Louie Simmons is a powerlifter, strength training writer, and trainer.

Simmons began training in Olympic lifting at age 12. He was first exposed to powerlifting in 1966, at a meet in Dayton, Ohio. Shortly after that meet, Louie went into the Army. After basic training, he was in the infantry but instead of Vietnam, he was sent to Berlin. He got out of the Army in 1969.

Contents 1 Powerlifting career 2 Training 3 Writing and instructional activities 4 Equipment patents

[edit] Powerlifting career

Simmons entered his first national meet, the Junior Nationals, in Paterson, New Jersey in 1971, where he placed third. In 1972, he made the top ten in the Powerlifting News. Lou made his first Elite total in February 1973 when there was no gear used. His lifts were squat - 605, bench press – 380, and deadlift – 670, for a total of 1655.

Simmons is one of only six lifters to total Elite in five weight classes within various lifting organizations and to total elite for over 40 years. He is also the only lifter over the age of 50 to squat as much as 920 pounds and total over 2100 pounds.

During his competitive career, Simmons has experienced a variety of injuries. He has broken his fifth vertebra twice, ruptured his left patella tendon, and detached his right biceps from the bone.

He has a daughter and two granddaughters.

[edit] Training

Simmons has worked with twenty-five World and National Champion powerlifters, twenty-seven lifters who have totaled over 2000 pounds, and a World Record holder in the 400-meter dash (Butch Reynolds). He is a strength consultant for the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and numerous college football teams. Simmons is the owner and trainer of Westside Barbell, located in Columbus, Ohio. Most lifters at Westside Barbell use a system developed by weightlifters in the former Soviet Union involving conjugate training^{[citation needed]} . The training week in the Westside Barbell system typically consists of four sessions per week. Two of these sessions focus on upper body work, using the bench press as the main lift. One upper body session is used to lift maximal loads while the other is used for dynamic work using lighter loads with higher speed. The other two sessions focus on lower body work, with the squat and deadlift being the primary focus. One day per week is a maximum effort session while the other is a dynamic effort session, typically using box squats with a fast speed and lighter loads than the max effort day.

[edit] Writing and instructional activities

Simmons has been a contributing writer for the monthly publication Powerlifting USA. He has also written instructional articles, given seminars across the country, and made training videos.

[edit] Equipment patents

Louie invented the "reverse hyper" after breaking his fifth lumbar vertebra. The device was patented in 1993 (patent numbers 5,356,359[1] and 6,491,607[2]) and he now holds patents for three different variations. He has also patented the "plyo swing", the "tread sled", and the "belt squat machine".