Starting Strength is definitely turning the tide

[Michael Wolf]

Yep. Was saying that the SSC will be equivalent to all the other certs that will get you a job, not be a requirement.

This. In our fantasyland world where everyone goes to the gym to actually train, low bar squats heavy sets of 5, and knows what you're referring to when you just say "press," the SSC would be the cert requirement at every gym. But in our very flawed, real world where the perfect is the enemy of the good, it'd be a huge step forward if gyms in general recognize the SSC certification as valid alongside the ones they already accept such as ACE, NSCA, NASM, ACSM, etc...

[Matt275]

This. In our fantasyland world where everyone goes to the gym to actually train, low bar squats heavy sets of 5, and knows what you're referring to when you just say "press," the SSC would be the cert requirement at every gym. But in our very flawed, real world where the perfect is the enemy of the good, it'd be a huge step forward if gyms in general recognize the SSC certification as valid alongside the ones they already accept such as ACE, NSCA, NASM, ACSM, etc...

Will be a huge step in the right direction.

[Kyle Schuant]

For that, Wolf, we just need more SSCs. There are literally tens of thousands of holders of all those other certs, so gym owners will certainly have heard of them. There are perhaps dozens of SSCs, owners will rarely have heard of them.

Of course, if you make tens of thousands of SSCs in anything less than a generation then that'll only be by diluting standards, so the recongition wouldn't be meaningful. Gotta take the bad with the good.

So the competent barbell coach gets the cert they need to get the job, and gets the SSC certification, then goes into the mainstream gym and slowly changes the culture there. Then when they've done that as much as they can, they move on to a dedicated facility. You and I have both done our time like that, Wolf.

[Kyle Schuant]

A newspaper report today tells us that,

"Muscular stress while lifting, carrying or putting down objects was the most common cause of serious injury across all industries."

We have a lot of work to do.

In Australia, occupational health and safety guidelines say that 20kg or more (or 16kg in some guidelines) requires two or more lifters and/or a trolley. This is a reasonable response to the risk of legal liability, since if you have a company with (say) 100 people, your rules have to keep safest the weakest, clumsiest and stupidest people in those 100. And the weakest 1 in 100 people would likely injure themselves picking up 20kg.

Getting gyms to accept the importance of competely-performed strength training is, weirdly enough, the first battle. After that we need to get everyone else to accept it. We're unlikely to get a judge in a civil case saying, "Well, you should have got stronger, case dismissed." This is that cultural change I've talked about earlier. I don't know how to effect wider social change, I do it one lifter at a time.

[Caradoc]

It still amazes me that when I talk about SS, nobody seems to have heard about it. I can't figure out how to do a single internet search about lifting without getting results from here, and even on other boards novices get frequently referred to SS. But in two gyms here, not a single employee or "trainer" knew what I was taking about when I said starting strength, and even among the stronger people it was a mystery. It was only among the most serious lifters that the name was even recognized. The PJMedia thing is great outreach, and hopefully Rip can build a more extensive outreach off of that.

[Kyle Schuant]

There's a doctor who lurks on here, a rheumatologist - he lifts, and is referring patients to me to lift. Most of them don't follow through, but that's the same with most prescriptions and treatment.

We're chipping away, like the guy with his rock hammer taking 30 years to tunnel out of prison.

[DonkeyLips]

How many SSCs are there now? And how many being made each month?

The metro area of the city I live in has about 3 million people and there is exactly one coach listed in the database.

[Kyle Schuant]

I looked a couple of weeks back, there were something like 77 in the USA, 1 in UK, I couldn't be bothered searching each of Belgium, Netherlands, etc. A few more have been made since then, like Sean Herbison. And some are unlisted. But we're talking 100 tops, probably 95% of whom are in the USA.

If there were 10 very competent non-SS barbell coaches out there for each 1 SSC, I would be surprised and pleased.

[tertius]

The metro area of the city I live in has about 3 million people and there is exactly one coach listed in the database.

I think you're doing better than the statistically average American, but only the SSCA really knows for certain.

[HeavyMetal]

The metro area of the city I live in has about 3 million people and there is exactly one coach listed in the database.

I live in the midst of 7 mil, and there isn't a single one listed in the database. I think a SS coach in the DFW Metroplex would stay pretty busy.