I never considered myself “strong”. I’d see those huge guys in the gym deadlifting plates the size of car tyres, and I’d think to myself, “Okay forget it, I’ll never be like that so let’s just go do some bicep curls and call it a day.”
But late last year, I started feeling like I should become stronger. Maybe it’s a guy thing. I don’t need to look like The Rock, but I wanted to be strong enough to be useful. I want to be able to carry an armchair, or hoist my future kid on my shoulders, or chop down a tree if I ever crash-land on an island (hey, you never know).
I also came across this article about how Everything You Know About Fitness Is A Lie, which got me really inspired. How would I feel if I could deadlift 2 times my body weight? Would it make me more confident? Would I be so massive that my humongous thighs would give little children nightmares?
It was time to find out.
Getting Strong Isn’t Easy, But It Should Be Simple
Here’s the general message of the article I referenced above: Getting strong shouldn’t be complicated. You shouldn’t need to subject yourself to a convoluted mess of weight machines, stairmasters, bosun balls, and kettlebell swings. You don’t need to be a circus acrobat.
Instead, according to Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program, getting strong involves a series of 4 simple barbell lifts: The squat, the deadlift, the press (aka the overhead press), and the bench press. These are the classic “compound lifts” which work multiple muscles at the same time. No fancy machines, no bosun balls, no yoga mats needed. Just a barbell, a rack, and some weights.
In each session, you do 3 sets of 5 reps for