after many years of being a part-time couch potato I'm back in the weight room. I've started using the program "starting strength" as it reminds me of the strength program my college strength coaches had me use a very long time ago. anyone have experience with this program? pros/cons?
anyone use starting strength?
- Thread starter schlaiek
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I think SS is a great program overall and will really benefit you since you are getting back into the weight room. That said be careful with your initial linear progression and don’t be afraid to either drop weights or stay at a light weight to really dial in your form before progressing. I really like the Train Untamed videos by Alan Thrall (now certifies SS coach) to check form, as well as his coaches’ videos. I’m sure a lot of others will chime in with more knowledge. Rippetoe sometimes dogs on stretching. I would make sure you have some kind of dynamic stretching program to compliment your strength gains or you might start to jack with your joints, particularly if you sit a lot at a desk for work.
thanks for the reply - I"m already familiar with Alan Thrall - I think it was one of his videos that informed me about starting strength. I'm being very cautious, lots of stretching along with core & supporting workouts. I'm not as young as I once was, but I'm a whole lot smarter and I'm doing my best to do this the smart way the first time.
SS is my number 1 suggestion for all people wanting to become healthy. Simple, easy, and not overly time consuming. My one suggestion is to use Body weight exercises similar to your lifts to warm up instead of static stretches. Push ups, BW squats, Romanian Dead lifts with an unloaded bar. Do a circuit of these to get your mind straight, heart pumping and body temp up. Your on the right track. Keep it up!
Agreed. I always grabbed just the bar and did a higher rep set to get warmed up and focused on form before I started stacking weight. Romanians are great in themselves and I’d work them in when you don’t want to go crazy heavy.
thanks all. I’m warming up with stretches, pushups, core, and some other body weight lifts. So far that has worked well.
Most important thing to remember once we are at “that age” is your tendons. Muscles grow 2-3 times faster than the tendons. So although you may have the muscle mass and muscular strength to push yourself, your tendons take time to build up to where they can support the mass.
Do not push yourself with heavy weight too soon as that is how injuries occur.
Tennis/Golfers elbow is the number one gym injury and it is quite painful. Then of course shoulders and knees. Take your time, stretch and make sure your body temp is nice and high before you begin the med-heavy weights and you should be good.
Do not push yourself with heavy weight too soon as that is how injuries occur.
Tennis/Golfers elbow is the number one gym injury and it is quite painful. Then of course shoulders and knees. Take your time, stretch and make sure your body temp is nice and high before you begin the med-heavy weights and you should be good.
Another SS user here. Probably the best program out there (specifically the Novice Linear Progression).
As to the comment above about tendons and such; if your form is correct, tendons will not be an issue (that is, after all, the point of a NLP). The only difference with age, is that an NLP will be much shorter (like 3-4 months...maybe). Form matters, so like mentione dfurther up, get your form checked by a SSC (they have online form checks that are free, and also now have online coaching as well).
As to stretching and such, meh, just perform your warm up sets correctly, and that is all the stretching you will likely need (I mean, warm up sets are stretching and getting blood flowing into the muscles that will be used, why screw around with some nonsensical stretches that may or may not affect the muscles you intend to stress?).
Finally, buy the book; it's money well spent. If you're over 40, get the Barbell Prescription as well (strength training focused on older lifters). BBRx is not a replacement for the SS book, merely an addendum for older lifters.
Be prepared to be tired, eat a crap ton of food, and learn to be sore for weeks at a time. Very few people who start SS's NLP ever finish it, because it's friggin hard. That being said, if you do manage to make it to the end of the NLP, you'll have likely put on a crap load of muscle mass, and shed a fair amount of body fat. Even at 47 (when I started) I still put on about 25lbs of muscle mass in a year. I still follow it, but have advanced to intermediate programming, even with current health related issues (in fact, it has been a HUGE benefit being physically fit in dealing with all the current health related drama).
Their forum also has a fair bit of information...
As to the comment above about tendons and such; if your form is correct, tendons will not be an issue (that is, after all, the point of a NLP). The only difference with age, is that an NLP will be much shorter (like 3-4 months...maybe). Form matters, so like mentione dfurther up, get your form checked by a SSC (they have online form checks that are free, and also now have online coaching as well).
As to stretching and such, meh, just perform your warm up sets correctly, and that is all the stretching you will likely need (I mean, warm up sets are stretching and getting blood flowing into the muscles that will be used, why screw around with some nonsensical stretches that may or may not affect the muscles you intend to stress?).
Finally, buy the book; it's money well spent. If you're over 40, get the Barbell Prescription as well (strength training focused on older lifters). BBRx is not a replacement for the SS book, merely an addendum for older lifters.
Be prepared to be tired, eat a crap ton of food, and learn to be sore for weeks at a time. Very few people who start SS's NLP ever finish it, because it's friggin hard. That being said, if you do manage to make it to the end of the NLP, you'll have likely put on a crap load of muscle mass, and shed a fair amount of body fat. Even at 47 (when I started) I still put on about 25lbs of muscle mass in a year. I still follow it, but have advanced to intermediate programming, even with current health related issues (in fact, it has been a HUGE benefit being physically fit in dealing with all the current health related drama).
Their forum also has a fair bit of information...
