Also another random question.

Been doing ss for 2.5 months, gone from 165 to 185 and looking less skinny fat at the same time (6'2) (been doing GOMAD + eating like a pig)

Got a 35 mile 3 day backpacking trip coming up (you lose so much weight on these.....) in mid august and considering doing like a 4-6 week cut just to lose a little bit of extra fat so I can keep on bulking without getting fat.

terrible idea or not that bad?

Q. What are the criteria for being 70sbig?

sets of 3 is fine for powerclean. e.g. 5x3. also, you might notice "better flexibility" with increased weight.

but do this right now, point your elbows straight ahead and curl your wrists back (as if racking) in attempt to get your knuckles to touch your shoulders. can you really not get your knuckles within like 6 inches?

A. Minimum 200lbs.

Should I buy the SS book or DVD.? Im kidna lazy when it comes 2 reading but I feel I might miss out on some gold that wont be in the DVD.. Thoughts?

DVD imo. The book is FAR more detailed and will have everything you will ever need to know but sometimes I think just trying to imitate the simple cues in the vid would be enough. That's my opinion anyway.

there are videos all over youtube with similar content and countless form check videos on the SS boards. the book is a much better resource. paying for that dvd is kinda crazy imo.

Just saw this Practical Programming for Strength Training

Is this a new version of starting strength? Its also cheaper.. Should I buy this instead.

Sorry but it is a wee chunk of gold im spending

it's a different book. read the faq. the SS wiki has links to the publisher where you can see which books are available.

Ok screw it im lazy lol so I just bought both of the books and the dvd. Its bound to be worth 50x the £65 anyway.

Both books are really good anyway

yeah, I was gonna say just get em all.

Funny how people can get stingy over spending a small amount of money on maintaining their bodies while they don't bat an eye at spending thousands on maintaining their cars.

women think $40-50 is expensive for a kettlebell and the same chick will have like 10 purses that each cost like $500 plus lol

Logic does not apply.

Squat form check:

I'll take a shot Kit. They look very good. I had to look pretty hard to find a little bar path deviation on reps 2 and 3 of the second video. Also, i've heard some say that you should cut lowbar squats off just below parallel to make the most of the bounce. It looks like the bounce is taking the center of your acetabulum well past the top of your patella. Your pants make it look like you are right at parallel because the stripes go from the front of your hip to your heel. I think you are going much deeper than that. Watch Miles squat 405, it looks like he's starting the drive right at parallel allowing the bounce to occur just below parallel.

Thanks for showing me a better way to get under the bar. I've been doing a lunge to get under before taking my stance, and making sure I'm square takes up energy better spent somewhere else.

Under 40, yes. Cool basement - I've done it before. I've never seen one that was terribly cold. But I prefer a cool temperature and a little bit of exercise warms me up quickly. 60-65 sounds like the perfect temperature for working out.

Thanks Bob.

Hi, first post from a long-time lurker who just registered today. I've been doing SS for about a month now after completely f'ing up my back squatting on a smith machine and having to take a month off from. This forum and thread has been invaluable, along with the book for making me realize how clueless I was (am).

I've read the FAQ and most of this thread, but I don't know that I've seen a discussion of this. Can someone describe the difference between "proper hip drive" and "good-morning the weight up" on squats? I've watched a bunch of youtube videos and watched videos posted here along with critiques, but I don't know that I can tell the difference. Thanks.

did you watch rip's hip drive vids?

squat down and grab your toes. without letting go of said toes, raise your hips up.

now do the same thing without holding the toes.

I did, but it seems to almost be a two-part movement in the video--first ass drives up, then chest follows. I don't see how that isn't a good morning according to other form critiques I've seen here. I can post a video of myself if my ignorance is not able to be overcome through written explanations.

i see what you mean, but i think half of that is because the kid's a noob using like 60lbs.

keep your chest out, back tight, and weight balanced and the weight shouldn't be able to good morning. feel free to post a vid.

Thanks for the input.

Here are three vids from today. Squat 185; Bench 175; DL 210. I reset these to 135ish at the end of June after I popped L4/L5 completely out of alignment squatting on the smith machine. Wasn't deadlifting at all prior to this, but was doing squats, bench, chins and various bro curls, upright rows, incline press, DB bench, etc along with kettletarding periodically. Started pressing at 95 and doing chinups in place of power cleans following the physical therapy and a few weeks off (and reading SS). Been experimenting with PCs and will add those in place of chinups once I have the form down.

Squats

Bench

Deads

is your neck neutral during the squats? it's hard to tell, but it looks like you're staring at yourself in the mirror.