100 Starting Strength gyms in 5 years

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

It's all muscle bro !

[mgil]

I wonder if they count an impacted colon as lean mass?

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

Depends how much lean mass you can hold in your colon, but I digress.

[EricK]

How much does a 1.5 inch steel ball bearing weigh?

[mgil]

How much does a 1.5 inch steel ball bearing weigh?

You’re good at internet

[mbasic]

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

Chugging a gallon of water is an instant 8.5# of lean mass. Wearing different shoes and forgetting to take your lifting belt off gets you way more than the extra 1.5# you need to reach 10 pounds.

this^. Surprised they don't have a nutrition/doctor-guy that would correct them on this

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

They’ve been saying that shit for a while.

You’ve gotta add 2+ pounds a week to do this. That’s like 1,000 calories a day of surplus.

Such liars.

If you really dig down into "what lean mass" is, i think it might be even worse than 2lbs to gain 1.

Lean mass is anything that's not muscle.
If you meant muscle, you'd just say "muscle".
But IIRC, lean mass means muscles, bone, organs, tendons, ligaments, hair, penis, brain (maybe the non-fat part of breast issue, men and/or women, lolz).....anything besides fat.

Re the excessive calories surplus: yah, your moobs are a cup size bigger now, maybe your liver is swollen (I guess this is fat too) and bowels inflammed. I bet in 10 weeks, bone density would increases quite a bit, especially coming from a typical-american-completely-undertrained-state....which is a good thing, but that's not muscle.

And then what's an extra-disappointing reality from these novice gains perspective.... that about 80% of the 100# they added to their 3x5 squat (that started off at 95#x5x3 at week zero) are neurological gains: recruitment improvements, technique improvements, balance and coordination, firing, optimization. NOT from muscle contractile increases. Further sadness: a fatter muscle will contract better/have more optimal pulling geometry on the joints.

Fuck them. They know all this. Lies

[mbasic]

How much does a 1.5 inch steel ball bearing weigh?

7.9708 Ounces / 225.967 Grams

[SnakePlissken]

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

So out of context bro, they added this asterisk to that statement.

Applies to men ages 18-45. Women should expect 5+ pounds of lean mass. Trainees age 45+ will get stronger, but usually not as quickly.

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

I am not a careful observer I'm afraid.

[SnakePlissken]

I am not a careful observer I'm afraid.

I love the hardline stance in that statement though. I could see a kid on the forum there asking "I'm 17.745920583 years old, does that mean I can't put on 10lbs of lean mass???"

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

I am not a careful observer I'm afraid.

I love the hardline stance in that statement though. I could see a kid on the forum there asking "I'm 17.745920583 years old, does that mean I can't put on 10lbs of lean mass???"

I wish I could step in a time machine and be a 17 year old DYEL again, and then go to the forum to ask about training. Would be glorious.

[Seafoam]

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

Chugging a gallon of water is an instant 8.5# of lean mass. Wearing different shoes and forgetting to take your lifting belt off gets you way more than the extra 1.5# you need to reach 10 pounds.

this^. Surprised they don't have a nutrition/doctor-guy that would correct them on this

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

They’ve been saying that shit for a while.

You’ve gotta add 2+ pounds a week to do this. That’s like 1,000 calories a day of surplus.

Such liars.

If you really dig down into "what lean mass" is, i think it might be even worse than 2lbs to gain 1.

Lean mass is anything that's not muscle.
If you meant muscle, you'd just say "muscle".
But IIRC, lean mass means muscles, bone, organs, tendons, ligaments, hair, penis, brain (maybe the non-fat part of breast issue, men and/or women, lolz).....anything besides fat.

Re the excessive calories surplus: yah, your moobs are a cup size bigger now, maybe your liver is swollen (I guess this is fat too) and bowels inflammed. I bet in 10 weeks, bone density would increases quite a bit, especially coming from a typical-american-completely-undertrained-state....which is a good thing, but that's not muscle.

And then what's an extra-disappointing reality from these novice gains perspective.... that about 80% of the 100# they added to their 3x5 squat (that started off at 95#x5x3 at week zero) are neurological gains: recruitment improvements, technique improvements, balance and coordination, firing, optimization. NOT from muscle contractile increases. Further sadness: a fatter muscle will contract better/have more optimal pulling geometry on the joints.

Fuck them. They know all this. Lies

I think this is my first post here, but I have to say I am a little ashamed of myself for falling for their crap for so long. It all sounded soooo good back then. The trick is not unlike any used before though. Sell the idea of greatness and be the only one with it. I did learn to be very skeptical of these personalities in the future though.

[SnakePlissken]

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

Chugging a gallon of water is an instant 8.5# of lean mass. Wearing different shoes and forgetting to take your lifting belt off gets you way more than the extra 1.5# you need to reach 10 pounds.

this^. Surprised they don't have a nutrition/doctor-guy that would correct them on this

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... st_content

"Add 10+ pounds of lean mass in 10 weeks*"

They’ve been saying that shit for a while.

You’ve gotta add 2+ pounds a week to do this. That’s like 1,000 calories a day of surplus.

Such liars.

If you really dig down into "what lean mass" is, i think it might be even worse than 2lbs to gain 1.

Lean mass is anything that's not muscle.
If you meant muscle, you'd just say "muscle".
But IIRC, lean mass means muscles, bone, organs, tendons, ligaments, hair, penis, brain (maybe the non-fat part of breast issue, men and/or women, lolz).....anything besides fat.

