Articles | competition


Jim Steel | December 27, 2023

Bobby had just finished up his junior year of high school, and he was looking forward to summer. For most kids Bobby’s age, summertime meant going to the beach, hanging out with friends and partying. Not for Bobby. Oh sure, he went swimming and crabbing in the Choptank River on Sundays after church let out, but for the other 6 days of the week, Bobby trained for football.

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Carl Raghavan, SSC | November 22, 2023

Balancing a nomadic lifestyle with a passion for strength training is a pretty unique challenge. The wisdom of Uncle Rip’s famous saying, “When you sign up for a meet, your training improves,” resonates deeply with me, but the structure of a traditional powerlifting meet can be a stumbling block for travelers and digital nomads like myself...

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Jim Steel | July 26, 2023

I decided that it was time to really push the squat poundage and see where I could end up. I had always run a lot, both for football and for fun. I wanted to find out how strong I could get by just lifting and eating and not tapping into my recovery with all the running.

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Jim Moser | April 05, 2023

I am very saddened to report the passing of Lee James. Lee passed away at age 69 on Saturday, February 11, 2023. Lee was a great weightlifter and a more impressive person. Lee is often referred to as America's last great weightlifter. Lee James’s silver medal at the 1976 Olympics is part of his great legacy. This was not the end of his weightlifting accomplishments, but the start of his quest to be one of the best weightlifters in the world. 

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Wade Stokes | March 08, 2023

My friend Jason got me into powerlifting a year ago, mainly because he got tired of hearing me complain about my lower back. A 56-year-old American living in Tallinn, Estonia, I had been trying to compete at masters swimming fitfully over the previous few years with no success, either for my spine or my intermittent dreams of late-in-life athletic glory. On Jason’s advice, I bought the blue book and started my novice linear progression. A year later, as a masters world champion in winter swimming, I stand as proof that Starting Strength can super-charge your athletic performance, even if your sport is unimaginably unpopular.

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