P-I-G PIG Edition

Starting Strength Weekly Report

August 26, 2024

On Starting Strength

Villain Empathy, Pediatric Vaccines, and Changing Your Fate – Rip answers questions from Starting Strength Network subscribers and fans.
The Importance of Using Safeties in the Squat and Bench Press by Zohar Yermiyahu – As someone who places a high value on safety in training, I often find myself repeatedly convincing people to use safety pins during their workouts...
A Home Gym May Be in Your Immediate Future by Mark Rippetoe – The near-term environment looks pretty bleak. We may be heading into World War III with blithering slobbering idiots in charge, and even with geniuses in charge a World War tends to disrupt many things...
Real-Time Coaching for Real Results – Edward Torres shares his journey at the Starting Strength Gym in Sunset Valley, Austin, Texas. His initial goal was to refine his form, but he also gained insights into his body’s movement and the value of real-time coaching feedback.
The Cheerleader, the Consultant, and the Coach by Carl Raghavan – All sorts of people in the fitness industry are quick to call themselves a coach. It’s a great way to make themselves seem more legit without going to the trouble of obtaining the qualifications...
Weekend Archives: Twenty Seconds – Kirk Karwoski describes the mental preparation for lifting heavy weights - focusing on the process, limiting variables, and proper mindset.
Weekend Archives: Knee Wraps by Mark Rippetoe – Rip explains the use of supportive knee wraps to enable effective training for old and/or beat up lifters.

In the Trenches

zeb locks out a press to total over 1000

Zeb at Starting Strength Austin locks out a press PR that moves his squat, press, deadlift total over 1000 lb. He joins the 1000lb club with two and a half years of hard work and a sensible loss of 65 lb bodyweight. [photo courtesy of Brian Payne]

melanie prs her deadlift at starting strength atlanta

Melanie Morgan PRs her deadlift at Starting Strength Atlanta. She’s a long term client of Adam Martin, SSC, from even before the gym opened, therefore her technique was pristine enough here that with another coach’s eyes on, apprentice John Klein, the only cue needed was “less thinking, more doing.” [photo courtesy of Adam Martin]

kortney prepares to deadlift 135 for the first time

Kourtney Koehler, a school psychologist, readies herself to deadlift 135 for the first time in her life at Starting Strength Columbus. With the school year having started, Kourtney must train in the early morning before it begins. [photo courtesy of Jarret Beck]

chad pulls 315 for a set of five deadlifts

7 months to the day since beginning training at Starting Strength Denver Centennial, Chad pulls 315 for a solid set of 5. [photo courtesy of Tommy Pudil]

Rich finishes off his press with a strong shrug at Starting Strength Cincinnati. [photo courtesy of Jon Conti]

jarret beck coaches joe to push the floor to start his deadlift

Joe Eyre receives instruction on how to "push the floor" from SSC Jarret Beck at the recent Squat and Deadlift Camp held at Starting Strength Columbus. Pushing the floor is vital for correct pulling mechanics, allowing the bar path to remain over the midfoot. [photo courtesy of Tony Maldonado]

The strongest client at Starting Strength Atlanta, Ben Thrasher (right), celebrates with his coach, apprentice Brent Duckett, after he met the 500 pound milestone with his squat. A single was programmed, but he ended up doing a double! He started at the gym with a 315 squat about 9 months ago and is already a member of the 1000 pound club. Is there a club yet for lifters that can total 1000 with TWO lifts? [photo courtesy of Adam Martin]

Starting Strength Indianapolis held an instructor-led shooting event at Indy Arms Co where everyone followed proper handling protocols, had fun, and three of the members shot firearms for the very first time. [photo courtesy of Alice of Indy Arms Company]

Aracely shoots an AR-15 for the first time at the SS Indianapolis shooting event. She also shot her first .22 caliber pistol and 9mm pistol that day. [photo courtesy of Andrew Lewis]

