Skip to content
Brolick
Log in
← All articles

Starting Strength: The Novice Programme Explained

Starting Strength: The Novice Programme Explained

Trainee performing a barbell back squat

Starting Strength is both a book by Mark Rippetoe and a beginner barbell programme: three full-body sessions a week built around the squat, press, bench press, deadlift and power clean, with a little more weight on the bar each time you train. It works because a new lifter adapts quickly, so the plan is simple and the load does the work. This guide covers the exercises, the phases, how to progress, what to do when you stall, and how it compares with Greyskull LP and the Candito 6 Week Program. We also show where an app that learns from your training history, like Brolick, takes the record-keeping and the guesswork off your hands.

Brolick
Keep Progression Grounded in Your Training
Brolick learns from your workouts and suggests daily routines, helping you track progress and make training decisions with less guesswork.
Visit

TL;DR

  • Starting Strength is a 3-day-a-week novice programme on non-consecutive days (for example Monday, Wednesday, Friday), built on five barbell lifts plus chin-ups.
  • The aim is to add weight at every session. Early jumps are 5 to 10 lb (about 2.3 to 4.5 kg) and shrink as the lifts get heavier.
  • When you stall, look first at rest between sets, food and sleep, not at adding more exercises.
  • Greyskull LP adds more volume and AMRAP sets. Candito’s 6 weeks are periodised and aimed at heavier strength work.
  • Whichever you run, a log that tracks every set and spots plateaus makes the next session’s weights an easy call.

Table of Contents

What Starting Strength actually is

The name covers two things: the best-selling book and the Starting Strength Novice Program, also called the Starting Strength Linear Progression. The official site says it is designed for novices and suits nearly all trainees, whether the long-term goal is powerlifting, general fitness or sport.

Its logic is blunt. In his essay “Who Wants to Be a Novice? You Do”, Rippetoe argues that most people in a gym are novices, that a novice programme should be simple, and that the variable you manipulate is load, not the number of exercises. He also argues that routines of 12 to 15 single-joint isolation exercises do not work for novices.

That is a strong position, and you do not need to agree with all of it to use the programme well. What matters for you is that it is small enough to learn properly and repeat reliably.

The exercises and the weekly schedule

The programme uses five barbell lifts plus chin-ups, according to the official programme page: squat, deadlift, overhead press, bench press and power clean. You train three days a week on non-consecutive days. Rippetoe bases that on a 48 to 72 hour recovery window, which is why three sessions fit so neatly.

The two workouts alternate: A, B, A on one week, then B, A, B on the next.

Phase Day A Day B
Phase 1 (usually 1 to 3 weeks) Squat 3x5, press 3x5, deadlift 1x5 Squat 3x5, bench press 3x5, deadlift 1x5
Phase 2 Squat 3x5, press or bench 3x5, deadlift 1x5 Squat 3x5, press or bench 3x5, power clean 5x3
Phase 3 Squat 3x5, press or bench 3x5, deadlift and power clean alternating Squat 3x5, press or bench 3x5, chin-ups

In Phase 1 the two days are the same apart from alternating press and bench press. Phase 2 brings in the power clean on Day B while Day A keeps the deadlift. In Phase 3, Day A alternates deadlift and power clean and Day B adds chin-ups. All of this follows the official programme page.

Where each lift goes wrong

  • Squat: it is the lift you do every session, so small technique faults repeat 150 times a month. Film your sets from the side and compare depth session to session.
  • Deadlift: it appears once per session for one set, so it is easy to rush. Reset between reps rather than bouncing.
  • Press and bench press: small jumps matter here. Jumping too far too soon is the usual reason these stall first.
  • Power clean: the most technical lift in the plan. It enters in Phase 2 at low reps because form breaks down with fatigue.

If you are new to a barbell, learn the movements at light weights before the numbers get serious. Anyone with a medical condition, an injury or a bone-health concern should talk to their GP before starting heavy lifting. Our notes on resistance training for osteoporosis explain why loading is introduced gradually and recovery is managed around it.

How the weights go up

The programme’s stated goal is to add weight each and every time you lift, using what Rippetoe calls the novice effect. The official guidance for healthy men aged roughly 18 to 35 or 40 runs like this:

  • Squat: 10 lb (about 4.5 kg) on each of the first 2 to 3 sessions.
  • Deadlift: 15 to 20 lb (about 7 to 9 kg) the first couple of times, then 10 lb for several sessions, then 5 lb per workout.
  • Press, bench press and power clean: 5 lb (about 2.3 kg) jumps at first, later 2.5 lb or smaller.

That guidance describes a young man. If you are older, female, lighter or returning after injury, expect the jumps to be smaller and the run to be shorter, and judge yourself against your own log rather than the headline numbers. Fractional plates, which let you add 1 kg or less, are what keep a press or bench moving once the easy jumps are gone.

In practice, progress is a data problem as much as a lifting problem. By week six you are juggling five lifts, different jump sizes, a deadlift that moves on a different timeline from the squat, and a power clean on its own schedule. A training log that records every set is not optional.

How the weights go up

What to do when you stall

Every novice stalls eventually. Before changing the programme, check the basics Starting Strength’s own material points to.

  1. Rest between sets. The official “Getting Stuck” guide names too little rest between sets as the number one novice error. In a novice programme, fatigue is not something you introduce, because force production is the adaptation you want. Rest until the next set feels doable, often three to five minutes on heavy sets.
  2. Food. The same guide says most men cannot make progress on a diet of under 4,000 calories a day and less than 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. That is a bulking-style target, written for a particular audience. Treat it as a pointer that undereating is a frequent cause of stalls, and adjust to your own size and health. If you have any history of disordered eating or a medical condition affecting your diet, speak to your GP before changing how much you eat.
  3. Sleep and recovery. The programme assumes you recover in 48 to 72 hours. Poor sleep breaks that assumption.
  4. Technique. A lift that has crept out of position stalls on weights it handled last month.

