Customer Reviews

Starting Strength: A Simple and Practical Guide for Coaching Beginners

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I am a physician and a trainer. I came from a middle distance running background. After medical school I continued to run but of course never got to the point where my fitness was at the level that it was when I was competing in college. I started adding strength training using mainly Olympic Weightlifting. While I was certainly gaining strength, it was not happening as fast as I would have liked. About 5 months ago I purchased Starting Strength. The book is very detailed, but unlike most books on training, it does not put you to sleep. It holds your interest through the plain language, and often funny, explanations of what should be done and also why it should be done.

I used what I learned in the book to modify my training, and I saw results fast. Lifts such as the Deadlift that had been giving me problems based on the form training I got from other sources improved quickly. My leg strength improved rapidly as I began squatting correctly. I did not focus on the bench press as much as the other lifts, but my strength there improved as well. Exercises that were not directly related to the training found in the book, such as pull-ups, also had big improvements. One of the biggest improvements to my performance was my improved running speed. Although I was spending less and less time running, and more time on strength, both my distance running and my sprinting have improved dramatically. The explosive speed that I had back in college has returned. It is amazing what doubling your leg and back strength can do for your overall fitness. I am in the best shape of my life.

I have also used what I learned extensively when I train other people. I have yet to come across a problem with form that is not addressed in the book along with a method of fixing it. I am also able to tell my clients why they should do something so that they understand the importance and will remember it. By using the cues that I learned in the book, I am able to see someone on the far side of the gym doing something that could be unsafe and correct it before there is an injury. I can't express enough how much reading the book has improved my confidence in my ability to train strength movements. So far I have not been at a loss at how to correct a problem. There is always a drill available that can be used to effectively address an issue. This book also increased my appreciation for the slow lifts and encouraged me to emphasize them more when I train other people. The short and long term results have been fantastic. Every day I fix someone's form on a squat or deadlift and have people say things like: "It is so much easier this way. Is it allowed?"

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who trains any type of athlete, including distance events, and to anyone who is interested in improving their athletic abilities or even just their basic functionality. It is true when the authors say, "Physical strength is the most important thing in life."

I'm not really the intended audience for this book. It was written primarily for coaches wanting to improve the strength of their young athletes through effective strength training. Me? I'm just a 40-something bodybuilder wanna-be who never stepped into a weight room until 18 months ago. At one point in my struggles, I wanted to learn how to squat and deadlift. I looked around on the internet for information and pestered a couple of people for tips on form and how to not injure myself. I got a lot of bad advice and was lucky to survive with my back in one piece until a friend recommended that I read Starting Strength.

Starting Strength is very detailed and methodical in its explanations of the basic lifts. Where other descriptions of a properly executed squat can be a single paragraph in length, this book dedicates 50 pages to the topic. The descriptions begin with step by step explanations of how to execute a lift followed by information on fixing various problems that might arise either initially or later as greater weights are lifted. The language gets technical at times, but never to the point of incomprehensibility. The material is completely within the grasp of an average Joe like me. There are many excellent pictures and drawings that clearly illustrate the concepts conveyed in the text.

After reading Starting Strength, I changed almost everything about how I do squats and I now deadlift with confidence knowing that I'm using the right form. And with good form, my weights lifted have increased dramatically. I highly recommend Starting Strength. If you are seeking a better education in proper lifting, this book is the right tool for the job.

Update: A lot has happened since I wrote the above review. I got my squat up to 360 pounds and hit 410 on deadlifts before transitioning to competitive Olympic weightlifting. My back and knees are holding up great thanks to the good training foundation I received from Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength. There's now a second edition of the book that includes additional useful information for lifters of all ages.

I have been working out for about 7 years and I have read quite a few of these types of books. At one point, I finally realized that none of these books really offered anything different from one another, except maybe a slightly different viewpoint on one or two things. I decided to give this book a shot after hearing about Mark Rippetoe's workout programs and then seeing the reviews here that other customers gave for this book. All of the great reviews are indeed well-earned. While the title may scare some intermediate to advanced bodybuilders away, I definitely recommend they give this book a read. I have learned more from this book (particularly about the squat, bench press, deadlift) than I have learned in the past several years through reading magazines, forum posts, etc. While it is aimed at coaching beginners, I was easily able to take what was being said and apply it to my workouts. All in all, I highly recommend this book for anybody looking to build strength/muscle - regardless of whether you think you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced lifter.

Experience meets theory. This is the best book available on learning to squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, and power clean correctly. Real tools for troubleshooting form problems are presented in a highly readable format. Don't miss this one.

