Starting Strength Weekly Report


December 27, 2021


361 Edition

On Starting Strength
  • The Movement Pattern Problem – Rip discusses why learning an unfamiliar movement pattern is difficult, the role of the coach in this process, and how ingrained movement patterns work against efficiency in barbell training.
  • Starting Strength at 86 Years Old with Corki – Barbara “Corki” Rawlings talks about how strength training has improved the quality of her life and made her daily chores much easier. Corki is coached by Grant Broggi at The Strength Co.
  • Rachel’s Postpartum Strength Training Progression at Starting Strength Boise – After her 2nd pregnancy, Rachel Fox took her deadlift from 70 lb to 165 lb for 5 reps. Her squat went from 33 lb to 130 lb for 5 reps. She lost 5 inches around her waist and lost 18 pounds of body weight without dieting in 90 days following the Starting Strength novice linear progression at Starting Strength Boise.
  • Training Considerations for Law Enforcement by Tyler Perkins – Due to the paramilitary nature of law enforcement, it is no surprise that the same training pitfalls the military continues to perpetuate have crept [in]...
  • Dear, Dead Nick by Hannah Pralle – Dear, dead Nick — I didn’t want to be happy, I wanted you.
  • Weekend Archives: An Initial Visit to the York Barbell Club by Ken Leistner – Though plagued with Alzheimer’s Disease, my ninety-three year old mother had enough awareness to ask, “How can you continue to write so much about the same bullshit?”
  • Weekend Archives: The Most Important Thing You Will Ever Learn About Lifting Weights by Mark Rippetoe – Your lower back may very well be doing absolutely nothing that you tell it to do. Learning how to control the muscles that set the curve of your lumbar spine...


From the Coaches
  • Help out the Macmillan Nurse Support Charity in the UK with a Beautiful Strength Gym t-shirt. Macmillan nurses are specialist cancer nurses with experience and qualifications in cancer care.
  • 30-min Express Program – SSC Ray Gillenwater reviews the perils of coaching your spouse as well as how to program for women that want to spend the least amount of time under the bar as possible.
  • A common problem with new lifters and the press is achieving the correct start position for each rep - specifically, the correct start position for every rep after your first rep. Phil Meggers discusses how to achieve this.
  • Starting Strength Chicago owner John Fraser discusses progress on the gym's buildout and introduces his coaches Alex and Chris.
  • Save your delicate, baby-soft hands - Phil Meggers shows you how to use lifting straps in under 1 minute.
  • In this episode of the "How to Start Lifting" series, Phil Meggers helps you through your first workout(actually, your first two workouts!) and talks about how to make progress from there.
Get Involved

In the Trenches

tami squats one plate to joint the plate club
Welcome to the Plate Club Tami! [photo courtesy of John Dowdy]
carolyn squats 135 for three sets of five
A few weeks into her linear progression, Carolyn squats 135 lb for three sets of five at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]
joseph coaches the bench press arch
Joseph emphasizing the arch in the bench press with Bonnie. [photo courtesy of Victoria Diaz]
bill rocking his peak week shirt
Bill rocking his Peak Week shirt. [photo courtesy of Jayne Peyton]
mike monroe in the middle of press
Mike Monroe pressing while his father Marcus and his coach Aaron look on. [photo courtesy of Andrea Mates]
kendra pulls 66 kg in her linear progression
Kendra pulls 66 kg for a set of five as she continues her linear progression at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]
peter engel dressed for christmas while he trains
Peter Engel getting in the Christmas spirit for his squats. [photo courtesy of Austin Khamiss]

Best of the Week

Lasha 267kg

Dave Longley

No one else seems to have mentioned it so thought I’d bring it up.

Taranenko’s figure was finally eclipsed. Initially given 2 reds, Lasha’s lift was passed and became official.

Snatched 225kg prior to the 267kg too.

All three records are now his.

My question for you Rip: could he lift even more if he had abs?

Mark Rippetoe

Think about how ungodly strong he'd be if he did, trap bar deadlifts ... uh, douche pulls.

Bigredbull

I prefer Taranenko’s 266 and I don’t know why.

Jovan Dragisic

Yeah, but Lasha is a fat guy. I would be more impressed with a guy weighing 72 kilos who lifting 150, this would in fact be stronger than the world record in relative terms.

asm44

I think this is the dumbest thing you've said on this forum.


Best of the Forum

Double overhand

Mmll

I realize that when deadlifting with a double overhand grip, grip strength eventually becomes the limiting factor in how much someone can lift, and that to progress further the hook grip or mixed grip will be required. But why does this plateauing of grip strength happen? I don't understand it.

The reason I’m asking is because my double overhand deadlift hasn't been improving lately. I've reached a point (160 kg) where it just rolls out of my hand after the 2nd or 3rd rep, and it's not improving. I keep trying to make it improve but it's just plateaued. So I know it's time to start using the hook grip or mixed, but I just want to understand why this happens.

Mark Rippetoe

Let's think through this: By what mechanism does strength improve?

Frank_B

Do your warmups with double overhand and your working sets with an alternate or hook grip.

Mark Rippetoe

Frank: We're thinking here. Hypertrophy is the mechanism. Do you see a hypertrophy bottleneck anywhere in the gripping mechanism?

Frank_B

I would say that the muscles responsible for grip are significantly smaller than the rest of the muscle groups involved with pulling several hundred pounds off the floor.

Mark Rippetoe

Good. Where is the OP?

Frank_B

Must have gotten sucked into one of those voting machines. I hear things disappear in there.





Starting Strength Weekly Report

Highlights from the StartingStrength Community. Browse archives.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.