IOL Strength and Conditioning

Dave Yarnell
Excerpts, reprinted with permission of Dave Yarnell

When I was recently asked about potentially doing a podcast about the original Westside Barbell crew, I thought it would be a great opportunity and agreed after learning a few details. I did a bit of research on these guys and wrote about them in my most recent book, “King Squat, Rise to Power”. I thought it would be a good idea to bone up and learn everything I could find about Bill West and his associates, and how they influenced the strength game in their time and are still an influence on the power game right to this very day.

All of us in the game are deeply indebted to the original Westside crew for all of the foundations that they laid in paving the way for what has become powerlifting and strength training doctrine.

While Bill West is a name that is familiar to many, even most lifters these days, not many know many details about the original Culver City California version of Westside Barbell or the many tremendous lifters and even bodybuilders that were associated with this crew in some way. A cursory search via any of the standard internet search tools will turn up a few tidbits, but a lot more work was required to gather all the information which I will present here.

My initial efforts left me somewhat frustrated, and if you have been wondering why there is not  much stuff out there, or at least why it is so hard to dig up.

~Dave Yarnell

Here is an excerpt from the Bill West section

The tremendous success of Bill and his friends and their revolutionary techniques did not go unnoticed. The famous bodybuilding entrepreneur, Joe Weider, realized Bill’s genius and from 1965 to approximately 1971, Bill wrote a series of articles in Joe’s magazine outlining the techniques that he popularized and that would later be used by virtually every powerlifter from then until the present day. Here is the impressive list of articles which revolutionized powerlifting—

1.) Dec. 1965 – Muscle Builder Magazine, “The Touch System”
Bill told of how the touching of the hands on the lifter in all three powerlifts helps him psychologically and physically get used to heavier weights.

In 1966 Bill wrote the following articles in Muscle Builder Magazine—

2.) The Bench Squat: How to make attempts feel lighter by squatting on a high bench or box

3.) Triceps Power Cheats: How to cheat on the triceps extension to produce higher poundage

4.) Powerlifting Aids: This was the first written account on wrist wraps, elbow wraps, knee wraps, flat shoes for the squat an deadlift, wide part of the belt in front for the squat and sponge rubber pads on the chest for benching

5.) Incline Power Rack Presses: How to properly use the power rack and incline press to isolate middle sticking points in the bench press

6.) The Extended Deadlift: How to provide a greater range of motion in the deadlift by placing blocks under the feet

7.) The Touch System in Bench Pressing: How to place the hands on the bench press bar which one’s partner is using to assist in a sticking point. This is now called forced reps.

8.) Using the Touch System in the Deadlift: How to make one’s deadlift feel lighter by using a physical assist from one’s partner

9.) Lockout Prones for Power: How to increase one’s bench press using the power rack

10.) Build Power with These Rack Deadlifts: How to increase one’s deadlifting using the rack

11.) 775-lb. Deadlift: How I Did It: The deadlift training philosophy of Bill West and George Frenn

Note that most of these articles were actually written by others, most often Armand Tanny, though the concepts were strictly those of Mr. West & crew.

Peanuts West, deadlifting from blocks

*Joe DiMarco told me that these blocks were solid planks, 9 inches thick, 12 inches wide and 3 feet long, with a 5/8 inch rubber mat on top, and that these served their purpose for about 20 years or more! He said most of the crew had the bar just around the bottom of the Kneecap at the bottom, and these were often done along with stiff legged deadlifts.*

This author defies any powerlifter to say he has never used at least one of these techniques at one time during his career. Practically all powerlifters today use a routine or power aid that was popularized by the great Bill West, Joe DiMarco and George Frenn. The Original Westside crew’s genuine and unselfish interest in helping others has created a science that has lasted and prevailed even unto the present day, and a lengthy list of records by male and female lifters who have used his techniques. On behalf of every powerlifter who has ever broken record, personal or otherwise, using techniques whose origins were unknown until now, this author would like to extend thanks to Bill “Peanuts” West.

