Starting Strength Book Club (SSBC) - Chapters 1 & 2
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TravelsWithHuckleberry
Posts: 955 Member
Chapter 1 is more of an introduction, and Chapter 2 is all about Squats. Post thoughts, questions, observations, etc. here!
If you reference page numbers, please make some kind of note about which edition you're reading (3rd ed. is the most recent).
If you reference page numbers, please make some kind of note about which edition you're reading (3rd ed. is the most recent).
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Chapter 2 made a very good point about why everyone likes to do 'bro' exercises-all arms and chest-more than others. Because as humans, we have these nifty hands and we reallllllly like to use them!
Chapter 1 also included some useful info on why machines are so popular at gyms nowadays. It kind of pissed me off though. My current gym has a bunch of machines taking up space and only room for a power cage, bench, and smith machine(ugh). My work gym I don't even bother w/ as they have ALL machines. Grr. DEATH TO THE MACHINES!0 -
I just saw an article about adding strength training to a runner's cross training routine that had this picture at the top:
I cringed! I had to comment on it to keep the back straight which I would not have known if not for "Starting Strength"!
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Ouch how does she arch like that?
I will get on this this weekend and post.0 -
My guess is that some of this is the angle and the fact that we're getting a lot of ribcage. If we saw this from her side, I'd bet her back wouldn't look quite so arched.
And yes, I'll also be reading this weekend.0 -
i also think that's a posed shot that was set up for aesthetics, not a real working functional one. sorta pseudo-porn.
i'd be bookclubbing with you guys, i just haven't gotten my butt in gear to travel an extra couple of blocks to the store where i might be able to get it ordered. i hate missing chapter 2, but looks like it'll just have to suck to be me.0 -
as humans, we have these nifty hands and we reallllllly like to use them!
lol! that sounds so rippetoe. i can hear my bete-noir developer now 'see? SEE?? opposable thumbs!'
i'm curious about the style of the book. from the youtubes i've seen he's an odd mixture of hooper-technical (and a really really good, thorough, detailed explainer) and sort of goober-nerd folksiness. i'd have a bit of a crush on him if it weren't for the walrus mustache and the strange sinus snorts.
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@Canadian -- I think you'd love the book. It's a combo of "hooper-technical" and attitude. For example, Figure 2-24 shows someone resting the bar on the back of their neck and looking up to the ceiling. The caption is simply:
"Don't do this, you fool."0 -
canadianlbs wrote: »i also think that's a posed shot that was set up for aesthetics, not a real working functional one. sorta pseudo-porn.
I think you are probably right, but I hope people just starting out won't use it as the way to do it.
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My favorite quote of the whole book:
"Note that women are not listed as a special population: they are half of the population. Anyone who claims that women are so different in their physiological response to exercise that the principles of basic barbell training do not apply to them is thinking either irrationally or commercially."0 -
yup. ry cooder and paul simon have just been bumped.0
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Here are some notes and takeaways from the beginning if the book:
Preface
He states his reasons for writing this book (or rather series of books) is to put good, correct information out there. Though he benefits financially from doing so, I feel that is priority is to help people barbell train well. It's a breath of fresh air that he admits fault in his work and that the 3rd edition of Starting Strength was done to update and correct such information in the previous editions.
1 Strength
It is true that being strong is optional, particularly in the first world with all the modern conveniences we have. The examples he gave were contrasting life in hunter-gatherer times versus now where we no longer have to be strong to forage for food and fight off wild beasts. I believe we can compare changes in more recent times, too. We have cars, we sit all day, we have food readily available, we use machines that do most of the hard yard and house work for us, we have entertainment in our homes, etc. We need to make a conscious decision to exercise and become strong because we are not forced. He, therefore, considers those of us reading this book and strength training athletes. That stood out to me because I've never really considered myself an athlete. The definition is one who is proficient at sports or other physical forms of exercise. I guess that is me as well as all of us in this group.
