Starting Strength Coach Education Pipeline | Ask Rip #53

Mark Rippetoe and members of the Starting Strength Seminar Staff answer questions from seminar participants during the Q&A about the SSC evaluation prep course, coach demographics, and future growth.
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[@jaredlinna1371]

Love Rip slamming the Crossfit certification model in a Crossfit gym

[@dawgsmycopilot]

Woman here, barbell training for around five years. My experience has been that you cannot drag the cardio bunnies onto the weight room floor. You'd have to lure them with some Starbucks or Fabletics or something. I talk to women all the time because I realize what this has done for me and I would love to get my fellow women out there at the rack. But they just will not do it. There's a ton of really attractive sciency sounding naturally buff trainers out there selling everything from Tabata intervals to "functional fitness" as you know and those people are athletic and hot so they all think that's the way to go. Also, they will literally poke their heads into the weight room on their way to spin class and say how they would but thye don't want to be the Hulk. No amount of me chasing them down the hall and saying no, that can't happen naturally, seems to get it in their thick skulls. Also it's "hard". The first lift or two the bar on your back hurts that padded area under the neck- and of course one must cease all exercise upon the first bit of discomfort. I honestly don't know how to educate them and I'm in it every day. I've managed to get a grand total of two women to come train with me in all my time doing it.

[@markseven6046]

dawgsmycopilot keep up the fight though. Have you thought of trying to change your approach somehow? Read Dale Carnegie how to influence people maybe you’ll get a few ideas?

[@Andrew-vt2wq]

stop giving a fuck

[@CraigCastanet]

You are an extraordinary woman, alas. Most don't have what it takes.

[@Francesco-cj3oi]

keep doing what you are doing, eventually 2 people will become 3 and 4 and 5 and so on and all the cardio bunnies will follow along what looks like a new "fad" because that's what they are good at doing. those people are consumers, they want to be sold something, they don't care about facts or effort. You have to decide if you want to approach these people like a car salesman and get them to train or just stop caring about them and only care for the smart ones

[@dawgsmycopilot]

@@Andrew-vt2wq That was the real answer.

[@markseven6046]

The App has really made a huge difference for me. Train to Gainsville baby.

[@toopkarcher4941]

Did Matt Reynolds and Jordan Feigenbaum have an arm wrestle for the spinny chair?

[@sbawani]

In Pakistan, we do not have any Starting Strength coach, and we have a huge gap related to such approach as the cross-fit model is creeping in and some traditional stuff people are following in the name of power/weightlifting. How can Starting Strength Coaching be introduced in Pakistan? I am following the Novice Linear Progression program

[@emwethington]

I admire your efforts to expand SS. I am really interested in being coached in SS. I live in Austin, where everyone is acting like they don't know about SS, but they do. I am no longer an NSCA CPT with the run of my own branch of the YMCA. I works as a PTA like Rebecca Cygan, applying strength knowledge to my practice...I exercise in weightlifting gyms, powerlifting gyms, outdoor track and field club and the YMCA. And in all of these settings, it is the height of incivility for me to train anyone, or to argue with my trainer about the low bar back squat So I'm stuck in their program. SHORT VERSION- How can SS expand without giving a new trainee/coach a place to train?

[@Leader]

LMAO Jordan with the selfie

[@apffer]

Looking forward to it!!!!! You have a customer for the pipeline right here!

[@Bad7Seal]

me 2 - don't have to fly in form Germany then...

[@apffer]

Actually, to get the SSC credential, you will. The pipeline just increases your chances of success on being approved by the "board" on the presential starting strength seminar.

[@Bad7Seal]

Cele ChuckNando ahh, get it. Since it’s preparation, I would still do it and once I feel ready I’ll fly there...

[@rickkan4870]

Definitely need to expand this to Asia, so far there is only one SS coach in Singapore as far as I know

[@willnill7946]

Does the fact that asians don't have enough SS Coaches concern you?

[@rickkan4870]

will Nill I live in Asia, yes, it does concern me

[@Tupat95]

Rick Kan at least you guys have one

[@En1Gm4A]

i really want to do this programm. Will this pipleline be aviable in several lenguages ?

[@Oldmanwithguns]

What about other countries? How do we get this global is the question. I want to follow this model as a coach but cant..

[@zazen69]

How much do you think the Engineers in Prometheus can press?

about three fiddy.

[@MrStrutxD]

Zazen do you have a steam account so we can discuss the athletic performance of engineers?

[@ZvS1L3NTvZ]

Come down to toronto again!

[@SilverSlugs16]

18:19 "You can see into their rectum" I about died

[@patman4917]

Girls like to be sex objects out of mens reach and sex sells. I give mark and the rest of the SS crew for not selling out

[@nathan9286]

Definitely need to expanded into Canada ! only two coaches in our country

[@willnill7946]

Why, Canada is just a bunch of sjw, potheads, and other undisirables. Maybe your prime minister could use this program though

[@nathan9286]

your just upset our women can lift more then you

[@surelock3221]

will Nill don't worry the US isn't that far behind

[@4214Haawkings]

@Mark Rippetoe Please use that old chair of yours for every interview!

