MikeTheBear
Level 6 Valued Member
@Anna C I know that you are planning to take the Starting Strength certification so I understand how my post could have offended you. The thing that bothers me about Rippetoe is that there is a correlation between things he doesn't coach and things that he disparages. And the issue I have is with the disparagement part. Your example using Strongfirst and Zumba - well there may be valid reasons to disparage Zumba so let's use the example of Strongfirst and Olympic lifting. As of today, my understanding is that Strongfirst does not have a certification for the Olympic lifts. Back on the "other forum" which shall not be named, there were times when questions popped up asking Pavel advice on Olympic lifting and Pavel always, graciously, said that he did not have the expertise in those lifts. An argument could be made that on some level coaches who teach the Olympic lifts are "competition" to kettlebell instructors given similarities between the lifting styles. However, I have never heard of an SFG instructor disparage the Olympic lifts. This is professionalism. Contrast this to a recent article by a Starting Strength certified coach said that kettlebell swings were "gay." This was unprofessional. While the article didn't come from Rippetoe himself, obviously the Starting Strength certified coach felt he could make that statement with impunity. It just seems that there is a culture among Starting Strength coaches and adherents to bad-mouth lifts and/or training methods that are not within their area of expertise.