Author’s Note: It is unfortunate that the author of the above article seems to have completely overlooked one of the key guys in the Culver City equation, Joe DiMarco, but his input will not go on unrecognized if I can help it.  Bill was a great personal trainer, and was thrilled when anyone made a gain, as if it was his own gain. While Bill was a great motivator and was the “sparkplug” that fired up as many as a dozen other lifters during a training session, he was not big on writing down programs or any sort of deep analysis of a program, which was more Joe’s role early on, and then as Frenn became more educated he began to analyze why their system was working as well as it did (this was around 1965, according to DiMarco).

A bit of the section on George Frenn

“It was then, almost as an afterthought that he held out his hand. “I’m George Frenn,” he said, still very quiet and polite, with no hint of expectation that I’d even remotely recognize the name. I later told some friends that I had done a squat workout with George Frenn, but I neglected to mention that I took 3 plates a side and then bowed out.”

Deadlifting Theories of George Frenn
by Ron Fernando (1981)

As older followers of Powerlifting will recall, PL in the early 60’s was popularized by George Frenn of North Hollywood, Ca. Frenn has always been outspoken regarding his theories and their application. Indeed, he has every reason to be, since his 2100 lb total (853 [actual weight] – 520 – 740) was years ahead of his time. There are some who may argue that there were excessive wraps – even ‘bed sheet technology’, used in the squat and that the depth was not what it should have been, and in the bench press the use of elbow wraps (a legality in those days) might give a rather distorted view of his total. Regardless of these arguments, few can voice any doubt as to the authenticity of Frenn’s deadlifting and back power. The 775 he pulled was a record, and in addition, Frenn exhibited awesome displays of back power in Olympic lifting movements which enabled him to be a success in that field as well. Oh, and let’s not forget that he was a bonafide Olympian, who for a time was the ranking hammer thrower in the United States and one of the tops in the world. Reliable sources indicate to me that he still has the ability to throw better than 225 feet in the hammer and 42 plus in the weight throw (an event in which he still holds the world record!). His powerful back has enabled him to successfully bridge the three rather diverse worlds of powerlifting, Olympic lifting and weight throwing. I had a chance to speak with George at length about back training and here are some of the pertinent points of the interview.

PLUSA (Powerlifting USA magazine): George, from the years of experience that you  have described, would you give your views on the deadlift.

FRENN: Basically, there should be one main philosophy behind deadlifting, something that I have shown countless times and that many of the other great lifters have shown. That is, the willingness to continually lift heavy weights. You have to mentally, emotionally train yourself to pull those big numbers, regardless of the time of year it is.

A good analogy would be that you cannot train yourself to throw a 16-lb ball 230 feet until you can throw a 14 lb 230 feet. Peter Karpovich was very succinct in his theories – in order to get stronger, you have to lift progressively heavier weights.

PLUSA: Well, what about cycling – that seems to be the most logical approach towards peaking out and avoiding overtraining.

FRENN: From what I know about cycling, I personally don’t believe in it per se. Yes, of course, I realize that one cannot (especially in the beginning stages of his career) lift max 100% weights every session – however, even a beginner can respond well to utilizing 85% of max for a certain number of reps. Cycling is fallacious to me because it seems that the environment controls the lifter – you have to control the environment. By building up a physical ‘bank’ of strength and emotion by simply doing the lift with heavier and heavier weights, one can always ‘peak’ for any given meet. For example, I entered (and won) the YMCA Nationals in 1976. Prior to the meet the very best that I had pulled in the deadlift was 585×5 reps. Yet by drawing on these reserves in my ‘bank’ I was able to pull a 765 that day.

