Group Training Intangibles Dominates Individual Training

The famous saying is if you can only choose one (a great trainer or a great training partner), choose a training partner. This anecdote is reflected time and time again by the most incredible performers in the gym. It’s the reason NFL teams despite the financial freedom to train individually still train in groups.

In fact, there’s not a more notorious training environment than that of Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio. With the recent passing of powerlifting legend, inventor, and mastermind, Louie Simmons, the world is reflecting on the culture at Westside. Our friends at Power Athlete HQ sat down with Louie just weeks before he passed for what would be his final interview. The topic of group training is cited by both ten year NFL veteran, John Welborne, and Louie Simmons as a non-negotiable difference maker in training outcomes.

More than the controversial, innovative methods, Westside Barbell churned out world record holders by the dozens in a training environment that carried legend and social clout that is hard to capture in brevity. The gym was a ruthlessly competitive environment, chock full with bulldogs and thousand-pound squatters. Stories of training sessions turned violent still bounce around the strength world.

Remarkable training outcomes are tethered to the training environment.

It’s my view that if you want to be better, you’ve got to be in a room that will push you physically. That push comes from peers better than it comes from authority figures.