Starting Strength (2nd edition) | Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore

Starting Strength (2nd edition) | Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore | Best Lifting Technique Book Ever!!!

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Starting Strength ...

	Starting Strength (2nd edition) Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore The Aasgaard Company, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 116 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A 1st edition book review

As you walk into your gym, the first thing you see is that handsome Brad Pitt (or Orlando Bloom or whatever) look-alike curling a barbell relentlessly and vigorously on the squat rack. Sets after sets after sets, you stand in awe as you see the grotesque veins bulge on his biceps as he stimulates every square inch, every nooks and crannies of its muscle fibers. The girls on the treadmills would surely fall for him.

Two month later, you see him again, strenuously curling his barbell in the squat rack like the champion that he is. However, something in the back of your mind senses that something is wrong. Well, at a glance, everything appears to be normal: he's got a great form in his curl, he's got that look of fearsome, hardcore intensity in his eyes, and his veins are jutting out majestically. The only problem is, he is still 6 foot tall and weighs a buck fifty and he's still curling that same barbell with ten pound plates on each side: he didn't make any progress at all. And chances are, if you haven't received instructions on how to properly lift or base your entire workout on a bodybuilder's regimen in the latest issue of a muscle magazine, you're not making any progress either.

And then there are people who will steadfastedly stand by their magazines and assert, "No! I've tried the latest Coleman/Cutler sets and my strength/arm size/ego doubled!" Okay, fine. But stick with the regimen for a few more months and see what happens. Nevermind the fact the people who use them or similar variations are hardcore steroid users and possess one of the most freakish genes on the planet. In other words, those that are normal will usually stagnate in their size and strength and achieve a total burnout.

Okay, you're ready to reform or if you're completely new to the iron game, learn the right way to lift. First step, buy the book. It will teach you the five compound lifts: the squat, the bench press, the standing press, the deadlift, and the power clean. To progress, you must do the compound lifts. To get bigger, stronger, faster, sexier, you must do the compound lifts. What are compound lifts? Compound lifts are movements that utilize two or more of your muscles. For example:

The Squat mainly targets the legs, the butt, lower back, and the abs.

Bench press - the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

Press - shoulders, triceps, traps

Deadlift - upper back, lower back, legs, traps, abs.

Power clean - the power clean is a variation of the olympic clean. It starts as a deadlift, but utilizes speed and it is pulled up and racked on the deltoids. This is the king of all movements, it works out almost everything.

You must do this as opposed to the isolation movements, which - you guessed it - only works out one measly muscle. For example:

The (squat rack) Curl - biceps

Biceps don't make the man. The whole body does.

In addition to the instructions, Rippetoe meticulously explains the correct forms of these movements, which are illustrated by numerous photos. The author also takes pains to show scenarios of erroneous lifts and advises how they can be corrected to avoid serious injuries. REMEMBER: it's the form that counts, not the amount of weights that you can lift. A big lift with a bad form can otherwise produce a horrendous injury that will cut short of your weightlifting career or produce minimal strength gain (quarter squats, anyone?).

Near the end of the book, the author provides a program that utilizes all the five compound movements with the right amount of sets and repetitions for all to follow. For those who have rose to the intermediate or advanced level, I highly recommend that you get Rippetoe's other book, Practical Programming, which has a better treatment on individual regimen programming. Also check out Madcow's 5x5 (google madcow 5x5) website. His program works evenly great.

Oh, and the squat rack is for squatting only, not for curling.

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Best Lifting Technique Book Ever!!!

This is the best weight lifting technique book ever. I cannot stress enough that you will find information in this book that can't be found in any other single source.

I have been using the techniques described in this book for a few months now and it has changed my entire view of weightlifting. I had weightlifting courses in high school but didn't receive much instruction. We had to max for squats and bench. As long as either improved throughout the course, you got an A. There was no technique instruction except for the basic `exhale on the way up' and `don't let your knees pass your toes'. Well, know that I've read this book I share the author's view on how to do the exercises properly (btw they advocate holding your breath in what is known as the Valsalva maneuver). I never really knew how to squat properly until reading this book. I used to think it was hard on the knees - turns out that knee pain was just my knees telling me I was doing it incorrectly. Now that I have the correct technique, I do full depth squats each and every workout and my knees are pain free. I have always been decent at bench press (relative to body weight) and this book also opened my eyes to some technique flaws that I have always had. I have yet to start the Power Cleans because I am still working on my back Squat technique. However, there is a chapter dedicated to Power Cleans and it appears to be just as well written as the other sections. I am getting ready to add Power Cleans to my routine and I am confident I'll be able to perform them with good technique in time. I'm confident because of the quality of instruction provided in this book. This is the definitive reference manual for the lifts covered. Period! I have purchased many `weightlifting' books in the past that talk about various other aspects, but nobody ever really got into the details of how to lift.

Read this 1 book and you will know what you're doing in the gym.

Enjoying the book and attempting to share it with others.

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The best

Following this books instructions I went from a 225 pound squat to a 300 pound squat in 3 weeks! Also my dead lift went from a horrid 135 to 305. My bench 180-225. I lost 11 pounds and my body looks very good. I get comments about my body alot. I have made more gains dealing with this book than other programs that I used for months on end.

Bottom line get this book!

primer for strength

with few "live" coaches around, books like this are invaluable to those who hope to compete one day. the text is sometimes dense with medical terms, but overall it is very understandable by lay persons. Rippetoe/Kilgore use charts, illustration and photographs to further help the reader to understand the written concepts. i have many books on fitness/lifting in my library, NONE as well written and helpfull as this. if he writes another book, i will buy it. my workouts have become much more productive. well worth the money.

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Basics presented well

This is a fairly well written book covering the bare basics of barbell training. It is aimed more towards power lifters than body builders, but has value for the later as well for laying a proper foundation.

The authors can be a little opinionated at times, for example if you use gloves rather than chalk you're obviously not a serious lifter. Never mind the fact that most people wear gloves rather than chalk because most places don't allow chalk. This type of attitude gets a bit tiresome but otherwise it is a good resource to have as a reference.

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