[@jomercerlmt5727]

O.k., I'm one of those older women who has benefited greatly from Starting Strength. How do I get to be a SS coach with no prior physical education, bodybuilding or weight training experience or credentials?

[@CrimsonStrider]

Jo Mercer, LMT Rip has a list of reading material on the site that'll help prep you. Probably more importantly you need experience actually coaching someone. I doubt many, if any, showed up to a seminar with little to no experience coaching and passed. And read through SS/PP a few more times

[@RictorIAG]

I find all of this really interesting because I'm training with Starting Strength and I'm also a marketer. It strikes me that people don't go to the gym to get better at doing physical activity. They go to the gym to look better. If you gave your average person the choice of going to the gym and getting stronger but they get bigger and no abs, or they look better but they don't get measurably stronger, they'll take the physique side 10 times out of 10. This program is pretty open about being anti-abs, which for many is going to go against the objective of going to the gym in the first place. I think this is a psychological issue more than anything else. Most people haven't given the first thought to whether or not they can become really strong in the same way most people haven't given any serious thought to being able to run 10 or more miles at a time. This brings up the issue of CrossFit. What did they tap into to grow so fast? I'm not a CrossFitter myself but I think it's a sense of community. Also, they own the brand for strength for the average person. That's the point of the CrossFit games. Those people are the fittest and they're throwing around barbells. To the average non-lifter, that's plenty strong. If you want to get better at physical activity, get in shape, and do it in a group, you go to CrossFit. So if gym's are for looks and CrossFit is for performance and community, where does that leave a program like Starting Strength? On the outskirts is where it leaves it. I agree with one of the dudes questions in the last video. If strength is the most important thing, and this is the best strength program, why isn't it a bigger deal? It's not a bigger deal for the same reason studying hard sciences isn't a bigger deal. When you cut out the bs, what you think and say matters. And for most people, being held to a standard is too hard. That's probably the real answer. But since we have to attack the problem if we ever hope to solve it, how about this one: Where's the 5-minute intro to the whole deal? Is there a pamphlet, PDF, website, video, or speech that we can give to somebody to make the case for the Starting Strength model? Every time I present it or have seen it presented it's more like, "Get this book. Look at this website. Watch these videos." That's like *hours* of activity just to find out the basics. That's going to weed out 99% of the potential users of the program right there. My own personal goal is to develop a Quick Start Guide for the program that can be given to people who are hearing about Starting Strength for the first time. It's a challenge because it's trying to distill essentially an hour lecture down to a few paragraphs. Also, as far as attracting coaches is concerned, I think you guys may be approaching the problem wrong. You don't need to figure out how to create more coaches, you need to create a demand for coaching. If the demand is great enough, quality people will find a way to fill that demand. But if everybody wanting to be a coach is essentially somebody who got started on the program and took it too far, that organic growth is going to happen much slower. For coaches, it needs to be a legit career path as much as it is a labor of love. And to the extent that it is, I'd stress that more. The way Rip occasionally talks about how owning a gym/coaching doesn't make any money is bound to scare some people away. In my opinion, it means that SSCs are likely to be entrepreneurs/zealots because they're willing to invest their time in something that has some risk of monetary return. For Starting Strength to make it past the growth phase, they'll have to figure out how to mature past being something for entrepreneurs to become something that's a job. Since it's arguable how much of that job market exists, that helps to explain some of the slow growth. Which brings me back to exposure. The beginning of this is creating a demand at the user level. That demand can only be created by solving a problem, something that Starting Strength does. Now we have to be able to articulate all the main points in a very concise way. The elevator pitch. Run a marketing campaign around that pitch. I know SS doesn't do marketing, but that's something that CrossFit obviously does well that Starting Strength does not. At some point, gloss matters too. I mean, take the most attractive person you can think of and dress them up. They look better. They really do. Same thing here. This can be the most legit program. But it can still be dressed up a little more to make it more appealing to the eye. Improving the user-experience for the first 5 minutes somebody is exposed to the program seems like an obvious place to start. I'll stay in touch with the progress I make.

[@mnikhk]

Yes unfortunately but ppl dont understand even when you want to look good you should start out with starting strength it gives you a good muscular base which you can later develop more ,they need to market this point to the ppl who want to look better also put forward some of their good looking students

[@AK-ic1yj]

You hit the nail on the head brother. Thank you very much for your insight. 99% of people want to look better than than do currently. Why? Because the drive to procreate is stronger the the drive to become stronger. Unfortunately, nobody actually wants to date an overweight person, no matter how much they can lift (lets be honest with each other here people, please dont go butthurt snowflake on me). If I were to open a starting strength gym I would try to focus on getting people to a certain strength level at a certain body fat %. For example, promise to get them to a x2 bodyweight squat and a x2.5 bodyweight deadlift at 12-15% bodyfat (this is for a male, female numbers would differ of course). No more, no less on the bodyfat %. Also, drill it into people's minds that by focusing more on performance the leanness and aesthetics will come too, it will be a by product of better performance. Perhaps that's why they have not seen better aesthetic results because they have not been focusing on performance? You see how that could work? What is your opinion on these ideas? Keep us updated on your progress. How can I keep in touch with your progress by the way?Thanks again :)

[@UltimateNinjaSrb]

3:15 "We're not growing very fast." Drink milk.

