my training. I told them I had been reading up on Westside and was trying to train using their system. One of the guys mentioned he had been training WS for a couple of years before he met a couple of guys who had trained at WS. He said that he had been doing a lot of things wrong prior to meeting them, and when I told him what I was doing it was obvious I was doing a lot of things wrong also. He gave me some advice and told me that given the work I had already done that week I should just do a few light assistance exercises and get out of the gym.
So I thanked them both again for their help and went off to do his "workout." I was just a few minutes from finishing the workout when the same guy, Aaron, approached me and asked me if I wanted to start training with them! I was shocked and excited at the same time. I told him that would be great. He told me when they trained (they follow the WS schedule to a T) and said come by and you can train with us.
So as of today I have 2 training partners, Shawn and Aaron, who are both very experienced with the WS system and are both very strong. I am looking forward to not only getting stronger, but learning a ton about WS training. I am no longer going to compete in the Modesto meet on the 26th, instead I will compete in a Venice meet in November (I think). In any case, I feel like I am finally starting WS training the way it was meant to be.
I will log all my workouts here, hopefully others can see what we are doing and get a better understanding of how WS works.
About a month and a half ago I switched gyms. I went from LA Fitness (a commercial gym) to World's Gym. I knew if I wanted to improve my lifts I had to get in a gym more suited to that. This new gym had it all, everything you read about in Westside articles. Boards, boxes, reverse hypers, lifting platforms, chains, bands, etc. They even let you use chalk (something that is forbidden in most commercial gyms).
So each day I would go into the gym and do my "Westside" workout all the while watching the powerlifters in my gym train while I was resting for my next set. Last Wednesday I was in the gym for my bench day and there were a few other guys in there also on their bench day. I noticed that they all had great arches on the bench, so after my workout I waited for a break in their training and approached them. I asked them how they learned to arch like that and they told me some sites to check out and said it just takes time. We talked for a bit about powerlifting and I mentioned I had my first meet planned in Modesto on the 26th. A couple of the guys said they had gone to that meet when they first started and said it wasn't run very well. We talked briefly after that and then I thanked them for their help and let them get back to their workout.
Friday I returned to the gym for my DE squat day and the place was virtually empty. I think there were 5 other people in the gym with me. Well, 2 of these people were the powerlifters I had talked to on Wednesday. They saw me there and one of them approached me and asked me about the meet on the 26th. Again he said I shouldn't go and that there are meets much closer to me that are better run. He then asked me why I got into powerlifting and I told him the truth "to see how strong I could get."
Then, and I am not really sure how this happened, they both just started asking me a lot of questions about my training. I told them I had been reading up on Westside and was trying to train using their system. One of the guys mentioned he had been training WS for a couple of years before he met a couple of guys who had trained at WS. He said that he had been doing a lot of things wrong prior to meeting them, and when I told him what I was doing it was obvious I was doing a lot of things wrong also. He gave me some advice and told me that given the work I had already done that week I should just do a few light assistance exercises and get out of the gym.
So I thanked them both again for their help and went off to do his "workout." I was just a few minutes from finishing the workout when the same guy, Aaron, approached me and asked me if I wanted to start training with them! I was shocked and excited at the same time. I told him that would be great. He told me when they trained (they follow the WS schedule to a T) and said come by and you can train with us.
So as of today I have 2 training partners, Shawn and Aaron, who are both very experienced with the WS system and are both very strong. I am looking forward to not only getting stronger, but learning a ton about WS training. I am no longer going to compete in the Modesto meet on the 26th, instead I will compete in a Venice meet in November (I think). In any case, I feel like I am finally starting WS training the way it was meant to be.
I will log all my workouts here, hopefully others can see what we are doing and get a better understanding of how WS works.
