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Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition Paperback – November 11, 2011

by Mark Rippetoe (Author), Jason Kelly (Illustrator)

1,293 customer reviews

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Starting Strength has been called the best and most useful of fitness books. The second edition, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, sold over 80,000 copies in a competitive global market for fitness education. Along with Practical Programming for Strength Training 2nd Edition, they form a simple, logical, and practical approach to strength training. Now, after six more years of testing and adjustment with thousands of athletes in seminars all over the country, the updated third edition expands and improves on the previous teaching methods and biomechanical analysis. No other book on barbell training ever written provides the detailed instruction on every aspect of the basic barbell exercises found in SS:BBT3. And while the methods for implementing barbell training detailed in the book are primarily aimed at young athletes, they have been successfully applied to everyone: young and old, male and female, fit and flabby, sick and healthy, weak and already strong. Many people all over the world have used the simple biological principle of stress/recovery/adaptation on which this method is based to improve their performance, their appearance, and their long-term health. With over 150,000 copies in print in three editions, Starting Strength is the most important method available to learn the most effective way to train with barbells -- the most important way to improve your strength, your health, and your life.

-- Why barbells are the most effective tools for strength training.
-- The mechanical basis of barbell training, concisely and logically explained.
-- All new photographs and improved illustrations of all the lifts, and the biomechanics behind them.
-- Complete, easy-to-follow instructions for performing the basic barbell exercises: the squat, press, deadlift, bench press, power clean, and the power snatch.
-- Revised instruction methods for all six lifts, proven effective in four years of seminar, military, and group instruction.
-- How the human body adapts to stress through recovery, and why this is the foundation of the development of strength and lifetime health.
-- How to program the basic exercises into the most effective program for long-term progress.
-- Completely indexed.
-- The most productive method in existence for anyone beginning a strength training program.

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition

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Editorial Reviews

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.

Paperback: 347 pages
Publisher: The Aasgaard Company; 3rd edition (November 11, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982522738
ISBN-13: 978-0982522738
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.8 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 1,293 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Coaching > Training & Conditioning
- #5 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Weight Training

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Top customer reviews

Excellent resource that has had an enormous impact on my quality of life.

ByRed_Tileon March 24, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Excellent resource that has had an enormous impact on my quality of life. Combine this with the free Starting Strength podcast and instructional YouTube vids and you have your self a worthwhile education and practical application class. I put a rack and barbell in my garage and have been applying what I have been learning over the past 6 months.

Bench was 195lbs for 5 reps and is now 245lbs
OHP was 115lbs for 5 and is now 155lbs
DL was 315lbs for 5 and is now 455lbs
BS was 285 for 5 and is now 365lbs
and all still climbing..

As an added benefit, I am not constantly hurting myself with bad form and having to take time to heal and thus lose gains. Also, I don't hurt when I get up in the morning. All this with previous C-Spine, knee and nerve damage injuries from three combat tours to Iraq.

33 comments 44 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Buy this book!

ByWonky Monkeyon September 11, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is the Bible, the Talmud, the Koran and every other holy book for strength training. I thought for a while that I didn't need the book since so much information is given out on YouTube and the startingstrength.com website. I could not have been more wrong, the book adds tremendous value (details on lifting technique, programming, etc) and I've only studied about 30% of it! This is _the_ book to buy if you want to get strong and big. Since buying the book I have started to properly do the program and have put on weight and gained strength like never in the last 30 years.

Something worth noting is that these are large format books, look at the dimensions of these tomes! They are printed on essentially 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper! This is an unusual format but it makes for a much more readable text, and the pictures are large enough that relevant details can be extracted. This book would be a bargain at $40!

I also bought The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 and Practical Programming for Strength Training as they complement this book very well. I have not read these last two as much yet though they seem to be of the same high quality.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

A comprehensive, no-BS guide to getting stronger using barbells.

ByMATTHEW T MILLERon August 31, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

With an internet full of "trainers" peddling fad-workouts, misinformation, and "get in shape quick" schemes, it can be very hard to know what to do in the gym. This book is the answer to that. It will teach you the lifts and methods that actually work, and the best way to do them, as determined by the author's 30+ years of experience working with beginners. He has seen what works, and has seen what does not work. If you want to start working-out, do yourself a favor and learn from Rip's life-work. Read this book, and its companion, Practical Programming.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Great Resource

By1on June 8, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Not much programming in this book, but the discussion of the lifts and the benefits of barbell training are as good as I've come across in 18 years of lifting. I wish I would have come across this when I was starting out as it has helped me correct a lot of small defects in my form. Good for serious lifters and people who want to learn to lift for fitness.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Highly recommended.

