This program made me far more effective at work. The big dude at work didn't feel like throwing the heavy piece of debris onto the trailer. I deadlifted that sucker and threw it onto the trailer. He just stood there halfway in shock because I'm half his size.
It makes sense though. Do the thing that nets the most return on investment then move on to what you want next. The process of becoming strong and the state of being strong are enlightening, for sure.
@@freneticfanatic many "modern" fit sick gym goers and pseudo bodybuilders ignore the fact that the oldschool fathers of lifting did power or strenghlifting first.
Have had two sessions at a Starting Strength gym, paid for four, appreciate the chance to try it. I have a 75 year old female friend, approximately 4'10", never lifted a weight in her life, referred to Starting Strength by her doctor because she had beginning stage osteoporosis and chronic low back pain. Her back pain is gone, and she's deadlifting over 200 pounds. I have lifted a weight in my life, but I've never done anything like Starting Strength. I now have very, very, very advanced osteoporosis, at age 62, with multiple fractures and three inches of lost height. My whole torso--not my neck, fortunately, or shoulders--but rib cage and all points below say, T6 on my spine, abs, are all sore all the time, probably from being compressed, not being able to work the way they used to. Anything might cause another fracture. (Apparently my bone density is more equivalent to that of a very frail 85 year old, but my general musculature is more like a...50 year old fairly fit woman. (I did functional training, ran marathon distances, Orange Theory, etc. in my 50s, until my bones said no.) I'm like a bull in a china shop. Seriously, if I was less fit, less intent on getting stronger, my spine would probably be more intact. All to say, now, at almost 63, I realize that I must get stronger. If I don't want to be in a wheelchair by age 68, I not only have to stress my bones (which I can most safely do with strength training,) I have to build up support for those bones. It's definitely counter-intuitive at least in the sense that just holding "neutral posture" now hurts like the dickens: adding weight, not allowing all those muscles that have been compensating to help me, going lower into a squat than I've ever gone, etc. just seems crazy. But, for ME, I think Starting Strength may be exactly what I need for at least two reasons: 1) low reps. I've never done less than 12 reps, and the last time I worked with a trainer, 15 was the goal. I popped out my low back (not sure what happened, just know something happened that sidelined me for two weeks,) on the third set of 15. (She'd jumped me up to 75 pounds for the squat--from using a 25 pound kettlebell, so...there's that, too,) using a hex...frame. She assured me it would minimize the stress on my back, and maybe it did, but at 15 reps, three sets, fatigue probably did me in. Low reps and slower progression will be safer, I think. Mentally, it will be easier too. But the other thing was, even though it's just been two sessions and I've hardly done anything, mostly just felt like I really stretched, I felt better the next day. Glutes were a little sore, forearms mildly sore...nothing, nothing like the "oh my gosh I can't even sit" kind of soreness I had most of the time when starting again--and/or, for a whole year of going to functional movement/strength classes. (I'd be fine on Monday, by Thursday, I could barely move, week after week after week. It's just miserable to always be THAT sore.) So, I'm excited.
I love this because it is so counter-cultural to our currect PC age of 'just accept everyone as they are' attitude. Human beings need to be challenged in order to grow. It does not matter that you might be good at something naturally, you can still get better. How long can you keep improving on something and what effect does that improve your mental state, and the structure your life? Starting strength has broken me out of apathy the past few months and it keeps on going! Thank you Mark Rippetoe and SSCs all over North America for challenging the Status Quo.
Powerlifters almost universally suffer from joint and back pain, and injuries. I did starting strength stuff meticulously for a year and noticed this. Now, doing bodybuilding/bodyweight workouts - pain free, feel amazing, and healthy as ever. Rip isn't healthy either. Obese. Not impressed.
@@Re3iRtH Same to be honest. Knowing how much the body's limb lengths vary from person to person, the one-size-fits-all mentality with the big 3 is ludicrous and liable to get lots of people injured. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone should be doing barbell back squats, and not everyone has the proper hip socket structure to get into the bottom position of a conventional deadlift, no matter how much stretching they do.
@@cake8211 Yep. And a powerlifters excuse is "well, fat slobs who don't work out at all also have back and joint pain, so it's normal" For me being normal is great mobility, feeling fantastic every day, feeling zero pain, and looking great in the mirror. Hard to get the last two with powerlifting. I follow most of the powerlifting gurus / doctors and they all have videos about "how to overcome an injury" - what does this tell you? Not normal to have constant joint pain and intermittent injuries.
