Ripp is influenced by (like many) Bill Starr.
Whatever the goal....
The general message To biulding a good base of strength is as old as dirt, fads come and go, at the end of the day you need to first pay your dues under the bar.
I think everyone needs to just stick with the mains points;
1. One exercise for two or more muscles.
Not the other way around.
This alone will reduce the volume of your routine to something that you can grow on. Reductions in volume are NOT so that you are doing less work.
The reduction in volume is so you can train harder.
If you are training to the maximum level of intensity, you will only be capable of this level of effort through a reduction in volume. You cannot train hard and train long.
2. Have a “Key-stone Exercise” that you are focusing on, and pour your attention into it.
Variations of squats, deadlifts, cleans, pulls, or odd lifts are best for this.
Primary work should be to the leg/hip/lower back structures.
3. Keep isolation work for muscles out of the picture entirely.
4. Don’t overlap with your “Key-stone Exercise.”
Hard work on the biggest exercise in your routine shouldn’t be compromised by adding a bunch of exercises that have less of an effect than simply applying yourself to the big one.
5. One to three work sets TOPS.
One or two is probably best if you are training hard enough. That may be in the scheme of simply one set, or in a 5 x 5 routine, with some sets as warmups.
6. Don’t change routines all the time.
Try to think of an exercise as a skill you are learning. You need to become good at the exercise, so stick with it for a while! Changing routines doesn’t give your body a chance to adapt to the one you are working on, and isn’t adaptation what you are after? After a long period on the routine you may need a change, but you will know when that time has come.
