Starting Strength UK
Update December 2022
Thank you for checking out this article. Since writing it I have become a Starting Strength coach, currently the only one serving the UK as SSC Carl Raghavan is currently travelling overseas during 2023.
I am available for coaching 1:1, online and hosting camps, so please drop me a line with your email so I know where you are located in the UK!
You can read about my reviews in Starting Strength’s directory here: https://coaching.startingstrength.com/coaches/united-kingdom/surrey/mayford/byron-johnston/
Enjoy the article,
Byron, SSC.
Introduction
In this article I’ll be discussing the Starting Strength method and particularly the aspects of getting started with it if you are based in the United Kingdom.
If you’d like to hear an audio discussion all about the Starting Strength Method, then you can check out my interview with Pete Troupos SSC when he visited the UK in Autumn of 2021 here: Starting Strength Interview
The home of Starting Strength is with its creator Mark Rippetoe in Texas USA, and many of their coaches (SSC’s) are USA based, however the success of the Starting Strength method has led to its worldwide popularity.
The United Kingdom is currently the second most popular (USA being in first place) destination for Starting Strength enquiries for coaching and materials such as text books and equipment.
In the strength industry as a whole the method is well known. Here in the United Kingdom the Level 4 credential for Personal Trainers to become an S & C coach sites the major textbooks Starting Strength 3rd Edition and Practical Programming as recommended reading in their literature, and in many current texts and sites online it is clear to see the huge influence of the method.
To date many of the most reputable providers for strength training in the world are currently or were at one time Starting Strength Coaches (SSC’s)
“In 6 months of coaching with an SSC I made more progress in all of my goals than in the previous 10 years of going to the gym”
What is starting strength?
Starting Strength is a method for making rapid progress towards getting stronger in the most efficient way possible.
The method consists of:
Movement: A sound approach to human movement (biomechanics) with a careful selection of the most effective exercises to do.
This involves the use of barbells and the method is underpinned by a deep scientific and logical analysis of how to train correctly with barbells;
Programming: The training begins with The Novice Linear Progression whereby strength progress is made 3 times a week consistently.
The programme is reactive and is adjusted alongside your capability to ensure onwards progress in the most timely manner possible and contains only the exercises that you need to do. It’s important to note that in Starting Strength progress is driven towards rather than awaited;
Coaching: Several years ago I completed my credentials as a Gym Instructor (L2) Personal Trainer (L3) – the standard needed to work in gyms in the UK. The course I attended, like many others, spoke of its 80% + pass rate for candidates. This means that within a radius of most large towns you will have simply hundreds of personal trainers in your area. But, there are very few SSC’s in the world, perhaps only around 120 or fewer.
It has been said that the failure rate for attempting the Starting Strength credential is as high as 90%. The standard of coaching ability is extremely high to pass the in-person platform exam, then the oral board interview that follows. This means that when you are being coached by an SSC in-person or online you are being guided by a master craftsman. I simply did not realise the magnitude of the impact this could make until I experienced this level of coach overseeing my own training.
In 6 months of coaching with an SSC I made more progress in all of my goals than in my previous 10 years of going to the gym.
It is for this reason that I predominantly use this method with each and every client that comes to me for coaching and as well as in my own training.
The Starting Strength method is not a static programme. It is a living breathing approach to transforming your body through strength exercises, it is constantly being reviewed and updated by its coaches to stay relevant and at the forefront of modern strength training.
Beginning Starting Strength
Gyms
The first thing you must do is find an adequate gym set up. There are two approaches to this:
You locate the right gym within a practical travelling distance. Click here to read my guide on choosing a good gym for strength training.
You build your own home gym setup. Very little is needed to do this, and the advantage of doing it is far reaching. To start with your training will be uninterrupted and lockdown proof. The list of items needed is not very long and you’ll most likely have paid them off in around the time you would have spent going to the gym over eighteen months or less.
Applying the Method
Materials and learning resources
It is 100% worth owning a copy of Starting Strength 3rd edition if you want to do the programme properly with or without being coached. In addition the Starting Strength website and Youtube channel has good tuitional videos introducing the barbell lifts and content on dealing with frequent technique points that are encountered.
Once you have assembled equipment and are ready top begin, mark out 3 days/week in your diary that will allow for sessions of 60 – 90 Mins.
The good news is you don’t have a lot of lifts to master. Just the most effective ones, squat, press (shoulder press) deadlift and bench press.
These are typically done in a format of warmups then, 3 working weight sets of 5 reps each, note that the deadlift is usually just a single set of 5 reps at working weight.
Practical programming walks you through the most common adjustments to make and when to make them if you are programming yourself. The book details not only how the body functions and responds to strength training (biologically) but also when to make corrections in the programming if you hit problems or plateau in any of your lifts.
Seeking Help From a coach
In-Person Coaching
The optimal way to do things is with coached sessions, where you can learn the lifts and adjustments are made during the session.
Not everyone’s squat will or should look the same, differences come according to how you are built or the range of motion you have or need to work on. There are so many variables that need to be accounted for in each lift that it is worth having a starter session in-person if only to begin with the correct form from day one.
Currently in the UK there is only one coach based in London (Carl Raghavan). I am aiming to complete the SSC credential later this year to also be on the roster of SSC coaches and in the mean time I currently coach the method under the mentorship of Pete Troupos SSC.
Online Strength Coaching
In the absence of being able to have in-person sessions a very good follow up option is online coaching.
For the most part this is not done in the same way that the majority of the fitness industry delivers theirs.
Instead of having to adjust to a slot time with an instructor and doing a video call the method instead uses week by week programming customised to you and set up on an easy to use app. You then get to train on the time slots and days that actually fit in with your existing schedule which is far more practical.
You’ll then complete each workout, make some brief notes and importantly load in a video of your lifts into the app for form feedback.
It is the programming combined with form adjustments that enabled me to make more progress in the first 6 months of this kind of coaching than in my past ten years of gym visits! Prior to this I was simply doing too much irrelevant exercising in the gym and with no real concept of correct form on the lifts.
Overnight the online approach to strength training solved my problem of not being able to access a good coach and I still use it to this day to keep myself accountable and on track in my own lifting as well as using this method for my own clients.
However, I understand there maybe budget considerations and with that in mind the Starting Strength Technique forum offers the opportunity to load in a short clip of your lift/s for some brief feedback from an SSC.
** This is in no way as comprehensive as online coaching, but will yield a few handy pointers on your lifts at no expense. The only request is that you leave your form videos on their forum so that other lifters may also learn from viewing and reviewing the guidance.
Coaching Camps
These offer a one day event where you can learn and be coached on several of the lifts by SSC’s. In the past they have flown in from the USA to hold these events in London.
I’ve attended these events in the UK and not only will you receive good guidance you’ll also get to meet a group of like minded people and form some new friendships within the strength community. The events page on the Starting Strength site lists any upcoming UK camps.