A Tale of Two Programs: Why Westside and Sheiko Programs Work
Written by Tate Tobiason, MS, CSCS
If you have spent any amount of time in the world of powerlifting, chances are that you have heard about Louie Simmons and Boris Sheiko. Both of these men are legendary coaches in the powerlifting world who have produced high caliber lifters. However, when you compare these two side by side, they seem almost at odds with how they approach the sport of powerlifting. Louie lives by the conjugate system where exercises are constantly rotated to avoid accommodation, while Sheiko rarely uses anything but a barbell. So what gives? Who is right and who is getting lucky? Well, I can tell you with the sustained and repeat success of these two that they are not riding on luck. So let’s break down the programs, examine them and then try to understand why each approach garners a level of success.
Westside at a Glance
The Westside system is one that revolves around building up weaknesses through specialty exercises. A standard training week consists of four primary workouts, with many supplementary workouts. Workouts last from 45min to one hour. Lifters do not mess around, and are there to train hard. The workouts are divided into lower and upper body sessions with each dedicated to training one of the methods of strength (Max Effort and Dynamic Effort) with their primary lift. Three to five accessory exercises are used to build up weak points following the training session’s primary movement. So let’s take a quick look at how each day is organized.
Max Effort Day
Westside is known for its Max Effort days where the weights are big and the stakes are high. The max effort movement for the session is performed within the first 20 minutes of the workout. Yes you read that right, Westside athletes are not typical powerlifters who set up a lawn chair and rest for five minutes in-between sets. They are quick and decisive in their warmups, rarely doing more than three reps, and treating every rep as if it were their max. Max effort is not maxing out, rather it is working up to a demanding daily max. No need for ammonia and head butts.
Dynamic Effort Day
Dynamic effort or Speed work is the key ingredient at Westside according to Louie Simmons. A lifter only has so much time to grind through a lift so they must learn to display force at higher rates Louie states. Dynamic effort is simply the method of moving sub-maximal weights at maximal velocities. A typical Dynamic Effort workout at Westside consists of 8-12 sets of 1-3 reps at 50-85% on a core lift variation. Accommodating resistance is utilized during these workouts to account for the lifters strength curve. The same movement is used for three weeks following a ramp up in resistance: Week 1 50%+25% band, Week 2 55%+25% band, and Week 3 60% + 25% band.
Accessories
Louie states that Westside training is 20% barbell and 80% assistance movements. Lifters are built off of accessory exercises. These exercises must be intense and targeted towards weak points. Following the ME or DE exercise, 3-5 accessory exercises are chosen for the workout. Rep ranges can range from five reps up to 50 reps depending on the lifters needs and where they are in meet prep.
Conjugate system
A hallmark of the Westside system is their use of the Conjugate system on Max Effort and accessory movements (only for highly advanced lifters). The Conjugate system consists of lifters rotating exercises frequently, every few weeks or even week to week. By constantly changing the stimulus, lifters are never able to accommodate to the exercise and are exposed to a wide variety of motor patterns. Movements should be geared towards weak points in the lifters performance. In order for the Conjugate system to be effective, lifters must be brutally honest with themselves to avoid programming comfort exercises that won’t transfer over to their total.
Supplementary Workouts
A commonly overlooked aspect of Westside is how lifters perform many supplementary workouts throughout the week. These are generalized physical preparedness (GPP) workouts. Sled drags are a hallmark of these workouts, as they allow the lifter to increase workload with little physical strain on the body due to a lack of eccentric movement. Additionally tricep, core and mobility work are commonly added in.
Example Westside Week *Taken from my own training log
Critiques
Westside is commonly criticized for its lack of specificity due to the constant rotation of exercises. Conjugate programming, while exposing the lifter to a wide variety of stimulus, does not allow for any stabilization of technique. This can become an issue on meet day, as the lifter has little experience with the competitive lifts leading to poor weight choices along with faulty technique. To combat this, some lifters designate their speed days to the competitive lifts or lean away from conjugate training closer to a meet.
Another critique of Westside training is the absence of a de-load week. Between constantly switching the stimulus and the wave loading of speed days, de-load weeks are not used in standard Westside programming. However, some Westside disciples such as Matt Wenning now advocate for a de-load week every fourth week.
Finally, many coaches do not regard speed work as essential for powerlifting. These coaches come from the perspective that powerlifting is a grinding sport and lifters must be exposed to a greater volume of heavier and thus slower moving weight. Former Westside lifter and bench press specialist JM Blakely advocates for the no speed work approach.
______________________________________________________________________________
Sheiko at a glance
Very few coaches have their name associated with a style of programming. Boris Sheiko is one of these few coaches. Sheiko programs are characterized by their specificity, volume and commitment to powerlifting as a skill. Each rep must be performed with perfect form and intent. Poor quality reps equal poor quality results on meet day. For the majority of Sheiko programming, you can count all of the exercises used in the 12 weeks preceding a competition on one hand. While exercise selection may be low, sets and reps undulate between workouts, weeks and months. I have yet to see a Sheiko program that repeats a workout.
