Mark Rippetoe (born February 12, 1956) is an American strength training coach, author, former

powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...

, and gym owner.Wichita Falls Athletic ClubStaff
''The Wichita Falls Athletic Club is a gym owned and operated by Mark Rippetoe''.Craig Rasmussen

EliteFTS
He is best known for his

barbell A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman, consisting of a long bar, usually with weights attached at each end. Barbells range in length ...

training program, the subject of his book ''Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training''. Rippetoe is known for his brash teaching style and humor, prompting several online compilations of his attributed quotations.Testosterone Nation
Mark Rippetoe Quotes
Rip QoT
Coach Rip Quotes

Early life and education

Rippetoe was born in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan area, Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer County, Tex ...

, the son of Charles and Judy Rippetoe.Matt Reynolds
In the Trenches - An Interview With Mark Rippetoe
Charles, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who parachuted into Normandy in World War II, owned a

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

in Wichita Falls. Rippetoe earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

petroleum geology Petroleum geology is the study of the origins, occurrence, movement, accumulation, and exploration of hydrocarbon fuels. It refers to the specific set of geological disciplines that are applied to the search for hydrocarbons ( oil exploration). ...

from

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. As of Fall 2024, MSU Texas enrolled 5,324 students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in ...

, where he met his mentor, weightlifter Bill Starr, in 1979. Rippetoe competed in powerlifting from 1979 to 1988, winning the 198-pound class at the Greater Texas Classic in 1981.

Career

Rippetoe bought Anderson's Gym in Wichita Falls in 1984, which he renamed the Wichita Falls Athletic Club. He used the WFAC to test and refine his barbell training program, culminating with the publishing of the first edition of ''Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training'', co-authored with Lon Kilgore, in 2005. The Starting Strength program focuses on building strength with compound lifts—the squat,

deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

, press,

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

, and power clean—and a limited number of assistance exercises, such as chinups. In collaboration with Glenn Pendlay and Kilgore, Rippetoe also established the USA Weightlifting Regional Development Center in Wichita Falls. In 1985, Rippetoe was a part of the charter group of individuals to receive the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification when it was first offered by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He formally relinquished the credential in 2009. Rippetoe was also formerly associated with the

CrossFit CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...

community as a

subject-matter expert A subject-matter expert (SME) is a person who has accumulated great knowledge in a particular field or topic and this level of knowledge is demonstrated by the person's degree, licensure, and/or through years of professional experience with the su ...

in barbell training.Myles Kantor
A New Sport of Strength: An Interview with Mark Rippetoe on the CrossFit Total
, 2007. He authored many training articles for the ''CrossFit Journal'' and created, with Lon Kilgore, the Basic Barbell Certification course, which they conducted from 2006 to 2009.Joey, CCT
Basically Barbells: The CrossFit Basic Barbell Certification Seminar
2006. After he ended his formal association with CrossFit in 2009, he expanded this course into a three-day Starting Strength Seminar produced through the Aasgaard Company. Beginning in 2018, the Aasgaard Company established a national franchise gym chain of Starting Strength branded gyms which feature the use of basic barbell equipment and the Starting Strength method.

Authored works

Rippetoe has authored several books, peer-reviewed articles, online and DVD instructional videos, and internet posts concerned with strength training.

Books

* ''Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training ''(editions 1, 2, 3) * ''Practical Programming for Strength Training ''(editions 1, 2, 3) * ''Strong Enough? Thoughts on Thirty Years of Barbell Training'' * ''Mean Ol’ Mr. Gravity''

DVDs

*'' Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training''

Journal articles

* "Strength and conditioning for fencing", ''Strength and Conditioning Journal'' * "Let's Learn How to Coach the Squat", ''Strength and Conditioning Journal'' * "Redefining Fitness for Health and Fitness Professionals", ''Journal of Exercise Physiology'' * "Going Deep", ''CrossFit Journal''

References

External links

Interviews

* Rob Sachs

2009. ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

interview with Mark Rippetoe''. * Matt Reynolds
In the Trenches - An Interview With Mark Rippetoe
* Myles Kantor

''Interview''. * Charles Staley
mp3
2008. ''Audio interview with Mark Rippetoe''. * Chris Colucci

2009. ''T-nation interview with Mark Rippetoe''. * Reddit
I am Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training. Ask Me Anything.
2011.

Other

* Charles Poliquin
Five Valuable Strength Lessons From Mark Rippetoe
2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rippetoe, Mark 1956 births Living people Strength training writers American strength and conditioning coaches American powerlifters American strength athletes American male writers Midwestern State University alumni People from Wichita Falls, Texas