Re the excessive calories surplus: yah, your moobs are a cup size bigger now, maybe your liver is swollen (I guess this is fat too) and bowels inflammed. I bet in 10 weeks, bone density would increases quite a bit, especially coming from a typical-american-completely-undertrained-state....which is a good thing, but that's not muscle.

And then what's an extra-disappointing reality from these novice gains perspective.... that about 80% of the 100# they added to their 3x5 squat (that started off at 95#x5x3 at week zero) are neurological gains: recruitment improvements, technique improvements, balance and coordination, firing, optimization. NOT from muscle contractile increases. Further sadness: a fatter muscle will contract better/have more optimal pulling geometry on the joints.

Fuck them. They know all this. Lies

I think this is my first post here, but I have to say I am a little ashamed of myself for falling for their crap for so long. It all sounded soooo good back then. The trick is not unlike any used before though. Sell the idea of greatness and be the only one with it. I did learn to be very skeptical of these personalities in the future though.

Don't feel bad dude. Most of the people on this forum drank the kool aid at some point. It's really effective when you get good results from SS so you think they have it all figured out "like 5th grader me looking at a middle schooler who has it figured out."

[chrisd]

It's a classic sales trick. The target is a group who would like to get strong, but have failed by doing stuff that really doesn't yield great results.

You give a programme that gives a result quickly, they're hooked. When the result s don't keep coming, you tell them they did it wring and need to pay for the special training that will let you get the results. If you get into the special training you are paying someone to make the excuses for you because you are such a special case and will need customised programming (send me five buck paypal).

It's applied in many other fields, business 'training', meditation pretty much anything. The shame for $t$t is that their marketing is so objectionable that they put people off too quickly. If they'd figured out the gym system up front instead of their affiliate model (wonder where they got that idea from ?) they could have done quite well. They'd need a colour too. Orange and purple were taken.

[SSJBartSimpson]

This buisiness model is based on clients not learning about a coach in their local area that charges less and has higher lift numbers than the SSCs. What they're doing with elder citizens is cool, but young men that don't become fanatics are going to become frustrated by lack of progress and quit or take their business elsewhere.

[KyleSchuant]

young men that don't become fanatics are going to become frustrated by lack of progress and quit or take their business elsewhere.

Young men tend to be broke and not have the money to hire trainers, and if they do have money tend not to hire trainers because then they'd have to admit they don't know everything, and if they do hire them, don't listen to them because again they know everything already, and if they do listen to them, quit after a few months - especially if the advice worked.

Just follow the social media of one of your local powerlifting or weightlifting gyms. Scroll back a couple of years, note down who the trainer/coach was talking about enthusiastically. Come back to the present, and see how many of them are still around.

Rip once said, "we are not training the 600lb squatter, we are training his mother." That's because his mother has money and will actually listen. SS is most certainly limited, which is why most SS gyms modify it in some way. But "it doesn't help a young guy squat 400lb" isn't one of those limitations, in practice - despite Rip's other claims of a 400lb squat being a frequent result.

You may be interested in the Great LP Stall Thread of Shame, the data from which (plus some other places) was put into a spreadsheet here. The average end-NLP squat for was 290lb from a 205lb guy, or or 148lb at 147lb for a woman (though we've less data reported from them) and 2/3 of them both had some sort of previous training - not necessarily barbells, but sports etc.

Only about a third of the men sought coaching.

[SSJBartSimpson]

young men that don't become fanatics are going to become frustrated by lack of progress and quit or take their business elsewhere.

Young men tend to be broke and not have the money to hire trainers, and if they do have money tend not to hire trainers because then they'd have to admit they don't know everything, and if they do hire them, don't listen to them because again they know everything already, and if they do listen to them, quit after a few months - especially if the advice worked.



Just follow the social media of one of your local powerlifting or weightlifting gyms. Scroll back a couple of years, note down who the trainer/coach was talking about enthusiastically. Come back to the present, and see how many of them are still around.

Rip once said, "we are not training the 600lb squatter, we are training his mother." That's because his mother has money and will actually listen. SS is most certainly limited, which is why most SS gyms modify it in some way. But "it doesn't help a young guy squat 400lb" isn't one of those limitations, in practice - despite Rip's other claims of a 400lb squat being a frequent result.

You may be interested in the Great LP Stall Thread of Shame, the data from which (plus some other places) was put into a spreadsheet here. The average end-NLP squat for was 290lb from a 205lb guy, or or 148lb at 147lb for a woman (though we've less data reported from them) and 2/3 of them both had some sort of previous training - not necessarily barbells, but sports etc.

Only about a third of the men sought coaching.

Oh I'm familiar with that thread... and I can relate lol.

[CaptainAwesome]

What they're doing with elder citizens is cool, but young men that don't become fanatics are going to become frustrated by lack of progress and quit or take their business elsewhere.

Targeting seniors as a trainer is smart business, for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest is you can schedule their training sessions during normal daytime hours that other demographics can't do.

[KyleSchuant]

Original article published October 2018. We have two months to go!

According to their site - https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... ngth-gyms/ - there now exist 27 Starting Strength Franchise Gyms.

As well, there are 13 Affiliate Gyms worldwide, 11 in the US, 1 in Europe, and 1 in Singapore.

https://coaching.startingstrength.com/g ... iate-gyms/

[mgil]

Yeah, and I’ve seen SSFG videos with people using bench blocks, SSBs, etc to deal with myriad injury issues with clients.

Shit that Rip wouldn’t allow, supposedly.

To get to where they are, they’ve already have had to adapt to the market by changing lifts and programming to retain clientele.