Iron Addict on Rippetoe

[thumpinos]

From bb.com.

Iron Addict on Rippetoe

"I have been getting an influx of young lifters lately that come to me absolutely perplexed after failing on Rippetoes. They assume their must be something totally screwed with their diet or genetics because they have been told over and over again by every 14-20 year old on BB.com that Rippetoe is the answer for everyone--THEY ARE WRONG!. While their are certainly worse way's to train (the extreme volume/frequency most did pre Rippetoe) not everyone will do well squatting 3 x a week. I have NEVER been able to pull it off myself and have met countless people over the years that just can't do it either."

Originally Posted by Hut Hut

As much as I admire iron Addict and the mods over there - from everything I've read of what they've said on Rippetoes stuff they simply don't grasp the concept that SS is for novices and isn't MEANT to be for everyone or to last for very long. They raise criticisms like 'no elite lifter ever got there squatting heavy 3x a week'. It's a NOVICE program and stops working after a while by design and in fact the entire point in SS is to get you to the point where something like SS will no longer work as quickly as possible.

They also don't seem to understand his method of teaching the squat either and think it involves goodmorninging it which Rip is very quick to correct if the back angle change is excessive. But thats another discussion.

Either way, I'd regard Rip & IA as the two best widely available info sources for non-elite lifters out there. But just like Rip has said some silly things about plyometrics training out of ignorance, IA has said some silly stuff about Rips stuff out of ignorance. Nobody knows it all.

Originally Posted by Glenn Pendlay

I have read a bit over there, and have gotten that feeling also. But keep in mind, many of us are guilty of this to some degree. I have coached hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands, of kids to do the Olympic lifts, and in doing so have showed them how to squat. It occurs to me that this is fairly easy. 99% take the bar out of the rack in a perfect high bar position upon simply being told, "take the bar out of the rack". At least 90% do a fairly good squat upon simply being told "now sit down. further, further, further, there you go!". The few that dont, can usually be corrected within 30 seconds, and those that cant, have flexibilty problems that have nothing to do with knowing or not knowing how to squat.

Yet, Rip teaches a squat that is very difficult to do to his standards, and has made a lot of $$$ teaching people how to do them his way. Do any of you really think that putting the bar an inch lower on your back is the key to hugeness, and without doing this, and buying books and going to certifications to show you how to do it, you are doomed to be small??? Now I dont want to pick on Rip... he advocated squatting that way long before he was making any money off of it. Its not something he invented just to drive book and certification sales.

I have a couple of books coming out in the near future. There is some stuff in them that was very tempting to "emphasise" a little more than was warranted becasue it would set me apart from others and lend my approach a certain uniqueness. I had to really guard against this... the drive to advocate things different from everyone else and make yourself unique by doing so can be almost subconscious at times. I have no doubt this is widely employed by people in this and any other industry.

Dan John is pretty smart when he talks about simplifying things, always striving to simplify.

glenn

[BendtheBar]

I side with IA on this one:

not everyone will do well squatting 3 x a week.

This is not always optimal for everyone right out the gate.

[strkout35]

i tried it a few times and stuck to it pretty closely and my legs just didn't do well squatting so much i just felt tired everytime i went to squat

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by strkout35

i tried it a few times and stuck to it pretty closely and my legs just didn't do well squatting so much i just felt tired everytime i went to squat

I progressed fairly rapidly on the squat my first 4 months, but my DOMs was brutal. And I think I was only doing 3 to 4 work sets. I don't think physically that I could have squatted more then once over 4 to 5 days. I did try every 4th day after a year, but after 4 to 6 months my lower back told me to back off.

[strkout35]

and i don't think many "rank beginners" would be able to handle that right off the bat even if they started at a low weight, idk just how i was

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by strkout35

and i don't think many "rank beginners" would be able to handle that right off the bat even if they started at a low weight, idk just how i was

Personally I wouldn't want a rank beginner to do SS. I'd rather see them do an old York routine 3 days a week to get their body moving for a month or two first. Then depending on their motivation, maybe do a SS.

But, if strength was not their primary (re -only) goal, I would probably move them to a more conventional fullbody. Something like Casey Butt's routine, or maybe even John Christy's.

[strkout35]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Personally I wouldn't want a rank beginner to do SS. I'd rather see them do an old York routine 3 days a week to get their body moving for a month or two first. Then depending on their motivation, maybe do a SS.

But, if strength was not their primary (re -only) goal, I would probably move them to a more conventional fullbody. Something like Casey Butt's routine, or maybe even John Christy's.

starting Casey's routine today! about to hit the gym for day 1

[glwanabe]

I've wanted to get into this thread, but haven't had enought time today.

I can squat 3x a week, but midweek needs to be lighter. Basically an active recovery day. This will allow me to go heavy Monday and Friday.

I've done 3x equal sessions but they are just a bit much, and Fridays session was harder than it needed to be, and it even impacted the following Monday session.

A more mature lifter, (muscle maturity) would be able to do it, but it takes time to build up to that level. Depending on the individual it could be a few years before they are ready to squat with equal intensity 3X a week.

Casey Butt talks about this in the interviews that BTB has posted in the link.

http://muscleandbrawn.com/forums/13690-post13.html


Squat technique is another issue, and with that we can also add squat depth into the mix. There's a lot you can do with the squat. No time right now.

[Grim83]

i tried it after my lay off, but from my knee problems combined with my doms i couldn't squat 3x a week, thats why when i made that routine on bodybuddies i switched it to 2x a week max frequency.

[BendtheBar]

I could see trying an active recovery day if I was younger, had I known about them. If I had to do it over again I would probably squat every third day, alternating heavy and light. or something like that. Maybe every 4th day.

I sure wish I knew back then what I know now.