Starr and Ripptoe - The uptake

[Bretmj1]

I've been doing some reading on these two programs and to my understanding Ripptoe is the beginner and Starr is for intermeditate-Advanced. Upon reading these I come up with some questions on its dependability. For the last 2 years i've been doing compound workouts that focus on one or two bodyparts per day (ie. chest and bis, shoulders and tris) and thought i was getting some relatively good gains, does anyone have an explanation on to how Ripptoe and Starr work well with only doing the core workouts and not real detailed workouts? I guess if people could give me their thoughts on these two workouts it would be great, i'm not really sure on which one to try! If you need any information about me feel free to ask. I have a lean, muscular, modelesque physique and I just want to expand on it, gain a good 8-12 lbs or so. Thanks guys!

Bret

 

[SgtSlaughter]

As I mentioned before... I think it'd be a perfect switch for you... a HUGE change that would allow you to really get worked in a different way...

... Let's see what others have to say for ya bro.

Get me that fitday breakdown, lol

 

[BiggT]

Use the Ripptoe program if you can add weight to the bar every single workout for multiple workouts per week.....if you can no longer do that, and you have to add weight weekly, use the more common Bill Starr 5x5. If you've been training a few years, you shuld probably use the Bill Starr version.....Ripptoe's is ideal for total beginners starting from square one, it fosters the most progress in the shortest time because you're adding weight each and every session. As you know, that only lasts for so long.

People who have gotten good results off of bodypart splits don't realize it, but they got results from incorporating the same principles as Starr/Ripptoe.....look for the underlying theory (getting good on big lifts), not the magic potion (exercises/days/sets/reps).

I'd be willing to say 97% of someone's muscle mass can be built by consistently training and getting better at a squat, a pull, and a press. All of the iso stuff is harmless so long as it doesn't hamper recovery, but if you dropped it for a couple of months, you'd see how truly useless it is in the grand scheme of things.

A bodypart split will fail if you train for a 'pump' or you just come in with no plan for progression and do a bunch of random shit trying to get sore. A bodypart split will work if you train big lifts progressively......in strength training, movements are trained instead of 'bodyparts' because their only goal is to increase capacity on lifts and teach the body to function as one unit, it is just a nice coincidence that this is the fastest, surefire way to grow muscle provided you don't undereat.

Somebody is gonna say "well, how come the pros do lots of iso work and train on splits and they are HYOOOGE"....the answer is that when guys (and ladies) run around sporting the test levels of 3 dozen men, any stimulus, even a shitty one, will produce the desired result. As Madcow2 would say, think of cattle in a herd, steroids produce the desired result, now think of adding in resistance training of ANY sort, and you've got roided cattle blindly pumping away and busting ass on an assortment of iso crap, while eating 10x's maintainence calories and getting jacked beyond belief in the process.

 

[fallingeggs]

Ok I am going to give a try at explaining this;

These programs pretty much give the finger to all the bodybuilding horseshit out there. They are designed by some of the smartest strength coaches in the US; not people trying to sell magazines.

The idea that you need to know is that strength will get you the size that you want. (I.e. if a power lifter were to cut his fat he would be a beast, or look at Mariusz Pudzianowski) You get the strength from, obviously, moving the weights up each week.

What turns people away from these programs are two things, frequency and low number of lifts. Here is the deal with frequency and bodybuilding, as explained by madcow2: back in the 70s every bodybuilder was lifting for like 5 hours each day and hitting every muscle every other day. One day one of them took off a week or two and came back stronger then he left. So he thought, and told the world, that training so much is overtraining and the only way to not over train is to only lift once a week. And there is where the normal body part split came from. The problem is that it takes 3 to 4 weeks to over train, and it is a lot of work to do so. So it is not that doing high frequency is bad, but doing it high for long periods of time can hurt your self. If you look at Olympic lifting you will see that they are pulling from the floor 10+ times a week. A bodybuilder would look at that and say he is overtraining, but he is not. He is not doing each workout to the max so he does not over train. Ok, lol, I am just trying to say – squatting 3 times a week is fine.

The reason for the low number of lifts is because they are the only lifts you need to get strong. All the other bullshit things like cable flys and the like, do not get you strong so they are not in the program. The magazines have overcomplicated everything, and there is no need to. Keep it simple.

Another thing is not going to failure. First is that the benefits from going to failure is out weighted by the facts it takes you much longer to recover. You will not be able to keep up the workouts if you keep going to failure.

Here it is from madcow2 his self: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/Topics/Training_Primer.htm

It is a long read but if you really care to know you cannot get anything better.

And his main site: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/table_of_contents_thread.htm

 

[fallingeggs]

that took so long to type i did not see that biggt got there first lol... go with what he says first.

 

[Bretmj1]

Great, that basically explains what I needed to know. I'll most likely be giving it a try and jotting down a log for people to see. Any reccommendations on supplements to take with this new routine? Amplify02?

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Lots of GOOD food

quality food = quality gains, simple as that.

I didn't find that Amp02 works well for 5x5 type training.

 

[fallingeggs]

best supp is food, 2nd would be whey protien, but only if you can not get the protien you need from food. everything else is a waste of money imo. believe me, i have tried it.

 

[BiggT]

I agree, the most important thing is to eat more calories than you burn, calories that are nutritiously dense. Supps are what they are, none of them will magically take you to new heights, you may take something and get a little bit of energy or you may get a placebo effect or you may get nothing at all......personally, I've been doing this since I was 13 years old, I remember everything from the day Creatine hit the shelves to the Ripped Fuel craze to Andro to the ludicrous and misleading claims of Muscletech.....as far as OTC supps go, I'd rather spend my money on food. Eat enough and push the big lifts, it is hard work, but if you do it for a period of time you'll see that that is 99% of it......if you're dragging ass, drink a cup of strong coffee.

Great, that basically explains what I needed to know. I'll most likely be giving it a try and jotting down a log for people to see. Any reccommendations on supplements to take with this new routine? Amplify02?