Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training Paperback – 1 Jan. 2011

After doing some barbell training for a number of months (Jim Wendler's 5/3/1) and making steady progress I was recommended to read Starting Strength.This book really has helped me in many ways. My form has improved dramatically, the book goes into incredible scientific detail. Learning the technical side of it, it makes training much easier, especially with the visualisation techniques and cues presented. The pictures and diagrams, are simple and very helpful.Squatting with the 'low bar' using the hips, and keeping the weight in the middle of the foot during the standing lifts has helped me so much.I really cannot recommend the book enough!Some novices may be overwhelmed by the scientific terminology who do not understand anatomical terms but it is entirely necessary for a full, complete understanding of the movements. Even experienced lifters can benefit from reading this book.You may be put off by Mark's no B.S, to the point attitude. This however should be congratulated. This is a very honest book, he's not trying to sell you crap, or shove his way of doing things down your throat. Buying this book will do more good for you than buying hundreds of issues of any fitness magazine.On the basis of this I will be HAPPILY purchasing all of Mark's material immediately. Would even travel from the UK and attend a Starting Strength seminar based on the quality of this book and his tuition on Youtube (novices check out the many informative videos on Starting Strength channel)5/5 stars!

This is a very detailed and practical book. There's a lot of pages to read but given the effort it will take to actually lift all the weights you need to lift in order to get strong it is worth a little more effort to understand this excellent book so you do it right. This is a book obviously based on hard won real world experience, a lot of thought and a lot of time explaining to people how to lift heavy things. Read this and the companion on how to programme your training and never get fooled again by fadish fitness schemes and gyms full of machines. Do your squats, deadlifts and presses - and strong you will be. Expensive? Yes - but the quality will be remembered long after the price is forgotten. The author is a genius.

Always been sceptical about training books and excercise books, because they tend to contain more good faith and pseudoscience than actual facts. In that light Rippetoes book Starting strength is absolutely fabulous. He has great knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics and a good way of explaining things.Pictures, graphs and other visualisations help you understand the points he's making, and the book is a fun read which a person with interest in strength training will probably not let out of his hands til he reaches the end.At the end of the book he steps a bit out of his safe zone into nutritional advice... I'd take these with a grain of salt (ok, pun intended, but salt is bad for you). Intention is good, but migth want to check your latest government nutrition guides for better info.Recommend this for old and young, beginners and you who have been doing random too much random stuff at the gym for too long... Probably gonna get my dad (65yo) introduced to this for something to do in his retirement years.

The book itself looks very comprehensive but the copy I bought for £32 had lots of biro marks on pages.

This is a fantastic book, I have been lifting properly for about 5 months and was already strong when I started from bjj and kickboxing. That being said this book is useful to refine form for anyone, I was able to correct the details of my form and it would certainly have been a great aid if I had this when I started lifting. The terminology is the general complex language of fitness books but each term is explained for the novice lifter. Follow the advice here and your guaranteed to improve form and results if the effort is put in. Simple plan with detailed form instruction on the key movements.

This book is the best selling of its kind because it is chock full of the fundamentals of the stress, recovery and adaptation cycle that anyone can use to get strong. Although the Starting Strength Novice Linear Progression program is aimed at those new to strength training with a barbell, the detailed information regarding the main lifts and the case for lifting as a means to getting more from life for longer makes the book essential reading for trainees of any age, sex or current ability. Alongside the Starting Strength website, this book can make a real difference to your life in a very tangible way. Not a novice lifter? You should still get it for the lifting instruction and anatomical knowledge and move on to the equally excellent "Practical Programming for Strength Training" that the author produced with Andy Baker. Between these two books you could glean all the information required to create and maintain the best physical version of your self - and for the rest of your life. Valuable knowledge indeed.