Bykodyon September 11, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a very comprehensive guide to building foundational strength. It's straightforward and it explains in great detail why each recommendation is made, based on the physics of each exercise and the recruitment of various muscle groups for various movements. Highly recommend.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Fantastic book and strength program

ByLeviticus Maximuson January 2, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I'm a competitive marathon runner who decided to start lifting about eight months ago, and for the first few months, I just sort of did what I saw other guys doing in the gym. Being a novice lifter, I got some pretty decent gains rather quickly. About three months ago, a friend of mine who is an experienced lifter, recommended this book to me. The difference in the quality of my workouts and my resulting strength gains since I began the Starting Strength program is incredible. Mark Rippetoe does a fantastic job explaining (VERY in-depth) each of the lifts and how to get the greatest strength gains. Things such as equipment, nutrition, lifting schedules, and many of the wrong techniques that are often seen from other lifters are also addressed. There are many helpful diagrams and pictures that help illustrate the ideas too. One thing to be aware of though is that this book is essentially a college textbook. It's a fantastic tool, but it's not a book that you will just zoom through in a matter of hours. You will probably want a highlighter and a few weeks worth of free time to get through the entire thing. That being said, you will learn a ton and your strength will improve enormously.

Note: Since starting med school, I haven't run any marathons. Lifting has been a great way to get some serious exercise with less serious time commitment (only 3 days/week). I'm not lifting to improve my running. In fact, I've gained 30 lbs in the past few months, so I bet I'm way slower.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

This book is an excellent tool for getting started in the world of weightlifting ...

ByGonzalo Pérezon September 15, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book is an excellent tool for getting started in the world of weightlifting and strength building. This book is all about building a great foundation and ensuring perfect form in the basic lifts. The author presents wealth of very specific information regarding the musculoskeletal mechanics of the major lifts, and the information is supported by rudimentary yet useful pictures and illustrations. The book often veers into what will seem like "overkill" territory for most readers when it comes to tue sheer amount of information it presents, but when it comes to learning proper form in the back squat and deadlift, a "less is more" approach is not what you want. Personally, I focused on the discussions of proper form and mechanics and discovered that my squat, deadlift, and press were in dire need of serious correction. The results speak for themselves, and I have been injury free for the past year. Starting Strength is exactly what it claims to be, a perfect starting point.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

The book is very detailed and the program is wonderful. Having tried it for a few weeks i ...

BySMASon June 4, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The book is very detailed and the program is wonderful. Having tried it for a few weeks i know that it works. I am giving it 4 stars because of a dearth of pictures/video links which i feel are absolutely necessary to get proper exercise form. It's hard to figure this out from words alone

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Best strength coaching available!

Rip and his staff have made the easiest most logical approach to getting strong period! Using the basics of our anatomy and science, the results are there.Read more

Published 5 days ago by Jessica W.

Five Stars

Best resource on back squat, deadlift, overhead press, press and power clean form that I have ever read!

Published 7 days ago by Amazon Customer

Ok book

Published 10 days ago by T7

Theory and physiology when I wanted quick tips

Serious weightlifters seem to love this thing. But I think it's beyond me. It spends a whole chapter on how to do each of a few exercises.Read more

Published 11 days ago by Winston Zedemore

Five Stars

The definitive guide for strength training.

Published 15 days ago by Amazon Customer

The bible of strength training. You are wasting your ...

The bible of strength training. You are wasting your time if you try any other beginners strength programs.Read more

Published 16 days ago by Face Value

Wow!

I'm still reading it! Talk about a detailed, specific, scientific treatise on strength training... this is IT!

Published 16 days ago by Drew Johnson

Best lifting book I've read

This book explains things I've always wanted to know about lifting weights, such as whether to use a straight bar or a cambered bar for biceps curls.Read more

Published 17 days ago by Samuel Alan Orona

Your first stop on your lifting journey.

This is a fantastic book by a very sensible and wise author. I recommend this as the first book for anyone who wants to get in the weight room and start building some real...Read more

Published 20 days ago by Kendall S, BlueChip

An engineer's guide to weight lifting.

This book is my bible for strength training. ten years of stuffing around got me stuff all gains. Then i read this book, completely changed what I was doing and improvements...Read more

Published 22 days ago by John Harper

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