Todd Acton

I have added 60 lbs to my squat, 40 lbs to my deadlift, 45 lbs to my bench press, and 50 lbs to my press.

I wanted to give some feedback to some of the lifters that might be considering programming and coaching.

I am a soon to be 43 year old man (5’8, 188 lbs.). I have many years in the gym with self- taught programming and lifting. I was always a fairly lean and muscular guy, in short, I looked strong but I wasn’t. And, like many of you, I had read everything Weider ever put out. And yet, I never got much stronger. I tried body building routines, power lifting, squats of 100 reps, flavor of the latest issue of Muscle & Fitness/ Flex, et al…….you name it. Over the years, the lack of real progress caused my interest to wane. I accepted that I just wasn’t very genetically gifted.

In 2011 I discovered the Starting Strength Program by Mark Rippetoe.

After some great initial gains, I quickly found myself back to where I was, not getting any progress, burnt out and actually regressing on some lifts.

This is when I found Andy Baker on the Starting Strength website and decided to reach out to him. In December of 2012 we devised a plan. We started with video reviews of my lifts and then he drafted me a training program based on my goals, and my previous experiences with strength training, and my work schedule.

Since that time I have added 60 lbs to my squat, 40 lbs to my deadlift, 45 lbs to my bench press, and 50 lbs to my press.