1996 I tore my right hip squatting. Rehabbed it for 6 months , It wouldn't come around . Westside's phone number was in one of Louies articles in PL USA , so I figured what did I have to lose . I called and asked to speak to Louie and he said THIS IS LOUIE . I explained my injury and said I was calling for help/advice . He spent 5 minutes talking to me and couldn't have been nicer. Told me he had done the same thing and how to get it better. After I hung up I was still kind of in shock , here was the most famous P L coach in the world helping someone he'd never met on the phone , with no hesitation. I'll never have anything bad to say about Louie Simmons .
Kevin ybarzabal because many haters talk bad about him without even meeting him. Others that criticize Simmons were just critiquing. Everyone else just talk shit
Awesome story! I love Louie. I met him at one of my first meets, I introduced myself to him and told him I had bought and studied all of his west side training dvds. To my surprise he told me that he had watched all of my lifts from that day and was impressed with my performance, I was competing as a junior at the time. He took me to the lobby of the hotel and sat and talked to me for over an hour, just us. He treated me like a friend he had known for years! I got him to sign my belt and I still wear that lifting belt today. One of the coolest, most respectful and knowledgeable men I’ve ever met! Made a huge impact on me.
Even if you've got 0 interest in athletics or lifting, Louie is just an interesting dude. Insanely sharp and intelligent, he can rattle off numbers and percentages like nobody's business. Ridiculously motivated, who else would've had translations done on Russian textbooks, *pre-internet*, for something he wasn't making a living from. Plus the physical tenacity, dude has an injury list longer than the first testament but he keeps going. You get people that have one, maybe two of those qualities, but for someone to have all of them is extremely rare.
Hi Mark I'm glad you're doing so well. I remember you from Westside. Your sense of humor and personality is off the charts! As always your a class act. Your review of W.S.A.W. was spot on. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to train at Westside before it was really "WESTSIDE BARBELL" at the first location off Demorest road. It was never in the cards for me to be on the "board of fame" but Louie helped me train just like the phenoms. Anyone that hasn't had the opportunity to step foot into this gym can't speak on it. People like yourself, Louie Simmons, Dave Hoff, Kenny P, Jimmy R, Chuch V., Jerry O., are now and always will be Westside legends. Especially the old school guys that were there in the beginning. Pioneering powerlifting and bringing it into mainstream culture. In the 90s when a person saw a guy in a "westside barbell" black and white T you knew what he was about! Serious dangerous and strong as f$#k! I think some of that's been lost over time because of the diversity of the people getting involved in the sport now. And its not a bad thing because powerlifting is the greatest, most intense sport on earth. A way of life that few can endure. Best of luck Mark in all you do. Sincerely, Dennie Little Sr.
C W mark is still on. He most likely will have to be on some form of trt for the rest of his live. Long term gear use shuts down most people’s natural testosterone production.
Thank you! I always, always appreciate your candidness! It may just be simple words coming from your mouth to our ears, but these words carry memories and emotions.
I feel like Louie is the Professor X of powerlifting and he had this gym that was like the school for gifted children where he recruited exceptional lifters and turned in into powerhouse beasts and then they went out on they're own to form their own teams just like the X-men. Louie's all old now and he should be protected at all costs.
Wow, to have been told by Louie that you'd never make the board, and then fired by him you show no resentment or anomocity whatsoever: impressively humble.
Sounds like the push you needed. Louie Simmons is a master manipulator in a good way. Loved the movie and he definitely knew how to get under people’s skin but it pushed them to be better. That is a good or even great trait of a master coach!
Thank you for this great tribute and review Mark! Even though I've never met the man or never even been to Westside Barbell it's been a huge influence on everything that I do in the gym and with the people I help! You, Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, Matt Wenning, Donnie Thompson have all been very big influences as well but it started with Louie! Thank you!
Great video Mark. I thought the documentary was great, but one of the things that I think was misrepresented was the "thug" mentality at the gym. In all reality that was about 10% or so of the people in the gym. Many of us, as you stated, were highly successful in our professional lives as well.
Glad you put this out. Not that it's mine or anyone else's business, but it looked like there might be a bit of hard feelings from the movie. I was glad to watch this and hear you speak positively about Louie and your time at Westside.
Agreed. Trained there in the early 90's with Lou, Doris, Amy, Chuck,Jeff Chorpenning and others. I learned a lot and Lou is a very gracious and kind person. I haven't seen him in many years; however, am too very grateful for all that I learned there.
