You Will Look Better Heavier 

When Rip said: if you’re skinny fat, your problem is not that your fat. Your problem is that your skinny. That changed my life. Thanks!

Could not agree more. As a 50 year old who has been a keen cyclist all his life, being big was something I always avoided. That was until about 2 years ago when I started looking at older cyclists in their mid 50s onwards and thought to myself “you are so skinny, you look ill” Rip’s book got me started and I haven’t looked back. I’ve managed to gain 10lb, but building muscle at 50 is bloody hard!

Consistency is the key. Like how Rip consistently sniffs and swallows his snot every time he talks, on every podcast.

He starts talking about lifting at 4:54

I keep half assing the nutrition aspect of my training and that discussion in the last 2 mins hit me like a ton of bricks, i needed it.

Think back to when you were a little kid... back when you were ... fhaave

I’m going to be honest. I looked worse heavier. I got down to 173 from 220 during covid. Gyms opened up, followed Rip’s philosophy and got to 240. I looked awful and now I’m down to 210 trying to get to 190.

I'm doing my workouts and getting stronger! Semi-retired and deliver vehicles purchased online. Lots of lifted pickups so I need to be strong to get myself up in the cab 😂 A nice perk... about every other month I get to deliver a Challenger!

Ok, this has given me the confidence to stop restricting my cals over the next 2 weeks as I work towards hitting my 600lbs deadlift PB

49 year old, 20 months into SS and gone from 150lb to 220lb bodyweight (6' tall). Lifts have gone from/to (for 3 sets of 5 reps): Press 95 to 180 Squat 135 to 370 Bench 135 to 270 Deadlift 135 to 425 * Only 25lb on deadlift away from a 500, 400, 300, 200 (1 rep max deadlift, squat, bench, press) 300g protein/day Sleep 8 to 12hrs/day (yes, 12hrs/day sometimes, lol) No intoxicants, no juice of ANY kind ever. Genetically average but consistent with lifts, food, rest. Promise it works.

I 5'8. I worked hard to get up to 175 pounds only to realize when I got there that I actually felt better when I was lighter. Today I'm about 165. 9% body fat, as opposed to 15% at 175. A little less muscle now, but in exchange I'm faster, more explosive, better stamina and cardio, better endurance - a better overall athlete, and i actually look visually stronger at 165 than a 175 even though I'm not, because the lower BF% makes me look more vascular and ripped. Size isn't everything. For me, being a balanced athlete worked best.

Jesus, I just wanted to learn how to deadlift.... Now I turned into a Pro Nuclear Activist.

The numbers here blew me away-almost exactly my experience. At 20, after two years of lifting, I was still 155 (at 5’10”). Based on reading glossy bodybuilding mags (it was 1992), I concentrated on eating every three hours and getting in protein after my workout. Over the course of one semester I suddenly went from 155 to 185-still have logs because I was weighing in twice a week for a swimming conditioning class. I was basically doing everything else wrong-not using LP, too much fluff bodybuilding crap, not resting enough, etc.-but even still, just that one change flipped the switch. And like the guy said, body fat went up but not perceptible-think I went from a 28 inch waist to 30.

The way to look better is to gain weight. In order to gain weight you need to gain 100lbs.

Too many folk forget that if they want to walk around at 170lbs 5’10 at 15% body fat with impressive muscularity and strength, they would have to have gained 200lbs+ first and added a lot of weight to the bar over time first

Once again Rip makes perfect sense.

This was actually really insightful and pretty helpful to hear. Thanks!

I am beginning to think that Rip has a feeding fetish. Every time that he that he talks about someone getting bigger there is a tone of arousal in his voice. A sense of relish at the very thought of yet another person feeding his perverted desires. Rip wants to make us all bigger and stronger because it feeds his sexual fetish. He, like women and some gay men, enjoys the body type of man that you can call "daddy". Disgusting and yet I find myself engaging in this system since it has worked. I guess feeding his sexual perversions is not the worst trade off. I hope this makes it to comments from the haters. Much Love. Thank you for all the gains.

Just had to comment about nuclear power. When the government spent around $2 trillion on paying people to stay home a few years ago, I estimated that we could have bought a couple hundred new nuclear plants with that same money, and we'd be on our way to carbon neutrality about 10 years ahead of the 2050 schedule.

I have an eating disorder as in I’m eating dis order right here

Genius RIP…… Genius 💡

Gaining weight, for most lifters, is the best way to make long term progress in terms of ones physique, I agree here. I disagree on the amount of weight that needs to be gained but I don't think the minutiae should detract from the overall good advice.

Young Brie looking like a whole unit....

Everyone has a unique reason to get under a bar. I'm kinda tall,@6'1" old @72 and been lifting close to 8 years now. I weighed 230# before starting lifting and weighed 208 this morning at the gym. Lifting has been a true blessing for me. One of the principle reasons that got me into the gym, was maintaining the strength to ride my horses. Anyone who rides a horse should know that adding body weight is not in the interest of the horse. So, I'd rather drop 10 pounds before adding 10 pounds.

