Starting Strength (2nd edition) [Paperback]

Mark Rippetoe (Author), Lon Kilgore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2007

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training is the new expanded version of the book that has been called "the best and most useful of fitness books." It picks up where Starting Strength: A Simple and Practical Guide for Coaching Beginners leaves off. With all new graphics and more than 750 illustrations, a more detailed analysis of the five most important exercises in the weight room, and a new chapter dealing with the most important assistance exercises, Basic Barbell Training offers the most complete examination in print of the most effective way to exercise.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore is now out in a 2nd edition. Unlike some 2nd edition books, which merely include a new preface in the way of revision, this is a majorly substantial update and expansion of what was a great tome to begin with. The material in the original, 2005 edition is included, but there are lots of new graphics and additional chapters of valuable material beyond the initial release. Another subtle, but important difference, is that the focus of the book has been altered, from being coach-focused to being lifter-focused. Throughout the book, there's an encyclopedia of practical tips you can put into your training program -- right now -- and see improvement almost immediately, and -- significantly -- you will understand why it helped you. This attitude, which is reflective of the broad experience and insight of the authors, will serve this book's readers for years to come. Five key exercises are covered, squat, bench, deadlift, press and power clean, as well as assistance exercises. For each, there is in depth explanation of rules, recommended equipment, and the elemental points of proper lift performance. Some of the graphics are simply the best we've ever seen when it comes to illuminating the real essence of a given lift. (one example: a clever 'yin-yang' representation of the relationship between the power clean and the deadlift... another example is the photo series showing the value of squatting with a board in front of your shin). If you have the first edition, you won't be sorry you got the 2nd. If you get the 2nd edition, you'll wish you hadn't gone 3 years without the first one. --Mike Lambert, Powerlifting USA

I was able to check out the new greatly expanded edition of Starting Strength from Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, a book which I have wholeheartedly endorsed since it was first published and could not recommend more strongly. Essentially the new edition makes the book a complete reference for someone involving themselves in weight training (rather than a work more geared to coaching). It goes well beyond the comprehensive coverage of the core lifts that made the first so useful and gives a remarkably complete picture. Between this and Practical Programming - that's a near totally complete resource that will likely serve 99% of people for their entire training career. I'd recommend this book to anyone involved in weight training from a brand new novice in the gym for the first time to a refer and see improvement almost immediately, andence manual for a fairly seasoned coach. I know I've said a lot of positive stuff in the past about Mark's work but really - take a look at my site and what I've tried to do...Mark essentially wrote the books that I'd have written had I the time and did about as good a job as I think anyone in the world could have (and certainly better than I could have managed). Very impressive stuff. --Madcow, 5 x 5 Training page

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: The Aasgaard Company; 2nd edition (October 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976805421
• ISBN-13: 978-0976805427
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.8 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (232 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Weight Training

More About the Author

Mark Rippetoe is the author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, Practical Programming for Strength Training 2nd edition, Strong Enough?, Mean Ol' Mr. Gravity, and numerous journal, magazine and internet articles. He has worked in the fitness industry since 1978, and has been the owner of the Wichita Falls Athletic Club since 1984. He graduated from Midwestern State University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in geology and a minor in anthropology. He was in the first group certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a CSCS in 1985, and the first to formally relinquish that credential in 2009. Rip was a competitive powerlifter for ten years, and has coached many lifters and athletes, and many thousands of people interested in improving their strength and performance. He conducts seminars on this method of barbell training around the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 1st edition book review, May 31, 2008

By 

John Choi "Student" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting Strength (2nd edition) (Paperback)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Strength Training Book: Step by Step instructions on the Core Lifts, October 20, 2009

By 

Bryon Gaskin (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Starting Strength (2nd edition) (Paperback)

High Level Overview:
Reviewer Background:
Degree in Exercise Physiology - BSU 1996
Personal Trainer

Pros:
*This book is very very very detailed on how to perform the main core lifts, Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, and Power Cleans and generally focuses on multi-joint exercises and down plays isolation type exercises.
*The book spends a great deal of time and effort explaining proper form for doing the basic lifts (which if you have spent any time in the gym at all you can see all kinds of wild interpretations of the basic lifts)
*This book is a perfect example of how little equipment you actually need to get not only a good workout, but a great workout. Essentially you can work all of the main muscle groups with the following pieces of equipment. Power Rack, and adjustable bench, barbell, and weights.
*The book does a very good job of breaking down the mechanics of how your body's center of gravity changes as it moves through different exercises.