A little of the section on Pat Casey

I’m Going to Bench Press 600 Pounds!
by Pat Casey, as told to Bill Pearl (1964)

Strength is something that has fascinated me ever since I was old enough to realize that some people are stronger than others. Even as a young boy I can remember trying to pick up heavy objects just to see if I could do it. This is probably a normal thing to do because most youngsters admire strength. Yet, this is something that I have never seemed to outgrow. I still admire strong men and have always trained with the intention of becoming stronger than anyone right from my first workout, which was over eight years ago. I started training when I was 15 years old and weighed around 180 pounds at the time. While in high school my goal was to do a bench press of 400 pounds or more before I graduated. During my senior year at Washington High School in Los Angeles, at the age of 17, I was approximately 40 pounds heavier in bodyweight and was able to do a strict bench press with 420 pounds and this with a two-second pause at the chest. Previously I felt that if I could do a 400 pound bench press I would be well satisfied. But now I find myself changing my goals and striving for higher poundage.

Pat Casey

I wanted to bench press 500 pounds before I was 20 years old. Again I reached this goal. In my mind I hoped that someday I could become the world’s champion bench presser, and this is the goal I’m working towards now. During my career I have collected much material on the exceptionally strong men in the weight field and have studied and pondered their training programs in an effort to extract anything that I felt would benefit me.

In this category were Marvin Eder, John Grimek, Buster McShane, Doug Hepburn and Paul Anderson, just to name a few, all of whom have been a great deal of help to me in reaching my goal. Personally I feel that Marvin Eder was one of the strongest men, pound for pound, I had ever heard about for overall strength. In fact I tried to fashion my early training after his. Also, I always admired Doug Hepburn, who actually was not a big man at the beginning of his weight lifting career (weighing  approximately 160 pounds), nor was he any stronger than the average person. But because of his tremendous drive he was able to add well over 100 pounds of bodyweight to his frame and became one of the strongest men in the world. Anyone who can take 500 pounds off the rack and press it overhead has to be strong! Buster McShane, a lifter from Belfast, Ireland, has been the British Empire 165 pound weightlifting champion a number of times. He also has done an official bench press of 450 pounds at this bodyweight.

We corresponded for several years; passing information back and forth that we felt would benefit one another in improving our bench press. Little has to be said as to why I admire John Grimek. I don’t know of any bodybuilder who has not had Grimek as his idol. Here is a man who has held numerous weightlifting titles and a physique that is ideal. He not only has the physique that is Herculean in appearance but has the basic power to back it. I have talked to many of the top physique stars and they all seem to agree that John has done more for bodybuilding than any other person, and has set many of the standards that we follow today. Paul Anderson has always been admired by me because of his exceptional strength and the way he can toy with such tremendous weights. This always amazed me. I find it hard to believe that anyone can do a full squat with 1100 pounds, when my back nearly breaks under 600 pounds. He has given all of us power lifters many goals to shoot towards.

Last July I set an unofficial world’s record in the bench press with 541 pounds at San Pedro, California. My official world record was 530 pounds. This was made in Pasadena, California during 1963. My goals have changed again, however. I am now shooting for a 600 pound bench press and I am confident that I can do it with the training program I am following. In the past few years I have changed my training program many times with the idea of finding ways to increase my power in this lift. Lately I have confined most of my training to four different exercises, and these four seem to help me more than all the others I used to employ in the past. These exercises are: (1) the incline press with dumbbells, (2) parallel bar dips, (3) triceps press on a flat bench, and (4) the regular bench press. I have achieved maximum gains in the bench press while using these exercises. In my own case I use very heavy weights, low repetitions and repeat each exercise in several sets.

To order securely, go here, please. To see Dave Yarnell’s other books, go here.

While I can’t say we’re consistent… well, let’s just say it’s been fun. Here are the most recent episodes of Gray Cook Radio.

Click on the episode link to listen here
Right or command click to save to your computer

Episode Nineteen:
Today Gray tells us about his summer MovNat experience and his conversations with Erwan LeCorre. Here’s where to find Erwan and his MovNat workshops.

Episode Eighteen:
Today Gray talks about his work on the Golf Digest golf combine

Episode Seventeen:
Now here’s a fun one: Gray’s take on isolation exercises—What’s a bodybuilder to do?

Episode Sixteen:
Today Gray talks about his Perform Better Pre-Conference Workshop. The full transcript is also available here.

