thank you Mark Rippetoe and the SS community

[dsayers]

I'm a 42 year old male and because I have completed three training sessions as outlined in SS, I'm the strongest I've ever been in my entire life! The quality of life improvement I have experienced is unlike anything I would've guessed it could be. For example, I now experience no joint discomfort no matter what I'm doing. When I walk briskly, I don't feel anything in my lower back. When I sit and/or move in ways that previously could've led to pinching something in my back, I'm wielding perfect posture without even thinking about it. When I move to the extremes, such as turning my neck, I no longer experience muscle stiffness or that effect where the muscles are artificially tight to prevent you from over-extending.

Ever hear the idea that if you think you have the answer, you stop looking for the RIGHT answer? Well this is why SS has been so amazing to me... Two years ago, a buddy of mine had shared with me the book The New Rules of Lifting: Supercharged. I started using the programming it suggested. Because I had never exercised before, I did lose weight and I did gain some muscle definition. I thought the results came at an impressive rate.

Due to life changes, I had only stuck with the program for five months, though I did continue to exert force a large amount of my days. Despite all of that, I can still tell you that after only three treatments of SS training, I really am stronger than I've ever been. It's helped me to appreciate why strength is important and why wasting time on exercise can rob otherwise motivated people from the results they could be getting. Not only that, SS and various podcasts/articles have helped me to UNLEARN the various bad habit I had picked up before. Including things like the waste of time that is stretching, focusing on specific muscles, "core training," etc.

I invested in a squat stand a couple months ahead of when I thought I'd be "ready" for/need it. This was due to how convincing a case was made for the low bar back squat being THE way to squat. It's by far the best money I ever spent. I chose the model that I did (Rogue SML-2) because I knew I could later purchase a conversion kit to turn it into a full rack. Well, even though money's a bit tight for my comfort, I've gone ahead and ordered that conversion kit already. I can already see that my linear progression is going to make the added safety something I'll need to call upon sooner rather than later. The other book I was using didn't make adding 5 pounds each workout possible because my strength simply wasn't developing nearly that rapidly.

The only downside is that I can no longer enjoy videos of hot chicks working out! Previously, I used to enjoy these because I equated working out as a form of healthy self-care. Now, I see it as wasting time, often with bad form. Or worse, encouraging others to waste time! I look forward to being active in this community. I've already begun to share my results with others in an attempt to spread the word of how easy it really is and how effective/rewarding it is. I look forward to being a voice that can offset all the misinformation that is leading people to wasting their time, or not being as efficient as they could be.

[Mark Rippetoe]

To clarify: you've done 3 workouts -- THREE total workouts -- and you're stronger now than you've ever been? By what, 20 pounds? Are you trolling us?

[Joe Heisey]

To clarify: you've done 3 workouts -- THREE total workouts -- and you're stronger now than you've ever been? By what, 20 pounds? Are you trolling us?

Such progress is quite possible assuming he did 26xGOMAD. Sounds like you're denigrating your own program.

[dsayers]

To clarify: you've done 3 workouts -- THREE total workouts -- and you're stronger now than you've ever been? By what, 20 pounds? Are you trolling us?

I've been struggling with how to best reply to this. I think mostly I'm confused by somebody who has spent so much time and effort reaching out to novices seemingly ruling out the possibility that somebody who finds tremendous value in his work could be a novice.

No, I am not trolling. Yes I believe that I am stronger than I've ever been.

I wrote more than "three workouts." Did you read the other stuff? My claim was not that I am the prime specimen of strength in human history. My claim was that of all iterations of ME I've ever known, this one has the greatest capacity for work; That it was because of your work (and word of mouth of those who have partaken of it), that I'm cognizant of this, and that I wanted to express this to you.

If a student saw a horse and claimed it was a zebra, I wonder how assuming the worst of them would be helpful.

I appreciate your focus on the way we're built. The physics of the world we live in. The way to tie these together most effectively and efficiently. I especially appreciate the meticulous detail you go into when describing form. That, as well as some podcasts I've consumed along the way, has helped me to unlearn bad habits. Things like wasting time stretching, on "core training," etc. Hell, I was previously under the impression that my legs needed to stay straight in the squat. When I first observed that my knees wanted to open up on the way down a couple years ago, I employed a band and tried to keep them together. I also wasn't wearing lifting shoes. Is it really so hard to believe that somebody with such poor form was recruiting so little muscle effectively that they didn't get usefully stronger? Such that after three treatments (four now) of doing it RIGHT, as well as parlaying strength gained into actively increasing resistance--another missing component previously--could be stronger than ever?

I do apologize that I am merely self-reporting, and largely subjective things such as feeling the size of my back and shoulders increasing, noticing that I move safer than ever in my daily life, which I attribute to stronger back musculature than ever before. The only objective data I have is that yesterday on the treadmill, I was walking at a faster rate than ever before, sustained, for a longer period of time than before. During which, I felt nothing in my lower back (unlike before), and I was breathing less heavily. That night at work, I felt lighter on my feet than ever, despite weighing more than I ever have. A co-worker even commented on how he could observe that I was moving differently. My interpretation of all of this is that my capacity for work is greater than ever, thus less than my maximum is easier.

If you believe my claim to be impossible or misguided, I would welcome help in interpreting/communicating my experience. Or if I have failed to convince you, I will take no more of your time than to say I give credit where credit is due and I deeply appreciate this new lease on life I've achieved for myself as a direct result of applying things I've learned from you. Thank you.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Such progress is quite possible assuming he did 26xGOMAD. Sounds like you're denigrating your own program.

Missing the point, Bobby.

I've been struggling with how to best reply to this. I think mostly I'm confused by somebody who has spent so much time and effort reaching out to novices seemingly ruling out the possibility that somebody who finds tremendous value in his work could be a novice.

No, I am not trolling. Yes I believe that I am stronger than I've ever been.

And I'm sure you are. It just seems a little hyperbolic -- even though it may be true -- to state that 3 workouts have made you stronger than you've ever been. We emphasize the long-term results of the process of training, not the wonderful things that happen the first week. I'm not trying to throw cold water on your enthusiasm, but rather some moderation. People on these boards are heavily criticized by the wider internet as mind-numbed followers, members of the cult, slaves, vermin, etc., because of accolades like this which make you sound like hyper-enthusiastic uncritical kids. I moderate, you jump on my ass. They criticize, you jump on their asses. Alls I'm sayin is that it sounds a little gushy. That's all.

[dsayers]

I get it. Thanks for clarifying.

I wasted five months on a bad system that at the time, felt amazing. So to see more results in just a week's time... I don't have the capacity to state it without gushing! I too would've guessed the claim to be impossible.

The feedback is valuable though. I'm already trying to convince others how necessary it is to just do the work. Since I've invested in home equipment, I think I'd like to look into sharing it in the future. So how my account of my progress lands for others matters.

[Leanne M. Lloyd]

I am also 42, and my own experience the first time I lifted using SS methods was incredible as well. I was severely de-conditioned from being sedentary for a decade. The first two weeks, if I had to walk up the stairs to pee, there was a real possibility that I might miss a rep without sufficient rest before the next set. After a couple weeks, going up and down the stairs between sets was no problem and the edema in my lower legs after getting home from work (70 miles from work to home in a car) was gone. Those were the two biggest things that I noticed, but I had random coworkers come up and tell me details they noticed as well. I wasn't the strongest I had ever been, but I was definitely in better shape than the previous 10 years.

[AndrewLewis]

That's some impressive shit. I usually only feel acute effects in the form of increased motivation and a general sense of feeling well.