I have read just about every "credible" book written about weightlifting and weightraining. I also considered myself to be very knowledgeable when it came to proper technique and form in the gym. Two months ago I purchased Starting Strength and the impact it has made on my knowledge and technique can not be overstated. I realized that I did not know nearly as much as I thought I did. I also realized that a high percentage of so called experts and personal trainers do not know nearly what they think they do. This book is simply the pinnacle when it comes to teaching perfect technique on all the major lifts. Furthermore, it also teaches you to coach another lifter and to detect faults in their technique as well. If you are looking for an easy read or a quick fix without putting in the work then this book probably isnt for you. However if you want to study, learn, and then put in the hard work in the gym then this book will educate you like no other.

This is an amazing book. It explains how to squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, and clean - and takes over 240 pages and hundreds of pictures to do it. The section on squatting is 50 pages long! It really spells out all the steps and tricks to performing the exercises correctly to get maximum benefit and minimize the risk of injury. I can't recommend it highly enough if you are interested in doing these exercises. It was intended to educate coaches on the best way to teach the movements to their athletes - but its great for anyone who is going to do them as well. This may be the best instructional book I've ever read on any subject. And... it costs a lot less than back or knee surgery.

A book very much in the spirit of Bill Starr's classic "The Strongest Shall Survive". Indeed author Mark Rippetoe was a protege of Starr's and although he is clearly his own man who has arrived at doing things in his own way, Starting Strength has the same authoritative feel that Starr's book has. While it is not specific to the game of football, or any other sport for that matter, it quite effectively fills a large void in the strength training literature, namely an approach to teaching the basic barbell strength exercises (squat, deadlift, bench press, power clean and press) to raw beginners and to school age boys and girls.

Authors Rippetoe and Kilgore offer not only clear and concise technical/coaching advice and methods, but also use their sports science backgrounds and the professional sports science literature to clear up the confusion surrounding when, how and even if, youngsters should strength train. Their answers to the common misperceptions about strength training are so common sensical that it left me kicking myself that I hadn't arrived at similar rebuttals years ago. It also left me wishing that that particular chapter was first in the book and even more in depth.

As a freelance strength coach myself, currently teaching Olympic weightlifting movements and kettlebells to high school baseball, basketball and softball players, this book is a wealth of practical, readily usable information. It should be included in the library of anyone interested in strength training or in coaching strength training and especially anyone training youth, regardless of coaching experience. Excellent!

This is hands down the best instructional book on learning all the "big lifts" such as the squat, bench press, deadlift, press, and power clean. Every lift is covered in intimate detail from a coach's perspective on how to teach the lift step by step, as well as corrective measures for the most common (and uncommon) mistakes made by trainees.

I have learned that despite doing squats since I was a teenager - I really don't know squat! My grip placement, stance width, stance angle, back extension, head placement, etc. has not even been close to optimal. I have been video recording my form to coach myself based on the guidelines in the book, and my form has increased by leaps and bounds. One of the best tips I have received thus far is to do away with the mirrors and to learn what it feels like to do the movement correctly.

The book also covers an excellent novice routine that might seem a little unconventional if you are used to a regular bodybuilding split - but it works. I have found very good progress on the novice routine after an extend layoff. I believe that a new lifter would have a very good run on this program over a course of 9-12 months.

I give this book 5 stars but my only gripe is that I wish this would have been published when I first started lifting.

At first I balked at the $25 cost of this book. But thanks to it's usefulness I wouldn't even sell it to someone for $100. I had been working out on machines for three months making no real progress. Trying to find out why I was making no progress led me to this book. It was highly recommended on a few forums I read. I took a week off from going to the gym and read the book. It was a revelation. It explains in detail the correct form, the correct exercises, and the correct way to progress. An exercise newbie like myself had no problem understanding that part of it. It does get into the physiological reasons why certain exercises are effective, which is not necessary for you to understand in order to progress. The author keeps your attention, speaks in layman terms and keeps things light and amusing throughout the book. After reading this you'll have no question of what to do. Like myself you may have to consult the book a few more times to double check your form and grip, but all the answers you need are right there. The only thing it leaves up to you is putting in the work.

I'm 45 and have been lifting for about a year and a half. My workouts have stalled lately, and I needed some help. I read several weight training forums, and one in particular mentions Rippetoe a lot. I did research and read reviews here on Starting Strength. I decided to ask for a copy of Starting Strength for Christmas. I thought fifty pages on the squat how boring this was going to be, but after all the good reviews I started reading. I was WRONG, this was easy to understand and I finished the book in one day. I just thought I knew how to Squat, for the first time in a year I was able to squat without knee pain which was holding me back from adding weight, I finally felt my chest getting worked when benching instead of my arms, and my Deadlift increased by twenty pounds without lower back pain the next day. After the first workout I knew I had wasted a lot of time, and endured a lot of unneccesary pain. I think a lot of emphasis is placed on Rippetoe's routine, no routine is going to work good without knowing how to do the exercise involved correctly. I would give twice what this book sells for just for the information Mark gives on the big three exercises. I just wished I had this book a year ago. If you are starting out or think you know the big three lifts, save yourself some time and get this book. Royce