Quote:
Originally Posted by BendtheBar
The 3 substantial differences that prevent me from being a fan of Stronglifts over Starting Strength are:
1) Too much squat volume. I believe Stronglifts has 15 working sets per week. I don't, in any way, believe this is necessary for beginners looking to build strength and muscle.
2) Diet. As far as I know the Stronglifts' website is also focused on losing fat while building strength and muscle. If you are looking to build raw strength and muscle, the extra calories from Starting Strength will take you there more quickly.
3) Mediocrity. I believe that the Stronglift community standards are rather mediocre compared to the strength standards detailed by Mark Rippetoe. I spent time on the Stronglift forum back in the day and I don't recall many 300 squats or 400 deadlifts. I just think in general the expectations are lower because of the community base, no offense meant, certainly. It's just a younger, less experienced community.
Please correct me if I am off the mark on any of these points.
|
You hit the nail on the head with this post. I almost always recommend people to begin at starting strength. Reading the starting strength book at least 2 times is probably the most important thing a beginner strength athlete can do. I will advocate to people to run SS for a few months then jump over to SL 5X5 to break up some staleness, then a move to either madcows or BS 5X5. There is what a solid first 2 years of programming would look like if I had the access and availability to start training adolescent strength atheletes.