How to run the Starting Strength program

Who Is This Program For?

Starting Strength is for new lifters who want to get as strong as possible, as fast as possible, using a handful of barbell lifts. Mark Rippetoe built the program around the idea that a novice can recover from session to session, so every workout is an opportunity to lift more than last time.

The program focuses on:

• Simplicity: only 3 exercises per workout, two alternating templates
• Compound movements: every exercise trains large amounts of muscle through a long range of motion
• Linear progression: add weight every session while you can
• Phased structure: the program changes as the weights grow, so recovery is never outpaced

If you want the most established barbell novice program in existence, with decades of results behind it, this is it.

Program Structure

The 6 Main Lifts

Not all six appear from day one. The deadlift is there from the start, the power clean arrives in Phase 2, and chin-ups arrive in Phase 3.

Phase 1: The First 1-3 Weeks

You deadlift every single session while the weights are still light.

Workout A:

Workout B:

Phase 1 ends after roughly 1-3 weeks, once the fast early jumps have pushed your deadlift well ahead of your squat and pulling heavy every session becomes too taxing.

Phase 2: Power Cleans Arrive

The power clean replaces the deadlift on alternate days, so you now pull heavy off the floor every session but only deadlift once per rotation.

Workout A:

Workout B:

This is the longest phase of the program. Most lifters spend 2-4 months here.

Phase 3: Chin-Ups Arrive

The deadlift and power clean now share the A slot, alternating with each other, and chin-ups are added on B days for upper body pulling volume.

Workout A:

Workout B:

Chin-ups are done for 3 sets to fatigue at bodyweight. Once you can complete 3 sets of 10 at bodyweight, do every other chin-up session as 3 sets of 5 with added weight, keeping the alternate sessions at bodyweight to fatigue.

Why Deadlift Is 1×5

The deadlift is the most systemically fatiguing lift in the program. One heavy set of 5 is enough to drive progress for a novice, and anything more would eat into the recovery that the rest of the program depends on.

Why Power Clean Is 5×3

Power production degrades quickly with fatigue. Five sets of three lets you practice the explosive movement with crisp technique on every rep instead of grinding out sloppy fives.

Weekly Schedule

The workouts alternate in an A/B pattern across each week:

Odd Weeks (1, 3, 5...):

• Day 1: Workout A
• Day 2: Workout B
• Day 3: Workout A

Even Weeks (2, 4, 6...):

• Day 1: Workout B
• Day 2: Workout A
• Day 3: Workout B

Train 3 days per week with at least one rest day between sessions. A typical schedule is Monday / Wednesday / Friday.

Progression: How Weights Increase

Starting Strength uses linear progression, meaning you add weight every session. The increments shrink as the lift gets heavier relative to your recovery.

The weight added is to the total bar weight, not per side. The upper body lifts move to microplate jumps (1.25 kg / 2.5 lbs) much sooner than the squat and deadlift, because they involve less muscle mass. Smaller lifters, women, and older lifters should switch to smaller jumps earlier.

Only add weight if you completed every prescribed set and rep with proper form.

Get Your Form Right First

Everything below assumes your form is already solid. Finding your working weight, adding weight, chasing reps, all of it only works if you can perform the lift correctly. While your form is not locked in, that is your only job. Make good form the goal of every set, not the weight on the bar. Drilling the movement with an empty bar beats loading plates onto a lift you cannot control yet.

To learn, don't hesitate to search Google and YouTube (there is a lot of good free material) and record yourself from the side to compare against a proper demonstration. In general, good form means a full controlled range of motion, a braced neutral spine, no bouncing or momentum, a consistent setup every rep, and ending the set when technique breaks down rather than grinding sloppy reps.

Finding Your Starting Weights

If you don't know your starting weights:

1. Start with just the empty barbell (20 kg / 45 lbs)
2. Perform 5 reps
3. Add 5-10 kg (10-20 lbs)
4. Perform another set of 5 reps
5. Repeat until bar speed noticeably slows or form starts to break down
6. Use that weight as your starting weight

For the deadlift, start with 40-45 kg (90-95 lbs) since the bar needs full size plates to sit at proper height. For the power clean, start with the empty bar and work up in roughly 5 kg (10 lb) jumps. A typical power clean starting weight is 30-43 kg (65-95 lbs).

It's better to start too light than too heavy. The linear progression will catch up quickly.

Warming Up

Before each exercise, perform 3-4 warm-up sets with increasing weight. This prepares your joints and muscles for the working weight and lets you practice the movement pattern.

Example: If your working weight for squat is 80 kg:

• Set 1: 30 kg × 5
• Set 2: 47.5 kg × 3
• Set 3: 62.5 kg × 2
• Work sets: 80 kg × 3×5

Warm-up sets should feel easy. They are not work sets. If two exercises use similar muscles back-to-back, the second exercise needs fewer warm-up sets since the muscles are already warm.

Rest Times

Take as much rest as you need to complete your sets with good form. As the weights get heavy in the second and third phases, expect to need the full 5 minutes between squat sets.

When You Fail Reps

If you cannot complete all prescribed reps with proper form:

1. Rest longer between sets: try 5 minutes or more before calling it a failed session
2. Repeat the same weight next session rather than adding more weight
3. Microload: switch upper body lifts to 1.25 kg (2.5 lbs) jumps before you consider anything else
4. Check your recovery: sleep 7-9 hours, eat enough calories, and get 1.5-2.2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight (0.7-1 g per lb)

Deload Protocol

If you fail to complete the prescribed sets and reps at the same weight for three consecutive sessions, deload:

• Reduce the weight by 10% on that lift
• Work back up using the standard increments

Example:

Press stuck at 50 kg for 3 sessions:
  New weight: 50 × 0.90 = 45 kg (round to nearest increment)
  Progress from 45 kg adding 1.25 kg per session

Each exercise deloads independently, so a stall on the press doesn't affect your squat weight. Exhaust the other solutions first (better sleep, nutrition, longer rest, microloading) before resorting to a deload.

Program Duration

The three phases together make up the novice linear progression:

• Phase 1: 1-3 weeks
• Phase 2: 2-4 months
• Phase 3: until linear progression is exhausted

Most lifters get 3 to 9 months of steady session-to-session progress before the novice phase ends. When adding weight every session no longer works even after deloads and microloading, you have extracted the novice gains and are ready for intermediate programming.

Access the Original Program

If you would like to read the original program page:

Starting Strength Official Programs Page