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Starting Strength Weekly Report

July 07, 2025

On Starting Strength

Digital Health & Staying Safe Online – What do you need to know about keeping your kids - and yourself - safe on the internet? Ben Gillenwater, the Family IT Guy, returns to the show to discuss how to recognize and counter the addictive potential and other dangers of the digital world.
But What About My Arms? by Steve Ross – It happens at my gym like clockwork. A few weeks into training, right around the time squats start feeling heavy and the honeymoon phase of the linear progression begins to fade...
The Barbell Shrug – Rip and Stormi demonstrate the use of the barbell shrug for those who have developed their deadlift strength, but need an explosive, overload movement to drive further progress as a late intermediate or advanced lifter.
The Moment Model: First Principles by Michael Jones – I hear it from the bros all the time. I also hear it from aspiring coaches. “The front squat is quad-dominant.” There is also its cousin coming from barbell enthusiasts, “We use the low-bar squat technique because..."
Fixing Your Squat Set Up - Stop Overextending Your Low Back – Starting Strength Coach Nick Delgadillo helps you figure out the correct set up for your back in the squat.
Weekend Archives: Hauntological Corrective Exercise by Max Blochowiak – Jacques Derrida saw the present as inexorably tied to the past and future. It’s never simply this moment, but an amalgam of the three. He called this hauntology...
Weekend Archives: The Blind Lead the Willing by Mark Rippetoe – When I first started in the fitness business in 1978, I worked at the Spa International and Nautilus Training center in Parker Square. I had been fooling around in the old weight room at Midwestern...

In the Trenches

Through her consistency and quiet coachability, Ada Usmani achieves new PRs like this deadlift every workout of her novice linear progression at Starting Strength Atlanta. [photo courtesy of Tomczak]

Ryan Polis working on his Press as he moves through the NLP on a busy Saturday morning at Starting Strength Columbus. [photo courtesy of Paul Jackson]

deadlift instruction at a festival booth

Starting Strength Boston coaches took barbells outside for free deadlift instruction at a local 4th of July festival. Independence Day is the perfect time to learn how strength makes you harder to kill and more useful in general. [photo courtesy of Arthur Frontczak]

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Best of the Week

Joe Rogan is introduced to Starting Strength, GOMAD and Rip on the latest episode

shabu

Congrats Rip, you finally made it on the podcast.

"Rippet-wah"

Joe Rogan Experience #2344 - Amjad Masad

Mark Rippetoe

I saw that. I remain available to correct the errors established by the distinguished guest Amjad Masad.

Yngvi

Sorry Rip, even if you go on Rogan, I don't think it will be enough to correct the error that you and Roger Estep are the same person.

Best of the Forum

How can I help my Grandmother?

Isaac Medina

I recently just started training my Nana at the gym. She's really beat up and wants to lose weight, have more energy, fix her low back pain, and be able to keep up with my baby (her grandson).

She's 5'2", 63 years old, and probably ~170-180 lbs. She's bent over when she walks because of her back pain (her husband says it looks like she's picking piñon up off the ground when she walks). She had a double knee replacement about a year ago and her knees are fine (no pain). She has a lot of injuries and I'm unsure of how to help her out with upper body strength.

She cannot get her left arm straight overhead (it's about 20-25 degrees relative to her spine when the ROM stops), so I've had issues with helping her press. We've been working with a broomstick at the moment.

She's leg pressing at the moment. Those are going fine. 60lbs for 3 sets of 10.

She can deadlift off of 1.5" blocks. Her most recent DL was 53x5.

She's also doing lat pulls and cardio for 20-30 mins 5x/week.

My question is what can I do to help her with her pressing movements? I haven't tried bench press with her yet, but I'm hesitant to do so with her just because of her shoulder flexibility. Have you encountered any people with bad shoulders like this and what did you do to help them?

Mark Rippetoe

When she lat pulls, do her arms get vertical to the shoulders at the top?

Isaac Medina

Oddly enough, yes. Not perfectly vertical, but more vertical than when she stands and raises then up.

Mark Rippetoe

So in tension the ROM is actually there, she just lacks the strength and stability to press up into it. Have her start by pressing the stick up the front of the rack, and work on the ROM using that as a guide.

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