Westside Barbell Special Strengths Certificate Review

Westside Special Strengths Certificate is earned, not given! It’s not a weekend “certification” you can pass through on a single weekend to call yourself a strength-coach! If you want to be a real certified strength-coach you must walk the walk and not just talk the walk! I consider my readers not to be cheap, otherwise you wouldn’t consider investing up to 1000 $ (for the “All Study Material Needed” version) and a lot of time into a certification! If you also want to be welcomed to the alumni of Westside Barbell Special Strengths Certified Coaches, you might want to read my review about how I earned this Westside-Barbell certificate.

Practice what you preach – Talk is cheap!

The Westside Barbell Special Strengths Certification is not one of those countless online- “certifications” you can easily klick through to be “certified” without having a clue what strength training is actually all about.

To understand how the Westside system/method works you MUST train like Westside-Barbell, respectively using their so-called Conjugate System.

BUT, YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A POWERLIFTER to do so!

Westside-Barbell states:

„By undertaking the Westside Special Strength Certificate you are equipping yourself with the correct theoretical and practical training methodology that optimizes athletic performance regardless of sporting background. “(highlighted by the author)

Prior to taking the exam I have trained according to the Conjugate System for a consecutive year (and I am still doing it), to put into practice everything they teach you (not only) throughout the course material.

Otherwise I would not have dared to take the exam, despite having a B.A. in Fitnesseconomics, an MBA in Sportsmanagement, having learned a lot from “Strength Sensei” Charles R. Poliquin (†) and having numerous other international certifications, as well as almost 20 years of experience in weight training “in the books”.

You can have a look at all my current (2023) qualification, here.

Of course, you could simply buy the “exam only” version and give it a try. But without a solid knowledge base and proper preparation, you’ll probably fail the test!

In the exam (see chapter below) you will, at least, be asked about the following:

• Westside Barbell Book Of Methods
• Squat And Deadlift Manual (Westside-Barbell, resp. Louie Simmons)
• Bench Press Manual (Westside-Barbell, resp. Louie Simmons)
• Explosive Strength Development for Jumping (Westside-Barbell, resp. Louie Simmons)
• Olympic Weightlifting Strength Manual (Westside-Barbell, resp. Louie Simmons)
•  Special Strength Development for All Sports (Westside-Barbell, resp. Louie Simmons)
•   Strength Manual for Running (Westside-Barbell, resp. Louie Simmons)
•   Special Strengths Certification DVDs – (can be downloaded, about 10h of lecture!)
  •   A seminar discussion with Dr. Nicholas S. Romanov
  •   A seminar discussion with Louie Simmons
  •   A specific lecture on success at the NFL combine by Louie Simmons
  •   A specific lecture discussing Explosive Power Training by Louie Simmons
  •   A seminar discussion of Ju-Jitsu and combat fitness training by John Saylor

Additional course materials you should be familiar with are:

• Explosive Power and Jumping Ability for all Sports by Thomas Kurtz and Tadeusz Starzynski
• Managing the Training of the Weightlifters by Nikolai Petrovich Laputin and Valentin Grigoryevich Oleshko
• Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir Zatsiorsky and William Kraemer
• The Science of Sports Training by Thomas Kurtz
• Supertraining by Mel Siff
• Basic Physics by Karl F. Kuhn and Frank Noschese
• Facts and Fallacies of Fitness by Mel C. Siff

I even invested over 1000€ in a velocity-measuring device called “TENDO-Unit”, to take out the guesswork and being able to properly measure my bar-speed on the so called Dynamic-Effort (speed-strength) training days!

If you want to learn more about why speed is actually measured in velocities and not in “heavy” or “light” (what Dragonball Z has to do with it), please feel free to read my article:

“The TENDO UNIT – Velocity based training, assess, don’t guess!”

The Conjugate System – It’s a Method, not a Style!

Where’s the difference between a system/method and a style or philosophy, you might ask?

Like for example Kung-Fu is a certain method of martial arts. But there are many different styles of Kung-Fu!

Westside-Barbell’s method is called the Conjugate System.

In a nutshell, a mixture of mostly the Russian and Bulgarian weight-training-systems, adapted and slightly modified to the needs of the sport of powerlifting.

