Starting Strength, 3rd edition

Mark Rippetoe is the author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, Practical Programming for Strength Training 2nd edition, Strong Enough?, Mean Ol' Mr. Gravity, and numerous journal, magazine and internet articles. He has worked in the fitness industry since 1978, and has been the owner of the Wichita Falls Athletic Club since 1984. He graduated from Midwestern State University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in geology and a minor in anthropology. He was in the first group certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a CSCS in 1985, and the first to formally relinquish that credential in 2009. Rip was a competitive powerlifter for ten years, and has coached many lifters and athletes, and many thousands of people interested in improving their strength and performance. He conducts seminars on this method of barbell training around the country.

I'd recommend this book for just about everybody who lifts weights. Beginners can greatly benefit from it to learn good form right off the bat. Experienced lifters might also want to check it out because, a) there's always more to learn, and b) your form might not be as good as you think it is.

So what's the book about anyway? Well, the Cliff Notes version is that its a book on how to lift weights PROPERLY using a barbell. A few details:

-the book spends a lot of time discussing the details of all the basic barbell exercises, such as the squat, the bench press, the deadlift, the press, and the power clean. As you might have guessed, the book devotes a whole chapter to each movement. For instance, the squat is discussed on pages 8-63, while the bench press is discussed on pages 66-102- I give you the page numbers to show you how in depth the book goes into each exercise

-you'll learn a lot of details that are often times neglected, such as grip, and the placement of other body parts that are indirectly used during an exercise. As an example, the book spends about 4 pages discussing foot placement during the bench press exercise.

-the book is filled with pictures and diagrams. In fact its hard to find a page that doesn't have one picture or diagram on it.

-the book does also cover "useful assistance exercies" as well, such as chin-ups, dips, rows, barbell curls, etc.

The book ends with a nice section that talks about a lot of "miscellaneous" things, things such as the order of doing exercises, warm-up sets, nutrition, soreness and injuries, etc. As you can see, this is a pretty detailed and comprehensive book, a book I think all weight lifters, beginners and experienced, will get a lot out of. Also, weightlifters with bad shoulders should check out Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff.

I've been championing this book for years now and my feelings haven't changed - this is THE book for strength training. I received a copy of the 3rd edition a couple of weeks ago and am in the process of re-reading the book. Not only is the book clear and logical but it is entertaining. This is the book you should buy your kids when they want to start lifting. This is the book you get your husband when he realizes he is way too fat. This is the book you buy yourself when you are done conforming to the ridiculous fitness trends of circuit-circus training and trendy chrome gyms.

This is the book that you buy when you want results.

If you lift weights, you should read this book. Barbell training is a MUST if you want to get big and strong, and proper form is absolutely crucial to not only make gains, but avoid injury. Even if you're an experienced lifter, you might be surprised at how many things you're doing wrong to some degree in terms of form, and how much your strength and growth is boosted by correcting these errors in forms.

What you'll find in this book is an in-depth analysis of the major mass-building exercises like the squat, bench press, deadlift, shoulder press, and power clean. Truth be told, if you consistently lifted heavy and intensely with these exercises and nothing else, you'd wind up stronger and looking better than 90% of the guys in the gym.

I liked that this book went over often-neglected aspects of the lifts like grip, general body alignment, foot placement, and more.

The book has many pictures, so you'll never get confused as you try to imagine it all in your head.

The book also goes over other exercises that are worth doing, and it gives a bunch of general health and fitness advice such as how to warm up properly, what is proper nutrition, how to deal with soreness and injuries, and more.

Read this book if you lift weights or are planning on it. You will learn things that most guys will never know about how to achieve a strong, big, aesthetic body.

P.S. I recently finished another great book on working out, which is called Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body (The Lean Muscle Series). This book espouses many of the same principles as Starting Strength and has a bit more information on how to properly diet for building muscle and losing fat, how to do cardio properly so you don't burn up your muscle, which supplements are actually worth buying and which aren't (this has saved me a lot of money), and more.

Good luck!