Louie Simmons has a "theory" of strength training. In short, it is just a theory and no more than that. Many theorists do not agree with him about the best way to increase power and strength. Personally, I learned a lot from Louie. I spent 17 months talking to him from about 2009-2011. He was fantastic. He was motivational, instructive, and thoughtful. But most of all, he was reliable. When Louie was away from the gym and I left a message, he was certain to respond. Now that's a professional. That's a man. A person you can rely on. Louie's one of a kind. There's nobody like him. C.H.
interestingly, for 20 years I've stayed clear of Conjugate because I am a natty, raw lifter and was told Westside didn't help for us. In the past 4 months as a 43 year old, recovering from injury I decided to give it a try and it's been the best thing for me recovering my strength.
Its always interesting to hear from someone who actually was there.. so many people talk Shit about west side but never actually set foot in it.. cheers smelly!
When you said that beating David Hofs record being because of Lou's inspiration early on telling you, you'd never get on the board. I felt that. Beautiful story, thanks for giving us this one.
westside is the best side..i am from croatia but we all know about westside barbell..louie is the man,also mark you are awesome ,intelligent and i wish you all the best!
Mark and seem like a very genuine person. I wanna thank you for being the inventor of a piece of equipment that’s allowed me to go back to bench. I have every one of your slingshots, I haven’t been able to see an orthopedic yet I’m a disabled veteran and I’m waiting. But by using the slingshots it allows me to be able to at least bitch even though I’m not doing it on my own. I love your elbow sleeves and your knee sleeves also. Thank you for giving me something back that I love!
Dan Green's Boss Barbell Club is in the West also. ;) He was on the Westside Barbell podcast. Would be awesome if you did a Westside podcast with Louie!
Only suckers lose their lives to drugs, especially in the manner dimel did letting some junkie bitch shoot grams of cocaine and heroin into his arm in one syringe, that was only ending one way he lost
No one could say Simmons didn’t care short Matt either. Many can attest that Simmons tried to be there and bailed him out many times. Matt couldn’t overcome his demons
I bought a copy, but was pretty disappointed overall. After all the hype, it didn't live up. There's not enough footage of lifting, not enough interviews with the players, and a whole lot of repeating of segements Louie's done a dozen other times in other formats.
Agreed, i wish they dove deeper into the madness and animal like aggression of that gym, but it was more about a dying relic, last of his kind. Kinda sad in a way.😔
Let’s think for a minute. The footage is from 20 years ago, not from today. Many of them have move far away, or aren’t there anymore. Also cameras 20 years ago were rare, not everyone had a phone to record. I can assure you every piece of footage from that gym back then was in the video, think before you speak. You would be real disappointed if they had put footage from today, it’s nothing like that now.
Apparently they had some major problems with the funding for the movie. I even paid into the GoFundMe or whatever it was for it and I guess some other guy made off with that money so I never got shit back.
Well, there are people like that in powerlifting but they usually specialize in one lift to break all-time records when they're that big because it's not really efficient to be that big and be great at all 3 lifts. Strongman is a bit different because there's a lot more involved there and not everything is a maximal effort lift. For example, Julius Maddox currently weighs around 455 lbs. He is the current all-time world record holder in the bench press and has been attempting to be the first man ever to bench press 800 lbs raw, with no support gear. He is a monster of a man obviously. The thing is, since he is a bench specialist, his totals on all 3 lifts are good mostly because of his amazing bench. That being said, many of the top strongman competitors throughout the years were, in fact, very competitive in powerlifting as well. Some of the Icelandic guys were national champs, Bill Kazmeir was a great powerlifter, and many many others too.
1996 I tore my right hip squatting. Rehabbed it for 6 months , It wouldn't come around . Westside's phone number was in one of Louies articles in PL USA , so I figured what did I have to lose . I called and asked to speak to Louie and he said THIS IS LOUIE . I explained my injury and said I was calling for help/advice . He spent 5 minutes talking to me and couldn't have been nicer. Told me he had done the same thing and how to get it better. After I hung up I was still kind of in shock , here was the most famous P L coach in the world helping someone he'd never met on the phone , with no hesitation. I'll never have anything bad to say about Louie Simmons .
Samuel Clemons how could you...you don’t even know him
Kevin ybarzabal because many haters talk bad about him without even meeting him. Others that criticize Simmons were just critiquing. Everyone else just talk shit
@@kevinybarzabal2720 Exactly .
@@mptrader1620 If you don't mind, what was the name of his DVD about the back? I have just hurt my back so that would be useful.