Everyone – from soccer moms to professional athletes – can benefit from the Westside Conjugate System.

Especially in Bodybuilding though, lots of people advertise a certain way how to train as THE best way, simply because it was beneficial for THEM and/or to create a “fancy new nonsense”. But this doesn’t mean that it’ll automatically be the optimal thing for everybody else!

And always keep in mind that Bodybuilding has absolutely no necessary component of athletics, it’s only about aesthetics!

In Bodybuilding it’s of no importance i.e. how far/high you can jump, how strong you are, how fast you are etc., in order to win a contest (keep this in mind)!

To have big muscles doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re strong. Big ain’t strong, strong is strong!

If you search the internet for Hideaki Inaba you’ll find out about the strongest guy you probably have never heard of, plus you’ll get an idea how true brute strength can look like!

Even in his prime, the light weight powerlifter from Japan competed in the 52kg-class.
Not someone you’d have in mind when you’re thinking about a strong human being, right?

Wrong! You couldn’t be further from the truth!
Despite not having the looks of a Hercules, he managed to squat insane 4,6 times bodyweight! Which earned him the (unofficial) nick-name of “Powerlifting’s Pikachu”.

In this video you can see Inaba squatting 240kg at 52kg bodyweight, which, then, sat a new Master’s world record!

Just keep in mind, that e.g. an 80kg trainee would have to squat 368kg to reach the same amount of relative strength! So, Inaba was a true strength-beast and – kg for kg – for sure one of the strongest human beings we are aware of!

Another beast of strength was the little more known nick-named “Pocket-Hercules”, Naim Süleymanoğlu (birth name: Naim Syuleimanov) (†)!

Just to give you a glimpse, the only 1,47m tall Naim’s personal bests were:

152,5kg in the Snatch, and 190kg in the Clean & Jerk, weighing about 60kg at the time of achieving these records, which means he managed to perform a Clean & Jerk with 3,16 times bodyweight!

But, back to the difference between a style and a system:

If you have a system, though, it MUST work for EVERYBODY, otherwise it’s not a system but merely a style! That’s why the Conjugate System is NOT a powerlifting-only system, it’s designed to be used ubiquitously for all kinds of athletes, and strength-coaches.

The same applies to rules:

There is no exception from the rule, as the saying goes. It’s quite the opposite. If there is only ONE exception from a rule, it’s NOT a rule anymore, but merely a correlation between things.

I don’t sell Westside’s Conjugate System, but – to quote its founder Louie Simmons (†) –
“I hope you buy this idea”!

This article’s intention is not to tell you in detail about the Conjugate-System, as you can learn all about this method in the Special Strengths Certificate education, respectively from Louie Simmons’ books, videos etc.!

The Special Strengths Certificate – Taking the Exam

For the test they’ll give you 4 hours to complete about 100 questions. The exam can be taken from your home, online.

For me, not being a native English speaker (my mother tongue is German), this time was thoroughly needed as sometimes I had to first think in German but then answer in English, which was rather time consuming.

Nevertheless, if you “weigh” every question with the same time, you’ll have an average of 2:50 Min for your answer.

The test consists of about 1/3 multiple-choice questions, the rest, 2/3 are so called “open” questions where you have to give either detailed or brief explanations of an issue.

Of course, some questions can be answered faster and for some you’ll have to squeeze your brain a little longer, plus you’ll have to type, which is also time consuming.  

To be honest, all the questions were hard, but fair!

If you learn your stuff, stick to the study material and – which I consider to be an obligate duty – practice the Conjugate System in the gym, you won’t be “surprised” by a “strange” question.

Most likely, with everything in life you get what you give and to quote Tom Cruise:
“Don’t be careful, be confident!”

So, to succeed in the exam you should have absolutely practiced the Westside-Barbell Conjugate System extensively. Otherwise chances are very high you’ll fail the test or end up being a “virgin sex therapist”, to quote Charles R. Poliquin (†).

Please keep in mind that you cannot save the exam! You either go all out or you don’t! Once you hit the “submit” button the test is over, and you’re done! It’s not possible to answer just some questions, save and return later.

During the test, of course, you have the option to go forward or reward to skip questions in order to answer them later (before hitting the “submit” button!).

Please note that it’s not allowed to use “copy and paste”. So, in order to answer a question, you cannot just use an expression you have learned by heart.