One interesting aspect of Sheiko programming is its lack of high percentage lifting. Majority of training sessions use between 70-80% 1RM load and repetitions rarely exceed five per set. Percentages of 90% and higher are used, but sparingly and only once or twice leading up to a competition.
Sheiko, like many Russian Coaches, believes that volume (sets and reps) has a higher impact on training than intensity (%1RM). Please note, Sheiko does not count warmup reps with a 45lb bar as total load, only sets and reps performed at or above 50% are counted in workout volume. Workouts are classified as small (<50 reps), medium (51-100 reps) or large (>100 reps) workouts based upon their total volume. They are undulated throughout the week, with large workouts performed only once or twice a week, and only after a ramp up phase. Each training cycle is characterized by the amount of core lift reps performed.
Mathematics of Sheiko
Diving deeper, let’s examine what a mathematical training cycle of Sheiko could look like. In this example, we shall have an experienced lifter, early in their preparation who is aiming to perform 700 core lift repetitions a month. Repetitions are waved through the weeks in a 28-15-35-22% monthly reps split throughout the four weeks. This gives us 196 reps in week one, 105 reps in week two, 245 reps in week 3, and finally 154 reps in week 4. Now I must point out that these are not meant to be taken literally, but more of a guide. If a lifter only hits 190 reps in week one instead of 196, they won’t wither away. I’d suggest aiming for repetitions performed to fall with a 5-10% margin of error when writing the program.
Furthermore, breaking down the weekly split, we flip 28-15-35-22 from vertical to horizontal, following a four day split, to obtain our weekly loading parameters. In week one (196 reps), that gives us 55 reps on day one, 30 reps on day two, 68 reps on day three, and finally 43 reps on day four. See below for an example of how this week could look in a training cycle.
Critiques
While Sheiko programs are highly specific in their exercise selection, many critics state that Sheiko is not specific enough in the programmed percentages. They believe that powerlifters must be exposed to higher training intensities than what are commonly programmed in standard Sheiko programs. An athlete may go over 90% once or twice before meet day, and this does run the risk of a level of unfamiliarity with competition weights.
Another critique of Sheiko programs are the long duration of them. As you probably notice, to accommodate the large volume of repetitions, Sheiko will commonly utilize dual session, with the primary lift of that day being performed twice in a workout. These grow ever larger as the athlete approaches 1,000 reps per month. Taking an average of 2-3 minutes of rest per set during these workouts can lead to them lasting around 2 hours. If you are on a tight schedule, Sheiko might not be the best for you.
A final critique of Sheiko is its high level of specificity and the risk of over-training. It is important to remember that Sheiko is a powerlifting program, meant to prepare the athlete for a meet, not everyday life or health. Thus, long term usage of the program (>16 weeks) is not recommended as over-training can easily occur due to the high amount of Benching and Squatting. An athlete should take a period of time in between meets where they work on general training movements such as lunges, chin-ups and leg curls.
Why do these programs work?
How do two apparently polar opposite programs achieve success? To begin, each has a seasoned coach who knows how to program for specific weaknesses and athletes. A Westside workout for athlete x will not be the same or work for athlete y. Same goes for Sheiko. These are not programs like Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 (which is fantastic) designed for mass usage. The coaches monitor the athletes progress, tonnage, and form throughout the process, making necessary objective tweaks along the way. Westside works due to its focus on building the lifters base (i.e General Physical Preparation), while Sheiko works due to its high specificity in training the lifts as a sport skill.
Now, it is important to note that while Westside produces some of the craziest lifts out there, they also are known for a high bomb-out rate at meets. This is due to their lack of specificity and their athletes typically lifting in geared divisions. They have very few, if any meets style reps before arriving on meet day. On the flip side, Sheiko lifters take years to reach the top. One cycle in a Sheiko program does not produce world champions. It takes years under the bar, mastering the technique, while slowly raising the tonnage. If a lifter PRs by 20-30lbs on a lift at a meet, Sheiko will only raise the training percentage by 5-10lbs the next cycle.
Conclusion
I love both of these programs, but I also recognize their limitations. Personally I have had my worst meet ever coming off of a Westside cycle, but I have also had some of my biggest burnouts attempting when I would follow Sheiko for long periods of time. Thus, nowadays whenever I focus in on a meet (lead up of 20-24 weeks), I utilize Westside programming for the first 8 weeks and then switch to Sheiko for 12-16 weeks. This allows me to build a solid base while also focusing in on the core lifts as a skill closer to the meet.
If you are going to try Sheiko or Westside programming, I encourage you to have a trusted training partner or coach to come alongside you. These programs require honesty and objective reasoning in programming, and let’s face it, we all think we are the exception. If done correctly, one can see fantastic results. However, if done poorly, have fun going 3/9.
