Starting Strength

I have been searching for this book for most of my life. I'm 55 and since I was in high school I've yearned for a definitive source on lifting. I had natural strength, but success can be the worst enemy of progress. By the time I was not the strongest kid in my class (Junior year of high school), I did not know what to do to be competitive. As it turns out, the programs we were aware of at the time were better than nothing but not very good. Where was this book back then? Mark wears many hats in this book: coach, trainer, physiologist, physics instructor, philosopher and occasionally comedian. I had never done a dead lift before this program - partially because I was afraid to get hurt. I am 2 months into the program and have increased my dead lift over 100lbs and no longer have any symptoms of back problems that have nagged me for over 20 years. I feel like I'm quite early in my journey. The documentation on squats is outstanding. Squats require superb technique and you get outstanding instruction from the book. My 13 year old son is in the program and his progress is ridiculous. His peers in school are left wondering how he's gotten so big and more importantly strong. The important things this book delivers: 1) Focus on "system" disciplines where what you are doing attacks multiple muscle groups like the squat (calves, quads, hams, glutes, etc.) 2) You get to know why. Call it my own proclivity but it is encouraging and inspirational for me to understand the "why". Most other stuff I've read does not do that. You not only get the "why" you are doing something, you also get the why other things are less desirable. 3) Technique is an enormous focus of the book. This is critical. Injuries can be a problem when you're flinging around 100's of lbs. You get the guidance from this book on how to do things correctly which keeps you out of the injury "penalty box". 4) Expectations are set. You are told how things will go (and why of course). He has been "dead on" in my experience (as well as my son's). 5) A simple program. There are only a handful of lifts that you do. Workout sessions are not long and typically 3 times per week. I strongly recommend this book to anyone that wants to get stronger. As "Rip" says, no matter what you do physically, it's better if you're stronger. Get Strong!

Starting Strength provides in-depth observations and judgments on basic barbell training, which many will fail to grasp and eventually fail themselves as a result of their poor grasp of the essential details. It is not to say that there are no similar programs or books that can compare with Starting Strength, as there are quite a few. In fact, any solid barbell training book will have a similar foundation. I read Bill Starr's "The Strongest Shall Survive" many years ago, and the program doesn't differ all too much. Starting Strength is different in that it doesn't cover all of the same aspects, and lacks any information about supplementation and nutrition like Bill Starr's eye opening book (though much of Starr's nutritional observations may seem archaic or too eccentric to many modern readers, unfortunately). But Mark Rippetoe didn't determine that sort of information would be necessary for his book, and he is correct. It is the impressive depth of biomechanical realities, details and fixing foolish mistakes, explained in a logical and thorough manner, which set Starting Strength above any other barbell training book. But both books (Starting Strength, and The Strongest Shall Survive) are quite exceptional choices, especially for beginners. If you are a young man considering barbell training to improve performance in athletics, martial arts or simple self improvement through the barbell, and you lack the resources of a knowledgeable and highly expensive professional trainer, I would recommend this book, above all others to you. This book will aid you immensely, perhaps especially so to avoid unnecessary, painful and stupid injuries, which come so often to so many simply because they lack guidance. And who needs another setback? If you are not a young man, but still desire to learn how to perform heavy lifts and do it correctly for whatever goals you desire, I would recommend this book to you as well.

I own Starting Strength (2nd edition) and saw a comment that the author made on reddit about how he had basically rewritten the book for the 3rd edition. I decided to buy it - I have been having trouble with irritating my shoulders while benching, and I wanted to see if he had any additional points to make. The 3rd edition is physically thinner, though it's due to using different stock; the book actually has more pages. He's right about the book being rewritten; the mechanical analyses are much more in depth. It helps to have some knowledge of anatomy, or at least Google, so you know what muscles he's talking about. There are drawings, but I found that other angles I found online made the text more clear. Across the board, the drawings are better, the writing is much clearer, and there are additional pointers that help correct problems more quickly. In my opinion, the section on the press is the most upgraded. It's much longer, with an excellent discussion on grip that I couldn't find in the 2nd edition. Rereading the section on the bench seems to have really helped my shoulder in the two months since I bought the book. The section on the power clean now also has a section on the power snatch. Nice! I wish the section on ancillary exercises covered a few more, specifically the reverse-hyper and a suggested ancillary exercise for abs - the roman chair situp is mentioned only in passing. This is the book for people wishing to get strong. I wish I it had been available when I was younger. It would have made a huge difference in how I trained for my sport. If you own the 2nd edition, buy the new book if: 1) You are a coach. You make money with this book. The clearer explanations alone are worth the price. 2) You are having problems, and the 2nd edition isn't helping. Again, better explanations and drawings, along with additional pointers might help. Of course, you should also be seeking out an experienced coach. 3) You want to add the power snatch to your routine.

