Articles and Interviews

Here's a collection of published journal articles and exclusive interviews with Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, both free and for-pay.

# Journal Articles

## The Lifts

### You Don't Know Squat without an "Active Hip" by Mark Rippetoe

An article in Crossfit Journal, November 2008

### Back Squat Geometry, Part 1 (Video Article) by Mark Rippetoe

Proper lifting mechanics are about understanding the relevant bits of human skeletal anatomy and principles of force and physics. These are what determine the most efficient, strongest, and mechanically sound body positions for all the lifts and these are what we, as lifters and trainers, need to learn to recognize and analyze. In this video article, he explains the skeletal geometry that is the basis for the back squat.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Back Squat Geometry, Part 2 (Video Article) by Mark Rippetoe

This video article continues Rip's discussion of lifting mechanics from last month's journal issue. Taken together, the two videos offer a clear, down-to-earth explanation of how and why the principles of force, physics, and human physiology determine the positions that constitute good-safe, effective, and efficient-form for the barbell lifts.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Low-Bar vs. High-Bar Squats by Mark Rippetoe

Rip is back! In this piece, he delves deep into another one of his favorite topics: why the low-bar back squat, with its emphasis on hip drive, is "the best strength exercise there is"--for CrossFitters, for Olympic weightlifters, and for anyone who wants to be strong. In particular, he explains the intricacies of its advantages over the high-bar, or "Olympic-style" squat.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Going Deep, by Mark Rippetoe

An article on one aspect of the back squat, published in Crossfit Journal, September 2006.

### The Slow Lifts by Mark Rippetoe

The “slow lifts”—the squat, the press, the deadlift, and the bench press—form the basis of any effective program to improve strength. And strength is very important. It is the difference between a very successful varsity athlete and a bench warmer, an independent older person and a nursing home resident, a correctly chosen gym membership and a waste of money..

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### The Slow Lifts: The Bench Press by Mark Rippetoe

The longer I stay in this business, the less fond I become of the bench press. And it’s not the fault of the exercise itself, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if it’s incorporated correctly into the program.
It’s the injured shoulders, the big pecs and little legs, the $400 six-layer denim/moly-steel shirts, the 18-year-old football players who can “do 500,” the spotters with traps more fatigued than the bencher’s pecs.
But mainly, it’s the noise.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### The Slow Lifts 2: The Squat by Mark Rippetoe

The squat is the key to strength and conditioning. It is the sine qua non of barbell exercises. I usually go so far as to tell new trainees that if they are not going to squat, they should not even bother to train. No other exercise changes so many things about the body in so short a time as the squat. To omit squats because some uninformed fool said they were "bad for your knees" indicates that you probably didn’t want to do them anyway, so it's just as well.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### The Slow Lifts 5: The Deadlift by Mark Rippetoe

I know of no better example of functional strength than a 600-pound deadlift. Except a 700-pound deadlift. That's what strength is: the ability to generate force, and the "functional" part is really just a qualifier. Because when you're that strong, it's functional. That's the part that has the modern "academic" wing of the fitness industry in such a fog just now.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### The Power Clean by Mark Rippetoe

I have now been coaching the Olympic lifts for almost twenty years and am well aware that the full squat clean is a very important movement, both for motor skill development and for full-body conditioning. Learning it is important, since it is complicated, and learning complicated things improves the ability to learn. But I still teach the power clean to my novices first, just like Bill did.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### The Press by Mark Rippetoe

The press is the oldest barbell exercise in the gym. As with many old things, its value often goes underappreciated.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### A New, Rather Long Analysis of the Deadlift by Mark Rippetoe

The force that is transferred from the back to the bar doesn’t just leap over to the arms through the air. It is transferred to the arms through the shoulder blades, and it just so happens that when the correct deadlift position is assumed, the shoulder blades—not the front of the deltoids—are in fact directly over the bar in a line perfectly plumb and vertical to the bar. Let’s review the basic force-generation mechanics of the deadlift and see if this makes any sense.

**Free!**

Read the full article here.

## Accessory Lifts

### A Better Butt in One Move by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

"A Better Butt in One Move," details the how and why of the Romanian Deadlift.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Abdominal Intensity by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

"Abdominal Intensity," lays out the true path to a six pack.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

## Strength and Fitness

### Basic Strength Standards by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Basic Strength Standards for the barbell squat, press, bench, press, deadlift, and power clean for adult men and women (no supportive wraps or suits).

