Louie Simmons, Legendary weightliftertrainer, founder of Westside Barbell, inventor and the man credited as the mastermind behind conjugate training has According to reports, he died at the age of 74.. At the time of this article’s publication, it is unclear exactly when Simmons died or what her cause of death was.
Westside Barbell announced Simmons’ passing on their official Instagram page on March 24, 2022.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Louie Simmons,” the post reads. “We will make a formal announcement after we process the loss.” The publication also contains an excerpt from Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s famous poem “Do not go gentle into that good night”;
“Do not go meekly into that good night. Rage, rage against the death of light.”
The legacy of Louie Simmons
Louie Simmons was born on October 12, 1947. He fell in love with weight training early on and entered the world of powerlifting at age 20. He would spend the next 50 years of his life training some of the sport’s most notable and elite competitors, including Chuck Vogelphol, EliteFTS founder Dave Tate, Jim Wendlerand JM Blakely.
Simmons is the founder of the famous west side bar gym, located in Columbus, OH, and invented both the reverse hyper and belt squat machines. He also developed the conjugate training methodsometimes called the Westside Slash Conjugate Method, which helped popularize the use of chains and resistance bands as a way to add accommodative resistance to specific elevators.
Simmons was also an accomplished athlete. According to open weightlifting, competed from 1979 until their last meet in 2012. Simmons primarily competed in equipped weightliftingwhich allows the use of bench tops and squat suits.
His best lifts in competition, having competed in the 100 and 110 kilogram classes, are as follows:
- squat (single layer) — 821 pounds
- Squat (multilayer) — 920 pounds
- Bench press (Raw) — 496 pounds
- Bench press (single layer) — 530 pounds
- Bench press (multi-layer) — 600 pounds
- dead weight (single layer) — 705 pounds
- Deadlift (multi-layer)) — 715 pounds
In 2019, the documentary westside against the world was released. Chronicling Simmons’ myriad contributions to strength sports and his provocative and controversial weightlifting club, the film served to introduce Simmons and Westside Barbell to a new generation of fans. The documentary is available to rent and buy on Amazon Prime.
Shortly after news of Simmons’ passing broke, a handful of prominent weightlifters reached out to Bar Bend and posted on social media to react to the news of his death.
Ed Coan
“There will never be an individual so obsessed with weightlifting and strength. He lived and loved everything.”
dan bell
“Honestly, I’m still in shock. I never really thought the guy would go. I pray one day to have a legacy equal to a fraction of what his [legacy] is and always will be.”
Fletcher CT
“I learned a lot from Louie Simmons. RIP Legend”.
matt wenning
“Rest easy, brother, you have changed many of us for the better, and that is all we can really achieve in this life.”
Julius Maddox
“Rest in peace, Legend. Lou and I had a seminar last year at Strength Beyond Fitness, and I will be eternally grateful for that experience.”
Bar Bend will update this article with more details about Simmons’ passing as they become public.
Featured Image: @westsidebarbellofficial on Instagram
