The annual Testify Strengthlifting Challenge took place this Saturday (04/12/25) at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE, and you can view a recording of the meet. For the women, the Best Lifter Award (Morgard the Manatee) went to Megan Martin, and for the men, the Best Lifter Award went to Grant McCaulley. In the master's division, the Best Lifter Award for the women again went to Megan, and the Best Lifter Award for the men again went to Grant. View full results.

Michael squats 200 kg for his 3rd attempt at the annual Strengthlifting Challenge at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE, this past weekend. Michael went 9-for-9 on the day. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Jill locks out 102 kg for her 3rd attempt deadlift at the Testify Strengthlifting Challenge. Jill went 9-for-9 on the day and set a PR on her press as well. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

At the Testify Strengthlifting Challenge, Jeremiah presses 91 kg for a smooth second attempt. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Cole Gorton

Ive read that men should have a waistline under 37 in for best health outcomes, and anything over 40 is dangerous and is a precursor to conditions such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Is this a general statement for the aggregate, much like BMI? Or has it more specific merit?

I ask bc I am 41, M 5'11 , 230lbs with a 41in waist. No one would call me fat, im athletic looking and muscular but i have a robust "core" and I find it serioulsly helps with my squatting if my waist is over 40. But I also dont wanna die when im 65.

How do you advise your clients (who are serious about strength performance) about body comosition and waistline in particular?

Robert Santana

My position has evolved on this over the years. The structure of the human body widely varies as does the baseline muscle mass on that structure. Some people have wider mid sections, some have larger muscle bellies around the waist before ever touching a weight, and some people grow those muscle bellies much larger than others. Natural fat storage patterns also vary and the line that defines central obesity is questionable because when you control for aerobic fitness (not even including lifting here yet), a fitter fat guy's cardiometabolic risk drops dramatically. Truth is, we have no idea what is healthy for a muscular and active person and where the highest risk category is. We know that you don't want to be a big fat sloppy mess but we also know if you are a big fat sloppy mess you won't be able to get in the desired position. So my suggestion is eat as healthy as you can, stay active outside of the weight room (within reason, no reason to run races here), and keep gaining muscle mass. If you are able to do those things and maintain those habits, doubtful you will be so fat you are unhealthy unless it runs in your family, to which case you are fucked anyways, now you are just delaying it.

Jason Donaldson

It just so happens that, at my last physical, my PCP and I discussed exactly this. I definitely have a surplus of visceral fat that I've been intermittently chipping away at, and I brought up the 40 inch number. My doc's immediate response was not to worry about that number specifically, explaining that my strength training (which he fully supports) has put significant muscle mass on that area, which is a good thing, and which will skew that number. He just wants to see me reduce the visceral fat over time, and not care about the specific measurement.

He also ignores BMI for trained individuals, gets behind TRT, was really excited when I gave him a copy of Dr. Sullivan's book - he's definitely one of the good ones...there are at least a few out there.

Jdcuth

Waist circumference is a blunt tool associated with various morbidities. On a population level under 40 is good and ignores the presence of various professional athletes in the above 40 supposedly unhealthy range just as it ignores cachectic chronically ill people in the lower range.

It’s not to say some people doing SS may benefit from some weight loss and the associated waist circumference decrease

gregpall603

I gave a pretty prominent but independent musician a copy of Starting Strength, with whom I've become friendly.

He's mid-40's, pretty thin/little muscle mass and doing acupuncture for pain and anxiety. I told him to follow the SS Novice program instead.

I also told him that he'd probably be better creatively with a squat > 315. Rip, do you think that's a stretch? Or consistent with the book's intro of overall strength and quality of life.

Artistic and athletic/physical are treated as opposing activities. My experience is they work together.

Mark Rippetoe

Since they are both ultimately physical, they work together.

od1

It helps for carrying the gear around, but for playing.. I don't see it.

Perhaps it's makes it easier to wear a 10 pound Les Paul for a four hour gig? An almost-elderly (60's) pro guitarist one time told me he stopped performing with his Les Paul because it was too heavy and hurt his back or something. I told him that he just needed to become stronger and he'd be fine. He called me an "idiot" and that "it doesn't work way". I guess the evidence is accumulating that I'm an idiot.

Byron Johnston

I was fortunate enough to be a professional musician for many years, certainly more than 15 years, and in the latter part of my work I was playing internationally as a concert guitarist as well as strength training using the Starting Strength method. I don't know what your friend is doing with his work, many musicians are fine teachers and many go on to do recordings or performances as I did. But all music take thousands of hours of practice, and that usually involves a lot of sitting and being sedentary!

I would say that I found being stronger and fitter massively useful in my work when I played internationally because it enabled me to make that kind of travel and deliver shows at that kind of level in my stride and without becoming exhausted. It was also useful for long hours in the recording studio.

I played as a soloist in concerts so much of the responsibility of the show was entirely on me. Flying overseas and then setting up in a theatre for a show on the same day is as much of a physical challenge, as it is a technical one for the performer.

You mentioned that your friend has some battles with anxiety, in my experience, as a Starting Strength coach, I've seen many incidences of people’s confidence improving as their physical capability improves with the training.

One of the concerns that musicians might have depending on their instrument is a concern around the hands, and if they get stronger in lifts such as the dead lift. I can tell you now from building my lifts up to be able to pull over 500lbs that I've had no diminishing consequences with my hands, and the Dexterity of my fingers based on an increased strength in the hands and arms.

In addition he may find his posture improves (I don’t know if this is related to his pain). One thing I started to notice from playing a lot of guitar was I was becoming quite hunched and rounded over in my upper back from the position I would practice in. Lifts like the press, squat and dead lift certainly helped with that.