This book is the go to starting reference for anyone that wants to work on basic strength training. If you read this book and take the time to practice and do the lifts properly, you will be better at them than most of the people in your gym. The current trends of fitness are all well and good for what they are, but they simply do not replace good old fashioned barbell work. Barbell work isn't easy, glamorous, or trendy in the modern world of crossfit, yoga, and other designer programs, but it is important to your overall fitness and help protect you against the effects of our sedentary daily lifestyles. Mark Rippetoe's training book is a no nonsense bible on how to do the major compound lifts properly and in a simple progression that will get you to a respectable level of strength in the shortest amount of time possible, if you put in the work and have a proper diet. Mark goes over the basic lifts in exhaustive, scientific detail. The book dedicates around 50 pages to squat and the theory behind it as an example. This book not only tells you how the lifts should be done, it explains why they should be done the way that they are, what happens mechanically when you do them properly and goes over cues and theory on how to make sure you are doing them safely and efficiently. If more personal trainers and gym goers understood the methods and prescriptions in the book, people would get far more out of their lifts and workouts. Using this book earlier in my lifting career, I increase my squat from a set of 5 at 95 pounds to three sets of 5 at 265, took my deadlift from 1 set of 135 for 5 reps to one set of 335 for 5 reps. I also improved my shoulder press and bench press considerably, as well as improving on power cleans and barbell rows (which aren't strictly part of the program, but my gym was weird about people doing power cleans). I ate quite a bit of food and slept a lot as recommended by the program, and ended up improving my strength considerably over the course of a year as the numbers show. I went from 170 pounds at 6'1 to about 205 pounds body weight at the end, and then dialed back to around 195 pounds and was able to squat the 3 sets of 265 and deadlift 335 for one set near the end. I did all this as a 34 year old, so I wasn't quite as indestructible as I was in my teens and twenties, I suspect someone starting earlier than me would progress a bit quicker. Since getting stronger, my health and the ease that I move through my physical environment are much better. Unlocking your potential strength is a wonderful thing and really improves quality of life. Long story short, if you want to get yourself strong and aren't afraid of putting in some work, eating a bit of food, and resting like you mean it, this book will help you in that goal. Even if you don't want to be as strong as possible, the book has a place on your shelf as an instruction manual on how to do the basic barbell lifts. If you follow the instructions, you will not injure yourself with poor form. This is worth it in and of itself too. Get yourself strong, and live a better life. Highest Recommendation.

Excellent book that I believe everyone interested in the lifting of weights should read, even if powerlifting is not you're thing. I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said before but in case you haven't been convinced by the time you get to me... This book describes, in great detail, the squat, the deadlift, the bench press, the power clean, and the overhead press. Each of these compound lifts are incredibly important to anyone who wants to gain strength and size. In this book Rippetoe outlines the benefits of strength in your everyday life, how to perform each of these lifts, offers a beginner's programme, and why what you do outside of the gym is just as important as what you do inside. The book is full of useful diagrams and fancy charts if that's your kind of thing. I personally found them to be very good at putting the author's words into practical terms. The book also has quite an extensive section of useful assistance exercises that you might run in conjunction with the novice program provided. Now there are several, constant, "criticisms" of this program that should be addressed. I get annoyed every time I see them because these complaints wouldn't exist if the person could read and do the program like it was written. "SS+GOMAD made me fat, wtf Rip?!" In a section on diet Rippetoe recommends that the 180cm, 55kg, kids out there drastically increase their caloric intake by drinking a gallon of milk a day (GOMAD) This seems a bit drastic but, speaking from experience here, you'll hit a wall much faster if you're dying to keep that "skinny pack" while attempting a program such as this. So the advice makes sense, the author recommends this right up until the previously underweight athlete has gained enough mass, then they can ease off. However there exists a proportion of society with very poor reading comprehension. In that same diet section Rippetoe says that a gallon of milk is not for those of you who already have the weight to begin with. However a million screaming idiots have since littered message boards bitching about not looking like Klokov because they tried GOMAD while being 20 kilos overweight. I want to seize every one of them by the collar and make them read the damn book next time before they loudly inform the internet that they can't read properly. The other criticism I hear a lot is "T-Rex mode! Rippletits said squats would make my arms grow but now my physique is imbalanced" Again, poor reading comprehension strikes. Rippetoe does say that you'll add muscle mass everywhere doing anything if you're an untrained individual. He did not, however, say that you'll have arms like Arnie after a few squats. SS is also a program with lots of leg work, very true. However the author also states that assistance exercises such as chin ups and dips are very useful. So much so that he included chin ups on the base program already. He even includes a few pages on how to do a barbell curl. So if you'd read the book you would have known maybe a few dips after your main session would have been a good idea. So basically, read the book properly and stop complaining about the program when you didn't even do it.

