Starting Strength Weekly Report


January 02, 2023


All Rung In Edition

On Starting Strength
  • Lift Shoot Fight – Rip talks with John Valentine and Nick D about the Lift Shoot Fight camp and John's company, Deeds of Arms.
  • Bodybuilding at age 51 with Starting Strength – Cindy Cavagnol is a 51-year-old mother of two who has competed in bodybuilding for decades. She recently started incorporating the Starting Strength Method into her training routine with great success in and out of competition.
  • Bleeding Control – Nick D and Caleb Causey from Lone Star Medics discuss how to control bleeding and use a tourniquet.
  • Farm to Table Lifting by Michael Jones – A few days ago I was speaking with a friend who is opening his own restaurant. His vision, as he put it, was not just “farm-to-table,” but “fertilizer-to-fertilizer”...
  • Cómo Hacer el Press – En este vídeo instructivo, aprenderás desde cero las posiciones y movimientos correctos del press, tal y como se enseña en el libro Starting Strength: Entrenamiento básico con halteras.
  • Weekend Archives: Keeping Strength in the Strength Program by Bill Starr – Strength is a much sought after attribute in the athletic community and for good reason. Greater strength gives every athlete a definite edge...
  • Weekend Archives: Getting Played: Whose Fault is It? by Mark Rippetoe – There are two groups of people who are responsible for most of the misunderstanding in modern strength and conditioning. They are the people you least expect...


From the Coaches
  • Setting Goals for Next Year: Process Over Results – Coaches Robert Santana (now officially Dr. Santana!) and Trent Jones discuss their approach to setting goals for training, health, and life.
  • Are you getting setup as well as you should be when you press? In under 2 minutes, Phil covers a common error during the setup process and helps you fix it as well.
  • Got a tough time setting your back when you deadlift? In Part 2 of this Saturday Shorts series, Phil Meggers walks you through how to solve this problem.
  • Barbell Training After a Heart Transplant – If you’re worried about how barbell training will affect a medical condition and it’s holding you back, this story about how a 76-year-old male endurance runner started barbell training after receiving a heart transplant at 74 years old will inspire you.
  • There are two types of chalk abusers in the gym, and you don’t want to be either one. In Testify's weekly article, Phil Meggers lays it out for you in scintillating fashion.
Get Involved

In the Trenches

katherine squats heavy before the new year
Katherine Trakhtenbroit hits a heavy squat before the New Year. [photo courtesy of John Chung]
oren deadlifting 245 for 5
Oren Niskin deadlifts 245 for 5. [photo courtesy of Matt Gemmill]
irene squats 130 in her linear progression
Irene, an 8th grader, squats 130 lb for five triples as she works through her linear progression. Irene trains with her mom, Sarah, at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE, and plans on competing in the annual Testify Strengthlifting Challenge in April. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]
karen ends 2022 with a 135 lb deadlift
Karen ended 2022 deadlifting 135 lb at Starting Strength Boston. That new PR is up from 65 lb when she joined three months ago. What a great way to celebrate the new year — a 45 lb plate on each side of the barbell. [photo courtesy of Michael Shammas]
jeff deadlifts 220 at the end of his first month of training
Jeff wraps up his first month of training at Starting Strength Cincinnati with a 220 pound deadlift, a 65 pound increase from his very first session. [photo courtesy of Luke Schroeder]
rusty corrects the deadlift start position for alys
Rusty Holcomb fixing Alys’ deadlift setup at WFAC. [photo courtesy of Bre Hillen]
david lock out a 135 lb press
David Kelly locks out 135 pounds on the press. [photo courtesy of Matt Gemmill]
group photo at starting strength oklahoma city
9am MWF class posing for a group photo at SS OKC (Left) Alan G., Bobby, Deborah, Alan L., Kristin. [photo courtesy of Phoebe Hightower]
a dog at starting strength houston for the holidays
A Very Good Boy dropped in for a training session during the holidays. [photo courtesy of John Chung]

Best of the Week

Why some groups are more natural athletes

Griffin727

So why are some ethnic groups more explosive and or gain strength easier than others? I understand this isn't always the case but if you look at the top vertical jumps you for sure see a racial majority at hand. Why is it that their body of people are more likely to produce 36 inch jumps?

Mark Rippetoe

If you'll rewrite this messy post, I'll answer it.

Griffin727

Why are some ethnicities more explosive than others? I understand this isn't always the case, but if you look at the top vertical jumps they are all held by a certain ethnicity. Why is this ethnicity able to produce more 36 inch verticals?

Mark Rippetoe

This trend has been observed for quite some time. Virtually all the 100m sprint records are held by people of West African descent, while virtually all the marathon records are held by people of East African descent. Your question is, why? Since we are talking about a particular gene pool, there must have been some selective pressure on that genotype for long enough to make a significant difference. Would anyone care to speculate?


Best of the Forum

Neck fusion opinion question

Joe Brown

I had a significant neck fusion, at Mass General in 2017 c6- t2 I believe. Two big rods and 8 screws. The question I have is every time I try to do power cleans I seem to irritate my nerve damage(I assume) I added them in and was going good until I got to 185 and then had significant bad spells for weeks. Wondering if pulling them and just doing light pulls on that day would be better for the long term or if I just need to work on form.

Bench 265 3x5 Press 202.5 3x3
Dl 415 1x5
Squat 410 3x5

Thanks for any opinion or guidance given

Mark Rippetoe

With your medical history, cleans and snatches are contraindicated. Don't do them at all. Ever. And think about having the rods removed, if they were placed just to hold things together while the fusion healed.

Joe Brown

Thank you that was what my gut was telling me but wanted to check with someone else to make sure I wasn’t just making an excuse. The fusion was because of some damage and some tumors that had developed in and around the spine. Doc said it eroded the back of my spine. We discussed taking them out a few years ago and he said it wasn’t out of the question. Next check up I will ask again. I’m very grateful, thanks again





Starting Strength Weekly Report

Highlights from the StartingStrength Community. Browse archives.

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