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### The Crossfit Total by Mark Rippetoe

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Strong Enough? by Mark Rippetoe

Mark Rippetoe reflects on a topic dear to him: Why physical strength is so important—both in athletics and in life in general. Not to be missed.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Specifically Speaking by Lon Kilgore

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

## Equipment

### Gym Shoes 101 by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Gym Shoes 101 is a basic primer for why you need real weightlifting shoes to train safely and effectively.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Personal Equipment by Mark Rippetoe

There is actually very little personal equipment that is absolutely necessary to take to the gym. But it is surprising how much stuff some people carry with them. As a general rule, some equipment is useful, some equipment is most definitely not useful—and in fact is a bad idea—and some is just absurd.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Where Barbells Come From by Marty Mitchell with Mark Rippetoe

This article could be subtitled "Or; Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Barbells." There are so many types and grades of bars for sale; if you've ever wanted to buy a bar for yourself or your gym, you know it can be confusing trying to determine what sort you need and which features and ratings are most important. The authors walk us through barbell varieties and variations and give a virtual tour of the careful process of manufacturing a high-quality bar.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

## The Fitness Industry

### Redefining Fitness for Health and Fitness Professionals by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Redefining Fitness into a useful and manageable concept. Originally published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Silly Bullshit by Mark Rippetoe

A broad-ranging, rip-ranting review of some of the sources of fitness misinformation and general silliness out there, from medical professionals who think they are also exercise professionals and academics actually in the field to muscle magazines, advertisers, Internet fitness sites, and the mainstream media. Rip in fine form.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Be Alive. Be Very Alive. by Mark Rippetoe

Rip tears into the watered-down version of "wellness" that the Establishment propounds as the standard for fitness and health in the U.S. In a lively discussion of how serious work in the gym carries over into other important parts of life, he argues that " physically—and mentally—difficult tasks are normal and natural to our existence; they have been since the inception; and this is the reason they make us healthier."

**Free!**

Read the Entire Article Here!

### Conventional Wisdom and the Fitness Industry by Mark Rippetoe

Mark Rippetoe gets downright polemical in his intelligent tirade on the silliness that pervades the fitness industry. The medical profession, the media, Joe Trainer at GloboGym, the world of academic exercise physiology, and embroidered polo shirts—all are fair game when Rip gets on a roll.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Basically Barbells: The Crossfit Basic Barbell Certification Seminar by CCT Joey

The Basic Barbell Certification is a rather new arrow in the ever-growing quiver of CrossFit knowledge imparted in seminar format. Enter Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore from stage right. I could go on and on about Coach Rip and his ability to teach the lifts and work a crowd, but you probably know that. I could go on and on about how Professor Kilgore is a walking almanac of strength training facts and figures, but unless you just walked out of a forest, you probably already know that as well.

**Free!**

Read the Entire Article Here!

## Special Populations

### Training for the Aged by Mark Rippetoe

Coach Rip is not really that old, but he likes to kvetch about it sometimes anyway. His article on training for masters-age lifters is, as usual, both highly entertaining and full of useful information, as he wends his way to "the rather inescapable conclusion that the older men get, the more like older women we become, hormonally speaking.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Starting Strength Sample Chapter: Misconceptions About Training Youth by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Starting Strength chapter on weightlifting and youth trainees (courtesy of the authors and the Aasgaard Company).

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Practical Programming Sample Chapter: Special Populations by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Practical Programming chapter on special populations (courtesy of the authors and the Aasgaard Company).

