I have a buddy of mine, looking to put on some size. I referred him to the Rippetoe Starting Strength program, pushing the big heavy compound movements and total body training.
He said he was going to give it a try, but with a few changes (blasphemy!) but only because of his back being screwed up. Apparently when he was in high school he “…had a double stress fracture on my L5 and had to wear a brace for like a year. And my spine slipped forward like a quarter inch…” from wrestling, backyard football, etc.
Here is the bones of the rest of the email convo:
“I’m gonna give this Rippetoe thing a shot but I dunno how long I’ll be able to stay with it. I have lower back issues from when I broke my shti in 10th grade. Its been feeling really good the past year, but sometimes when I start going heavy with dead lifts it starts getting sore again. There aren’t a whole lot of dead lifts though and I can use the smith machine to ease the strain on my back while squatting… we’ll see how it goes!”
Anybody have any thoughts on this situation? I know Rippetoe isn’t intended to be changed at all, but these are different circumstances. And I don’t know what to make of the smith machine, whether it will help or ultimately hurt him and his development.