Yes but in all fairness Rippetoe does not focus on teaching how to squat for bodybuilding purposes. For the record, I think people should use good form when learning a movement. I believe newbies should learn proper form.
Oh im not even talking bodybuilding…
Im talking more up right olympic style.
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Yay, a chance for me to spout some more bro science 
If I had to narrow it down, I’d say the benefits of adding explosive movements within my strength-focused circuits would be:
- They “wake up” the nervous system. I feel more alert and focused. They also prime me for the main strength movement, since I believe they recruit a large number of motor units. CT used to talk about this alot with his neural charge series.
- Typically they have minimal eccentric, so very minimal fatigue or disruption to the workout. They are basically free extra calories burned. IME they actually make the main movement feel easier.
- Mentally they’re a relief, at least for me, because they’re actually fun. I’m never taking them anywhere close to failure and its a chance to slam some medicine balls as hard as you can or smash a tire with a hammer. I believe this has to go a long way in reducing overall training stress.
- I’ve actually heard it can directly promote fat loss by activating fat burning enzymes and temporarily boosting your insulin sensitivity. From personal experience, since I’ve started training this way I’ve completely shifted my macros to be much more carb heavy. I can get down to 8% bodyfat without needing to drop carbs below 150g/day, which is insane considering that when I competed my coach had me on zero carbs for awhile leading up to my show. In general, I also notice I don’t carry any extra fat around the waist line now. When I do gain fat, it’s pretty evenly distributed.
So yeah, you absolutely can get shredded without changing anything in your training and only adjusting diet. I’d just rather be able to eat more these days. To get down to comparable levels of leanness, I can eat around 500-600 cals more on my cuts now (typically all from carbs).
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Nothing more rewarding than that first pee that smells like Windex!
That’s actually some clever bro science. Those ketone strips felt like taking a pregnancy test.
I quit talking about them because Prof. X yelled at me and said they were dumb.
Almost got kicked out of T-cell Alpha for it. 
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I haven’t thought about T-cell Alpha in a while.
I liked professor x for the most part. He kept focusing on the basics and had the results to make his case. Kind of suprised he didn’t like 21s. I’d give him a key to my basement gym if we were neighbors.
Although that gyno thread was not the best for anyone
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Kind of ambiguous - wondering why there was a gynecology thread had on TNation.
I have mixed emotions about those days. On the one hand, there were a lot of strong, jacked dudes taking no mercy. You couldn’t get away with some of the “how can I not do anything but still be huge” kind of stuff.
On the other, like you just pointed out, a lot of voices were either totally drowned out or newer folks just weren’t going to get through the noise for the signal.
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Really appreciate the time you put into this! I’ve also read about point number 4.
We were all leaner when we were athletes, but also younger, so that’s been a shrug around variables for me.
I think it’s hard for me to wrap my head around what you’re saying (and @antiquity too, for that matter), because I see so many soft people bouncing around and doing circuits and never getting where they want to be. Then, to be fair, you could say that about literally any training style.
This has always been my experience (not to get on-stage, but to make local moms swoon). Even when I was wrestling I had to get lean - like I could barely pass the safety tests that came out later and still make weight lean. I would come into the season in good condition; not wrestling shape, of course, because that only comes on the mat, but still great shape compared to anything I could do now. Anyway, the point there is I still had to really starve to get down to weight… so I think that’s in my head when I consider activity-driven methods.
I believe @jskrabac’s point would be (to take a huge liberty here) why not attack it from both ends with some diet and some activity, and then neither has to go all the way into the red.
Far be it for X to ever have a questionable opinion.
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Part of the issue you had too many wanting to be authority figures.
Some of which had resumes that were questionable.
Have you ever competed : no
Do you coach or train others : no
Do you have any formal education : no
But these were the ones who would become overly aggressive if you question them on their position on something. It was like a " how dare you" .
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Sounds like the forums were ahead of the social media influencer curve…
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I’m not really experienced. Have fooled around in the gym for years since HS Football but didn’t really ever get fit or jacked until I was fifty four and on TRT. I kind of understood add weight or reps, Linear Progression, but no clue about programming.
I got on here and made a friend that was a bodybuilder and he recommended Dan John, then found Starting Strength. I’m a structure type guy so SS spoke to me and I ran it for about eight weeks, then found 531 and moved to that. On SS I got my squat to 290, DL to 315, bench to 225 and OHP to 150.
I also got reasonably jacked - 190 and 13% BF at 6’1" - yes, I have pics and videos.
Here is what I learned:
- Eat well - know your BMR/TDEE and stay in your range.
- Follow a proven program that includes adding weight to the bar.
- Stick to it.
You want to add 21’s, joker sets, running the rack, breakdowns, whatever, feel free. But do the program first, add weight, keep coming back.
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Absolutely hit the nail on the head. Great point
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Gynomastia. Prof X started a thread about it, and it quickly went into a hellsite of bitch tits and hurt feelings.
Ok, the sass from this actually made me laugh.
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What is that?
I’ve heard of gynecomastia but not gynomastia. I figured the thread was about gynecomastia and was making a joke about it.
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I haven’t had my coffee and misspelled it.
And due to lack of said coffee, the joke went over my head.
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My bro science is fuck off with all this EMG stuff. It’s close to meaningless for 99.99%
I don’t care if a belly rub lights up the tips of your index finger more than a deadlift.
I don’t care if forcing a fart out prolapses your hemorrhoid out quarter inch more than a heavy squat.
100% of not much is still less than 67% of a lot.
Overhead Press doesn’t hit the side delts! Give it a rest.
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I try to bring joy to everyone. 