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Sex, Appearance, and Training by Mark Rippetoe

It will come as no surprise to most CrossFitters than women and men both respond best to training that focuses on functionality and performance—despite the pop fitness industry's claims to the contrary. Rip rips on the silly nonsense often perpetrated in the name of gender difference and "training" for aesthetics and then talks about the few actual physical differences that do need to be taken into account in creating successful training programs for both sexes.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

## Technique

### Popular Biomechanics by Mark Rippetoe

Barbell training has been the focus of my attention for the last couple of decades. I am not bored with it yet. Whenever I have the opportunity to train a group of interested, motivated, bright people, I learn as much as they do. It has recently come to my attention that there are objective ways to describe proper form for the basic barbell exercises that are valid for everybody who does them, regardless of their anthropometry.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Bad Form by Mark Rippetoe

I was driving home the other night, listening to the radio, and the guy filling in for Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM was talking to some other guy about Nazis, UFOs, the Kennedy Assassination, time travel, and George Bush, and how it all relates to OneWorldGovernment. This, of course, made me think about barbell training, and it occurred to me that good form on the barbell exercises should not be a matter for debate.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### On the Safety and Efficacy of Overhead Lifting by Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore, et al.

This month we respond to the oft-heard conjecture that lifting overhead is inherently dangerous--i.e., that it is destructive of the shoulder. Conjecture, by definition, is required neither to comport with fact nor to offer testable proposition, and, as such, it is a ready vehicle for those limited in the skills, focus, or desire required to give thoughtful examination on any topic. (See "Conjecture, Hypothesis, Theory, Law" in CrossFit Journal 64, December 2007.) "Squatting is bad for the knees," "lying down after a workout is dangerous to the heart," "swimming shortly after eating causes drowning," and "overhead lifts are bad for the shoulders" are all conjectures unsupported by data, untested by experimentation, and at odds with fact, yet each has at one time or another been offered as "common knowledge" in athletic communities.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Basically Barbells: The Crossfit Basic Barbell Certification Seminar by CCT Joey

The Basic Barbell Certification is a rather new arrow in the ever-growing quiver of CrossFit knowledge imparted in seminar format. Enter Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore from stage right. I could go on and on about Coach Rip and his ability to teach the lifts and work a crowd, but you probably know that. I could go on and on about how Professor Kilgore is a walking almanac of strength training facts and figures, but unless you just walked out of a forest, you probably already know that as well.

**Free!**

Read the Entire Article Here!

## Exercise Physiology

### Specifically Speaking By Lon Kilgore PhD

Every single kind of exercise researcher and practitioner known to mankind has been indoctrinated with the concept of specificity of training. The idea is so well entrenched in the professional psyche that it even has an acronym, the S.A.I.D. principle--Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. In a lot of ways, it's pretty correct physiologically. We all remember Dr. Hans Selye and his General Adaptation Syndrome model, which explains how the body becomes stronger and fitter by adapting in response to physical stress. The S.A.I.D. principle fits nicely into that model. Training anaerobic exercise at the very edge of one's physical limits causes the body to adapt in a way that pushes out that boundary and increases the body's capacity for that kind of work. We believe this and we use this concept in exercise programming. Specificity does work.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### The Measure of Man By Lon Kilgore

Simple questions are sometimes the most profound. And answers to simple questions about exercise sometimes are the hardest to find. Rather, they are often intuitive to skilled coaches or contained in knowledge that is that is passed on in the lore of the gym rather than recorded in books or formal training programs. Expert coaches, teachers, clinicians, and professors sometimes take it for granted that what we think is basic, simple common knowledge is apparent to all. Recently, during the course of shooting video footage for a DVD project spearheaded by one of those experts, Mark Rippetoe, Rip made a number of comments about arms being short, legs being long, and various and sundry other references to body segments not being of the usual proportions. (Imagine Rip's usual colorful descriptions here.) One particularly humorous comparison of a lifter he had worked with once to a Tyrannosaurus rex made Katie from CrossFit NorCal ask a question: "How do you know someone's arms are longer or shorter than normal?" It was a simple but very good, insightful, and germane question. But it is a question that, as far as I know, is not treated in the exercise literature anywhere.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### Genetic Potential By Lon Kilgore

I have kids. One, a six year old, Thomas, loves all things martial arts. Since he was four years old, he's been studying with Harley Elmore, a heavily credentialed and amazing instructor in Jeet Kun Do, Sayoc Kali, Muay Thai, and Silat. Why, as a little four-year-old, did he make a decision to study martial arts? I bet you can guess. TV. I'm not sure but I'll wager that there has been a large upturn in the traffic in any martial arts business with a good kids program due to two cartoons: The Avatar and Naruto. Both of these shows have engaging stories, interesting characters, and prominently feature fictionalized and/or magical martial arts forms rooted in Chinese and Japanese forms.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

