Leg Press

[star61]

@robin1

I have been training and competing in powerlifting over the last 1.5 years (getting back into sprinting now), and cannot agree at all with Westside being a safe way to train. Our club was split into two groups, one trained conventionally using linear or some form of wave-like periodisation (mainly working in the 3 to 5 rep range), the other group did Westside. Almost everyone in the Westside group got injured, while pretty much everyone in the conventional group stayed healthy. The guy leading the Westside training had actually visited the Westside gym a couple of times, so he definitely knew how the programme was supposed to work. Doing a large number of heavy singles in exercises you haven’t done for a long time (due to rotating the lifts) is the easiest way to get injured, as you are making your body exert maximum force in movements it isn’t used to. The overall volume of lifting is, moreover, too high for a drug free athlete, and a lot of exercises (e.g. super-wide box squats) is specifically designed for people lifting in multi-ply gear.

Your experience notwithstanding, Westside is not dangerous. Box squats are not dangerous. Statisitics have shown that all forms of weight training are much safer than just about any type of running, and certainly safer than plyos. Its not a matter of safety, period. Its about getting as strong as you can (or need to) effeciently and effectively. Powerlifting squats are not for everyone, but they are effective at building limit strength and they are NOT dangerous.