What is the best program for ???

On forums all over the Internet, there are people asking the age old question "What is the best program for...". Occasionally you will get some interesting replies, but mostly you get a reply filled with myopic zeal.

Yes, I know, Westside is a fantastic system, but it's not the be all and end all of the entire training world.

I know Louie Simmons has claimed its the greatest system ever, at the time decrying all other forms of training as ineffective or just plain useless. However, without actual solid evidence behind the various training systems, it gets difficult to define "best".

However, it is unlikely we could ever achieve a true controlled trial examining the programs, and as such we are left in a "My dad is stronger than your dad" comparison.

Who produces the best lifters.

This is a confounded comparison if ever there was one. With the differences in judging, equipment, people, drugs, and approximately 1,284,209 other factors between the federations, saying this is better than that, is extremely difficult.

Some argue that Louie based it on the Russian Research, and these guys "Are so far ahead of our strength research its not funny" (yeah right...) but so did Boris Sheiko, and Elite lifters training from Westside doesn't quite mirror Boris Sheiko's setup.

If you run comparisons over the programs you get similar trends.

Ultimately, strength is built on the gains achieved in each session(day, week, month depending on how you are looking at it). There are three main factors involved in the development of strength and they are inter-related - this relationship I view as The Strength Triangle (taken from the project management area).

If the triangle has fixed sides, altering one aspect will alter the others to maintain the strength gains (in the real world it is possible to change all three at once, however, this will probably not work the best. There are also many other aspects that influence strength gains, I am primarily looking at it from a very basic view.)

If you increase frequency, either volume or load has to decrease, to accommodate this.
Decreasing frequency requires something else to come up to achieve the gains.

Westside offer relatively high intensity (or high power output - speed work) with moderate frequency and relatively low volume.

Sheiko drops the intensity somewhat (He has stated an average workload of 71-72% gives the best gains), while ramping up the volume and frequency.

Coan's style of linear cycle sits in the middle. The early days are lowish intensity, but moderate volume/frequency, but the intensity just gets higher through the cycle.

Metal Militia benching is a tricky one. These guys promote a high volume, high intensity and moderate frequency program. It is, however, predominantly a bench focused program. Sheiko bench program is 5-6 days per week of bench movements. Militia back off routinely to aid in the joint pain/fatigue issues than can come with their workouts.

Drugs of course can aid in this overall focus.

All of these programs work, have produced champions, have aided in the development of mental strength. The main thing is they may go about the gains in slightly different ways, which brings us back to the best program.

The best program is one that offers you, the most enjoyment, the least injuries, suits your temperament, time available and onwards. Telling somebody who wants to get as strong as possible that its best to do Westside - and he then injures himself every other week - is worthless. Just as telling somebody he must do 15hrs of Sheiko programming per week, when they only have 4hrs to spare, is equally worthless.

Not many people in their right mind would want to train seven times a week, for up to 2-3hrs a go, but it works for Brian Siders.

The best program is the one you can do, do repeatedly, do progressively, and enjoy.



I will add a comment, to hopefully cover any negative spin on this. Louie Simmons has added to the knowledge base of powerlifting significantly. With a vast array of alternative exercises (boards, bands, weight releasers, boxes, foam), knowledge on gear, technique in the gear, and with his Video's has allowed an entire generation of lifters to understand how to use these techniques to their advantage. The best coaches will try everything, drop the garbage and keep the good stuff, Louie, amongst others use this concept extremely well, to push powerlifting forwards into new areas.