The novice linear progression is a beautiful thing. It's simple. It's hard, but it's effective. It gets EVERYONE strong. Yet some people struggle with the program early on, hitting plateaus that leave them wondering whether it's cut out for them. Matt and Scott discuss the challenges for this type of trainee, and how their problem is largely mental.

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!

Starting Strength Coach Jordan Stanton returns to the podcast to talk about his remarkable story of major career changes, entrepreneurship, and hard work to build a successful gym in Portland, OR.

You can visit Jordan's new gym at Next Level Barbell and contact him for more information at [email protected].

Recovery is one of the two factors in the Stress Recovery Adaptation model, and when you boil it down, there are really only two elements of recovery worth worrying about: food and sleep. Sleep is something we all know we need, but often struggle to get enough of. With work demands, family demands, and the gauntlet of digital distractions lining the path to the bedroom, it sometimes seems like sleep is out of our control. To some extent, that may be true, however there are sleep factors we can control!

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!

Rip's video on proper grip to avoid excess callous build up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZBmiQm4MF4

Matt and Scott first talked about money and personal finance in Episode 157, which focused on the many benefits of getting out of debt. Once you are debt free, Scott says, it's time to play defense with your finances, and put you in a position to build wealth which you can then invest, and make your dollars work for you.

Starting Strength Coach Jordan Stanton joins the podcast to discuss recent developments in the US Strengthlifting Federation, a variant of powerlifting in which lifters contest the squat, press, and deadlift. Since taking over the USSF in 2018, Jordan has made a number of changes, increasing the number of meets, improving the ruleset based on feedback from lifters and a panel of judges and coaches, and streamlining the meet direction process from equipment to judging to spotting.

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!

Fan favorite Andy Baker returns to the podcast... this time to talk about himself, not programming. Andy of course is the programming mastermind behind the Baker Barbell Club, and the co-author of Practical Programming and The Barbell Prescription. Today he shares his story of training as a kid in a sweltering attic in Houston, to learning from top lifters in college, to a career of military service... and explains how each of these experiences contributed to the master barbell coach we know today.

Andy Baker returns to the podcast once more to discuss his strategies for driving hypertrophy in intermediate lifters. Andy is a master programmer who has co-authored Practical Programming and The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40. In this episode Andy argues that the current vogue for high volume training in pursuit of hypertrophy demonstrates an incomplete understanding of the programming variables and is often simply impractical.