If you have genuinely stalled on a lift for a few sessions despite all of this, the usual fix is a smaller jump or a modest reduction in weight on that lift, then building back up. Your log is what tells you whether the problem is one lift or the whole week.

Starting Strength versus a powerlifting programme

Searchers often lump Starting Strength in with powerlifting. They are different. The official site says its goal is not to train world-class powerlifters but to make normal, average people stronger. Powerlifters aim for the highest total over the shortest legal range of motion. Starting Strength uses the greatest effective range of motion, with differences in stance width and bar position that follow from how each approach handles rotational force.

So if you want to enter a meet, Starting Strength makes a sound base, but it is not a competition peaking plan. If you want to be generally stronger, it is a direct route there. Its myths about strength training and weight loss rarely come up in the programme itself, because the focus is strength, not scale weight.

Starting Strength versus a powerlifting programme

Greyskull LP and Candito: how they differ

Greyskull linear progression

Greyskull LP is also a three-day novice programme. According to Fitness Volt, it is run for six weeks and can be cycled repeatedly, with a 10% weight reduction when progress stalls. It uses two alternating workouts. Workout A has bench press, barbell row and squat. Workout B has overhead press, weighted chin-ups and deadlift. Most lifts are two sets of five followed by one set of five or more reps (an AMRAP set).

The appeal is the extra volume. The AMRAP set means you can still make progress when the weight is not rising every week. Starting Strength by contrast is lower in volume and relies on heavier, more frequent increases.

Candito 6 Week Program

The Candito 6 Week Strength Program is periodised. Its weeks run: muscular conditioning, hypertrophy, linear max-OT, heavy weight acclimation and explosiveness, intense strength training, then an optional deload. The document argues that periodisation suits beginners as well, and that plateaus are best handled by preventing them. It reads more like a block you run towards a strength test than a daily-progression novice plan.

Quick comparison

Starting Strength Greyskull LP Candito 6 Week
Days per week 3 3 Varies by block
Structure Linear, add weight each session Linear with AMRAP sets Periodised, 6 weeks
Best fit Complete beginner wanting simple, heavy compound lifts Novice who wants more volume Lifter wanting a structured strength block
Stall response Check rest, food, form, reduce jump 10% reset Built-in deload week

Which one should you choose?

Start from your experience and your calendar, not the programme’s reputation.

  • Never trained with a barbell: Starting Strength is the cleanest on-ramp. Five lifts, one rule, three days.
  • Want more volume and variety (rows, chin-ups from the start): Greyskull LP.
  • Have a few months of linear progress behind you and want to build towards heavier singles: a periodised block like Candito’s.
  • Only two days available: NHS guidance for adults is to do muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week, so two well-run full-body sessions are still worthwhile. Treat three as the ideal rather than a pass mark.

The common thread is that all three need consistent logging. Which programme you choose matters less than whether you can see, at a glance, what you lifted last time and what you should lift today.

Our view: the plan should learn from you

Starting Strength’s greatest strength is that it takes decisions away. Add weight, rest properly, repeat. The trouble is that static plans stop fitting you at some point. Your squat outruns your press, your recovery changes with work and sleep, and a fixed template cannot notice.

That is the gap we built Brolick for. It does not only record sets. It analyses your training patterns, performance and preferences, suggests training intensity, rest periods and exercise selection, and flags plateaus from your historical data. Our focus is adapting your routine intelligently rather than handing you a plan that never changes.

If you run a novice programme, you can keep its principles of heavy compound lifts, steady progression and enough rest, and let the app handle the arithmetic and the daily call. Brolick does not share your data or use it for external AI training.

the author

Run your programme with Brolick

Whether you follow Starting Strength, Greyskull or a periodised block, Brolick is a fitness tracking app for Android on Google Play. It logs your workouts and progress, suggests daily routines based on your history, recommends intensity, rest periods and exercise selection, and detects plateaus. It also supports custom routines, so you can build your own template around the lifts you have chosen. Brolick Pro is the optional subscription. See what Brolick offers.

Brolick

If your goal is body composition rather than pure strength, our guide to a workout plan for fat loss shows how to structure a weekly routine. Once your barbell basics are in place, our walkthrough of the chest press machine covers how to use it, the muscles worked and how to progress.

FAQ

Is Starting Strength still a good programme?

Yes, for a true beginner. It is built around a small number of heavy compound lifts and a simple rule of adding weight at each session, which the official site designs for novices of nearly any long-term goal. Its simplicity is the reason it is easy to repeat consistently.

How long can I run Starting Strength?

You run it for as long as you keep adding weight at nearly every session. The weight jumps get smaller as the lifts get heavier, and the programme introduces the power clean and chin-ups in later phases. When progress slows despite good rest, food and technique, that is the sign to move on to a programme with more structure.

Is Starting Strength a powerlifting programme?

No. The official site says its goal is to make normal, average people stronger rather than to train world-class powerlifters. It uses the greatest effective range of motion, whereas powerlifters work to the shortest legal one. It is a strong base if you later want to compete.

What is the difference between Starting Strength and Greyskull LP?

Both are three-day novice programmes. Greyskull LP adds extra sets, including a final AMRAP set, and includes barbell rows and weighted chin-ups from the start. It uses a 10% reset after a stall. Starting Strength keeps volume lower and pushes weight up at every session.

Do I need to eat more on Starting Strength?

The official guide says under-eating is a common reason for stalls and cites a high-calorie, high-protein target for men. Your own needs depend on your size, sex, age and health, so adjust gradually. If you have a medical condition or a history of disordered eating, check with your GP first.

Sources