Velvet Edition

Starting Strength Weekly Report

July 25, 2022

On Starting Strength

Rip's Tattoos, Power vs. Strength, and Zach the Jew – Rip answers questions from Starting Strength Network subscribers and fans.
Rejecting the Slow Decline of Aging – Sylvia, a member from Starting Strength Boise, discusses why strength training is so important as we age and why she started doing Starting Strength after a recommendation by her son.
Rip's Friend of 20+ Years, Carmen Phillips – Ray Gillenwater talks with Rip's best friend and the manager of his gym, Carmen Phillips.
Another Look at Halting Deadlifts by Nick Delgadillo – When you go from doing deadlifts as the main pulling movement in your program to a partial range of motion exercise like rack pulls, you intentionally overload...
What Does It Take To Be An Olympic Weightlifter? by Jim Moser – I get asked this question a lot. The answer is: start early. The first thing that you need to understand is that the best time to learn the technique...
Weekend Archives: Using a Foot Platform to Eliminate Back Pain in the Bench Press by Andrew Lewis – Most flat benches sold are between 16 and 20 inches tall. A short-legged person may find that they are not able to effectively plant their feet during the bench press...
Weekend Archives: Making a Shake – Rippetoe throws down in the kitchen as he instructs Katia on the art of making a delicious 75-gram-of-protein shake.

From the Coaches

Are your terrible knees ruining your press? In this video - the seventh and final in Testify's series of Saturday Shorts on fixing the press - Phil Meggers quickly discusses and demonstrates how to solve this problem.
Got a compromised grip when you deadlift? That's just plain awful - it limits how much you can lift and therefore how strong you can get. Let's fix it. Phil Meggers discusses this problem as well as how to solve it.
What does an injury mean for your participation in barbell training in the immediate future and down the line? In this episode of the PRS Podcast learn why it’s important to continue barbell training through injuries and through the injury rehab process.

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In the Trenches

david heon of starting strength tulsa presses 235 at 60 years old

David Heon, owner of Starting Strength Tulsa, presses 235 lb at 60 years old [photo courtesy of Francesca Heon]

momma troupos visits ssc son and gets a deadlift tune-up

What happens when mom comes to visit her SSC son? She’s made to deadlift, of course! Momma Troupos dropped by Starting Strength Orlando for a deadlift tune-up recently. [photo courtesy of Pete Troupos]

heather rack pulls at starting strength cincinnati

Starting Strength Cincinnati member Heather wraps up her last set of rack pulls under the guidance of Head Coach Adam Martin. Heather has been with the gym for 5 months and made amazing progress during that time. [photo courtesy of Lucas Schroeder]

cara and aj learn the deadlift at starting strength boston

Strength training is a great family activity. Here is Cara (right) and her son AJ (left) learning proper deadlift technique together at Starting Strength Boston. [photo courtesy of Michael Shammas]

jennifer squats 80 pounds for the first time

Jennifer Murdock squats 80 pounds for the first time. [photo courtesy of Matt Gemmill]

tony stein coaches priya through her first set of squats at 135

SSC Tony Stein coaches Priya Ramchandra through her first set of squats with the big wheels. [photo courtesy of Starting Strength Houston]

Geneva squats 195 lb for five triples at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE. Geneva recently competed in the team-based IronFest competition at Testify and is now training for Testify's annual Fall Classic strengthlifting meet. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

chase and garm at starting strength oklahoma city

Chase and Garm (with a foreground blur) at Starting Strength OKC between sets. [photo courtesy of Francesca Heon]

clark and rodolfo wear the new Always Hard tshirt

Clark Montgomery and Rodolfo de la Garza Nunez show off the new Always Hard SS shirt [photo courtesy of Josh Wells]

Best of the Week

Uneven bench

PatricioMelendezCongrains

Sorry for my English, my native language is Spanish, I am from Peru. I am writing to you regarding my uneven bench press. This didn't happen to me before and it may have started when I fell from my motorcycle on my right shoulder. For 6 months I couldn't comfortably hang to do a pull up. I didn't break any bones. Now I can hang without any pain but I can still feel that movement with my right arm/shoulder is restricted. This accident happened 3 years ago.

I tried to upload the video here but it didn't work, so I am giving you a youtube link.

Mark Rippetoe

You still have a shoulder injury. Immediately switch to a close grip – index fingers on the lines, and see if that helps the asymmetry. Is there any pain?

PatricioMelendezCongrains

No, it doesn't hurt at all. You mean to grab the bar with my index finger where the knurling ends?

Mark Rippetoe

If it doesn't hurt, don't worry about it. Make sure both shoulders are adducted hard into the bench.

PatricioMelendezCongrains

So even without pain do I switch to close grip? Or just continue doing what I am doing?

Mark Rippetoe

No pain, regular grip.

Best of the Forum

Stop the clock

William MG

I watched your local meet on the weekend Rip, well done to all. It is also great to see my coach (JD) not only talks the talk, but walks the walk.

There were times when you called out "stop the clock" and weight was added to the bar and you mentioned strategy a few times.

I don't understand this stuff. Do you mind explaining?

Mark Rippetoe

The rules of Olympic weightlifting – most of which we followed this time – allow two changes to the attempt weight after the initial weight is given. Those changes can come at any time after the attempt has been turned in up until 30 seconds before the attempt must be started. So if you are following yourself, i.e. you just lifted 121 and you call for 122 with no one in front of you, which gives you 2 minutes rest before the next attempt, you can change that attempt twice more as long as the changes are called before the last 30 seconds of the 2 minutes. The time spent changing the plates is more rest for you.

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