Episode Fifteen:
In this episode we discuss the workout, specifically where do correctives go and when do we re-introduce sports training after a problem is found in the screen.

Episode Fourteen:
Let’s talk about brain science and a few popular books that teach it. The books Gray discusses are Brain Rules, The Talent Code, Talent is Overrated and Spark

Episode Thirteen:
Whatever happened to kettlebell snatches? And other tidbits kettlebell

Episode Twelve:
What exactly is dry needling? What does Gray use it for?
The dry needling school Gray mentioned is KinetaCore.

Episode Eleven:
Last week’s coverage of breathing and heart rate variability wasn’t enough. Let’s get a little more.
The monitor Gray talks about is the Polar FT80, and Polar’s overview of HRV is here. He also mentioned an iPhone ap called Ithlete, which you can find here.

Episode Ten:
In this episode, Gray begins to develop the topic of breathing

Published as a hardcover book in 2010, Gray Cook’s Movement: Functional Movement Systems, Screening, Assessment & Corrective Strategies is now available in softcover, $49.95. The books shipped from the printer Monday and will be in stock Friday.

I can say with confidence: Anyone who trains, coaches or treats individuals or teams will find value in this text.

Chapter 1—Introduction to Screening and Assessment
This introductory chapter builds the foundation you’ll need to fully understand the purpose of screening movement. You’ll learn the concept of movement patterns and how to recognize these patterns in action, as well as the history and primary goals of movement screening.

Chapter 2—Anatomical Science versus Functional Science
The next 16 pages expand on the differences between authentic movement and scientific anatomical function. The functional systems of muscles, joints and ligaments are covered, as are the fascial matrix, breathing and the neuromuscular network. Understanding movement deficiency and dysfunction and how these develop will illuminate your work, and clarify your explanations to your athletes, clients and patients.

Chapter 3—Understanding Movement
In Chapter 3, you’ll gain an appreciation of the natural laws of basic movement before specific, with an overview of how to use screening, testing and assessment to classify movement proficiency or deficiency. You’ll also get a summary of the differences between the two systems, the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA).

Chapter 4—Movement Screening
Where in your intake process should you screen? Can you screen an injured client or athlete? This section will help you place movement screening in your existing business model, or it will show you where your program structure might be improved.

Chapter 5—Functional Movement Systems and Movement Patterns
This summary explains the differences between the two systems, the FMS for fitness professionals and strength coaches, and the SFMA for medical professionals. You’ll get a brief look at the systems, and finish with an appreciation of primitive and higher-level movement patterns.

Chapter 6—Functional Movement Screen Descriptions
The chapter used to cover the FMS will teach you the seven basic screens in detail, including where to stand, what to watch for during the movements and how to plan your modifications. You’ll get a description of each screen, the purpose of each, tips for testing, implications and photographs showing how to score each test.

Chapter 7—SFMA Introduction and Top-Tier Tests
The top-tier assessments of the SFMA are covered in these 26 pages, which contain a discussion of the overlying considerations of functional versus dysfunctional and painful versus non-painful, the overriding criteria of the SFMA system. The seven elements of the top-tier will direct you to the breakout tests found in Chapter 8.

Chapter 8—SFMA Assessment Breakout Descriptions and Flowcharts
Taking 58 pages and 66 photographs to cover the SFMA breakouts will serve to remind medical professionals of the individual assessments, and at the same time make fitness trainers and strength coaches aware of the tests used by professionals to whom they refer clients and athletes. The rationale for each of the breakout regions will pull the process together for you as it simplifies the overall approach.

Chapter 9—Analyzing the Movements in Screens and Assessments
Chapter 9 teaches how to analyze the various test results. Using the tests of the Functional Movement Screen as the base, you’ll learn what mistakes most beginners make in screening, how to distinguish between stability and mobility problems and how to determine asymmetries. Here you’ll get your first introduction to reverse patterning (RP) and reactive neuromuscular training (RNT), two of the primary corrective tools of the Functional Movement Systems arsenal.