Re3iRtH There are risks to doing any Sport or Professional Practice. You can get injured doing anything to a fault. Your opinion of why not to try it, is not valid.
Holy shit the trainer at my gym has his clients do stupid shit (barbell curls on a bosu, use a landmine attachment to do single arm rows+like a Romanian deadlift-ish thing, hang kettlebells from an earthquake bar and do overhead presses with a lunge) constantly. I have never seen one of his clients get under a barbell and purely squat, or deadlift, or bench press or overhead press. Not once and I’ve been going to this particular gym 4 days a week for 3 weeks. I don’t know how they do it. I did some similar shit for the first two years I trained and I got absolutely nothing out of it. Don’t know why it took my this long to embrace the big lifts and add 5lbs to the barbell with each week. So nice to actually MAKE PROGRESS.
I am currently doing 5 sets of 5 program. Monday bench, squat, (3x5 barbell row) Wednesday (Deadlift 3x5) shoulder press 5x5, (Weighted Pullups 3x5) Friday - same as Monday I want to introduce powercleans, where would be the best time to do them??
@@connorw360 I'd just sub it straight in so twice a week. That said, the pulling part of your program is pretty different to the starting strength novice program and is actually more like an intermediate program than a novice one. Normally, you would deadlift 3 times per week setting a new PR each time since that's the fastest way to build a strong back. Then when that stops working, you would alternate the deadlift with the powerclean so you can recover more easily. Then when that stops working, you would do monday deadlift, wednesday chinups and back extensions, friday pc. This way you transition smoothly into intermediate programs where you probably will only DL heavy once per week and do assistance and supplemental pulling exercises the other days.
@@chinarep1 deadlifting three times per week? Noway man that's crazy. Especially if ur going heavy. To much stress on the nervous system and that will burn you out for the rest of ur lifts.
@@connorw360 It's for novices and you only do 1 set of 5. Novices aren't really capable of putting too much stress on their CNS unless they do a ton of volume at a very high intensity. I got my deadlift from 135 to around 250 in about a month doing it that way (I was able to make 10 lb jumps for the first couple of weeks). From what I've seen on the starting strength forums, my experience is pretty normal for novices.
In full respect to Rip, my understanding of a slam ball is for arhletes to translate strength to power(speed and strength) with rotation and whole body. I don't know who would argue that a slam ball would take place of barbells.
@@aceventura1587 Yes, but this exert does not mention benefits of training for power. That can be confusing for a beginner hearing this. Strength without power can be a bit useless in a lot of sports and explosive movements.
“Add 5 pounds every workout, this process lasts 6-8 months.” Really? SS calls for squatting three times a week. If this claim were plausible, even if everyone started with a max squat of the bar x 5 for three sets, at the end of six months everyone would have a squat of three sets of 405 x 5 if they added 5 pounds every workout. This isn’t even close to reality.
@@BacktotheOutdoors so long as people actually follow the book, which is to say they get proper caloric intake, protein intake and a ample amount of sleep then yes they could get to 405 squat in half a year. the problem is people dont do these things and then wonder why they cant break a plateau.
@@naiustheyetti - it’s a generalization and a useless one at that. The idea that every single healthy/young male in the world can hit a 405 squat in six months is entirely unrealistic, regardless of how religiously they follow SS.
Sometimes I wonder what people who hear bullshit and believe it must be thinking, because when someone's giving nothing but facts it doesn't sound like bullshit to me. Especially if I go out and try it for myself afterwards. #add5pounds
Craig Crawford I think fitness is very specific like I’m 5’8 166lbs I can do 37 strict pull ups but I will never be able to bench 405lb I can run 8 miles but I’ll never deadlift 500lbs. Rip can bench a fuck ton of weight but I can promise you he couldn’t run 5 miles or do 37 pull-ups so it’s really a person specific thing that can’t be judge my comparing others. I remember the first time I realized this I gave a friend named Dave he’s 6’4 300lbs with abs he’s a competitive bodybuilder I’ve literally seen his shoulder press 120lb dumbbells for 12 reps, he can deadlift ridiculous amounts of weight but he can’t do a single pull-up so it’s kinda weird once you think about it.
I own kettlebells, i use them. They do not replace a barbell to any degree. They are a conditioning tool at best. High rep kettlebell swings get your heart rate up real quick. The barbell is irreplacable.
I have no doubt that this system has merit. Surely the position isn't that these static, pro forma movements are all that you do? (F-bomb in front of the lady he was referring to: Classy.)