I started SS with very reasonable goals dialed into the app. I’ve done a little mid course correction, and so far I feel great. The scheduled tempo has been cool. But, 3 weeks in and I can read the writing on the wall - the incremental gains and regular gains to my work sets will flatten out, and I’d like to do that before I start compromising form and risking injury.
My question, do I dial back the every workout increase all together? What is the threshold for doing so? And how do I prevent plateau? I’m comfortable with the dead lift & bench as losing form isn’t a huge worry, but it is with the squat. How do I gauge when I’m ready? How often should I be adding on weight? I should probably read the book vs just blindly utilizing the app I suppose...
My question, do I dial back the every workout increase all together? What is the threshold for doing so? And how do I prevent plateau? I’m comfortable with the dead lift & bench as losing form isn’t a huge worry, but it is with the squat. How do I gauge when I’m ready? How often should I be adding on weight? I should probably read the book vs just blindly utilizing the app I suppose...
For those who haven’t, pick up Mark’s book. You’ll be glad you did and it’s an easy read. For those of you that asked the few questions above, the answers are in there. He has some good content on YouTube and his question/answer podcasts are usually just questions that are answered in the book.
Trust me and the others who’ve mentioned it...read the book. You’ll learn a lot and be more likely to stick with the program and your training will be way more effective.
Best of luck!
Trust me and the others who’ve mentioned it...read the book. You’ll learn a lot and be more likely to stick with the program and your training will be way more effective.
Best of luck!
This^^^^
There's a lot going when you go through a novice linear progression (and it forms the basis for all future programming). Get the book. Well worth the minor investment (and it'll address the plateaus, resets and the progressive curve of strength).
+1 on doing a dynamic warmup vs static stretch.
Make sure to do some form of cardio as well. Make it something that is not horrible but gets you moving. That way you will do it every time and not hate it.
Make sure to do some form of cardio as well. Make it something that is not horrible but gets you moving. That way you will do it every time and not hate it.
Starting Strength (hard back edition is worth it IMHO). You'll constantly review portions of it as you go through an NLP, so a hardcopy of some sort trumps the kindle version (too hard to flip pages to find what you're looking for).
https://aasgaardco.com/store/books
If you're close to 40 years old, then the Barbell Prescription is another book that is well worth also having (it's not a replacement for Starting Strength; it's more of an addendum).
https://aasgaardco.com/store/books
If you're close to 40 years old, then the Barbell Prescription is another book that is well worth also having (it's not a replacement for Starting Strength; it's more of an addendum).
This one?
aasgaardco.com
Starting Starting: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd ed (Legacy Hardback Printing) – The Aasgaard Company
by Mark Rippetoe Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition legacy hardback printed in 2011.
aasgaardco.com
This one?
Starting Starting: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd ed (Legacy Hardback Printing) – The Aasgaard Company
by Mark Rippetoe Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition legacy hardback printed in 2011.
Yup! Also, like @MarinePMI recommended, get the hardback. That way you can easily tab, mark, highlight areas for quick reference.
Read the book. If you can't cut out time to study and learn you won't make it.
Think about it like this. When you were a child at some point you played football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis, etc. Then one day someone showed you better form and you preformed better. Then you practiced, and got better. Properly lifting weights with optimal performance and safety takes time to learn. IT's not intuitive. It's a skill that has to be developed to lift safely and heavy. Invest the time and energy to learn the proper way to preform the lift. Or be like every one else and blame their knees or lower back issues on squats and deadlifts.
Squats. Push knees out, keep the weight in the center of the feet. Thighs parallel to the floor or it's not a squat. Push your abs into the lifting belt. Back natural not hyperextended or bowed. Keep your shoulder blades clenched together. Chest up.
There is always room for improvement in your form. As the weight goes up the harder it gets to hold form. When form breaks that's your max weight. Good luck.
Think about it like this. When you were a child at some point you played football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis, etc. Then one day someone showed you better form and you preformed better. Then you practiced, and got better. Properly lifting weights with optimal performance and safety takes time to learn. IT's not intuitive. It's a skill that has to be developed to lift safely and heavy. Invest the time and energy to learn the proper way to preform the lift. Or be like every one else and blame their knees or lower back issues on squats and deadlifts.
Squats. Push knees out, keep the weight in the center of the feet. Thighs parallel to the floor or it's not a squat. Push your abs into the lifting belt. Back natural not hyperextended or bowed. Keep your shoulder blades clenched together. Chest up.
There is always room for improvement in your form. As the weight goes up the harder it gets to hold form. When form breaks that's your max weight. Good luck.
This^^^
I would have said the same thing. Form matters when lifting heavy and proprioception (ability to feel where your body is positioned) is not an intuitive thing. To lift heavy (and safely) your form needs to be spot on.
Also, Rip recommends doing 5 minutes or so on a rower, if you have one handy - the rower tends to use the whole posterior chain, and when done at a moderate pace for 5 minutes serves as a good general warmup for most of the muscles you're going to use in a SS prescribed workout.
I used SS for a six or so month period when I couldn't do higher intensity stuff. It's a solid program, and will definitely build a strength base. My only advice is - don't be greedy, and stay happy with gradual, consistent progress, and you'll be fine!
If SS wasn't intense enough for you, then you weren't pushing heavy enough or doing the program properly.
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