Hacker News Reader

While I agree with your point (start low, build up slowly) I wish you hadn't used Crossfit as a textbook example of weight training. Weight training has one of the lowest injury rates in sports.

Reference: http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Safety.html

I'm sorry if my comment came across as saying that CrossFit is exemplary of all weight training.

My intention is to just highlight the importance of taking your time. Weight training can have very low injury rates, but the rates go up when looking at power lifting[1]. Under "soreness and injury section" in Starting Strength Mark Rippetoe himself says "...everyone who trains with weights will have: soreness and injuries."

Both Starting Strength and Crossfit utilize large compound exercises like squats and power cleans that can be difficult to master and my assumption is that more people have heard of Crossfit so I thought it would be useful for comparison. Personally I am a big fan of the squat and other compound exercises for results but it is important to learn them well before advancing to higher weights, hence Starting Strength is 300+ pages for a 5 exercise routine.

[1] Table 2 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3483033/

> It is very easy to get injured doing squats or power cleans with any kind of sizable weight. For example the injury rates in CrossFit are estimated to be between 20-75% [1,2] of participants which means you're more likely to get hurt than to get fit. Personally I don't think this is due to the exercises being more dangerous but rather that the excellent group motivation of CrossFit working a little too well and people overreaching in their lifts.

One of the primary reasons I recommended Starting Strength is because it's not crossfit. Crossfit != squats and power cleans, and those injuries are not for squats and power cleans. Starting strength has built in regulation so you don't need to worry about going too fast or too slow. It also tells you when and when not to use power cleans. Just read the book.

Good technique can be tough to get right without somebody on hand who really knows what they are doing. It has taken me years to get to a textbook squat.

heavy lifting is inherently risky. there is little evidence that "correct" form will protect you from potential injury. there is also no real reason to do a strength focused routine if your reason for going to the gym is to improve your health and/or body. don't listen to the starting strength cultists!

> heavy lifting is inherently risky

This is true for all exercise, but actually if you look at insurance numbers weightlifting has by far the fewest injuries of any sport out there, so I don't think this is correct. Anecdotally I don't know a single person who runs consistently without having chronic issues with their knees or feet, whereas I know many lifters who go years without significant injuries beyond minor tweaks.

> there is little evidence that "correct" form will protect you from potential injury

This is not true at all, or else there wouldn't be a concept of correct form.

I think you are confusing strength training and powerlifting, which are two different things with pretty different recommendations for intensity etc. I agree with you that powerlifting is inherently risky, but all competitive sport is. That's basically the point.