@@veganbodybuilding There were two. Training Secrets of Westside Barbell: Reactive Method and Training Secrets of Westside Barbell: Dead Lift Secrets.
Awesome story! I love Louie. I met him at one of my first meets, I introduced myself to him and told him I had bought and studied all of his west side training dvds. To my surprise he told me that he had watched all of my lifts from that day and was impressed with my performance, I was competing as a junior at the time. He took me to the lobby of the hotel and sat and talked to me for over an hour, just us. He treated me like a friend he had known for years! I got him to sign my belt and I still wear that lifting belt today. One of the coolest, most respectful and knowledgeable men I’ve ever met! Made a huge impact on me.
Even if you've got 0 interest in athletics or lifting, Louie is just an interesting dude. Insanely sharp and intelligent, he can rattle off numbers and percentages like nobody's business. Ridiculously motivated, who else would've had translations done on Russian textbooks, *pre-internet*, for something he wasn't making a living from. Plus the physical tenacity, dude has an injury list longer than the first testament but he keeps going. You get people that have one, maybe two of those qualities, but for someone to have all of them is extremely rare.
Kudos to Mark Bell, too. He spoke from the heart here. And it was Truth! 🙋🙏
Hi Mark I'm glad you're doing so well. I remember you from Westside. Your sense of humor and personality is off the charts! As always your a class act. Your review of W.S.A.W. was spot on. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to train at Westside before it was really "WESTSIDE BARBELL" at the first location off Demorest road. It was never in the cards for me to be on the "board of fame" but Louie helped me train just like the phenoms. Anyone that hasn't had the opportunity to step foot into this gym can't speak on it. People like yourself, Louie Simmons, Dave Hoff, Kenny P, Jimmy R, Chuch V., Jerry O., are now and always will be Westside legends. Especially the old school guys that were there in the beginning. Pioneering powerlifting and bringing it into mainstream culture. In the 90s when a person saw a guy in a "westside barbell" black and white T you knew what he was about! Serious dangerous and strong as f$#k! I think some of that's been lost over time because of the diversity of the people getting involved in the sport now. And its not a bad thing because powerlifting is the greatest, most intense sport on earth. A way of life that few can endure. Best of luck Mark in all you do.
Sincerely, Dennie Little Sr.
I watched it on Netflix a few days ago.. loved every minute of it.
Couldn't find it can you help?
When Dave hoff said it was on the level of pumping iron and rocky, he was right
Very interesting
Way to show respect. Says a lot about you
Louie: You are off the Team Mark!
I remember in your bro’s movie, “bigger, faster, stronger” when Louie said stopping gear would be “the death of Smelly”
As a powerlifter, it was. As a businessman and entrepreneur, not so much lol
C W mark is still on. He most likely will have to be on some form of trt for the rest of his live. Long term gear use shuts down most people’s natural testosterone production.
Thank you!
I always, always appreciate your candidness!
It may just be simple words coming from your mouth to our ears, but these words carry memories and emotions.
I feel like Louie is the Professor X of powerlifting and he had this gym that was like the school for gifted children where he recruited exceptional lifters and turned in into powerhouse beasts and then they went out on they're own to form their own teams just like the X-men. Louie's all old now and he should be protected at all costs.
That must be some good stuff your smoking ghettobeats.
@@yehbuddy1005 😂😂😂😂
Don’t forget Steve Goggins. I think he was Westside
@Jin hahahaaha nice one mate, he's a she-men now
Many of legendary lifters weren’t even recruited , but down the street
This is what I wanted to see as well. Louie has a great tree and would be cool to see and hear more about that
Wow, to have been told by Louie that you'd never make the board, and then fired by him you show no resentment or anomocity whatsoever: impressively humble.
Lou knew what he was doing. He was motivating him.
You and Dave Tate are great ambassadors for Louie and Westside.
Thanks for the movie update.
Perfect date night movie 🎥 🍿 !
Sounds like the push you needed. Louie Simmons is a master manipulator in a good way. Loved the movie and he definitely knew how to get under people’s skin but it pushed them to be better. That is a good or even great trait of a master coach!
Thank you for this great tribute and review Mark! Even though I've never met the man or never even been to Westside Barbell it's been a huge influence on everything that I do in the gym and with the people I help! You, Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, Matt Wenning, Donnie Thompson have all been very big influences as well but it started with Louie! Thank you!
Great talk Mark. Documentary is on Netflix now!
I watched it last night.
It left a big impression on me.
These guys are on a different level.
