January 05, 2026
Restoration Edition
On Starting Strength
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Underweight, Underweight, Still Underweight –
Rip answers questions from Starting Strength Network subscribers and fans. -
Why I Stopped Taking Weight Off the Bar by Adam Kaye –
For years, every time life interrupted my training, I did what passes for “smart” lifting advice: I “deloaded” and took weight off the bar. A week missed for a family vacation… -
Improve Your Footwork in the Split Jerk –
Josh Wells talks about how to improve foot position in the split jerk as you move under the bar and then recover to the finished position. -
When The Earth Gives Out by Corey O’Malley –
A long May day in Washington State awaited the soon-to-be-injured welterweight rope-access rock-scaler. Rock-scalers are harnessed rock climbers whose purpose is to remove unstable debris… -
Why You SHOULD Use Your Back as a Crane by Mia Inman –
In the 1980s, the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) began a campaign to prevent lower back injuries in the general population. A central tenet of the ACC campaign… - Weekend Archives:
Physical Training Against Brain Aging by Guy Forer –
The term “training” does not have the same meaning as the terms “exercise” or “exercise training”, which are used by various health organizations, and it is also not the same as the term “chronic exercise”… - Weekend Archives:
Strength and Conditioning – Conditioning and Strength by Mark Rippetoe –
Most of the articles and books I write are intended for people just starting their training, for several reasons. First, there are more of you, because most people never get past the novice phase of training…
In the Trenches
Online client Nick Pupino stopped in to Starting Strength Columbus to have his lifts checked by SSC Jarret Beck. [photo courtesy of Paul Jackson ]
At Starting Strength Atlanta, Jeff Liu shrugs his press into lockout. The proper shrug makes it anatomically impossible for shoulder impingement to occur. Effective cueing by Adam Martin, SSC, makes sure Jeff prioritizes it. [photo courtesy of Starting Strength Atlanta]
Pilar keeps on cruising through her NLP at Starting Strength Cincinnati, shown here with 195 for a set of five. [photo courtesy of Luke Schroeder]
Starting Strength Cincinnati member Brittany recently earned a spot in the 600lb club with a 265 pound deadlift. [photo courtesy of Luke Schroeder]
Get Involved
Best of the Week
Why is centre knurling so rare/expensive?
Subby
I’m trying to get a 2nd barbell for the Wife and for future use, I’m noticing that around 90% of the ones I look at don’t have the central knurl. And the ones that do are hundreds of dollars more expensive. Why would most barbells not come with it? Is it purely a cost saving during manufacture? I’m am looking in Australian stores which may mean that the government has taxed centre knurls. But aside from that is there a reason besides manufacturing cost to have 90% non knurled?
Mark Rippetoe
You got me. I always knew that Australia was a weird place, but I had no idea it extended to center knurls.
Best of the Forum
Trap involvement in the press
ryanpatrick990
For quite some time the only vertical pressing movement I did was the seated dumbbell press before beginning Starting Strength. Since incorporating the standing barbell press I’ve noticed my traps are much more involved in the vertical pressing now than they were with the seated dumbbell press. I can feel their involvement much more during the exercise and I was just curious as to why this could be?
Mark Rippetoe
Could it be that you are now pressing correctly, which involves a tremendous amount of trap contraction? As described in the book?
ryanpatrick990
Yes, after thinking about it, I think concentrating on shrugging into the top position of the press is what is engaging my traps much more than in the seated dumbbell press.
Credit : Source Post