***Cpap intensifies***

Okay so I'm 5'10" and 215 pds. Wanting to do the program again after a 7 year layoff. I want to lose weight, but i want to be strong and fill out a t shirt in a good way...with muscle. I'm unsure how to approach getting back into it. I know losing weight and building muscle aren't congruent so I'm a bit confused on how to proceed. Any advice is appreciated

I consider myself strong until these guys talk of 315lb squat after 3 months. Been doing 5x5 for a couple of months and I’m up to 250lbs and had to stop as the workouts were killing me. Going to try 3x5 from now on and see how I get on. I have never really trained for strength before though I have been going to the gym on and off for years. It’s a bit of an eye opener as to the potential that’s still on the table. 😊

Hi guys appreciate the help with something I’m 4-10 and 550 lbs. i feel like you cant see my abs for some reason. What should I do?

I came here for a rant about muscle power, not solar power.

The more I watch what you have to say, the more you surprise me with your superior intelligence and clear thinking.

I started last year July, I'm 27, just about 179cm and 55kg body weight with a squat of 40kg and a deadlift of 60kg. Currently I only gained like 7kg since then but my squat has gone up to 90kg and deadlift to 100kg.

In my humble opinion, the shirt should say "I AM THE STRENGTH."

That example is pretty wild, how does someone weighing a relatively lean 150 get their squat stuck at 135? Yeah gaining weight will make you stronger faster, but you should be able to squat your body weight pretty soon after starting the program even if you don't gain any weight at all.

When you were a kid, when you were FAHVE

Photovoltaic cells are inherently limited in terms of efficiency. What you are physically doing is using photons to knock electrons off of one side and send them to the other. This takes a specific amount of energy. If a photon doesn't have enough energy to knock off an electron that photon's energy is lost. If a photon has has more energy than needed to knock off an electron but not enough energy to knock off two all that excess energy is lost. This is why photovoltaic cells will never be 100 or even 50 percent efficient.

Can somebody please explain a little about the fragment 2:30-2:37, the sentence: "They don't generate enough energy per... beacuse of the BTU's that operate the damn thing". I'm not a native english speaker and have slight difficulty translating it into understanding it practically.

Hi Mr. Uncle Rip. I can hear your cold. You look great. I like your shirt. I respect your work. Cheers from Calgary.

So for someome who weighs approx 150-154 lbs 5,7 -5,6 1/2 who reduced there body weight from 162 because of gaining excess love handle an belly fat.. from over doing the calories a little.. what would be a sufficient plan of action for eating to build muscle an keep performance.. but not gain excess body fat.

Rippetoe, dairy and wheat makes me have explosive diarhea, what can I eat instead to hit my goal of 250lbs?!

30lbs in 3 months is ridiculous. The kid wants to look better and adding 25lbs of fat isn’t going to do that.

IMO his political and scientific points of view are great. I’d vote for him if he ran for president.

Been doing SS for 3 weeks (not my first time, but I've been a POS for a while). My weight has gone up 10 pounds and my waist has gotten smaller. 6'2", started at 238, now 248. This program works if you follow it.

We cant have it all right now because we still use money. We already have places that use solar for a lot of electricity. Solar in the desert, offshore wind farms, tidal and wave energy is constant and will be around 5 BN years (ish). Geothermal. Nuclear is a decent addition.

The greater the mass the greater the force of attraction😏

if you wanna look like a bodybuilder, great. but you have to realize bodybuilders put in a lot of work to get into contest shape. they bulk, then they taper and peak. same principle as competitive powerlifters, they plan their programming around the date of a contest, so that they will be ready to compete. If you want to look shredded, you have to "lift heavy ass weights," as Ronnie Coleman would say. You have to eat. And once you have the big muscles, then you cut fat. And that carries over in powerlifting too: if you perpetually bulk, you will get too fat, you will get sleep apnea, and you won't be able to recover. Build the muscle, cut the fat, then you build muscle again, from a more muscular starting point. But if you haven't reached the end of your linear progression, all of this is far beyond your scope: you just need to eat and sleep enough and keep adding weight to the bar.

I bought the book... And the other book too!

So I guess in Texas, a high school chemistry class is when you eat an oil executive’s balloon knot for an hour straight. Good to know. Stick to the stuff you’re an expert on, broski. Theres an argument to be made about the availability of materials with solar+wind, but it sure as heck isn’t an argument that there isn’t enough energy available. The sun is the biggest nuclear reactor that will ever exist in the solar system…

Math? What about my feelings?

Deeper hips. That’s what’s up

Rip, few people outside the southern states think chubby looks better 😁

Don’t skip out on running like he says, running actually helps your squat and deadlift

This is ao true😢 When I remember how many years I wasted trying to look "better" by jumping between machines in the gym.

