Having been a fan of Dorian Yates and attended one of his seminars in the early 2000s: if he straight out lied his whole career about doing one all-out set / exercise being sufficient for optimum muscle hypertrophy which he used to win 6 Mr Olympia titles and which he advocates as being the best protocol for anyone wishing to optimally build muscle hypertrophy, I would be very disappointed if he has not been honest. However, the slew of data of people reporting that Yates’ / Mentzer’s method hasn’t worked for them I guess speaks for itself.
Like Rip has correctly said in the past, that which has proven to work very well over the longest time for many people is the better data to pay attention to ie. the phenomenology. That’s why I love Starting Strength because it’s roots are in history’s “tried, trusted and proven” category with impeccable pedigree.
Marty Gallagher:
“The world’s greatest lifters independently came to the same conclusion: the 5 was the King of reps. Men from far-flung and varied regions, all touted the five, all swore allegiance to the 5-rep set. The popularity was (and is) attributable to the results. When a man makes a truly concerted and serious effort, concentrating on fives, using pristine technique, eating right, relentlessly pushing up poundage, results are always forthcoming.”
Re. Size - males should try to become big and strong - that’s just all there is to it because evolution says so. Anyone doubting that just needs to watch that famous YouTube clip of the male gorilla leading his troupe across the road. Since growing out of my bodybuilding phase in my late 20s, I found it much more productive and ENJOYABLE gifting my motivation to pursuing strength. The size came along with it as a pleasing side-effect. If people want to get big and strong, doing your 5s and Starting Strength is simply the best thing they can do for themselves. I also personally find Starting Strength incredibly enjoyable (I’m an advanced lifter) which goes against some peoples’ reports of finding it a bit boring. The results, the enjoyable physical process of actually doing the big five exercises and the focus on 5s over-ride any kind of monotony that occasionally creeps in. The fact that SS is simple (even the advanced training programs in the Practical Programming book aren’t actually THAT complicated once one familiarises oneself with the book’s recommendations), logical, elicits great results makes it ENJOYABLE for me, which in turn has made it sustainable over the very long term. Efferding - “compliance is the science”.
As always, great work by SS. The Friday podcasts are GOLD! Informative, entertaining and hilarious!