Videos like this are why I watch your channel! I appreciate a successful person being humble and not being afraid to show it.
Great video Mark. I thought the documentary was great, but one of the things that I think was misrepresented was the "thug" mentality at the gym. In all reality that was about 10% or so of the people in the gym. Many of us, as you stated, were highly successful in our professional lives as well.
Kenny the legend!
Awesome video, I gotta say Mark witnessing your weight loss/transformation is mind blowing. Keep up the great work.
Glad you put this out. Not that it's mine or anyone else's business, but it looked like there might be a bit of hard feelings from the movie. I was glad to watch this and hear you speak positively about Louie and your time at Westside.
Agreed. Trained there in the early 90's with Lou, Doris, Amy, Chuck,Jeff Chorpenning and others. I learned a lot and Lou is a very gracious and kind person. I haven't seen him in many years; however, am too very grateful for all that I learned there.
You went on to be your own man Smelly and have done great things love the podcast
the supertraining DOT tv shit made feel nostalgic as hell
Same!
Wish silent Mike woulda stuck around
Well put Mark(Smelly)! Glad I got to know ya a bit and train with you. I wish you continued success brother!
Louie Simmons has a "theory" of strength training. In short, it is just a theory and no more than that. Many theorists do not agree with him about the best way to increase power and strength. Personally, I learned a lot from Louie. I spent 17 months talking to him from about 2009-2011. He was fantastic. He was motivational, instructive, and thoughtful. But most of all, he was reliable. When Louie was away from the gym and I left a message, he was certain to respond. Now that's a professional. That's a man. A person you can rely on. Louie's one of a kind. There's nobody like him.
C.H.
A theory is far different than an idea and definitely holds credibility.
interestingly, for 20 years I've stayed clear of Conjugate because I am a natty, raw lifter and was told Westside didn't help for us. In the past 4 months as a 43 year old, recovering from injury I decided to give it a try and it's been the best thing for me recovering my strength.
That’s cool you did that Mark!💪🏼💯
Its always interesting to hear from someone who actually was there.. so many people talk Shit about west side but never actually set foot in it.. cheers smelly!
I love listening to you talk because you keep it 100 % honest. There is always something to take away from our life experiences good or bad.
Smelly beat Hoff? Further proof of being a monster, Smelly.
Smelly beethoff 😅😅
Honesty and respect, you’re a class act Mark
Terrific job Mark! Nice to see a very successful man, give credit to others who provided the drive to be so successful!
Great Video & Even Better Story! Thanks again Smelly 💪🏼🤜🏼💥🤛🏼💯
When you said that beating David Hofs record being because of Lou's inspiration early on telling you, you'd never get on the board. I felt that.
Beautiful story, thanks for giving us this one.
Really great story telling. Super hearing this side of you. Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff Mark. Honest and humble!
Mark looks great. I was first introduced to him by his brothers documentary. He seems a nice man.
westside is the best side..i am from croatia but we all know about westside barbell..louie is the man,also mark you are awesome ,intelligent and i wish you all the best!
That's the best video that you've ever done. Well done.
One of your best videos Smelly....
Saw it the day it came out on Amazon. It was surprisingly good!
Great title 👍
I wish all chiropractors had your knowledge base and education and I hope you appear on JRE one day for more exposure and to possibly change his mind.
You look so much better now and are definitely more healthy. Powerlifting is ok but I never got the suit stuff.
Great tribute video to Louie and WSBB. I felt the authenticity.
Great video, Mark.
Mark and seem like a very genuine person. I wanna thank you for being the inventor of a piece of equipment that’s allowed me to go back to bench. I have every one of your slingshots, I haven’t been able to see an orthopedic yet I’m a disabled veteran and I’m waiting. But by using the slingshots it allows me to be able to at least bitch even though I’m not doing it on my own. I love your elbow sleeves and your knee sleeves also. Thank you for giving me something back that I love!
Nice video. Looking forward to seeing the movie.
Great Video. Very inspiring. Thank You.
Great review Mark. Along with some personal input. I could see a few times you were getting a little touched just reminiscing ✌🏼
I am Size Master, bow before me simple peasants.
Great video. Thumbs up!
Classy way to approach this experience, Mark. Well done.
Well spoken Mark (AKA Smelly). Will go ahead and watch that movie boss!
You can watch it on Amazon prime right now for $0.99 I'm going to
you inspire as always Mark!
It was amazing. My gf actually picked it out on Amazon. I ended up buying it on blue ray.
Matt Richards
Marry her
Wife material
Did the DVD have any special features?
