Starting Strength Seminar
This past weekend I completed a bucket list item by attending a Starting Strength seminar at Mark Rippetoe’s Wichita Falls Athletic Club (WFAC) in Wichita Falls, Texas. When I told a fellow participant that I lived in the Philly area, he asked me why I didn’t attend one of the seminars held on the east coast. I explained that it was important to me to not only attend a seminar, but to make the trip to Rip’s gym to see the place for myself. It turns out that this was an excellent decision, because WFAC, the setting for countless Starting Strength YouTube videos that I’ve watched over the years, is like a combined gym/strength history museum. There are cool pictures, posters, and memorabilia all over the walls, and all of the equipment has a very unique feel to it, like it was carefully thought out and built according to exacting standards with the sole purpose of helping the user get stronger in the most efficient way possible. WFAC is basically a dream gym for someone who wants to base his/her training around the main lifts that make up the Starting Strength method: squat, bench, deadlift, press, and power clean.
The seminar is roughly 25 hours long spread across Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. Throughout the three days, I was pleasantly surprised at how much time was spent in a classroom setting while hearing lectures and having discussions on anatomy, physics, and the logic and standards behind the lifts. The last time I had an anatomy class was my junior year of high school, so this portion was a big eye opener for me as far as how the human body works and the most efficient way to perform the lifts. At one point, Rip lectured on the deadlift for nearly three hours straight without taking a break. He showed countless deadlift videos and broke down every aspect of the execution of the lift. It was actually super interesting and enlightening, especially for a nerd like me who loves watching videos of big lifts.
There were just over 20 attendees ranging in age from 20-69 and with extremely diverse backgrounds and skill levels. From what I gathered, not that many of the participants were strength coaches, but rather just ordinary folks like myself who see the value in getting stronger and improving one’s self under the bar. I very much enjoyed the group that I worked with throughout the weekend, and we all became friendly and supportive of one another while learning together and coaching each other through the lifts.
Other than Rip, there were four coaches at the seminar who would each take a group of about five lifters for each lift. I cannot say enough positive things about the level of coaching. It was clear that every coach had a ton of experience in coaching the lifts and knew exactly how to identify issues and give corrective cues. They also had a standard way of coaching the lift from the very beginning, and each lifter in the group would practice coaching someone through the lift as well. One of the best ways to learn something is to explain it to someone else, and we took full advantage of this fact throughout the weekend.
In the past five years, I have felt pretty confident about my form on the lifts, but it turns out I don’t actually know shit, particularly in the squat and bench. By the end of Saturday, I had acknowledged to myself that I have been squatting incorrectly for the past 20 years. A revelation like this is exactly the reason why I wanted to attend the seminar. I am very excited to see how my training and execution of the lifts looks going forward.
The seminar wrapped up on Sunday with a Q&A session. Rip was absolutely off the hook hilarious during this entire thing. I wish I had been able to film it so I could go back and watch it anytime I pleased. I wrote down as much as I could during the session, but I’m sure I missed some real gems.
This whole weekend was amazing from start to finish. If you have any desire to attend a Starting Strength seminar, do not hesitate to sign up. Rip is a true original and has made a major impact on the world with his books and methods. My training will never be the same after this past weekend, and I trust it would have a similar impact for anyone who attends with an open mind and a willingness to learn and be coachable.
