Thoughts on Strength

Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.

Mark Rippetoe

I am not the only reader of the loosely connected manosphere blogs who follows the strength training barbell routine known as Starting Strength. Written by Olympic weight-lifting coach Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength has gained a cult-like following among online amateur bodybuilding and fitness community forums. Published in 2008, Starting Strength has surged in popularity, mostly because of two reasons:

1. The simple routine, designed ideally for beginners, works.
2. Rippetoe, an expert, has a no-bullshit approach and is pretty humorous.

I have been accused of being an asshole on more than one occasion. This is probably due to the fact that I am an asshole, and compounded by the additional fact that I speak my mind rather too easily.

Mark Rippetoe

We all know various wanna-be bodybuilders and fitness junkies overly concerned with their image and looking good. In the world we live in today, the pressure to look good and be “aesthetic” is at absurdly high levels. There are a lot of Gamesmen who believe that looks are the most important element of Game. But once you take the plunge and dive into the world of bodybuilders, protein, and muscles, you find the problem.

It isn’t that there isn’t any information about fitness on the internet; there is TOO MUCH information about fitness, and almost all of it bad. Everyone and their mother who has ever been to a gym has an opinion about how to work out. And you know what they say about opinions? They are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all stink.

If you want to look like some Abercrombie model, then find another program and enjoy your nice, easy training style. If you are serious about adding muscle to your frame, then get under the damn bar and make it happen.

Rippetoe

I first read about Starting Strength on Mr. V’s (of Polish notoriety) forum where they were discussing SQUATS SQUATS SQUATS DEADLIFTS SQUATS. I, like many others, have heard the oft repeated claim that “squats are bad for the knees, bro.” However, after further study, I realized that nearly everyone on fitness forums were recommending Starting Strength, not only for novice lifters, but also for anyone dedicated to lifting weights.

There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you’re a pussy.

Rippetoe

I have enjoyed lifting weights for around several years now, my favorite toy as a teenager being a full squat rack and bench press. However, I drifted in and out of various workout programs and neglected years that should have been spent dedicated to bio-mechanical compound lifts as taught by the very analytical Rippetoe.

I'd say he knows what he's talking about.

There is no such thing as “firming and toning.” There is only stronger and weaker.

Rippletits

Magazine workouts are for roided-up pros who can recover from high volume and have already spent years doing what I should have done: establishing a base of strength before moving to advanced levels and inferior isolation workouts. Most kids you see in the gym follow these workouts. However, I won’t blame them. I was just as uninformed. For the past five months, I have followed the Starting Strength routine and seen incredible increases in strength, as well as muscle mass. Comparably, my old “curl bro” workouts were utter shit in retrospect. SS, where have you been all my life?

Most of the problems with the bodies and minds of the folks occupying the current culture involve an unwillingness to do anything hard, or anything that they’d rather not do. I applaud your resolve, and I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that EASY will no longer suffice.

Rippetoe

I believe in very few things in this world. The post-modern nihilistic fuck-it-all attitude has permeated our culture on so many levels, it is hard to not be a complete cynic about everything. However, that attitude is dying as people become reinvigorated by refreshing new attitudes of sincerity and optimism. I consider Ron Paul’s and Tim Tebow’s popularity among the youth of our country to be a sign of the coming ideological shift from “too cool for school” to believing in a cause. Both torchbearers are sincere and earnest about what and why they do things. Such honest attitudes are rare and refreshing after years of ironic Jon Stewartism. Find something to believe in. It will improve the quality of your life.

We have not spent the last 65 million or so years finely honing our physiology to watch Oprah. Like it or not, we are the product of a very long process of adaptation to a harsh physical existence, and the past couple centuries of comparative ease and plenty are not enough time to change our genome. We humans are at our best when our existence mirrors, or at least simulates, the one we are still genetically adapted to live. And that is the purpose of exercise.

Rippetoe

I believe in strength and I believe in the iron. For years, I have found that there are few things as rewarding to me personally as weight training. The benefits of being a gym rat far outweigh the benefits of any other activity.

The iron never lies. You can walk outside and listen to all sorts of talk, get told you’re a god or total bastard. The iron always kicks you the real deal. The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Friends may come and go, but 200 pounds is always 200 pounds.

Henry Rollins

Starting Strength. Go read it, learn the lifts, do the program, and go tell Mom you’ve become a man.