Westside Barbell Podcast #21 - Louie Simmons reveals how he overcame his injuries to succeed

The podcast begins with a review of Louis Simmons's injuries and recovery methods. He begins discussing his major injuries, starting with a 1973 injury of an L5 fracture and SI joint.

In 1973, after achieving significant lifting successes, Simmons injured himself losing concentration during good mornings exercise, leading to seeking self-recovery methods due to unsuccessful treatments.

Simmons describes an innovative reverse hyper exercise he began using for recovery, which eventually led to the development of machines based on this exercise, which yielded patents for him.

Even after repeating the injury in 1981, Simmons refused surgery and instead relied on reverse hypers, acupuncture, and stretching to recover, proving resilient by lifting competitively even later in his life.

Simmons emphasizes a strong foundation through oblique work and static abs while introducing methods like belt squats for powerful but safe training, highlighting a chiropractor using a belt squat as the 'spinal liner'.

He elaborates on the mechanism and success of the reverse hyper in training, mentioning impressive stats of lifters without back injuries, attributing success to the reverse hyper machine's high volume load.

Simmons describes how the reverse hyper aids training by correcting muscle imbalances, essential for explosive power in athletics, though often misunderstood by educational systems focused on single-joint exercises.

In overcoming severe injuries, Simmons used creative methods, such as doing exercises in reverse like reverse hyper, maintaining training intensity while ensuring safety through self-devised techniques.

Concerns around exercises perceived as dangerous are countered with points on safely pushing limits with the right technique and gradual increase in load, using the reverse hyper as an example of misunderstood but effective training.

Simmons continues to emphasize the importance of high-rep training and adapting workouts to handle larger volumes safely, showcasing notable examples in athletic performance improvements through these ideas.

While confronting myths about exercise dangers, Simmons emphasizes proper spinal training through exercises like reverse hyper to mitigate injuries, while training to develop safe, strong lifting capabilities.

Training resilience and adaptation are highlighted, discussing how to push through personal thresholds without injury by understanding body mechanics and applying them into advancing athletic performance.

Simmons elaborates on his neck injury and subsequent shoulder replacement and how he created a recovery path using tools like the bandbell bar, emphasizing large volumes of light training over time.

He credits his recovery from surgery using controlled progressive exercises, including bandbell bar and heat therapy. He achieved a full range of motion after surgery beyond typical recovery expectations.

Simmons shares an unconventional but successful approach using high reps and consistency in muscle stimulation to facilitate recovery, which included the bandbell bar and other unique exercises.

The importance of posterior chain development is reiterated with focus on high repetitions of exercises like reverse hyper for muscle endurance and injury management, supported by his personal rehabilitation experiences.

Techniques such as using modified equipment for specific muscle training are explored as Simmons recounts recovery from various injuries, drawing on his own extensive experience and experimentation.