Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Ohio and visit Denison University and the infamous “Westside Barbell.” This trip was actually planned last year but a terrible ice storm shut down most major intersections and delayed all flights…..bummer. Seven months later I was finally able to make this trip a reality. I must say without going into detail, we had many “entertaining” and unexpected delays with our trip, everything from car trouble, tow trucks, $400 rental car fees (yeah….you read that right), additional hotel stays, 9 hours sleep in 3 1/2 days to arriving home early Saturday morning around 3 am and returning back to the gym for our 1st strength training session of the Saturday morning….yeah I was beat!!
Denison University Weight Room-Speed Squats at Westside Barbell
The purpose of this visit was to better educate myself and staff on the various methods for improving athletic performance and recovery through strength training, speed training, incoming athlete assessment, programming, and coaching cues from some of the most established strength and conditioning coaches in the country not too mention the strongest gym in country with multiple world record holders in every weight class in Westside Barbell.
Westside Barbell Record Board
My first training session of the trip began at Denison with head of strength and conditioning coach Mark Watts and some of his graduate interns. Mark right away made me feel at ease and introduced me to the head football coach Jack Hatum. From there we preceded to chat for a moment about how it is that I got started in this business and what my goals and strategies are when it comes to training and preparing athletes. He then took me down into the weight room and right away the smell of the iron and sweaty floors hit home to me, not mention the array of toys used to make Denison a powerhouse on the athletic battlefield. We didn’t bullshit around when it came time to train, we all got out the foam rollers and prepared our muscles for the thrashing they were about to take. We then went through a quick dynamic and mobility circuit to better prepare our CNS and loosen my ass up after being in a car almost 12 hours. We then preceded to go out to the student gym and take part in a tire flip/jump circuit for fastest time. I love competition and was pretty excited and nervous as it’s been some time for me lifting tires. Take a peep at this video to see just how this little speed/strength circuit went down.
I will preface this by saying that everyone there outweighed my by a minimum of 20 lbs with the max being almost 100 lbs!!
SUBSCRIBE===>FITT Warehouse Youtube Channel
Upon completing this strongman style training circuit, Kevin and his partner began to get ready for there Max Effort Bench press with assistance work while Andrew, Coach Mark, and myself were hitting log clean and presses until we hit our 1 RM. The lifting got real intense although we had some moments of chatting about technique and how to incorporate different means of strength training and meet the demands of parents, coaches, and athletes. Take a look at some of the photos of our log clean and press training. I will mention that I hit a PR with 165 lbs for one. Almost double my body weight. Not too bad for a guy whose had 3 rotator surgeries!!
Log Clean & Press
Strength Training
Notice the water filled kegs, sleds, prowlers, and plyo boxes in the back!!
Sorry to Andrew and Kevin for not having your pics up and posted as they came out a little blurry….my bad
After our log clean and press liftoff Mark realized that he can’t hang with the young studs anymore….J/K Mark. We followed up our overhead work with some assistance work for the tri’s, delts, and upper back and performed those in circuit fashion keeping our heart rate up and getting some extra GPP in.
Upon completing our testosterone driven lifting session we got cleaned up and headed down to the cafe’ hot spot pizzaria and there the weight lifting giants watched me down a whole cheese pizza by myself……pizza is my favorite food. At the pizza shop we talked football strategies, best way to get recruited, what it is that coaches and schools look for in a student athlete and not to mention how important it is to be FREAKEN STRONG for any athlete upon reaching the college level.
Travis' Muscle Building Food
It was almost time for me to be getting back as I had to travel 2 1/2 hours south to pick up Richard and Mindy and then drive 1 1/2 more hours back up north to get to hotel and get ready for Westside Barbell. The fun has just begun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to say thanks again to Coach Mark and Coach Hatum for allowing me to fit into there busy schedules as football camp is near and they are very busy. I appreciate there time and the free lunch 
and look forward to many more trips in the near future.
To see more great photos and videos of Part 1 of this trip and to stay in the loop for Part 2 make sure that you subscribe to our YOUTUBE PAGE and friend us up on FACEBOOK!!!
-T-
P.S. Stay tuned in for part 2 as well as our upcoming and much anticipated “secrets of speed training”
Other FREE Training Articles you may like:
“From the minute I first met Travis I could see the energy, excitment, passion, and knowledge he has for helping athltetes develop the skills necessary to succeed on the field and in life. His gym, FITT Warehouse is an extension of his personality and the training atmosphere is guaranteed to take you to the next level."