Articles, Training and Applications oh my!!!

Articles, Our Training and Applications oh my!!!

So this AM I noticed that Dan Green put out an article on why Westside is not the only side. I disagree with a good number of his points but also agree with a number of his points. See, I did Westside at the beginning of learning to powerlift with Gordon Lake, it was a great eye opener to powerlifting. I enjoyed it but eventually I did not see the process of Westside and that meant Gordon and myself did not see eye to eye being as Becky Rich was his coach and she did or does (?) Westside. Becky has done awesome with Westside, if you do not know her you really need to take the time and look this girl up, she is crazy strong and good looking and friendly to boot!! I eventually ended up training at North Georgia Barbell where Jon Grove ran programming. Jon was not a Westside follower and honestly I had no place else to train. Jon used a method of heavy chains in which I quickly fell in love with and pulled my dl from a horrid 330 to 400. I was pretty happy with that!! I was also not training with any females and to be honest the three times one girl came in to train the focus was more on her ass than our training. I have said before I never trained with women until recently and that is still very limited partially due to the fact that I just want to get in there and be productive and strong. Anyhow, back to Jon. Jon did integrate some good Westside concepts like good mornings and speed work. My squat went from 290 in 09 to 418 in 11 (I think it was 11, lol) so again I love it. My training eventually moved back to Greenville (thanks to GA cops and a certain Deadlift video) and to Dave Brown (a very avid Westsider) where I integrated box jumps and Kettlebells into a globo gym workout along with some Westside techniques. Anyhow, life continued to progress and marriage and a child then happened and although I lifted until I was 7 months I used no certain training method, I instead based training on keeping muscle mass and some strength. My point to all this is that I myself am littered with Westside much like Dan Green was (I am not comparing my lifts to his by any means, just pointing out something similar) and I had held some pretty strong lifts like a raw 418 squat and 455 pull.... now, I actually have some very awesome strong friends who do Westside and some awesome strong friends who do not and even though I do not preform Westside exclusively we still talk about training and whatnot. One girl in particular is Gracie. Gracie is a pretty well known in pl as is her now fiance. Gracie has defended Westside and its methods ALOT as well as having to defend her lifts (which honestly, who has not?). Gracie has grown stronger as time passes and that speaks volumes for Westide. I also speak with Ambre a lot. Ambre has gone through a back injury that almost put her out of pl. Westside training HALTED that and she came back stronger. Honestly if you use other methods there is no label for it so I will call it "other". The best notable lifter who used other that I have seen come on to the pl scene is Callerina Key. Friggin retarded strong, friendly and modest this all speaks volumes when you are a 4 plus squatter and in the 160 range (I believe, I know she has leaned out more recently). I think Westside is not the only side and it is not a side for everyone BUT I also think it is also better than starting strength (from what I have seen, I did not do it) for a beginner. I have yet to see anything phenomenal from the looks like westside cube method, but for benefit of the doubt I will group it into the "other" until I see something solely from the cube alone (ie no Westside before). Dan had a good article. Good points. I will not agree with its entirety, BUT it makes awesome points... I also feel that it was a huge call out (moreso than others because let us admit his numbers are crrrrrazy) to Westside which appears intentional, but hey any press is good press aimiright?

On to our training.... Michael is continuing to write me and I feel like I am progressing pretty well with it but yoke may kill me. I feel like I stay sore constantly and I am sure that is diet and just getting back into the grove. I must admit SM is my bag and I am enjoying the variety!! On that note I am applying for a sponsorship for Michael for Afro Brutality sports... I think it is a long time coming for him and with it I hope it brings other opportunities like the chance to write programs for more lifters. It is a CrossFit based company BUT he does sponsor other types of athletes!!

On yet another note (or as Michael says my ADD is kicking in) Amelya is using mosquito repellant stickers and on the first try they worked well!! I am totally stoked she does not have to be exposed to those terrible chemicals!! I am also considering adding elderberry again related to the nasty sinuses going around, but I may wait until she is more symptomatic... Only time will tell. Amelya has also recently developed the slamming my head back when I do not get something I want... This is fun times. I have not decided the method of attack but I am thinking it is gonna lead to butt spankings. This in itself is a very touchy subject but let me be very clear, I was raised by having my ass beat for wrong doings and I turned out well, so I feel this approach will work for her. Well grumpymcgrump is ready for a nap, so tata!

Let the butt hurt begin!!!