Starting Strength

Starting Strength is a novice-focused, linear-progression program built around two alternating full-body workouts—Day A (Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift) and Day B (Squat, Overhead Press, Power Clean or Light Deadlift). Train three non-consecutive days per week—commonly Mon/Wed/Fri—rotating the sessions in an A–B–A / B–A–B pattern each week. The guiding principle is simple: use impeccable form, recover well, and add a small amount of weight to every lift each time it reappears. After the initial phase, chin-ups are added (eventually weighted once you can manage 3 × 10 body-weight reps) to round out upper-body pulling strength. Keep the movements strict, the jumps modest, and progress linearly until the weights themselves force you to switch to a more advanced approach.