If you want to be strong...really strong, then the answer is simple: read this book. Being whole-body-strong is what this book encourages and teaches. Mark espouses a small number of compound movements done efficiently and properly to maximise your body's capacity to lift, as well as maximally develop your body's capacity to lift. But this book is not just a program. In fact if all you want is the program then you could find it online without looking very hard at all. For me, the real value in this book is primarily in the instruction on training the lifts. Before reading this book, my squat form was bad. I didn't need anyone to tell me: I just knew it. This, despite reading many instructional articles on how to correctly squat. After reading the chapter on the squat once, my form improved immensely...and I will continue to refer back to it for further development. Mark Rippetoe has gone to extraordinary effort to break the movements down into their component parts and describe them in a high level of detail referencing engineering principles, anatomical descriptions and some very helpful photo sequences. You don't need to be an engineer to understand what he's trying to say, nor an anatomist. Mark describes the lifts with reference to several disciplines of study in such a way that everyone who pays attention will pick it up, and learn a few things along the way. The other gem within this book is the no-nonsense, just-go-and-do-it approach to building strength. Mark believes: people should be strong; it doesn't need to take years to become strong; you only need a small number of lifts at the initial stages; and, you should add weight to the bar every session. This is manifest within the actual program and is endemic throughout the whole book. There's far more to it than that. To get it, you will have to read the book. Highly recommended.

Starting Strength is so popular among geeks as well as athletes because it teaches not just the conclusions but the axioms and reasoning on the way. This book will let you in on a secret: 90%+ of the people in the weightlifting section of the gym are not interested in getting stronger, and have almost no idea how to get that way. They may seem intimidating from a distance, but once you learn the purpose and mechanics of weight training, you will know more than most trainers about strength. Also, you will laugh at the gruff pronouncements of the author. This book is dedicated to helping you coach yourself or (preferably) a partner to correctly perform five fundamental exercises to maximize overall strength: squat (the heart of the program), deadlift, power clean, bench press, and military (overhead) press. If you follow the program you will lift weights three times a week for about two hours a session. You will also (at least if you're a weakling like me) be working your muscles much harder than you have in your life. If you don't have that kind of time and energy, at least you'll be making more progress than you would with a blizzard of machines. The whole idea is continuous incremental progress, so be prepared to write down your lifts and to do structured warmups. If you're not the type to keep track of how you're warming up, and how much you can lift at the most, this is not the program for you. You would be better off getting a good trainer (not someone with a name tag reading "Joey," who will help you "firm those arms!"). Note that the title is "Starting Strength," not "Starting Conditioning." While there is definitely an aerobic component, you will not lose weight, and you will not get aerobically conditioned. That said, the program applies equally to men and women, and, despite the emphasis on rapidly developing muscle mass, really is aimed at beginners. Otherwise it would be "Intermediate Strength." I had never picked up a barbell, and started on this program more or less as a lark, yet weightlifting is one of the most exciting things I have ever done, and this book (skip the 2nd edition, it's great and all, but the current edition is complete) is the gateway.

I bought this book while I was working at a summer camp in America. I actually took John Berardi's 'Scrawny to Brawny' with me with the intention of reading it and then follow the workout once I returned back home in England. Once I had finished it, I decided that I wanted some more information on the lifts. I'm the kind of guy who likes to know the theory and techniques involved before getting down to business. If you are like me then this book is definitely for you! Mark Rippetoe does an outstanding job with this book. He has written it in such a way that each compound lift - that he feels is necessary in achieving optimal strength gains - has its own chapter. In these chapters he goes over what the lift is, which variations are popular and which he feels is the best one and why. The why part is particularly interesting as it delves into Biomechanics and demonstrates, through brilliant diagrams and illustrations, the reasoning behind his options. The chapters also cover common mistakes to look out for and then a basic program to follow initially. In my opinion, the chapters are clear and concise and are very well written. Mark injects quite alot of humour into the book and you find that there are areas of the book where you feel as though he's actually coaching you in person. Each lift is broken down into compartments which makes every one much easier to understand and follow. He plays close attention to detail and it is these details, I believe, that are the most valuable. There is only so much you can learn from watching and studying successful lifters on the likes of YouTube, for the rest I would advise you buy this book. The following chapters cover useful assistance excercises and programming. These chapters are useful but I feel it is the chapters on each individual lift that truly makes this book standout. The only downside, if you would call it that, is the section on nutrition. Nutrition is a very important part of weight training regardless whether you are looking to put size on or just increase your strength. The section gets the point across but I feel it is very basic and somewhat outdated. I feel it will leave anyone who is completely new to the idea of nutrition feeling a little underwhelmed and searching for more information on the matter. This was not really an issue for myself as I was fortunate in the sense that I also had 'Scrawny to Brawny'. John Berardi is well known for his knowledge on sports nutrition and has a huge chunk of the book dedicated to the nutritional aspect of weight training. I believe it is worth buying for this reason alone and would be a good accompaniment for anyone who found themselves in this particular predicament. Before buying this book I had researched it on the Internet and all of the reviews I had read were very positive. I can honestly say that I was not disappointed. This book is ideal for its intended purpose and I would definitely recommend it.