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Mike Lambert, Powerlifting USA: This book is many times more than the subtitle implies. It is a decades-deep depository of the common wisdom of the Iron Game, from Powerlifting, to Olympic lifting, and strength training for all sorts of sports. It has been brought to reality by Mark Rippetoe, a "True Grit" character who has run what may well be the nation's oldest sole proprietorship black iron gym, in Wichita Falls, Texas, for decades. He has personally trained thousands of individuals and every one of them learned how to squat, deadlift,and bench the right way before they went on to any kind of specialization. Mark has a crystal clear notion as to what coaching is about, and a natural combination of wit and wisdom that makes what he writes meaningful and enjoyable to read. The book establishes, particularly in the chapter about the squat (followed by the chapters on the bench press, the deadlift, and the overhead press, and the power clean), a broad array of brilliant points regarding how to do each movement, punctuated by profoundly informative line drawings of the exercises and isolated muscle groups, to show how your body really operates when you're doing a lift. Interspersed throughout the book are pertinent quotes, one of them (page 66) from Heinlein, "When one teaches, two learn". That's obviously true in the case of Rippetoe, who has taught and learned from so many, and now offers to share his storehouse of knowledge. He has that rare, intuitive instinct to understand things both physiologically and functionally. There is just one fabulous tip after another on how to "do" each lift, how to keep yourself from being hurt, and the best way to use standard gym equipment. Any novice powerlifter could save a few years of "cut and try" futility and get a head start on the road to their personal level of success, just by reading this book first. The photography covers all the bases as well. If you don't know some of the fundamentals, a matter mostly taken for granted by those who do, these visuals will be of tremendous benefit. Additionally, Dr. Kilgore put together a chapter on the science of training young people, impressionably documented with references galore. Dr. Kilgore actually did most of the illustrations, and it is amazing what an understanding artist can reveal with the power of a simple line drawing. When we saw a draft copy of the squat chapter, months back, we knew this was going to be a good book, but it turned out even better than we imagined…this will be one of the great classic books about the World of Weights for years to come.
More from Jim Wendler, columnist for PLUSA and Elite Fitness Systems Starting Strength: Book Review By Jim Wendler We have a review process at EFS. Every product that we sell has to be reviewed. Many times it's done by sending out products to the EFS Q/A staff or Dave and I review it ourselves. We don't want to sell anything that we don't believe in. One of my jobs is to review books and DVD's. I have a ton of books that I've read, some much better than others, but most have at least a couple of really good things that stand out. Sometimes this can get tedious and some of the same stuff is rehashed over and over again. But the book Starting Strength is by far one of the best books that I have read in a long time. I received a copy of Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe (with Lon Kilgore) about a month ago for review. Like usual, I put it in my in-box and was in no great hurry to read it. I have to admit that I've been a little skeptical of books and other things as they tend to capitalize on a current trend and though they have value, it's not always a "lifer". After a brief skim of this book, I yelled over the Great Wall of EFS (this is the large partition that separates my desk from Dave's) and told The Captain, "Dave, this is one of the best books I've seen." As I looked over the various chapters and the depth that it goes into, my first thought was that this book should have been written 50 years ago. This is probably the most complete book on coaching lifts, how to perform lifts correctly and how to give cues to help lifters. It briefly goes over other things such as programming, nutrition and weight equipment. But the meat of this book revolves around coaching the squat, bench press, deadlift, press, and power clean. If you have any interest at all (and you better have) on coaching lifts correctly, this is the book for you. Rippetoe's comments on coaching in the first chapter are by far one of the best things I have ever read. It reads, "There are two key elements to coaching complicated physical movement: knowing what the movement looks like when it is done correctly, and understanding what the athlete experiences when the movement is done correctly." He also points out how important it is for the coach to have first hand knowledge of performing the lifts. The chapter that deals with the squat is over 50 pages long and goes over such details as head position, wrist position, knee tracking, hand position, low and upper back position, angle of the feet and breathing. Not only does it tell you how to do the squat, it will teach you how to COACH the squat. There are also a ton of pictures that will help you as a coach to see how things are should and shouldn't look. The bench press, overhead press, deadlift and power clean all go in the same amount of detail. This kind of depth is critical if you want to learn how to be a better coach. Mark briefly touches on programming, nutrition, gym set up and a few other topics. But what is the point of learning programming if most of your athletes can't even do the most basic lifts correctly? I should point out that, other than selling the book at EliteFTS, I have no financial interest in Starting Strength. I have never met or talked to Mark Rippetoe so I can't say that I'm doing this article as a favor to a friend. Who knows; maybe Mark and I could be good friends or maybe we would hate each other. But whatever the case may be, he has done a great service by writing this book. If you have a young child or are a coach of junior high or high school athletes; get this book. Get them lifting correctly before someone has a chance to screw it up. If you are coaching collegiate or professional athlete; get this book. It's never too late. If you are a personal trainer, training the "average" person; get this book. It will give you coaching cues and allow you to teach the fundamental lifts that most people should do for overall strength training. The bottom line is this: this book should be owned by just about everyone. It's a shame that this book hadn't come out sooner. In an age where complexity and overcomplicated training has become the norm, this book is a breath of fresh air. I honestly believe that this book, more than just about any other book on lifting weights or training, should be in everyone's bookcase, office or gym bag.
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Starting
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