Meet Report

Deadapalooza is the annual Testify Deadlift Festival and is conducted in a "rising bar" format. For the women, first place in the open division as well as the heaviest deadlift award both went to Jamie Morrissey. For the men, first place in the open division went to Bob Roos, first place in the masters division went to Ross Hamilton, and the heaviest deadlift award went to Bob Roos. View full results

Scott goes 3 for 3 on the day and pulls a smooth 345 lb for his third attempt at the recent Deadapalooza event at Testify Strength & Conditioning. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Living up to the message on his shirt, Bob pulls 615 lb for his third attempt at Deadapalooza this weekend at Testify Strength & Conditioning. Bob went 3 for 3 and set a lifetime PR with this lift. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Mike deadlifts four plates and some change at Deadapalooza as he locks out 415 lb for his third attempt. Mike was traveling the entire week leading up to this event but was dedicated enough to find a gym while on vacation so he could get some training done. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Get Involved

Submit a question to Starting Strength Radio.
Got something to say about training? Submit an article or video for publication.
Submit your image to be featured In the Trenches.
Submit a question to Starting Strength Radio

Best of the Week

Death penalty

KeithI

Mark, what are your thoughts on the death penalty and its implementation? I believe there are crimes that should be punished by death and people who deserve to die for what they’ve done. I don’t know how to reconcile that with the fact that it is implemented by a corrupt and incompetent government. As you have said, they could indict a ham sandwich. I don’t think it’s that uncommon for the wrong person to be convicted of a crime. A number of such cases have been found in recent years.

Mark Rippetoe

There are several things wrong with it, primarily the fact that the aforementioned problematic government must administer it. But I think that a person who burns a child to death needs a different form of execution than that provided for a loving pet. Putting a murderer to sleep is just as heinous as letting him go -- if he's not begging for death at the end of the rather long process, it was done incorrectly.

Lots of problems. Better just let the survivors' family deal with it.

Best of the Forum

What did I f*ck up - NLP press

Dunk

So, this isn't my first rodeo but I've had a long hiatus and starting from rock bottom....again. Everything was going well and then the press suddenly and catastrophically failed.

I'm 31 & 6'2"

Starting lifts...
Squat - 60kg 3x5
Bench - 50kg 3x5
Deadlift 80kg x5
Press 40kg 3x5
BW around 190lbs

Recent sessions
Squat 105kg 3x5
Press 60kg 3x5
Deadlift 127.5kg x5

Squat 107.5kg 3x5
Bench 85kg 3x5
Deadlift 130kg x5

Squat 110kg 3x5
Press 61.25kg 5, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1
Deadlift 132.5kg
BW 204 lbs

Done the programme exactly as stated (maybe could've moved over to power cleans sooner but deadlift are still feeling pretty easy). All other lifts are feeling pretty easy still. The 60kg press was a grind and then a complete failure at 61.25kg which was my first micro load. Think I've gotten to around 65 kg before any failures on NLP in the past but this was 6 years ago and I'm definitely not the same creature I used to be. The only other thing to note is I've only gone up 2.5kg on deadlifts because of previous back injuries but they're going well.

WTF did I do so wrong to fail this suddenly in the press? In the past I would've just reset 10% and worked backup and maybe eeked a little more out but never much but recently listened to the 'how to NLP' podcast episode. Is this all kosher? Maybe I haven't gone full 6k calories but I've still put on 15lbs in around 7 weeks.

Mark Rippetoe

Your bodyweight is a huge problem, as is your running up to 60k as a limit work set before you started microloading. Are you wearing a tight belt for presses?

Dunk

Dang, I thought as much. I wear a pretty tight belt, maybe I could try it tighter. It didn't give me much indication that I was at the limit until the last rep of the last set of 60. I'll reset the press, be in a hurry to put on more BW and microload earlier. I guess I had wrongly put myself in the category of not needing to rapidly gain weight!

Mark Rippetoe

The First Three Questions

Join the Starting Strength Network

Previous Report Next Report