You must give answers using your own words to demonstrate that you cannot just memorize things but are able to understand them!

Test Results – The aftermath

The multiple-choice questions are evaluated immediately, and you’ll see if your answers are correct or incorrect and how many percent you have reached.

Westside-Barbell says that you will get your final test result (including the open questions) after about 4-6 weeks. In my case, I have received an e-mail that I passed after pretty much precisely four weeks (see picture below).

I received a detailed overview of all the questions I answered and how long it took me (3:46:09 hours) to complete the whole test.

I don’t want to scare you but also stress that you don’t take it easy. The exam has an 86% failure rate, according to Louie Simmons (†).

Westside-Barbell Special Strength Certificate – is it worth the invest?

Now you will probably ask “is it worth the money?” and you most likely want to know whether it’s an investment, as investments don’t always pay off.

Of course, I cannot provide you with a general answer to those questions, but my own personal opinion!

Despite not being a powerlifter, I wanted to take the exam in order to proof that I’m not only capable of training according to Westside-Barbell’s Conjugate System but being able to use it to train other people/athletes.

To proof that I do have profound knowledge in their system. Furthermore, my motto is:

“The one who rests, rusts” (“Wer rastet, der rostet.”) [German proverb]

And, to quote Louie Simmons (†) again:

“If you run with the lame you will develop a limp.”

That’s why I’m always looking for a new certificate, new info, book, course, knowledge and/or achievement to constantly improve.

“If you’re the smartest in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” (Confucius)

The same applies for strength-training. If you’re the strongest in the room, you’re at the wrong place.

I’d add: It’s only acceptable that you’re the strongest/smartest etc. in the room if YOU are the one who teaches the attendees!

So, for ME it definitely was an investment, simple due to the fact that I wanted to be an alumnus of Westside Barbell Special Strengths Certified Coaches!

For people who are looking for a profound certification in the field of strength and conditioning I highly recommend the Westside Barbell Special Strength Course!

I also consider making this certificate mandatory for strength and conditioning coaches who’d like to work with/for me as it would guarantee that they have a high level of understanding of proper strength training!

Westside-Barbell Special Strength Certificate – Conclusion

Calling yourself a strength-coach is one thing, being a strength-coach is another thing!

Lots of people call themselves strength-coach without having proper certification.

But, with certification it’s “such a thing” (as we say in German). There are “certifications” and there are certifications.

The question is, do you want to get hired as a strength-coach and need a certification everyone knows, and which is “accredited”, or do you want to have the “real deal”?

I cannot speak for the USA, but I guess it’s pretty much the same as here in Germany.

There are some renown “certifications” you can get, and everybody will recognize. But their “knowledge” is very limited.

But, on the one hand, having a Westside-Barbell certificate in Germany maybe won’t help – in terms of getting a job as a trainer – as most gym owners (sadly) won’t have a clue what it is.

On the other hand, though, those who recognize it, will know about its value and might still employ you as they can assume that you have proper knowledge.

Sadly, even when brilliant Strength-Coaches like “Strength Sensei” Charles R. Poliquin and Louie Simmons where still alive lots of people in the field of training didn’t know who they were.

But, to sum this up, you would not want to work for someone who knows less than you do, right?

So, again, those who know, know. And the proper gym owners who are looking for high-end coaches, will probably rather hire you as a West-Side Special Strengths alumnus than a random guy with a random certificate, although it might be more “popular”!

If you want to book a consultation (online/offline) please feel free to contact me: info@bernd-stoesslein.de

Thanks for reading. I wish you an energetic time!

© 2023 HP Bernd Stößlein MBA in Sportmanagement

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Literature

Hideaki Inaba – Powerlifting’s Pikachu, source: https://plagueofstrength.com/hideaki-inaba-powerliftings-pikachu/, access: 17.1.23.

Special Strength Certificate, source: https://www.westside-barbell.com/products/special-strength-certificate-the-louie-simmons-exam-package?variant=35022657355933, access: 14.1.2023.

The TENDO Unit – Velocity Based Training, Assess don’t Guess! source: https://www.bernd-stoesslein.de/2022/10/20/the-tendo-unit-velocity-based-training-assess-dont-guess/, access: 15.1.2023.