This always seems to happen with "new" programs. It gets a cult like following (whether deserved or not), then eventually people get sick of hearing about it all the time and there's some sort of backlash. Sentinel's statement...
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Originally Posted by Sentinel
im tired of everyone doing the same program and as that being the ONLY program which can be done. i like different variations and the like
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is a perfect expression of this phenomenon. It's not that SS now has a bunch of insurmountable problems, but that he's just sick of hearing about it. If you're sick of hearing about it and like to write variations that's fine, but that's not the program's fault.
You guys are definately spot on about a few of the problems though.
1) The loading is too aggressive; way too aggressive in some cases. From tends to break down with 5-10 lb jumps on the squat per SESSION, especially three times a week! You see the problems first hand on Rip's Q&A. Lots of kids who've been training for a few weeks and are starting to test themselves on the squat, and their form has already broken down. There's no need for this. There are millions of ways to get around this by simply cyclying or varying the load and taking the progression a bit slower.
2) The program is really rigid. Rip is really adament about forgetting specific assistance work until way later on. This can cause SOME people to have trouble if those specific assistance lifts would have corrected a glaring problem. Plus, the rigidity of the workouts can get really broing. Lots of people don't want to do Squat / Press / Pull every workout for a year, even if it would be the most effective route at this point.
Regardless, I still see the basic SS template as the BEST place for any novice to start off. The loading needs to be varied, but that's about the only real problem I see needing to be fixed. I don't see any reason to mess around with the exercises or the basic A-B set up. As long as proress is still moving along fine, there's no reason someone needs to include specific assistance stuff either. If imballances develop, weaknesses crop up, or the trainee is bored with the program, then introducing assistance stuff and variety in exercise choice would make sense. This can be included as needed. Including it off the bat sounds like simply adding assistance for the sake of assistance, and variety for the sake of variety.
Cheers,
Jeff
EDIT: Forgot to sign. Always sign. Can't forget....
