Thank you

[tscw1]

Hi

I've been following your program for over a month now and I've made more progress than I ever have in the years I've been to the gym before that doing all other hypertrophy workouts that haven't worked. There isn't a better feeling than lifting a weight that you think you can never beat then the very next workout beating it, plus it is very specific goal oriented which also helps.

There is an advert in my local health spa that tells me I can do a 4 week strength workout for only $125 a week. Your books seem very cheap compared to that, plus I have little respect for the 'trainers' at my local health spa, maybe they don't charge enough?

Chris

[Mark Rippetoe]

Thanks. Lots of you guys are making good progress, and you're the reason I'm doing this board.

[XTrainer]

You can add my name to the list of grateful trainees stuck in pansy gyms.

[Chucky]

Hi

I've been following your program for over a month now and I've made more progress than I ever have in the years I've been to the gym before that doing all other hypertrophy workouts that haven't worked. There isn't a better feeling than lifting a weight that you think you can never beat then the very next workout beating it, plus it is very specific goal oriented which also helps.

But I can think of an even better feeling. After purchasing a copy of Starting Strength last summer I?ve been doing squats, deadlifts, and power cleans all off-season. I haven't done a bicep curl or triceps pushdown in months. Yet my arms haven't shrunk at all.

My two sports passions are disc golfing and inline speed skating.

After being off all winter, two weeks ago I picked up my long range driving disc, and drove it 440 feet, exceeding my driving PR by 30 feet. It felt like I had launched a missle.

Last week, after being off skates since October, I strapped on my Bont ZX-5 speed skates, and skated as if a rocket engine had been installed in each leg.

When boring, grueling body training translates so startlingly into reaching new levels in your sport, now that?s a good feeling.

[b33k4y]

Nothing boring about setting a deadlift PR...

[Chucky]

Nothing boring about setting a deadlift PR...

True enough, I guess my point is sometimes it?s easy to lose sight of the whole purpose of weight training. It?s not a sport unto itself like bodybuilding, powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting. It?s a means by which one increases strength, speed and power that translates to improved performance in sport.

Now I don?t know if Rip was overreaching when he said, ?Physical strength is the most important thing in life.? I sure agree that I experience a strong primal reaction when my squat strength goes up. But merely possessing strength and power without allowing it to manifest itself in the arena of sport, is akin to building a muscle car and only driving it to the church and back.

Yes, reaching PRs in the lifts is always gratifying, but when you see the results of months of blood and sweat yield tangible results in sport, now that?s bliss.

[whatupdun]

I've made more progress than I ever have in the years I've been to the gym before that doing all other hypertrophy workouts that haven't worked. There isn't a better feeling than lifting a weight that you think you can never beat then the very next workout beating it, plus it is very specific goal oriented which also helps.

+1

There is an advert in my local health spa that tells me I can do a 4 week strength workout for only $125 a week. Your books seem very cheap compared to that, plus I have little respect for the 'trainers' at my local health spa, maybe they don't charge enough?

Perhaps you should charge more for the books

[Mark Rippetoe]

Noted.