Cons:
*There is not clear cut program that one can take from the book and start using. The instructions for how many reps and sets too use is going to be somewhat confusing for someone just getting starting. I have been working out for 20 + years plus several years of training clients and I had a hard time developing a workout plan around what is presented in the book. To make it adaptable to the beginner, a plan needs to be step by step and map out percentages as a goal for doing various exercises.
*To add to the confusion, for the most part you are doing 3 sets of 5 reps for your work sets with the same weight, but on occasion you rotate in 5 sets of 5 reps, 2 sets with increasing weight and 3 sets at the same weight. Again in the book, this is hard to decipher and put into a training log you can use. I just don't see how someone with little or no experience in a weight room is going to get the idea.
*The nutrition part is sort of weak: Here the advice is drink a gallon of milk, and take in 2500 to 5000 calories a day.
*The book although does a great job with the mechanics (i.e. leverage) it really doesn't touch on the physiology behind how muscle work and how they recover (there is a very drawing of the "Metabolic Speedometer" which describes which energy systems are in use with different types of activity)

Overview: This is a STRENGTH book, not a book on bodybuilding/body sculpting (hence the name "Starting Strength". I can't emphasize enough you need to know what you are training for before you commit to a book purchase and exercise routine. This book is focuses on strength and nothing else, hypertrophy may be a side of affect of strength but is not the goal, nor is the goal to produce shapely well defined muscles and washboard abs. This book is written by a power lifter (Rippetoe) for strength and power and that's it.
The book easy to read; is full of illustrations, and flows together very nice. Rippetoe drops in some dry humor to keep it fresh.

Overall:
This is a great book if you have some experience in the weight room and are very familiar with sets, reps, warm-up sets, work sets, and back off sets, and most importantly, if your goal is "STRENGTH"
*If you are sporting a "dickie-do" then this book is probably NOT going to be your official guide to getting back in shape.
*If you are a coach, then this book is a must
*If you are an AD, then the book is a must
*If you are a teenager or your adult wanting to get stronger for a host of different sports or for competition, then this is the book for you.
*You are NOT going to find a diet plan in here if you are wanting to drop a good deal of your body fat and tone up.

Bottom Line:
*I would recommend this book as a supplement to your fitness library, but not as a base. *I would check out some books by Ellington Darden, the exercises and machines are very different than what this book presents (that does not mean better), but his books have a wealth of information concerning the physiology behind weight training , diet, and rest. His books also tend lean more towards getting in shape and dropping excess body fat as opposed to pure strength gains.
*In the end for a training program to be successful, the trainee needs to believe it will work, and part of believing it will work is understanding how it will work.



Update: 10-31-09,
I've been following the routine for two weeks and starting to see some strength gains after years and years of a plateau. The training volume is way down from what I am used to and so is the intensity, but I am getting stronger. It took me 1 week of workouts to get my weights adjusted correctly

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, November 16, 2007

By 

Mark A. Garcia "Mark" (NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting Strength (2nd edition) (Paperback)

This is an excellent read for any person who lifts or wants to lift. If youre looking to build a solid frame from which to build on, lose some extra weight or learn the proper technique for squat, bench or power clean - this book is the best. I was thrown off by the price at first, but it is well worth the money. I have never read so in depth on lifting. Those books by mens health or flex dont even compare to what Mark Ripptoe presents in this book. 60 pages alone are dedicated to squat.

The author goes through all scenarios, not leaving a single detail out. Above all, the books reads like a trainer would teach. This is not a manual type book, but rather interesting read that really gets you to think about proper form.

Excellent. I recommend this for all lifters.