Diesel Edition

Starting Strength Weekly Report

May 16, 2022

On Starting Strength

TRT Myths and Confusion – Mark Rippetoe and Dr. Keith Nichols from Tier 1 Health and Wellness discuss testosterone replacement therapy, best practices, and common misconceptions.
Why Your Toes Should be Turned Out in the Squat – Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains why the toes are turned out in a proper squat and how that allows you to lift more weight.
Strength For Young Women – Ray Gillenwater and Courtney Davis discuss misconceptions young women have about Starting Strength and all the positive changes she's had since starting the program.
What Will Be Your Response To a Violent Attack? by David Heon – The recent Lift/Shoot/Fight event helped me tremendously with the answer to this question. So, what is your response to a violent attack?...
TRT Tips for Younger Men by Tyler Perkins – Behind every man on testosterone replacement, there is a story of wasted money, wasted time, medical quackery, and possibly some unnecessary fondling...
Weekend Archives: Who’s Stronger? Absolute Strength versus Relative Strength by Shaun Pang – Who’s Stronger? Lifter A, 50 kg bodyweight – Deadlifts 150 kg [or] Lifter B, 80 kg bodyweight – Deadlifts 200 kg...
Weekend Archives: Collars on the Bar by Mark Rippetoe – Collars are designed to keep the plates from sliding off of the barbell sleeves. That's all they are for. If the plates are not sliding off...

From the Coaches

Alleviating Stress with Barbell Training – Liam talks about his progress with lifts, how his stress is gone, and how daily life is more bearable while training at Starting Strength Beaverton.
Apprenticeship at Starting Strength Plano – Maxine talks about her hero Lolisa, who is 85 years old, and her lifting progress. Maxine is apprenticing at Starting Strength Plano.
"The Chuck Taylor is the lifting shoe for those who started to think about lifting shoes . . . and never completed the thought." Your lifting shoes should support your training, not hinder it. With this in mind, Phil Meggers takes a look at the classic Converse Chuck Taylor and evaluates how it holds up as a lifting shoe candidate.
Relying on motivation to keep your training on track? Don't. Motivation is a fickle thing. Phil Meggers discusses how to stay consistent.

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In the Trenches

tony stein pushes the prowler loaded with member stephen

Partner Prowling with Tony Stein and Stephen Milano at Starting Strength Houston. [photo courtesy of Daniel Buege]

mark warms up his squat at starting strength cincinnati

Starting Strength Cincinnati member Mark (69) warms up his squat as his mother Merce (95) observes while resting between her sets. [photo courtesy of Luke Schroeder]

Katey deadlifts 56 kg for her work set at Testify Strength & Conditioning in Omaha, NE. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Mike Sweet rack pulls 195 at the young age of 80. [photo courtesy of Josh Wells]

andy learning to drive his hips in preparation for the squat

Andy learning how to drive his hips correctly at the Starting Strength Squat and Deadlift Camp held in Indianapolis. [photo courtesy of Adam Kacius]

andrew lewis explaining the starting strength deadlift method

Andrew Lewis explains the correct starting position for the deadlift - bar over the midfoot - and the next four steps of a correct deadlift at the camp in Indianapolis. [photo courtesy of Adam Kacius]

tony stein coaches a modified squat for a lifter recovering from a stroke

Tony Stein coaches Enayet Rahim on a modified squat as his son, Robby Rahim, squats in the background. Robby recently brought his father in to get strong after suffering a stroke. [photo courtesy of Daniel Buege]

mark locking out a deadlift set of 320 pounds

Mark pulling 320# for 2x3 at Starting Strength Boston. [photo courtesy of Austin Khamiss]

jonathan furrh locking out a press at starting strength katy

Jonathan Furrh locks out a press at Starting Strength Katy. [photo courtesy of Josh Wells]

greg chase apphia group photo at starting strength oklahoma city

Chase and Greg pose with Apphia who dropped in from our sister gym Starting Strength Denver. With Starting Strength gyms popping up across the country, you can travel from Denver to Oklahoma and beyond and receive the same standard of coaching. [photo courtesy of Phoebe Hightower]

Best of the Week

Altering SS to recover from surgery?

aschaul10

About 10 months ago I fractured my right humerus, and ended up a rod and screws in my right arm. I went to PT for a while, and got it "good enough" for day to day. I took about 9 months off of lifting, and still haven't recovered all of my tricep/bicep/overall muscle strength in my right arm.

I recently started the Starting Strength program, and was wondering if it would be OK to add a few accessory lifts in for the benefit of speeding up my injured shoulder recovery. For example, my PT recommended adding in things like close-grip press, dips, and isolated hammer curls to help build that strength back.

Would adding in these lifts at the end of the standard SS program hinder my overall progress?

My gut tells me if I just stick to the basics, the strength will come back from doing to program via press/bench, etc. However, I've never recovered from a serious surgery like this and want to make sure I get the most out of these next several months.

Mark Rippetoe

Is Physical Therapy Fraud?

AndrewLewis

It's been 10 months and you got it set with rods and screws. You're good to go, man. Just do the program, start light, and add weight in reasonable increments. Keep everything symmetrical. Get a coach if you're really worried.

Best of the Forum

Military Strength Standards

tpascarella

You mentioned in your video “a new baseline for military strength” that you’d recommend a 2x bodyweight deadlift and 75% bodyweight press in order to get out of basic training. Were those numbers for singles or sets of five?

Mark Rippetoe

Are you Strong Enough? An interview with Mark Rippetoe

gadders

I remember either reading or listening to an interview with Matt Wenning about strength training for the military. I don't think his thoughts are that different from yours.

Anyway, he was training some Navy Seals or some such unit, and one of the officers was calling his men beasts because they were managing to deadlift 180kg. For some reason, Matt had his girlfriend with him who also trained, and he told her to go and pick the bar up. They had to raise their standards for "beast" after that.

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