I train for strength. I’m doing the HLM program. But I still don’t understand why Rip uses absurb exercise methods to justify why his method is better. Because we already know that people who know about gym culture wouldn’t base a program around a slam ball, or a single kettlebell. It’s kind of like saying here is my chicken parmigiana recipe, it’s so good because eating biscuits is nothing compared to it! Most of the people who watch this channel already know why incrementally loadable free weights are better than yoga ball split squats. But how good is the program compared to the other sensible barbell based strength programs?
It's not that they may not work or aren't better, they just likely aren't optimal. What program is simpler and requires less time or work, that can get better results for a untrained novice? I can't think of one.
@@laughter95 oh really? I've been lifting for 20 years, never heard of starting strength until about 3 ago. I have thousands of hours of reading and study on the subject and the same amount of in the gym experience. Why don't you enlighten us all to some better programs for novices, highlighting the huge differences between them and an ss lp?
@@r.bracemaker1734 20 years, heard of SS a few years ago and can't come up with anything else? Define "optimal", and "huge difference" because these folks say "YNDTFP" if you don't follow their protocol to a tee.
@@laughter95 reading comprehension isn't your strong point is it? I'm asking YOU to enlighten me, since you seem to know all about lifting, with all your practical experience and high level education. Give me some better novice programs that get people stronger quicker, and are easy for a newb to follow. Should be simple for you right?
Slam balls aren't used for strength. They're usually used for power cuz you can easily progress and see progression without having to learn skills based lifts like cleans and snatches. If you go from throwing a 50 lb slam ball for height for a max of 10 yards to a 80 lb slam ball for a 18 yards, you've visibly gotten much more powerful. Someone doing that doesn't have to learn how to clean or to learn how to snatch.
If you just took your deadlift from where it is up to 500 pounds then you would naturally throw the med ball farther than if you ever specifically trained for it
@@anthony4664 I used to parrot the book too, until a few years of training passed, I was exposed to successful non-SS lifters, strength and weightlifting athletes, and realized that there's many ways to skin the cat.
@@laughter95 were they all natural and/or genetically gifted? SOme people are natural born athlete's and their bodies will respond very well to any training stimulus. Rippetoe, like him or hate him, has been training people of all ages, heights, weights, levels of athleticism, bone structure, etc. for many years. He's confident and old school to the point of arrogance because he's seen first-hand that his program works.
@@simondesantis1757 They are all normal people. Are you unaware that people get strong in many different ways and using protocols different from the SSNLP? Further, they had something like a 10% compliance when they analyzed their SS forum training logs? Petrizzo's study showed that SS worked for 60% of his test subjects, and 40% weren't able to complete it for one reason or another. The takeaway is that there's many ways to skin the cat. Not just this one way, but of course they're trying to sell you a $315/mo class-based gym membership.
Wait, what?! I agree with being productive and focused but really!?! "Just get stronger" or "Get strong first" is not the answer. Get better and address your issues, ALL of them. 🤨
Literally what he's saying. Want more mass? A stronger muscle is a bigger muscle. Want better mobility? Mobility is strength in a range of motion so train your strength properly. Want better cardiovascular ability? Sure add in some cardio work but do a set of 5 heavy weights and tell me your heart isn't thumping. Want speed? Welcome to the rapid expression of strength, not to mention power cleans for explosiveness and speed.
Good points guys, thank you. I guess I'm just confused on why a compound lift is the starting point for fitness. That's what I think I'm hearing here. Am I hearing this wrong?
Cameron Davis you should check out the starting strength book and website for why compound movements are the basis. However, in a nutshell. Strength training impacts ALL elements of fitness. So it’s the easiest place to start vice jumping straight into biking 500 miles a week. If you move your squat from 115 to 315 do you think your ability to push a pedal of a bicycle goes up or down? The answer should be obvious as one pedal push now equals a much smaller percentage of your overall ability to produce force so would that mean you would be a better bicyclist after learning to squat 315? The answer should again, be obvious.
The answer is that progressively loaded barbells doesn't have to be the start of fitness. Esp not for the morbidly obese. He isn't arguing that it's the start of fitness for 100% everyone though. The main point is, there's benefit to all sorts of training, including strength training. Start with whichever one that motivates you the most so you'll do it consistently over the long run. I liked barbell training and liked cardio less, so lifting what I mainly do, but after years of lower rep training, I've gone to enjoy a few cycles of higher volume/hypertrophy/GPP programming. I personally can stand for an argument to start with barbells if you're an older lady. But no point in shoving it down her throat if she hates that sort of exercise, despite the logic and evidence for it. Best to let her start with exercise she would enjoy.
