Starting Strength

Starting Strength Coaches Association & Conference

Since the beginning of 2010, Mark Rippetoe and staff have held 29 Starting Strength Seminars throughout the United States and Canada, and 180 people have earned the Starting Strength Coaching Certificate. This announcement shall serve to formalize the formation of the Starting Strength Coaches Association. At this time, no action is required to join – if you have passed the seminar and have the Starting Strength Coach Certificate, you are a member of the association. No membership dues or further action on your part is necessary at this time.

Further, the time has come to hold the first convention of the Starting Strength Coaches Association, so that we can spend a weekend learning, lifting, networking, and eating good food. The two and a half-day conference will kick off on Friday evening, October 5th at the Wichita Falls Athletic Club. The program will include a variety of speakers on topics such as: building a business around Starting Strength, advanced programming, conditioning, and equipment.

The program will include practical sessions and speakers on various topics. We will hold a practical session on the split snatch Friday evening, and the new way we coach the press on Saturday afternoon, with plenty of time spent under the bar. Friday night there will be an open gym workout for all interested attendees. If you are spending all your time coaching others, but wish you had an opportunity to get some competent coaching for your own lifts, you will be in a room with a group of people that understand the movements like no one else in the country working out in the finest gym in the country.

Of course, Rip will be in attendance and will lead the practical sessions on the split snatch and press, and speak on several topics. Marty Gallagher will join us for some advice on coaching advanced lifters. Andy Baker will tell us how he incorporates the Starting Strength model into his business in Kingwood TX. Steve Hill and Tom Campitelli will answer questions about running a Starting Strength one-lift training camp, as they’ve both been successfully doing for the past year. Dr. Jonathan Sullivan will tell us why the thing we do – getting people stronger – is so very important and becoming more so all the time. Rip and Marty will also lead a round table session on Sunday to answer any training questions you might have and to facilitate discussion amongst the coaches. And we’ll have some other guests dropping by.

No trip to the Falls would be complete without some barbeque. The Branding Iron will cater dinner on Saturday evening, to give us a chance to catch up and build the relationships to help this training methodology grow and thrive.

The Starting Strength Coach Certificate is not easily earned. This is what makes it valuable and provides a high level of quality assurance to prospective trainees. While you as coaches possess the skills needed to effectively train others using barbells, you now have the opportunity to begin building a community of professionals around this system. This inaugural Starting Strength Coaches Association Conference is the first step toward that goal. We hope to see you there.

When: Friday, October 5, 5:00 PM to Sunday, October 7, 5:00 PM
Where: Wichita Falls Athletic Club, Wichita Falls, TX
Cost: Early registration through Sept 15, $95; Regular registration $135
Availability: Open to Starting Strength Coaches

Hotels:  The Baymont and Days Inn on Kell Blvd have a corporate rate available under “Starting Strength”.

Friday Oct. 5
5:00 - 6:00 Matt Reynolds – Conditioning with the Prowler
6:00 - 7:00 Rip – The Split Snatch
7:00 - 9:00 Open Workout

Saturday Oct. 6
9:00 - 10:00 Rip – Welcome and Keynote address
10:00 - 11:00 Andy Baker – Running a Gym on the SS Model
11:00 - 12:00 Steve Hill & Tom Campitelli – Running a SSTC
12:00 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 3:00 Rip – Practical Session: The Press 2.0
3:00 - 4:00 Kirk Karwoski – From Cadet to Captain
4:00 - 5:00 Jonathan Sullivan MD – The Importance of What We Do
6:30 BBQ, Beer, Other Adult Beverages

Sunday Oct. 7
9:00 – 9:30 Business meeting: Where Should the SSCA Go From Here?
9:30 - 10:15 Rip – Equipping the SS Gym
10:15 - 11:00 Dr. Stef Bradford – The Coaching Eye from the Inside Out
11:00 - 12:00 Jonathan Sullivan MD – Injuries
12:00 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 5:00 Rip, Kirk, Sully, Andy et al – Roundtable

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