[@adamcostilla1692]

Megaloceros Put ssoc on the gomad diet.

[@pewarrenau]

Finally given the other guys mics. (y)

[@RafaelCruzPodcast]

I want to become a coach!

[@sandorolah2169]

No way for Rip to run amok with all the guys having mics now... take them away! :D

[@Rothbardy]

The biggest problem is that there are no lunges and curls in the program. Wake up, people!

[@mnikhk]

Theres chin ups and rows working the biceps,then theres squats 3 times a week why insert lunges.Anyways the program platues in 3 to 4 months completely then you're free to do other stuff 3-4 months of no lunges and curls wont have a very large impact on years of training to come.

[@melo15813]

Hey Rippetoe when you teaching the row?

[@Barbellprofessor]

Reynolds needs to not hold the mic to his nose and speak >.

[@canererbay8842]

Guy deviates from the program to a certain degree, let's say he does rows instead of power cleans. For the negative comments/outcomes ----> He didn't do "the program" so he can not attribute it to SS. For the positive comments/outcomes ----> "The program" works even when done incorrectly. What kind of logic is this? You've got to pick one. It seems to be the method of linear progression in basic compound movements for novices that works, not the specific program.

[@Francesco-cj3oi]

the method is designed to give you the best results in the most efficient way. Barbell rows will give you results just not the best ones and not as efficiently. I don't think starting strength claims that their exercise selection and their way of doing this is the only correct way, it's just the best one. If the program requires you to do power cleans, sets of 5, rest enough time and so on, and you don't do that, you are not doing the starting strength program, you are trying to do a linear progression in your own way, which might work in making you stronger than before, certainly if you are a novice, but again, it's not the best way

[@canererbay8842]

@@Francesco-cj3oi how does this address what I said?

[@Francesco-cj3oi]

@@canererbay8842 what rip meant by "even when the program is done incorrectly it still works" is because of what I said in my comment. it does not mean that someone should do the program incorrectly, it just means that doing the program correctly is the best way to do it

[@Francesco-cj3oi]

@@canererbay8842 also I haven't heard Rip say that if you are doing it incorrectly you can't attribute it to SS. if you do rows instead power cleans, it's not correct, but everything else is still part of the SS program. if you were to do 3 sets of 7 on all lifts, that would be an entirely different program because it changes too many important variables from the original (volume, intensity, recovery time)

[@canererbay8842]

@@Francesco-cj3oi I don't know what to tell you, man.

[@jordankroell]

3:22 The CSCS certification from the NSCA requires a 4 year college degree in an exercise related field from an accredited institution. It's not just a "pay your money and get your certificate" type of deal. You have to earn it. I'm guessing it doesn't take 4 years to get your SS Coaching cert...

[@willnill7946]

Starting strength isn't or shouldn't be about money or business. It's about making people stronger and better. In turn that will make society better. Men are insecure because they are weak. Make them strong and confident and things will change

[@mnikhk]

Yeah but its not Rips responsibility to do that,he wants committed ppl coming to him who already have some sense of world and are confident.Ppl are not interested simply.

[@willnill7946]

I disagree. In the Bible did not Jesus saw it was the sinner that he came here to save. Rip needs to save the weak man, not the strong man.

[@SkullKing11841]

It should be about both, its not sustainable as a charity. They will do well in the long term by sticking to a program that actually works than trying to adopt a run of the mill business model that is at saturation point in the market anyway.

[@jefftparker]

It should be free? GTFO with your liberal communist BS. Fucking idiots.

[@willnill7946]

Starting strength should be about helping men get strong, physically and mentally. Not making money and empowering women

[@willnill7946]

O no!!! Too many men are doing starting strength!!! We need to stop doing the program until enough women start doing it too. That's scary if too many men are doing something with no woman supervising them!!! We need to stop that. O no!!!

[@tzqrr]

What

[@fuckfuckiluvesex]

Austin Baraki don't even question him

[@willnill7946]

Yea, why do more women need to do starting strength. If it's mostly men that do it does that mean it's bad.

[@willnill7946]

Why do we have to make statements that more women should do starting strength. I don't hear women complaining that not enough men are doing yoga. They don't care. But men feel this need to virtue signal that we need more women doing what we do. It's pathetic

[@patman4917]

As a business standpoint, women bring in other women and thus bring in money! No gym owner wants to just have a sausage fest and sword fights going on

[@willnill7946]

Pat Well pat go have fun empowering women. I bet they really respect you

[@willnill7946]

Pat I don't care about business

Strange world you've built in your mind there. Time to leave the house.

[@jefftparker]

Most women are WEAAKKKKK.