Why are some people so stupid?

[ChgoSportsFan]

Since this is a Q&A forum and I would feel funny not asking a question, my question is in the title. It's more rhetorical than anything else.

I was browsing a thread on the bodybuilding.com forum (I don't know why) and the topic of SS and low bar squats came up. Few people seemed to understand that SS is a STRENGTH program and therefore effective as a STRENGTH program, not a bodybuilding program and that arm isolation exercises are unnecessary in a total body STRENGTH program.

Here are some of the gems:

"My arms lagged on SS I'd definitely add in the assistance. Especially on a bulk."

"There is no reason you shouldn't be doing those assistance exercises already in the program. I am no Mark Rippetoe, but I don't give a ****. SS is flawed program."

"SS is decent and SL is great but both are incomplete. Both need accessory work, and if someone wants to bodybuild, they need a little bicep work etc."

"IMO, the biggest factor is lack of upper back work. If you're doing the original program (Without chins) and doing cleans over rows, then there is no fkn way (Inb4 someone tries to tell me otherwise) that there is an equal amount of work on upper back as there is on the chest and front delts."

"There isn't really many negatives to having oversized biceps, compared to something like having oversized chest/front delts with lagging rear delts and upper back....which is what SS generally produces."

"The reason for the back squat moving more weight isn't necessarily there are more muscles used but because of the disadvantage from a stability standpoint since the bar is positioned anteriorly."

"Front squat has a higher hamstring activation than a narrow-stance, low-bar back squat. I've mentioned elsewhere that the emphasis on the PC during squats is usually overstated, especially if the stance isn't wide."

"Bret's EMG showed better PC activation for the front squat over the narrow-stance, low-bar back squat and the other study showed no difference. If you go to that same study, study #29 comes to a similar conclusion. If it's wide-stance then I concede that there's more PC activation but then you sacrifice quite a bit of quad activation."

"The fact that it is a cookie-cutter program makes it inherently flawed."

Now some good posts:

"Beginners need to worry about getting strong and building a base. Worry about biceps after you could deadlift 315+."

"If you want to start on a program to build strength, it's perfectly fine for what it is. It's a program for completely untrained noobs looking to get stronger."

"I've done both and in the front squat I feel almost nothing in my posterior chain. The knees go forward and in the bottom position, the hamstrings are contracted already and can't really aid in extending in the concentric part of the lift."

"SS is a strength program. It may be flawed if you're looking at it as a bodybuilding program, but I can't imagine anything being better for raw strength than compound exercises done heavy and frequently while eating a lot."

"The flaws they pointed out don't relate to its effectiveness as a strength program. What they're saying is like saying that a hamburger doesn't quench their thirst so hamburgers are flawed. But when used for hunger, their intended use, hamburgers are great."

""It needs accessory work" is not a valid argument without some sort of justification which I've seen none of. Most people who complain about the program try to stretch it into something more than what it is."

"Accessory work is intended to bring up specific weaknesses... beginners don't have specific weaknesses (for the most part); their body is one big weakness. Much the same with bodybuilding. Adding extra chest work to bring up a small chest makes no sense if you're 6'0 140lbs."

Why am I posting this? I don't know. Guess I just needed to vent. Bored at work. Can't believe how dumb people could be. Want to see a snide Rip comment. All of the above, probably.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You sure have a lot of spare time at work. What do you do?

[PackMule]

Probably some shitty, useless, bureaucratic desk job like mine.

(no offense intended to you Chgo, just venting a bit myself I guess)

[iamgmo]

You sure have a lot of spare time at work. What do you do?

Be careful what you wish for OP, because coach Rip might just give you exactly what you ask for...

[wal]

Good grief man, if that lot were spoken words I would say you have been vaccinated by a gramophone needle!

[ChgoSportsFan]

You sure have a lot of spare time at work. What do you do?

We had shareholder meetings scheduled for yesterday and they were cancelled. I had pretty much cleared my schedule for them. They're rescheduled for today. Just what I want to do on a Friday. I'd rather scour internet forums and fuck around. Oh well.

Your comment did not disappoint.