Rippetoe's Starting Strength - Weight Training Program for Beginners

Beginners in weight training may find it difficult to look for a great program. Many just rely on what they see in magazines and what their friends are doing. However, weight training is not as simple as picking up any weight and feeling that muscle pump. A true weight training program provides specific routines to meet specific goals.

One weight training program used and recommended by many strength training experts is Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength. Mark Rippetoe has 25 years of experience in the fitness industry and a decade of experience as a competitive powerlifter. He has coached athletes in powerlifting and other strength sports. He was coached by fellow lifters Bill Starr, Glenn Pendlay and Tommy Suggs, to name a few. Rippetoe spent years trying to find out the most effective weight training program for beginners. As result of his hard work, he has published four books and is considered as one of the greatest coaches in the industry.

Starting Strength is designed by Mark Rippetoe especially for beginners. Starting Strength emphasizes the basics of weight training. Rippetoe believes that in order to gain strength, you need to consistently shock your body and make the individual parts of your body train as a single unit. He has published several books about barbell training. He shares a wealth of information through his vast knowledge and experience in the industry.

That’s it. Looks pretty simple, right? You might be wondering, no bicep curls? no isolation exercises? Here’s the thing: weight training for beginners need not be complicated. As a beginner, you need to train your body as a whole and focus on compound exercises. Isolation exercises have a place in your weight training program once you have established a good foundation; that is, overall body strength. Also note that I say Original Starting Strength Novice Program because there are other versions of the program. These versions do not differ significantly. Most modifications are just done based on if one individual wants to perform one exercise more than another.

The Starting Strength Principles:

1. Focus on compound exercises. Compound exercises will help you build the basic foundations needed for strength gain. Hit all the muscles in your body instead of isolating every body part.

2. Don’t forget to warm up. Warming up helps your muscles prepare for the workout and also prevent injuries. It is usually recommended to spend a few minutes on the bike to increase body heat. You should also do warm up sets before each exercise. Never allow your warm up sets to interfere your work sets. This means that you should not overdo your warm ups. Here is an example of how your warm up sets for your squats should look like:

3. Lift heavy. You should always lift as heavy as you can without sacrificing proper form. This ensures that your muscles are given enough work. Also remember progressive overload. Add weight to each exercise every workout day. Rippetoe recommends adding 5lbs. to the bench press, military press and power clean and 10lbs. to the squat and deadlift. After a few weeks into the program, you can use micro plates to add weight.

4. Five reps for optimal strength gain. Rippetoe suggests that 5 is the “magic” number. 5 repetitions offer the best results when it comes to strength training. 70%-80% of your 1 rep max is usually used to do 3 sets of 5 reps.

5. Rest and recovery. You should have enough rest between sets to allow your body to take the load of the next set. With insufficient rest, you might not finish your work set. This causes you to stall your progress.

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