Practical Programming for Strength Training - 3rd Edition

by Mark Rippetoe, Andy Baker

There is a difference between exercise and training. Exercise is physical activity for its own sake, a workout done for the effect it produces today, during the workout or right after you're through. Training is physical activity done with a longer-term goal in mind, the constituent workouts of which are specifically designed to produce that goal. Training is how athletes prepare to win, and how all motivated people approach physical preparation.

Practical Programming for Strength Training - 3rd Edition addresses the topic of training. It details the mechanics of the process, from the basic physiology of adaptation to the specific programs that apply these principles to novice, intermediate, and advanced lifters.



Each section completely updated Better explanations of the proven programs that have been helping hundreds of thousands of lifters get stronger more efficiently Expanded novice section with the details of 3 different approaches to the problem of getting stuck and special approaches for the underweight and overweight trainee Expanded intermediate section with 18 separate programs and 11 detailed examples Expanded advanced section with detailed examples of 9 different programs Expanded special populations section with example programs for women and masters lifters training through their 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s Day-to-day, workout-to-workout, week-by-week detailed programs for every level of training advancement The most comprehensive audiobook on the theory and practice of programming for strength training.

Audible Audio

Published September 3, 2019

About the author

Mark Rippetoe is an American strength training coach and author. He has published a number of books and peer-reviewed articles. He has a BSc in geology with a minor in anthropology, but no degree in exercise science. He has several decades of experience as a strength coach, is a former powerlifter, and is currently a gym owner.

Rippetoe was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he now resides. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in petroleum geology from Midwestern State University, where he met his mentor Bill Starr in 1979. He competed in powerlifting from 1979 to 1988, winning the Greater Texas Classic in 1981. He bought Anderson's Gym in 1984, which later became the Wichita Falls Athletic Club. He collaborated with Glenn Pendlay, international-level Olympic lifting coach and Professor Lon Kilgore, who established the USA Weightlifting Regional Development Center in Wichita Falls. Over the next 30 years, he used the gym to test and refine his training program that would maximize strength gains, ultimately resulting in the Starting Strength program.