Pity the Fool Edition

Starting Strength Weekly Report

April 04, 2022

On Starting Strength

Q&A Episode - Shower Tips, Trigger Finger, and More – Rip answers questions from Starting Strength Network subscribers and fans.
My Friends Don't Understand What I'm Doing – Pam and Dave discuss their experience training at Starting Strength Boise and how barbell training has improved their lives and health.
Coming Back From a Training Layoff – Ray Gillenwater and Andrew Lewis discuss the optimal way to start training again after a layoff.
Does PE Help or Hurt Kids? by Daniel Rodriguez – Public opinions on children and barbells are rarely dispassionate. Some have the mistaken, unscientific view that barbells and children should never mix...
Low-Back Position in the Deadlift by Mark Rippetoe – “Normal anatomical position” is the term applied to the human body standing upright, feet facing forward, palms facing forward, face looking directly forward, with...
Weekend Archives: How to Talk About Lifting to Adult Novice Women by Fran Mason – Despite the increased athleticism and sports participation of women today, there are still many women who have had no exposure to barbells and strength training concepts...
Weekend Archives: Intermediate and Advanced Training: A Few Ideas by Mark Rippetoe, Andy Baker, stef bradford – Starting Strength is on a roll. The method is growing in popularity, and as it does, more people flow through the Novice pipeline and end up as Intermediate and even Advanced lifters...

From the Coaches

Ray Gillenwater and John Dowdy talk about his journey from an apprentice to a Starting Strength Coach at Starting Strength Boise and his progress as a lifter.
Inna Koppel talks with Starting Strength Columbus owners Pete and Megan Yeh.
Does the bar move forward or swing away from you when you deadlift? Add pounds to your deadlift by solving this problem. Phil Meggers gives you a few tips to fix this issue.
Do you keep trying over and over again to set your back in the deadlift? Don't do that - it isn't accomplishing what you think it is. Phil Meggers explains.
A common problem in the squat is that of trying to make the back angle become more vertical right away as the lifter starts the ascent. Phil Meggers discusses how and why to solve this problem.

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In the Trenches

starting strength cincinnati exterior window art

Starting Strength Cincinnati recently had exterior window vinyls installed featuring the great photography work of Nick Delgadillo. They look amazing! [photo courtesy of Luke Schroeder]

Jarret from Starting Strength Columbus demonstrating the deadlift during the Starting Strength Seminar this past weekend. [photo courtesy of Bre Hillen]

alex coaches hip height at the beginning of a deadlift

Alex Ptacek fixing Ryan’s hip height at the beginning of a deadlift during the Starting Strength Seminar. [photo courtesy of Bre Hillen]

Camp Rippetoe staff this weekend at WFAC. Left to right: Nick Delgadillo, Carmen Phillips, Phil Meggers, Bre Hillen, Pete Troupos, Grant Broggi. [photo courtesy of Nicole Rutherford]

adam deadlift pr work set at starting strength boise

Adam pulling a PR 235x5 at Starting Strength Boise. [photo courtesy of Rachel Fox]

julie squats singles in preparation for an upcoming meet

Julie squats some singles in preparation for the upcoming Testify Strengthlifting Challenge at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

andres pulls triples at double bodyweight

Andres pulls 315 for two triples at about 160lbs body weight at Starting Strength San Antonio. [photo courtesy of Matt Hebert]

It was Jeff’s last day yesterday so we had him max out on some singles because why not at Starting Strength Dallas. [photo courtesy of Brent Carter]

bruce trout teaches robert to deadlift at starting strength columbus

Bruce Trout of Starting Strength Columbus teaches Robert how to deadlift. [photo courtesy of Pete Yeh]

cody hands off the bar to sanath in the bench press

Cody Smith handing off the bar to Sanath Reddeddy on the bench press. [photo courtesy of Josh Wells]

Daniel coaching at Starting Strength Plano. [photo courtesy of Christian Fox]

kujo deadlifting at starting strength oklahoma city

Apprentice Greg Herman works with founding OKC member “Kujo” on his deadlift. This matched Kujo’s previous 3 rep PR prior to setbacks earlier in the year. [photo courtesy of Dalton Rankin]

stephen getting ready to squat a heavy double

Stephen Melano getting set to squat a heavy double at Starting Strength Houston. [photo courtesy of Matthew Gemmill]

claudia squatting 125 for her work sets at starting strength boston

Claudia, a former cross fitter, squatting 125# for 3 sets of 5 at Starting Strength Boston. Her strength has improved significantly since joining two months ago and continues to progress. [photo courtesy of Michael Shammas]

adam coaches ramona checking her squat depth

Adam of Starting Strength Indianapolis checks for depth in Ramona’s squat at Blackmetal Strength Training. [photo courtesy of Andrew Lewis]

Best of the Week

Young but lots of miles

Joe Brown

I am 31 medically retired veteran after neck shoulder tumor issues in spine/spinal cord growing in and out of Spine/spinal cord. I had a c6-t1 fusion, back side of the spine eroded from tumors, and now have two rods on the spine and many screws. I had shoulder surgery to debur bone spurs and am supposed to have both knees done at some point..blah blah blah. Chronic bursitis tendinitis and muscle spasms. Programs have seemed to help. I’m currently pressing 195 3x5 squatting 380 3x5 deadlifting 380 1x5 at 260 fairly lean. The question is should I program like an older trainee or continue LP as prescribed? I have read both books and reference them daily to try to pick up on things I’ve overlooked.

Mark Rippetoe

How are your testosterone levels?

Joe Brown

I haven’t had them checked, I have no symptoms of low testosterone

Mark Rippetoe

You are a young man in poor health, with significant surgical issues you are trying to recover from. Get it checked. You may be surprised at the relationship between physical trauma and test levels. Other than that, just train using the program to the best of your ability.

Best of the Forum

3 inch belts

Mmll

I read this The Belt and the Deadlift

I agree...the 4 inch belt is a problem with deadlifts. I used a 4 inch belt the other day and it feels great doing presses but shit with deadlifts. It's too wide, and depending on where I put it, it either digs into my lower rib or hip area. I have bad red/purple bruising along the hip area now. It also makes it hard to set my back properly.

So I'm looking at getting one of the SS 3 inch belts. but if i do, will the edge of the belt still dig into the skin and cause this bruising? I realize it will be narrower and therefore probably not dig into the hip area as much, but will it just cause the same kind of bruising an inch higher up on the stomach?

I'd only deadlifted with a 4 inch velcro belt before (which I actually thought worked pretty well, and no digging in/bruising, but it's shit with pressing and squats). is digging in/bruising just an unavoidable thing that is part of deadlifting with leather lifting belts? Is it something that always happens initially until belts are worn over time or will a 3 inch likely get rid of the problem altogether?

Mark Rippetoe

The bruising comes as a result of the position of the belt relative to your hip flexors. The narrower belt fixes this, if you wear it correctly.

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