Westside vs. the World [DVD]

Always been a fan of westside and got to meet a lot of the old members

I see a lot of people complaining that if you're not already familiar with powerlifting, you probably won't enjoy this documentary. I suppose that's accurate, but at the same time, if you're not interested in powerlifting why would you be watching it? Seriously, if these topics don't interest you, it's an easy pass.If they do, if you're well versed in the people and history of the sport, this will be an incredibly interesting stop gap to fill in some of the information you wouldn't otherwise find from the outside. All these people are real. Their stories and extremities are real. Westside is notorious for a reason, and it's why people like myself gravitate towards raw powerlifting. I can't imagine I'll ever lift equipped, because I simply have no interest in it. Without Westside that dichotomy would likely not exist.I just want to add 1 last note. I was honestly expecting it to be a bit more vulgar and aggressive than it was. I was kind of afraid of seeing footage or description of serious injuries or fights or whatever. That stuff didn't really make it in, and I think that's a good thing. It's certainly not a documentary you'll want to watch with your kids, but at the same time there's nothing that will scar you mentally.It's a must watch for anyone involved in powerlifting, or even the other variants of strength sports in my opinion. Everyone treats Louie Simmons with incredibly bad faith, jumping on anything that's the least bit not in line with what they think they know personally. The bottom line is, you don't have the level of success Louie did without being Yoda as Eddie Coan says in the movie. Sure, he might get a few details incorrect, but he has a tremendous amount to teach us. I'll get anecdotal briefly when I say, everyone I know who personally trained in the spirit of the conjugate system has had a great deal of success with it.

By the time i was 18yrs old i had 4 herniated disks, a pinch never on my lower back, separated shoulder with 3 bone fragments pinching, a fracture in my collar bone, i hated life, every breath was just a killer, then i found Louie and the reverse hyper after that i went to play 4 years semi pro on both sides of the line, and now i fence with a german longsword, i went from hating life and barely being able to move to teaching ppl at my fencing school that strength is the key to health, i could never thank him enough.

Big fan of documentaries and sports so this really was interesting to say the least!

Fantastic documentary which has been long awaited. The film is almost a dedication to Louie Simmons of Westside. It documents his creation of Westside BarBell and what’s now widely known as the Conguate method of training. The film looks at some of the greatest lifters to come out from Westside and briefly touches about the training method. Don’t expect it to revel much to you, but of course you can buy the ‘book of methods’ if you want to learn more about it.If you are into Powerlifting or Strength sports of that era it’s a must purchase. Digital versions are available of Vimeo, ITunes and YouTube. However I purchased the BlueRay which works fine in the U.K.

Would highly recommended this documentary to anyone who liked pumping iron or anyone has had had any fascination about westside. After the film, I definitely had a sense that not every important subject was covered. But none the less, it does go into the detail and history of what has made westside the strongest gym in the world.

The events leading up to the launch of the film are a movie in and of itself. The film goes through the history of Westside and its lore as well as some more current topics. The only downside of the movie is that it was a bit too brief because there was not enough depth to each era of Westside.It is also a film that had participation from Louie (Westside owner) but not his direction, i.e. he did not want to participate.Overall it was very enjoyable and I watched it a few times during my rental. It definitely motivates you to lift!

My Sweetheart is a former Westside lifter, as well as a 3 time National and 2 time World Champion Powerlifter.I always had a hard time understanding the actual powerlifting world. . .after watching the documentary on Westside it is amazing what these guys do and how they dedicate their entire life to it.

Excellent documentary.Worth watching more than once

Honestly the best film and the only ever film I've watched over and over again