Reader,
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Matt spent two years training his garage gym.

He read Starting Strength cover to cover, watched all the form videos, and set up his phone at every angle trying to figure out what he was doing wrong. But his his squat was a mess. The bar position was wrong his wrists hurt constantly, his elbows flared up, and every rep felt awkward.

And the worst part? His numbers were stuck.

He'd add weight, miss reps, deload, grind back up, and hit the same wall again. Meanwhile his tendons were screaming. Tendonitis kept flaring up in his elbows and wrists. He'd hurt after every session and thought maybe he just wasn't built for this. Maybe low-bar squatting wasn't for him. Worst of all, it impacted the rest of his training. Remember - your squat is supposed to drive the ship, but if all it is doing is wrecking your elbows and shoulders and you haven't been able to go heavy enough on it to make progress, you are in for a bad time.

So he saw one of my posts on Twitter and decided to reach out.

We got on a consult call, and he decided to get started. On his onboard call we went over his his lift videos. I watched his squat for about 10 seconds and saw exactly what was happening.

His bar position was too high. He was trying to low-bar squat but the bar was sitting in a high-bar position, which is why it kept sliding. His grip was destroying his wrists because he was trying to hold the bar up with his hands instead of creating a shelf with his back. And his hip drive timing was off. He was shooting his hips back too early, which killed his depth and made everything harder than it needed to be.

We fixed all three in the first week.

Bar position corrected, grip adjusted, hip drive timed properly. His tendonitis started clearing up within days, his squat depth improved immediately, and his numbers started moving again. Because his squat felt better, the rest of his lifts started tracking up.

Here's what happened. Here is his mutation. Same guy in the same garage. But he's got bigger shoulders, arms, and a bigger back after about 6 months of training.

Matt made more progress in those 6 months than he did in the previous 2 years combined. He just needed someone who could see what he couldn't see.

Here's what Matt said about it: "I couldn't low-bar squat properly before working with Sam. That was probably the biggest technique jump I made. Numbers started improving pretty quickly after we got the form figured out."
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You can watch the full video here:
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If you're stuck like Matt was, you need expert eyes on your training. You can't diagnose what you can't see. That's what coaching does. I watch your lifts, I tell you exactly what's wrong, we fix it, and your numbers start moving again.

Custom programming, daily form checks, smart adjustments when injuries flare up.

If you're ready to stop guessing, apply here:

​https://coaching.gzstrength.com​

– Sam Krapf, SSC

Starting Strength Coach

Ground Zero Strength