Get weekly training tips, real-world coaching insights, and strength strategies that actually work — from a Starting Strength Coach who walks the walk.
The Power of Adding Five
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Reader, Squat went from 225 to 325. Deadlift went from 185 to 370. That's 100 pounds on the squat and 185 on the deadlift, measured by 5-rep max. The process was simple. We got his form locked in and standardized through video review first, ran a basic novice linear progression, transitioned through the NLP phases when the time came, then moved into Heavy/Light/Medium with rep and volume cycling. He's now training across various rep ranges, has additional lifts in the mix, and is making progress on 3 to 4 week intervals. He crossed that 100 workout threshold not too long ago. Most guys his age have written off this kind of progress. They've been trainin innefectively for years without much to show for it, or are convinced they are too old to get really strong. They're stuck because nobody has shown them what they're actually doing wrong, broken down their form in front of their eyes, and demanded excellence with their lifts. They've never been given a coherent process to follow and held them to it. We were able to lock this in with this client, and he will be well on his way to a 315 bench, 405 squat, and 500 deadlift in his late 50's if he keeps putting in the work. If you've been training hard without results like this, that's worth a conversation with me to get you right.
Sam Krapf, SSC |
Sam Krapf
Get weekly training tips, real-world coaching insights, and strength strategies that actually work — from a Starting Strength Coach who walks the walk.
Reader, Stringing together week after week, month after month, year after year of consistent, effective, well executed training is where the magic happens. You do that long enough and you wake up one day annd weights that used to staple you to the floor are now just warm ups. You've mutated. I want to walk through what that actually looks like for a real client, because the timeline matters here. A guy in his 50s trained with me about 10 months on NLP and into intermediate programming,...
ReaderMost everything I do for my clients is information you can get for free in about 20 minutes of searching. The Novice Linear Progression aint a secret. You can buy the Blue Book for like $20 on Amazon. Squat, press, deadlift, bench, add weight every session. 3x5, sometimes 1x5 on deadlift. Eat more, sleep more, do it again Wednesday. That's the whole program, and I've even written extensive details and expansion on the programming stages through the phases for free that you probably...
Reader, At training 3 days a week, your first 100 sessions takes about 8 months. That's the real unit of measurement and something I look for my lifters to accomplish when I bring them on board. Once you understand what happens inside that window, the six-week transformation promises start to look pretty silly. The first month is about getting your technique locked in. Squat, press, deadlift, done right, every time. For most people this is the first time anyone has ever actually coached them...