Strong Enough?

[Tom Campitelli]

Howdy Mark,

I would like to get my brother a copy of one of your books for Christmas. I am deciding between Starting Strength and Strong Enough. I have SS, but I would like to get him interested in lifting and getting strong. Right now, he thinks that running long slow distance is the path to fitness. I realize it might be a lost cause, but I was wondering if Strong Enough might function more effectively as inspiration for lifting than SS. I could potentially get him both, but I don't want to overwhelm him. He is a runner, after all. Thanks in advance for any advice on the matter.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Well, has running long slow distance worked? Prolly not. SE? has a completely different approach than BBT, and it might get him interested. But runners are sometimes hard to talk to about such things.

[uncledmarky]

Not all runners are hopeless, so do not despair.

Speaking as a former marathoner (done six of 'em including Boston 2007), current rippetoid and proud owner of all three books, I humbly recommend SS:BBT. Already on page 2: “Physical strength is the most important thing in life. This is true whether we want it to be or not”. This is hard to take if you've been expending all of your efforts on LSD. He will either toss the book there and then... OR keep reading as I did. If he does indeed keep reading, this is the book he needs to take action in any event.

Note: Even though running is NOT part of the Program, I confess that I've still been running “a tiny bit” (I can quit anytime I want ... I promise) and that volume has continued to wane as now getting all of my reps is increasingly more important to me than the pounding out the few miles.

[roman209]

Hi,

I would get him SS.