The program?

[WayneRooney]

Can anyone explain to me the various incarnations of the SS novice program? Is it just a matter of personal preference? Or should I move through them i.e add chins further down the line?

My favourite lifts are power clean and deadlifts. Should I just stick with the vanilla flavour? Only realised about the other iterations afte reading a few threads on here.

[FKYT]

All the incarnations of SS are basically the same. There are slight tweaks here and there taking into account different goals and skill levels, but none are drastically different. I'd just pick one and stick with it, and not worry too much about it.

[WayneRooney]

Thanks FKYT.

[OCG]

Chins or some sort of biceps/back work isn't really optional as you get stronger though. Ignoring the biceps is a good way to get elbow tendinitis.

[WayneRooney]

So you definitely recommend adding chins eventually? I thought you were more likely to get tendonitis from doing chins rather than omitting them.

[OCG]

How would that work?

[WayneRooney]

There are loads of people that have got tendonitis from chin ups, myself included. However, I was doing high reps with weight at the time.

[Rob Waskis]

Can anyone explain to me the various incarnations of the SS novice program? Is it just a matter of personal preference?

Have you read the book? There are none. It's just people putting their own spin on things. Which makes it not the SS Novice progression.

[DV]

Have you read the book? There are none. It's just people putting their own spin on things. Which makes it not the SS Novice progression.

Well, if you read SSBBT1, SSBBT2, PPST1, PPST2, then you come out with a few different versions.

I like the following "progression" through the versions, which I think I get from PPST2 or the SSBBT2.

First few weeks is Squat, Bench/Press, Deadlift every workout.

When you've figured out the deadlift, you start alternating with Power Clean: I.e. Squat, Bench/Press, Dead/Power Clean

When you've figured out Power clean, you alternate with chins, i.e.: A: Squat, Bench, Chin B: Squat, Press, Deadlift/Power Clean

When you've reset the squat once, you do a light squat in the middle of the week, and make that deadlift-day.

That said, noone will die if you fiddle a tiny bit with it, fx doing a couple of sets of chins after your deadlifts. As long as you keep the basics the same (3x5, increase weight each workout etc.) you should be fine.

[FKYT]

Well, if you read SSBBT1, SSBBT2, PPST1, PPST2, then you come out with a few different versions.

Not to mention the TNation SS article, which has you chinning from Day 1.