Nice audio quality

You will look better with more muscle not just more weight

I had no idea there were so many nuclear physicists at starting strength.

Amen, as I get my 2 eggs ready for breakfast, and that feels like a lot.

2024 is a very important election people. Vote wisely

Good point 🙏🏻🏊‍♀️🏋🏻

how much heavier do i have to get, im already140kg

Good luck telling a kid who just wants a beach body to get fat to squat 3plates. He doesn't give a shit about that. Nor does he want to stuff his face and end up looking like a pear.

Rip, Bre, Nick and Rusty are the furious four Rip's squat is best exercise ever after pullup and probably press (TO ME)

Just on Rips comments about Solar, they are pretty good for the average household provided you have enough space for a decent sized array. Granted we're in the summer now, but where i live (Ireland) we put up a 32m² array about a month ago (out of pocket €4500) and its dropped our bill to almost nothing. If we get even 4 years before any issues, even accouting for their relative uselessness during an Irish winter, they'll pay themselves back and then some.

Shoot it into space and let the aliens deal with it.

Heavy with lots of muscle showing but not heavy with a gut sticking out .

I want to build the same house. Live in Fort Collins, CO. Wife doesn’t want it dark inside though. 18” walls with drywall inside? What about a basement? Is it possible? Who would I do that? Thank you

True

His talk about solar energy is so incredibly wrong. Why does he speak with such confidence about something that is easily verified and he is objectively wrong on?

LIVE LARGE, DIE LARGE!!!

Rip is for ppl who don’t mind being fat in order to lift weights..that’s the only good his program is for.

I have that shirt

I’m a fire protection engineer, working at a nuclear power plant and everything Rip has said is the truth. Especially the point that you can separate those that do not have any idea from those that actually have an understanding of energy production and delivery when you bring up the subject of replacing your base power load that is fossil fuels with the only alternative nuclear power.

I have great admiration for Rip; however, the inaccuracies he presents regarding wind and solar energy cause me to question his expertise in other areas.

Gaining 8lbs in 3 months is a problem? You should gain 38lbs in 3 months? LOL WTF? Is that even possible? And to say that would be the difference between 1 plate and 3... Just wow lol

I don't know why the haters are always commenting Rip looks fat. Dude's fucking jacked.

What happened to the whole “We don’t care about aesthetics” thing???

Dean Wermer said" Fat and stupid is no way to go through life son ".

Lol what was the rant on solar panels - is that some rip conservative rant

People will not attack a big muscular guy as much as scrawny looking people.

So the kid would have put on over 30 lbs of muscle in 3 months?

Rip, stick to lifting. You might be correct about nuclear in the American context, but there's like 100+ other countries out there. Take Australia, the CSIRO (government scientific research agency) has determined that nuclear enegy is wayyyy more expensive and less practical than other renewable alternatives *for Australia*. Just reached the part where you call windfarm advocates "criminals". I don't like business people either, but calling them criminals? Really?

What happened to the kids that wanted to look like the hulk and brock lesnar? lol

Nuclear is obviously the way to go. But I think increasing the albedo might be a good thing. If it isn't reflected, it's getting absorbed, innit?

Dirty bulk club with mics

rip is funny

But the Deloraine ran on Banana Peels.

Advise all to look up the documentary, _Pandora's Promise_ . The logic and facts in that were so clear, that even freaking MICHAEL MOORE was convinced we have to go nuclear.

Thorium reactors are very far from being commercially viable, Rip. And whilst they reduce the amount of radioactive waste, they do not eliminate it.

20 to 18 percent body fat with a lot of muscle looks way better in jeans because every thing fits better I just don't understand the 8 percent body fat mentality because when that little bit of belly goes so does them big arms,legs and ass that fill them jeans out because my wife is more obsessed with my ass than my abs because abs attract girls a nice ass arms and chest attract women.

Eat. Lift. Work outside.

I’m “that guy” to some extent. I’m 40+ now… easy for me to gain fat, very hard for me to gain muscle. I basically have the same lean mass I did at 20 (5’10”, 160, measured

Lol, more solar energy strikes the earth in 1 hour than mankind produces in an entire year.

10:09

Long live nuclear power

Starting Strength was a great strength training program except the whole gallon of milk a day crap. YOU WILL GET FFFN FAT!!! YOU WILL NOT EVEN LOOK LIKE YOU TRAIN AND REGULAR GYN BROS WILL EVEN DOUBT YOU TRAIN. Aside from that, eat accordingly and DO the accessory work like dips and chin ups or curls and extensions

Rip loves hearing himself talk so much. Gets a question about being skinny and starts talking about nuclear power and albedo.

Nuclear meltdowns anyone?

Lift weight, eat meat and veggies. Its that easy.

Solar power *is* the long-term answer. But I agree that we’re not there yet, and nuclear power is the short-term answer.

Just stick to training and not nuclear waste discussion.

This guy is dogmatic. Life doesn’t work that way.