First post - Thanks Mark

[Irishman301]

Well I found this forum through another forum that I always go onto. I was asking advice about a stomach strain that I got from squatting, and he directed me to this part of the forum. I was happy as hell to find that there is a forum like this where you answer people's questions.

I don't exactly have a question for you right now, but I did just want to say that I bought the starting strength book since I've been having trouble with my squat form. That book is awsome! It really points out a lot of very important points that I overlooked before in all of the major lifts. I started the routine this past Saturday, and damn it's a killer. I've never done a full-body routine before. I've been doing mainly an upper/lower split from the NROL book for the past 8 months. The full-body routine is a nice change, and damn do I feel the difference already! I will most likely be switching back and forth between your routine and the NROL routines every few months - going through hypertrophy and strength phases.

So thanks for providing me with all the good info. Practical Programming is the next book on my list.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Thanks for the kind words. But move PPST up on your list to find out why your plan of switching between novice and intermediate programs won't work well.

[Irishman301]

Ya, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep adding weight to the bar every single workout. I was actually thinking more along the lines of the Bill Starr (or Madcow or whoever came up with it, not sure?) 5 x 5 linear model. Which increases weight every week instead of every workout. I just started on the novice version of it to see what it felt like to squat 3 times a week. It's feels friggin good! I was going to alternate the hypertrophy routines from NROL with the intermediate 5x5 routine for strength increases.

No matter what though, I'm still getting practical programming right after Christmas.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Once you get PPST, you'll realize what's wrong here. A novice CAN and SHOULD add weight to the bar every workout. There is no such thing as a "novice version" of an intermediate workout. And the 5 x 5 workout was developed by Mark Berry back in the 1930s.

I have limited time here, and I'd rather not ignore questions, but my time will be better spent answering questions from people who have already read the books.