Will I hurt my gains if I alter the Starting Strength program?

ogruskie

Professional
Say that on a given day, I finish my bench press/deadlift/squat. Then I decide to do some isolation exercises with dumbells, like dumbell rows or military press (3 sets of 8-12 reps). Would these 2 additional exercises hurt the strength gains that I acquired from the SS routine (3 sets of 5 reps)?

The reason why I ask is because I actually like working out, and doing those 3 exercises alone is actually pretty boring to me. I've done a vast amount of research on SS before starting it and absolutely everybody is against altering the program in any way. If you want to maximize your results, do ONLY the exercises listed in the workout for the day. I've gotten great results on it, but I still want to add a few more exercises. Would that be bad?
 

Itagaki

Semi-Pro
Say that on a given day, I finish my bench press/deadlift/squat. Then I decide to do some isolation exercises with dumbells, like dumbell rows or military press (3 sets of 8-12 reps). Would these 2 additional exercises hurt the strength gains that I acquired from the SS routine (3 sets of 5 reps)?

The reason why I ask is because I actually like working out, and doing those 3 exercises alone is actually pretty boring to me. I've done a vast amount of research on SS before starting it and absolutely everybody is against altering the program in any way. If you want to maximize your results, do ONLY the exercises listed in the workout for the day. I've gotten great results on it, but I still want to add a few more exercises. Would that be bad?

Funny, i just got done reading the book today

You can throw in some assistance exercises if you feel that you need them. I'd say dumbell rows are a decent assistance, not sure about dumbell military press though, shouldnt really be any need if you're alternating bench press/press every work out.

I'd consider pull-ups/chin ups as good assistance, done on the same day as press and dips on bench days

the list Rippetoe puts in the book are:

Partial deadlifts
Partial squats(off pins, or bouncing of the safety bars)
Partial Press(bench or regular, also off the pins)
Front Squat
Wide/narrow grip bench
Incline bench (says this is unnecessary if you're doing press and regular bench)
Romanian Deadlift
Good Morning
Push Press
Pull/chin ups
Dips
Barbell Rows
Back Extensions on roman chair
Glute/Ham Raise on roman chair
Reverse Hyper extension
Even writes proper barbell curl form since he believes people will do it anyway

These exercises should be doable if you're smart about things, if it starts interfering with recovery then back off
 
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