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Chapter 2 was much longer than I anticipated so I split my response to prevent wall-o-text as well as out of fear of losing my whole post on accident. It is like a text book but it's easier to read because I'm interested in the information and because I'm not worried about there being some test at the end
This chapter did give me some flashbacks to physical science class though. I was also pleasantly surprised about how much I remember from said class.
What I'm finding that I love about Rippetoe is his ability to explain simple and obvious things. For instance, the reason people often neglect our posterior chain despite it being integral to our ability to do anything physical is because we can't really see it. I was like, Duh, that's why squatting is so important. Also, I need to start checking the back of my head with a mirror after I do my hair. This part of the book was similar to a lesson in NROLFW regarding how our bodies are often imbalanced between the front and the back because we focus on front muscles like abs, biceps, and quads, much to our detriment.
I thought the use of yoga squat to create muscle memory of the bottom squat position was interesting, especially because I did these in my yoga session yesterday. Reading through all the technical explanations will give me a lot to think about tomorrow when I squat, although, I don't think I'm doing anything overtly wrong. He provides a lot of tips to correct problems that I may notice, too.
I love that he uses regular looking people wearing sweats and regular shirts as opposed to other more gimmicky books that use oiled up Adonises and Aphrodites with makeup and the perfect "messy" braid
Also, I think I want to start power cleaning but we'll get to that in chapter 6.
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heh.
first: "it would have been inconvenient during human evolutionary development towards a bipedal posture if the spine had come apart every time it was loaded at an angle. You can see how that might have happened occasionally over several million years." smartass.
second, if rippetoe knew where my nipples usually point he wouldn't be giving such silly advice. but i'm not going to go into details on that.
third. well, stap my vitals. it could turn out once i've processed all this that i could have been doing my squats a lot righter than i ever knew, until i got fancy a few weeks ago and started messing with them. i get pretty deep but i keep fairly close to vertical shins. and i USED kind of look to about where i could check the hip crease with peripheral vision. but i thought all that was bad form. along with the feeling that i shouldn't have my torso and quads touching when i'm at my lowest point. i may try going back to what i was doing before at these ow-i-hurt-myself-weights, and see what that does for my back.0 -
I just don't know about the looking down part. I tried it after reading the book, and it resulted in the mentioned-on-other-thread falling backwards. But then I've been squatting high-bar, and he writes for low-bar. So I just dunno what to do.
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@canadianlbs I was pleasantly surprised, too, that I haven't been doing anything really wrong. Guess my reading bits and pieces and collecting other information has made my form decent. Dying about the nipples comment! I was thinking, too, that people's nips may face different direction making that a bad universal example.
@TheMOC It helps me to look ahead but slightly down rather than down at the floor. I usually try to see myself somewhat in the mirror, at least for a rep, to make sure my form's looking alright.0 -
I just don't know about the looking down part. I tried it after reading the book, and it resulted in the mentioned-on-other-thread falling backwards. But then I've been squatting high-bar, and he writes for low-bar. So I just dunno what to do.
I don't think he means you should look at your feet. Just that you shouldn't be looking up. His book suggests the "fit a tennis ball under your chin" position for your head.
Of course, I'm not sure how you're defining "looking down," so my apologies if you read this and are like "that's what I was doing!"
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well, i went the extra 1/4 mile to the bookstore i mentioned today, and get this: they don't have starting strength. not only not on their shelves but not in their entire effing system. and they're the monolithic-megalith-monopoly store that crowded out just about every other form of bookstore in this city, so just one big fat MEH to all that.0
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So yesterday I was dicking around w/ body weight squatting in the evelvator(don't laugh) and the 'hip angle' concept from the article Crabada posted finally clicked, and I got the low bar form figured out.
I go to the gym today and warm up with the bar in low-bar-yep, still working. Warm up set at 75, yep still working. Working weight at 90 5 X 5, still working! Everything just felt the way it was supposed to. It kind of reminds me of the starting position for a deadlift, in that your body is very compacted together. I snuck at glance at myself in the hole a few times, butt below parallel, looking at least somewhat like the people in the pictures.
So today is happy.0