Chapter 10—Understanding Corrective Strategies
This begins the wrap-up: What do you do with the resulting screen and assessment information? The 20 pages of Chapter 10 comprise the performance pyramid and how to use it to form your corrective strategies. Understanding the differences between correct and corrective exercises, between challenging versus difficult, and having a selection of self-limiting exercises in your exercise menu will give you confidence as you assign and program exercises.

Chapter 11—Developing Corrective Strategies
Now that you’ve discovered dysfunctional patterns in your clients, athletes and patients, the next section will guide you in the corrective decisions that make up the three primary categories of mobility, stability and movement pattern retraining. You’ll get comparisons of conditioning and corrective exercise, movement prep and movement correction, skill training and corrective prioritization, and understand when each is appropriate.

Chapter 12—Building the Corrective Framework
This chapter provides a checklist for your corrective decisions: pain, purpose, posture, position, pattern and plan. Even though every person’s movement is unique, without this framework, your corrective path will not be as clear as it could be. You’ll also become familiar with the basic structure involving special considerations and populations that may make up part of your client or patient base.

Chapter 13—Movement Pattern Corrections
Chapter 13 builds on your knowledge of basic mobility and stability corrections and movement pattern retraining. Using passive, active and assistive techniques, you’ll be able to help your clients, athletes and patients recover lost mobility. Understanding stability and motor control, transitional postures and using facilitation techniques such as reactive neuromuscular training will give you the tools to challenge that new mobility. You’ll also become proficient at rolling after practicing the material in this rich chapter.

Chapter 14—Advanced Corrective Strategies
Finally, in the 24 remarkable pages of Chapter 14, you’ll learn how to make corrective exercise an experience. This is how corrective exercise actually works in the human body, and the thorough discussion found in this chapter will teach you how to create this for your clientele. Using PNF, RNT, reverse patterning, conscious loading, resisted and self-limiting exercises, you’ll grasp the concept of the manageable mistake zone, and you’ll be able to use these ideas and techniques to stand out in your crowded professional field.

Chapter 15—In Conclusion
This wrap-up section pulls the material together for one last review of where the industry is now, and where it’s heading. When you finish this section, you’ll have a complete understanding of the 10 principles of the Functional Movement System. These principles will guide you in learning and training authentic movement.

Appendices

• Michael Boyle: Joint-by-Joint Concept
• Gray Cook: Expanding on the Joint-by-Joint Approach
• Greg Rose: SFMA Score Sheets and Flowcharts
• Laurie McLaughlin: Introduction to Breathing
• Gray Cook: Introduction to Heart Rate Variability
• Gray Cook: Functional Movement Systems Team List
• Gray Cook: Early Perspective and the Jump Study
• Phil Plisky: Core Testing and Functional Goniometry
• Lee Burton: FMS Scoring Criteria and Score Sheet
• Authors: FMS Verbal Instructions
• Gray Cook: Conventional Deep Squat Evaluation Process
• Patient Self Evaluation Forms
• List of Illustrations
• References
• Index

About Movement, head of the Russian Kettlebell Certification and author of Enter the Kettlebell! Pavel Tsatsouline wrote, “Once a decade comes out a book that you will keep reading, rereading, and crowding with notes until it falls apart. Then you buy a new copy and enthusiastically start over. In the 1990s it was Verkhoshansky and Siff’s ‘Supertraining.’ In the 2000s McGill’s ‘Ultimate Back.’ Enter the 2010s and Cook’s ‘Movement.’ It is a game changer.”

The remarkable presenter list from the Perform Better Summits is truly a who’s who of strength and conditioning experts, each one a headliner. These two-and-a-half day conference events, held annually in Providence, Chicago and Long Beach, are broken up into four lectures per 75-minute time block and, as I noted last year, it’s an internal fight to choose. Imagine my pleasure at having not only permission, but actually orders to move between lecture rooms to monitor recording equipment! Get this: Chris Poirier, the guy behind these stellar Perform Better events, gave me the lucky task of recording the lecture sessions for a 27-CD live-recording set. Assuming my work next month goes as planned, you’ll see the CD recordings of these outstanding lectures on their site in about six weeks.

