Tag Archives: starting strength

Why Starting Strength, SL5x5…etc. Often Give You Garbage Chest Development (and how to fix it)

| by Truth Seeker |

Routines like Starting Strength, StrongLifts,  and other derivatives often have unpleasant non-aesthetic side effects. One of them would be non-existent chest development despite pushing relatively heavy weights during the later stages of the programs. Why does it happen? Survival Mode All those strength routines throw the lifter into survival mode. In other words, your job […]

8 Reasons Why Beginner Barbell Strength Routines Are the Worst for Aesthetics (and what to do instead)

| by Truth Seeker |

Contrary to popular belief, many of the popular barbell strength routines marketed towards beginners do not produce aesthetic (lean & mean) physiques. Those training methods have severe technical deficiencies turning them into factories for skinny-fat men with poor upper body development and viciously drained central nervous systems from heavy squatting and deadlifting. Here are the […]

How To Make The Program Starting Strength Work For Aesthetics (Don’t get FAT)

| by Truth Seeker |

Harry The BicepsFlexKilla woke up with that gnawing, almost corrosive feeling of imperfection that now and then captures the blood pump of every human, shakes the homeostasis and installs a pernicious grimace mixed with bewilderment on the face of the victim. Harry had been fighting against the inadequacy and incompleteness in his heart for a […]

Is Starting Strength a Bad Routine For Muscle Growth? It's fine. Don't bother overthinking. You are natural anyway.

| by Truth Seeker |

The online muscle consciousness needed a long time to realize that the popular training program Starting Strength does not promote as much muscle growth as it was originally believed. You are certainly not gaining 60lbs of red meat during your first year of training even if you drink your milk and do squats with plenty of hip drive. I am […]

Starting Strength vs. P90X: Retrospective and Random thoughts

| by Truth Seeker |

I spent the last two days reviving old memories from the beginning of my journey in the land of muscle construction. I did an online search for two legendary muscle scholars – the creator of P90X Tony Horton and the author of Starting Strength Mark Rippetoe. Those two have sold millions of books and DVDs which makes them […]