You can rent it on Amazon for $0.99!
Fuck Amazon
Fantastic tribute to Da Man!
Available on Netflix now
That was a great and honest video. Thank you!
Interesting story Mark! Keep it Up!
Hell yeah. It is a great movie.
no
Great insight. Thanks much.
Mark "Wrestling Barnies, California stump Jumpers" Bell!!! Gotta do a shirt.. LMAO 😂🤣
Dan Green's Boss Barbell Club is in the West also. ;) He was on the Westside Barbell podcast. Would be awesome if you did a Westside podcast with Louie!
Doesn't Louie fire everyone though?
Watched it a few weeks ago on Netflix. Now I listen to it during my workout.
Great video
That clip of you as a wrestler makes me so happy lmao
Great post....by the way, if I'm ever on the West Coast, do I need to inoculate myself against California Stump Jumping?🤣
Wow! Keep inspiring!
I do REALLY recommend this movie. i've seen it and i was amazed, one of the best movies i've ever seen
What's the best way to get it?
@@roidwizard2679 i don't know, i got a Link from a friend so i could watch it
@Spasovski Mihail just got a Link from a friend that i could watch it on
From the 4 seconds hearing you on the mic it seems like you would make a heck of a pro wrestler.
Perhaps Louie didn’t attend Matt Dimel’s funeral because he died of a heroin overdose
Why would that matter
Only suckers lose their lives to drugs, especially in the manner dimel did letting some junkie bitch shoot grams of cocaine and heroin into his arm in one syringe, that was only ending one way he lost
No one could say Simmons didn’t care short Matt either. Many can attest that Simmons tried to be there and bailed him out many times. Matt couldn’t overcome his demons
Cool video Mark
That's why I fuk with ya Mark , you speak from the Heart kid
Very classy video. Well done.
California Stump Jumpers!!! Ha,ha That was a Great Documentary.
Great video bro
FYI-Movie is available to stream on amazon Prime
Been trying to find it on iTunes but it’s not coming up. Just podcasts
Rip Louie. What a guy
such great reflections on simmons from bell. really interesting.
It's interesting how "tough guys" really are just as desperate for attention and admiration as everyone else.
You’re not a tough guy cause you take steroids and lift
@escobarrich8753 Sorry your daddy hurt you weak guy.
I bought a copy, but was pretty disappointed overall. After all the hype, it didn't live up. There's not enough footage of lifting, not enough interviews with the players, and a whole lot of repeating of segements Louie's done a dozen other times in other formats.
Agreed, i wish they dove deeper into the madness and animal like aggression of that gym, but it was more about a dying relic, last of his kind. Kinda sad in a way.😔
Let’s think for a minute. The footage is from 20 years ago, not from today. Many of them have move far away, or aren’t there anymore. Also cameras 20 years ago were rare, not everyone had a phone to record. I can assure you every piece of footage from that gym back then was in the video, think before you speak. You would be real disappointed if they had put footage from today, it’s nothing like that now.
Jesse!!!! I love that guy. Nice video.
Hey that neck machine at 8:42, does that shiet really work??
Apparently they had some major problems with the funding for the movie. I even paid into the GoFundMe or whatever it was for it and I guess some other guy made off with that money so I never got shit back.
Just found out that westside barbell is actually on the east coast
It’s on the West side of Columbus OH
Where can u find this movie?
Great vid!
Good film glad I backed it. Still pissed that they have been fudging around our bonus content for doing so.
I bought the movie and love it!
Worth every penny!
What about that gym in Iceland
Whats the film name ?
Honest men talk !!👍
I wonder how much someone over 450 could total if they concentrated on it like if Shaw or Thor type of size
Well, there are people like that in powerlifting but they usually specialize in one lift to break all-time records when they're that big because it's not really efficient to be that big and be great at all 3 lifts. Strongman is a bit different because there's a lot more involved there and not everything is a maximal effort lift. For example, Julius Maddox currently weighs around 455 lbs. He is the current all-time world record holder in the bench press and has been attempting to be the first man ever to bench press 800 lbs raw, with no support gear. He is a monster of a man obviously. The thing is, since he is a bench specialist, his totals on all 3 lifts are good mostly because of his amazing bench. That being said, many of the top strongman competitors throughout the years were, in fact, very competitive in powerlifting as well. Some of the Icelandic guys were national champs, Bill Kazmeir was a great powerlifter, and many many others too.
Watched it a few times now and loved documentary.
The documentary was ok... Kinda sad though 😔