This assignment gave me something else, too: upfront access. Through Dave’s history in the early bodybuilding scene and in my work with guys like Dan John, Michael Boyle, Gray Cook and Lee Burton, I do have unusual connections to some of the leading experts in the fitness field, but recording the event added another element of entry. You’ll see more discussion of this as we begin to talk about our new audio lecture site featuring many of these speakers and their peers, set to launch early November. I’ll keep dropping hints for another month or so as we build up the content—specifically when we have about 50 lectures recorded, edited and transcribed for the audio product library.

We began the Long Beach immersion on Thursday by filming Gray’s four-hour pre-conference workshop as he built upon the movement screening foundation by showing the attendees what steps to take after the initial screen. What do you do with the screening results? This was where he answered that important question.

After a brief introduction to the Functional Movement Screen for those who weren’t familiar with it, several of his colleagues ran audience members through screening, and then Gray and Brett Jones reviewed the results and provided guidance on what each person would do next.  Gray and Brett are a hoot together, solidified by a 15-year friendship and a love of teaching, and, as always, Gray was simply brilliant and a joy to watch. We had three cameras on hand to capture the event,which you’ll see available on DVD in early November.

The next morning, early Friday as I hauled recording equipment from the hotel to the near-empty, still quiet Long Beach Convention Center, the first person I bumped into was Ed Thomas, whom you may remember from Gray and Brett’s Club Swinging Essentials DVD as the guy responsible for keeping Indian Club swinging popular here in the States.

As it turns out, he’s been an inversion advocate since the early ’70s when he made a trip to Santa Monica and discovered Franco Columbu hanging upside down from a pullup bar. That was the trip when he met Dave at Joe Gold’s old gym, a meeting that made an impression on him which he told in a story that choked me up through the grins.

Last year on Gray’s recommendation, I bought an inversion table, but it made me nauseas and I quickly gave up on it. Ed, a passionate teacher, spent about an hour with me over the course of the weekend, gave me a vestibular green light and showed me how to get my feet high and my head low. It’s a wonderful feeling that we’ll be talking more about here as he prepares his forthcoming inversion instructional material.

There were about 900 energetic people scurrying between the four conference rooms, but no chaos other than an errant fire alarm, and even that only gave the speakers fodder for laughs and presented no problems. The Summit’s lecture topics ranged from barefoot training to speed work, professional business guidance to nutrition; from kettlebells to ropes, women to youth and rehab to Olympic weightlifting. Regardless of niche, no one went away unsatisfied.

The event ended for me mid-day Sunday, when other than the Perform Better crew doing tear-down, I was the straggler in the convention center. By then I was carrying such a load of priceless treasure that I couldn’t bear to haul it through the maze of air transport. What if I lost track of a hard drive of film footage? These things happen in airports! With a canceled flight and a rental car, the drive home would let me keep my eyes on the film and audio footage packed tightly into barely zip-able bags. Interesting, this turned out to be a settling way to decompress after four days of activity, and whenever possible future recording trips are likely to include a calm drive home.

While the lectures were fabulous—highly recommended for anyone in this profession—for me, events like this are all about the camaraderie. It’s wonderful to sit back and watch the connections, excited chattering as trainers and coaches from Michael Boyle’s StrengthCoach.com forum meet for the first time in person, or presenters make instant decisions to collaborate on future events or projects. I got to see Gray, Lee, Brett and Mark Cheng meet Craig Liebenson for the first time after years of mutual appreciation, and looked on as Dan met Todd Durkin and re-connected with Ingrid Marcum and guys like Charles Staley and Thom Plummer. And even though he was only there one day, Michael, as always, was a crowd-pleaser with his happy laugh. But of course, that could have been because when he makes his quick-turnaround travel plans, his stay somehow always includes the free-beer social. He’s definitely a hit at free-beer socials.

It’s a remarkable blessing, and believe me, I do not take it lightly.