I'll Say It—I'm a Full-Blown Mark Ripetoe Believer

When it comes to training athletes for performance, strength is king. There’s no better way to build a solid foundation than by making athletes as strong as possible while reinforcing their natural athletic movement abilities. And if there’s one person who has drilled this principle into the training world, it’s Mark Rippetoe.

Rippetoe’s approach is brutally simple: get strong with compound lifts. Squats, deadlifts, and standing shoulder presses—along with their variations—are all you really need. These lifts recruit the most muscle mass, improve force production, and reinforce movement patterns that transfer directly to sport and life. They are all also closed-chain, or your feet are on the floor. So generating power has to come from your feet, like with every athletic endeavor out there!

Too often, people complicate training with fancy exercises and gimmicks, but the truth is, progressive overload on these fundamental lifts delivers the most bang for your buck. It’s not just about lifting heavy—it’s about moving well under load, increasing resilience, and developing real-world strength that translates beyond the gym.

I’ve seen firsthand how this philosophy works, both in my own training and in coaching others. Whether you’re a field athlete, a lifter, or someone rebuilding their strength after setbacks, sticking to the basics will take you further than you think.

Keep it simple. Get strong. Move well.

Coach Greg