co-worker criticized my workout (stronglifts) feeling a bit uncertain

[swankmoney]

Hey guys,

I know that most of you are of the opinion that stronglifts and starting strength are good beginner workout routines, but today, a co-worker of mine (who is also an ex-PT) sort of criticized the **** out of stronglifts when i went to him for pointers on lifting.

It went sort of like this:

Me "Hey what is your toe and bar position like on barbell squats"

CW "Find a new exercise squats just hurt your back and knees and no one does them right, they are working your legs anyway, there's other exercises that do that"

Me "errm...i see, how about deadlifts... (i was going to ask about mixed grip versus double forward grip)

CW "Same thing with deadlifts, these are archaic exercises that people don't do anymore because of the injuries, replace it with somthing else"

Me "But there aren't adequate replacements for deadlifts.."

CW "You can find something"

He then went on to suggest clean and presses and said that i should be doing everything with dumb bells instead because it would distribute the weight evenly.

He also said that after 5 weeks (how long i've been doing stronglifts" that its time to change my routine because i won't see many more gains.

He also said i shouldn't be "putting my head through the window" on overhead presses to work my traps, and suggested i do shoulder shrugs instead.


I'd like to hear your guys thoughts on the various topics discussed between me and him (I'm still looking for the answers for what I asked him) and just your overall thoughts on what he said about replacing them.

I plan on continuing with stronglifts until i squat my body weight regardless but I'm really interested in the thoughts of the experienced community.

Thanks
Swank

[JohnnyCache]

ignore him

[Cayvmann]

This just in, PT's are idiots who are usually failed athletes, who have a certificate that they passed a couple of tests.

Compare his credentials to Mark Ripptoe's. Proof is in the pudding.

I would suggest making sure your form is good on those exercises though. If he can't help find someone who can. It would probably be worthwhile to see if any good trainers are doing seminars locally. Or try a college athletic department...

[Scrapper]

Your friend is painfully, wretchedly, and provably wrong.

[fightclubfreak7]

Your friend is indeed wrong but he has his reasons for saying deadlifts and squats are dangerous because most people do perform them wrong. Jesus Christ the vast majority of people at my gym "The rush" do squats on a smith machine with about 6 inches of depth AND rock forward on their toes. That said if performed with proper form I don't think many lifts can compare to squat and dead lifts for strength gains. My only problem with strong lifts is that my lifts increased almost too fast and started experiencing some low back pain. I modified the routine slightly to include front squats once per week instead of regular squats, as well as some straight leg dead lifts and some core work to strengthen my hamstrings and low back.

[BudoMonkey]

Squats + Deadlifts X Time = Functional retard strength