Get weekly training tips, real-world coaching insights, and strength strategies that actually work — from a Starting Strength Coach who walks the walk.
Why do you want it to feel easy?
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Reader, Why do you, as a lifter who desires to be strong, want your training to feel easy? To never feel strain? To never miss a rep? To cruise through every session and walk out feeling like you did something without actually doing anything? This shit is supposed to be hard. That's why way less than 1% of people actually do it. There's a weight range where most novice and intermidiate lifters stall: Squat: 255 – 315 Bench: 175 – 225 Press: 115 – 155 Deadlift: 315 – 365 A lot of factors contribute to stalling at these numbers, but here's what else happens in this range: the bar starts feeling genuinely heavy. You get beat up. You start questioning whether the program is working, whether you're recovering right, whether you're just not built for this. Distraction and The Resistance sets in. You think maybe running would be easier, and question if lifting consistently is worth it any more. That feeling means something is working. The guys who interpret it as a problem are the ones who quit, reset, switch programs, switch coaches, back off and convince themselves they're being smart. Then they spend the next year at the same weights wondering why they're not getting stronger. The guys who push through this range and stay focused are the ones who end up strong. If you're in this window and struggling, that's exactly where I do my best work. My clients don't get to quit on the hard part. They get coached through it. If that sounds like what you need, apply below. Bust That Plateau With Me |
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,When Nathan came to me in early September, he was already a serious lifter but was stuck in the all too common rut of not knowing how to progress post novice programming.Now often when I onboard someone new, the reason they are stalled is due to atrocious form and them thinking they need more advanced programming. So we end up fixing the lifts and pulling their programming back to novice stage.But Nathan was already a pretty solid lifter — some minor form errors here and there, but...
Reader,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...
Reader, Quick question: Are you still logging sessions, filming sets, and pushing hard... but the bar just isn't moving like it used to? Resets feel like Groundhog Day, tweaks keep popping up, or life (work, kids, travel) keeps throwing curveballs that kill your momentum. You're not alone, I've seen this exact pattern in dozens of guys who've run NLP (or tried to) and hit the intermediate wall. Right now, I'm offering a free personalized audit to the first wave who respond. What you get:...