Is starting strength a meme

The idea of linear progression is not a meme. SS is good but it needs slight improvements in my opinion. Benching twice a week and ohp once a week without rotating them. Plus the addition of higher rep assistance lifts such as chij ups, rows, rdls, sit ups, etc. Otherwise you end up with a weak core and weak upper body relative to legs/pulling.

My main complaint is that SS doesn't have enough pulling tbqh

I hit 412.5 x 5 on ss pulling once a week. When you're a beginner your squat will increase your deadlift very easily.

5 reps/3/1 increasing in weight every set. Although thats just my guess.

HGOMAD is good though. I cant stand protein shakes and I have a lot of trouble getting enough calories for some reason.

More than that, my body cant tolerate it as well (acne)

you would only be able to do this days you dont clean on, and if your traps arent sore from cleans or deadlifts.

Powercleans are a waste of time for most people as they do them incorrectly

P.s. i know this personal experience
Finished ss with 187.5 x5 dl, 160 x 5 sqt, but only 100 x 5 bench and 65 x 5 ohp.

Run it for 4 months then do Texas Method

Depends on your goals. Just read the book, it will save you so much time. So many people spend 2 hours 3-5 days a week in the gym and hundreds of dollars on useless supplements trying to get stronger. They could spend one of those days reading SS to better understand how to gain strength, and it would help them infinitely more than using the leg press machine with a tiny rom and doing 3x10 squats.
I myself did highbar on SS instead of the lowbar rippletoe recommends, to transition more easily into olympic lifts

But if your goal is body building, not strength building, there are better programs suited for that. PPL or a bro split is likely better.

Is the book in the sticky?

Hijacking thread.
I've been doing SS for about 3 weeks now. I'm already failing sets on squats and bench, curls also.
>Stats
Squat: 190
>failed 195 Wednesday and today, my knee exploded today
Bench: 110
>I finished the sets today but I can feel it getting close to failure on the last set
Curls: 60
>Failed the last rep of the last set today
Pull ups: 40 assisted
>I've failed twice on this level of assistance

My dead lift is fine at 195 (managed to get 300 for 1 rep at one point) and I definitely have room to move up there and my overhead press I felt was starting to stall at around 70 or so but then I hit 85 with no problem Wednesday. My dips are also fine and I'm currently at 25 lbs assistance on them with no trouble.

What am I doing wrong bros? I'm eating ~3500 calories a day at 6' 180lbs. Should I be adding in extra volume to help my chest? I'm just worried because it's only been 3 weeks and I thought SS would last at least a couple months and get me to the "intermediate" level on symmetric strength. Pic related: me currently.

Tbh, I feel like a 4 day upper-lower is better.

>6'
>180lbs

I was 160 at the start of February, cut me some slack.

>3 weeks in squatting 190

You've gone waaaaay too fast. Stronglifts, basically another variation of starting strength, recommends starting out with an empty bar on all lifts (5kg bumpers on diddles and rows). The time taken with lower weights helps you perfect your form and build strength. Deload 20-30% and start making your way back up with a focus on your form. Are you squatting deep enough? is your stance correct? Probably not if you're experiencing knee pain.

SS/SL will last you 4-6 months before consistent stalling if you actually start out at normal weights and don't jump straight into heavy weights you can't handle.

you need to eat way more... I'm 185 lbs at 5ft11
>curls
>pullups but no power cleaning?
That is not SS... Read the actual book, download it off piratebay or something.
SS is this, 2-3 warm up sets. The heavier your warmups the less reps you do to avoid fatigue. then 3 heavy sets (these are the sets you increase your strength on)

I'm very doubtful you are going ATG on your squats. It might hurt your pride at first but if you DL is 195 your true squat should be around 165.

SS is very simple and involves NO dips or chins or pullups until later in the program when your stronger. He suggests first deadlifting everyday three times a week, once you cannot recover in time cuz the weight is too heavy, stagger it with power cleans. Then finally when that's too much even, add in chins and pullups and dips, at this point you should be strong enough to not need assistance.

>Are you squatting deep enough? is your stance correct? Probably not if you're experiencing knee pain.
I'm making sure that my hip crease goes below my knee each time. Feet shoulder width apart. My knee has always had this problem. Sometimes it evens goes out just from walking up stairs at a normal pace. I plan on having it looked at by a doctor after tax season.

you need to eat way more... I'm 185 lbs at 5ft11
see The SS as described in the link in the sticky said I could swap out the cleans for the other things. Also, it mentions doing dips and pull ups on alternating days. Like I said, I have tons of room in my dead lifts. At 195 I barely feel like I moved any weight at all once I'm done the heavy set.
>deadlifting heavy three times a week
I was curious about this in the sticky. It seemed strange to only DL 1.5 times a week on average and only adding 5 pounds each time versus 3 times squatting a week. This would mean your squat weight would shoot past your deadlift.

the sticky isn't the real SS routine, you're doing yourself a disservice by not getting the book (again there is a copy on pb it takes like a minute to download).

Im still suspicious youre doing something very wrong form-wise. You shouldn't be starting out a t-rex.
>squat would shoot past deadlift
not necessarily, your deadlift naturally uses more and bigger muscles, and more importantly, is anatomically easier in terms of leverage (less reliance on the spine to support the weight).
When I squat I either sit at the bottom as if i have to take a shit if its real heavy, or i feel for if my thigh touches my calf. In my experience those are the best ways to tell if you're going deep enough. That and the frank yang BBC method.
You should seriously consider power cleaning, it's definitely the most fun lift in SS. Fantastic full body exercise, the goal of SS

T. Retard who has yet to pass 1/2/3/4

Shit

what the fuck does this mean in english

press/bench/squat/dl

pl8s

How about strong lifts 5x5 for a noob? They seem pretty similar

Basically Ss, but does instead of pc it’s rows

No, but people usually only do the lifts from the early parts of the program (squat, dl, bench) and nothing else for much longer then it's supposed to go for. Near the end of the program there should be back extensions, chinups and power cleans worked in.

>Benching twice a week and ohp once a week without rotating them
OHP twice and bench once IMO, but I otherwise agree with your post

Add in accessory (mainly weighted pull-ups and dips) and it’s fine. If you just do the lifts in the program and eat like a fat animal then you will look like a fat bastard.