### The Most Powerful Human Being in the Entire Universe By Lon Kilgore

For some people, hearing the words "the most powerful human" conjures up images of a spandex-clad superhero oozing muscles and capable of incredible feats of strength and speed. Or maybe it makes you think of a 248px-pound fullback driving through a mass of bodies to the goal line. In any case, it evokes a figure who is strong and can move fast. And this is where we begin our quest to understand the critical physical ability of TMPHBITEU, which is the combination of strength and speed--or, more precisely, power.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

## Miscellaneous Articles

### Muscle Action, Parts 1 & 2 (Video Articles). by Mark Rippetoe

A two-part video article in Crossfit Journal, March 2009

### Using Machines? Get a Training Boost from Free Weights. by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore

Barbell Machine Integration provides an approach to maximizing the results you get if you use weight training machines.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Physics, Physiology and Food by Lon Kilgore

An objective analysis of diet and exercise. Originally published in the CrossFit Journal.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Seven Deadly Sins and the Gym by Lon Kilgore

Seven Deadly Sins, biblical concepts applied to gym conduct. Originally published at EliteFTS.com.

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Mark Rippetoe relinquishes his CSCS certification for cause

**Free!**

Read the full article here!

### Training Advancement and Adaptation by Mark Rippetoe

Rip teases us with an article about adaptation, the principle of diminishing returns, and how to design strength programs that actually work for different people. The tease is that this is just the conceptual tip of the more practical iceberg that he explores in his brand-new book Practical Programming for Strength Training.

It can be viewed with a subscription to the Crossfit Journal.

Subscribe to read the full article!

Strong Enough?

All of the articles by Mark Rippetoe found here from The Crossfit Journal are

available together as a collection in Mark Rippetoe's Strong Enough?

Buy it Today!

# Interviews

### Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, by Myles Kantor

Mark delves into one of his favorite subjects; the deadlift.

Read Part One Here

Read Part Two Here

### Mark Rippetoe NPR Radio Interview

Mark discusses some of the finer points of "Getting Fit" with NPR's Rob Sachs

Listen Here!

### Mark Rippetoe Radio Interview with Jerry Hill

If Your Life Depended On It; An Interview with Coach Mark Rippetoe (click the play button.)

Jerry Hill has now transcribed this audio interview, here: http://jerryhillfitness.com/blog/?p=99

### In the Trenches - A Two-Part Interview with Mark Rippetoe and Glenn Pendlay by Matt Reynolds

In Part 1 Mark Rippetoe speaks on how to coach beginners in weight training. In Part 2 the man who drinks his own home-made mead from a horn is back, this time with fellow coach Glenn Pendlay (the man who once mentioned that you could add a surprising amount of alcohol to DQ Mister Misties before anyone noticed) to answer specific questions about programming from beginners all the way to elite level athletes. A Must Read!

Part 1
Part 2

### Interview with Mark Rippetoe by Charles Staley

Mark talks about the history of barbell training, his books, Olympic lifting, Low bar squatting, beginners and all things weight training.

Listen Here! (Right Click to Save)

### Texas BBQ: Talking Shop with Mark Rippetoe By Craig Rasmussen

Recently, I moved back to California from Indianapolis, Indiana, where I had worked as a strength coach and personal trainer for the past four years. As I plotted out my course, I noticed that Wichita Falls wasn’t that far off the beaten path. I thought it would be great to get down there for a workout at a good gym and get a chance to talk with Mark to ask him some questions about Starting Strength.

Part One

Part Two

### T-Nation Interview with Mark Rippetoe by Chris Colucci

What do you get when you combine 30 years of coaching experience with a deep-seated need to teach as many people as possible the benefits of lifting heavy iron? You get Mark Rippetoe, a guy who's written not one, not two, but three of the most comprehensive books explaining the basics of strength training, and beyond.

Get The Whole Interview Here!

### A New Sport of Strength: An Interview with Mark Rippetoe on the CrossFit Total By Myles Kantor

In the December 2006 issue of CrossFit Journal, Rippetoe proposed the CrossFit Total, which is “the sum of the best of three attempts at the squat, the press, and the deadlift—the three most effective lifts in existence for developing and testing functional strength.”

Read Their Conversation Here

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