Just finished up a cycle of SS in Manhattan. Michael Wolf runs a Starting Strength program out of Crossfit Solace in Midtown and I can’t recommend it enough if you’ve been in search of a place that's SS friendly in NYC. I just finished the 8 year cycle known as Solace Strong that he runs, although I do believe Wolf offers other personal training options through his company Wolf Strength and Conditioning.
The low down up front:
I got bigger and a hell of a lot stronger in all the lifts and had a blast.
A week before the cycle starts you come in and learn the lifts with everyone else scheduled for the class. I had read the books before, and toyed around with some lifting a few years ago so I was familiar with the basics, but never had the benefit of a Coach watching me. This alone makes the class worth it, as I confirmed things I was doing right and Wolf gives feedback and cues throughout to correct what you’re doing wrong.
The cycle starts the next time you show up, and generally you’re 3 to a power rack. The facility is a Crossfit gym, so it’s got great equipment, and although the circus freaks are doing their WODs nearby, they don’t get in the way or else Wolf scares them off. We had everyone in the class from complete newbies with barbells to real strong guys who were on multiple cycles of the class. Wolf does all the programming and you come in with your work sets for the day written on the white board. It starts off with the standard LP and as you progress he’ll change your sets accordingly. For me personally, this meant adding a light day for squats on Wednesday after about 4 weeks. Although I wished I could’ve kept with +15 a week, the light day was just what I needed, as I felt better after adding another 20 pounds on squat than I did before the light day just because of the extra recovery.
The last week and a half we deviate a little bit from the standard LP by changing up with ramping sets to get ready for the end of cycle Crossfit Total. Workouts get long and heavy and it's a cool change of pace from the sets of 5. The cycle ended today, Sunday with the CFT that most people showed up for. It's an awesome informal introduction to how a meet works and it's a great atmosphere to do it in. All in all an awesome time, and if you're nearby and on the fence about working in a group instead of on your own, definitely check it out. It'll be back to an LP for me, and I'm either going to do another 8 week cycle, or work out on my own until I know my form needs work and hit up Wolf for a check up.
Thanks Tom, it was a pleasure having you in the strength cycle at Solace and seeing you make some massive gains. Hope we'll have you back in August or October.
I noticed this too. Sorry to disappoint, folks, but it's only 8 weeks. If I knew how to keep you on LP for 8 years, I'd be a wealthy man.
Ha! I don't think I can edit this...8 WEEK!
Just curious, what were your before and after stats in the lifts during the 8 week cycle?
I don't have the logbook in front of me since I didn't bring it with me on vacation, but my recollection of Tom's starting worksets in Class #1 vs his lifts at our CF Total are:
Squat: ~95x5 --> 250x1
Press: ~65x5 --> 135x1
DL: ~175x5 --> 335x1
The starting weights may be off as I'm going purely by memory (from 9-10 weeks ago) on those, but if they're off, they're pretty close. The numbers from the Total, I'm sure about.
Day 1:
27/M/185lbs
SQ: 105
BP: 115
PR: 75
DL: 185
PC: 95
Last Day:
28/M/205lbs
Squat: 250X1
Bench: 155
Press: 135x1
Deadlift: 335x1
Power Clean: 135x3x5
SQ/PR/DL numbers reflect 1RM from Crossfit Total at end. Last set of 5 was less, without looking at my log I believe Squat was 195, Press was 105, Deadlift was 285, and then we did a week and half of different programming to get ready for maxes.