Starting Strength 101: The Full Routine & Guide (For Beginners)

Starting Strength can be one of the best workout routines for beginners, so if that’s what you want, then look no further.

I know how frustrating it can be, searching around, trying to figure out where to start. There’s literally a million different “gurus” saying that you should do this, or that you should do that. It’s incredibly confusing.

I was in the same boat about a decade ago, and I wasted years following stupid workout routines that don’t work.

Most people will tell you to do a split, but in my experience most people also don’t know what they’re talking about.

In my nearly 10 years of fitness experience, the best workout routine for beginners is Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength, due to its sheer simplicity, effectiveness, and time-efficiency.

The Mistake That 95% of Newbies Make

Most so called gurus out there, say that the best workout routine for beginners is some sort of a split, like PHAT or PHUL.

So, not knowing any better, most beginners do a “split,” and work out 4-5 days a week focusing in on specific body parts for a high amount of repetitions.

Well, when you’re first starting out, doing a split is actually the WORST thing that you could possibly do, because you don’t have a solid foundation of strength yet.

Splits are only good if you’ve been working out for several years and already have a solid base of strength that you’re trying to build upon.

If you’re a newbie, this obviously isn’t the case. When you’re just starting out, you lack the foundation of muscle necessary to make a split effective.

When you’re just starting off, the best thing to do is to lift heavy for low reps. This will give you a solid foundation of strength.

The best workout routine for beginners is one that consists entirely of compound lifts, for multiple reasons:

1. You’ll build massive amounts of strength very quickly (I’m talking a 200% increase in just a month)
2. You’ll only spend a few days a week in the gym, so it’ll be easy to make the new habit stick.
3. You’ll establish a strong foundation of muscle fibers that you can later grow with a split.

Even if you want to get six pack abs, and a nice Adonis belt, it’s best if you start off by building strength first. It will literally 10x your progress in the gym.

The Starting Strength Routine

The Starting Strength routine was developed by a man named Mark Rippetoe, who holds several powerlifting records.

…and as I’ve said before, it’s the best workout for beginners because it’s based around some very simple concepts.

Lift heavy weight, do compound lifts, maximize your time in the gym, and don’t waste your energy on stupid splits that won’t get you anywhere as a beginner.

Here’s a few notes on the workout:

• You work out 3 days a week
• There are two different routines: A and B
• You alternate the two, with a rest day in between
• Low repetitions are the best to build brute strength

With this in mind, let’s look at the two different days that you’ll alternate.

There’s Starting Strength routine A:

• Squat: 3×5
• Overhead Press: 3×5
• Deadlift: 1×5

…and then there’s Starting Strength routine B:

• Squat: 3×5
• Bench press: 3×5
• Power Cleans 5×3

So your first two weeks on Starting Strength would look like this:

• Week 1 Monday: Day A
• Week 1 Wednesday: Day B
• Week 1 Friday: Day A
• Week 2 Monday: Day B
• Week 2 Wednesday: Day A
• Week 2 Friday: Day B

Do you see the concept? You workout three days a week, with a rest day in between each one, and you alternate between Routine A and Routine B.

Starting Strength Exercises

As I said before, the best workout for beginners is one that consists of compound lifts, but what if you don’t know what compound lifts are?

Well, compound lifts are barbell-based exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time—think squat, bench press, deadlift, and so on.

Compound exercises will not only put more stress on your entire body (which will lead to greater muscular development), but it will also maximize your time in the gym.

By doing a few compound lifts per workout, you can work nearly every single muscle in your body, in just 45-60 minutes.

This is very important when you’re a newbie, because it allows you to build up a strong base of muscle before you fine tune it later with a split.

In other words, as a rookie gym-goer, your focus should be on developing a strong base of strength. THEN, later on, you can focus on fine-tuning your physique with a split.

Here’s a brief explanation of the various compound lifts in Starting Strength. For a more in depth explanation, I highly recommend you purchase the book.

The Squat

The squat is the king of all compound lifts. It works pretty much every muscle in your body, with a huge emphasis on your legs—just doing squats alone will get you some jacked legs, but the benefits go far beyond this.

Squats also work your core, which has to support the barbell. This means that you’ll be able to get six pack abs faster, since the squat works your core so much.

The squat also works your shoulders/arms, which have to hold up the barbell and prevent it from slipping, and your back which has to maintain a strong posture to support the barbell.

In short, squatting works every muscle in your body—this is why it’s in every single workout for the Starting Strength routine.

If someone is telling you that they have the best workout for beginners, but it doesn’t contain the squat, literally tell them to shut the fuck up and then ignore everything else that they say, because they have NO IDEA what they’re talking about.

When you’re a beginner and you’re trying to get into lifting, you MUST squat. Squatting is hands down the most important exercise for beginners, because it builds an incredibly amount of muscle in a very short period of time.

It’s also been shown to boost testosterone and growth hormone levels, which equates to more muscle and vitality…not to mention higher sex drive.

The Deadlift

The deadlift is another full body exercise—some would say it’s even more taxing than squats. Deadlifts work every part of your body, but they have a heavy emphasis on your lower back, hamstrings, and traps.

They also work your arms, from holding onto the bar, your hamstrings/calves to pull it up, your back, and your core.

If you’re struggling to build muscle, you don’t need to look into all sorts of crazy workout supplements (like SARMs) at first.

…because even though they work, the bulk of your muscle-building will come from doing solid exercises, like the deadlift.

Again, if someone says that they have the best workout for beginners, but don’t include a deadlift in it, literally ignore them.

No, deadlifts are not “bad for your back,” if you learn to do them with right form. Deadlifts actually strengthen your back and make you less susceptible to injury. They are an integral part of any workout for beginners.

The Bench Press

Ah, the bench press—the quintessential “man’s lift.” Guys in the locker room always arguing about how much they can bench and using it as a metric to determine who reigns supreme.

The bench press is an upper body exercise—in fact, it may be the one of the best chest exercises there is.

It torches your arms, shoulders, and pecs all at once. This way, you can get twice the results as a split, in literally a quarter of the time.

The bench press can be somewhat difficult to get down, because the form is a bit tricky, so I recommend you consult Rippetoe’s masterpiece on form and learn to execute the motion properly.

The Overhead Press

Sometimes referred to as the military press, this exercise is by far the best for building a strong, wide back and shoulders.

If you’re trying to build that oh-so-sought-after V-taper, don’t waste your time with lateral raises or pull-ups (at first).

Instead, just do the overhead press. It’ll work your abs, for having to support the weight above your head.

It’ll work your back, for having to maintain stability and prevent you from toppling over. And, most importantly, it’ll wreck your shoulders (in a good way), giving you that nice, wide superman look.

In short, the king of building broad shoulders is the overhead press. It will give you that nice, powerful V-Taper you’ve always wanted.

Do not ignore this exercise—any beginner’s workout routine that doesn’t have this is garbage. Seriously. It’s the best shoulder exercise, hands down.

The Power Clean

The power clean is one of the best exercises for building explosive upper body strength and power. This is why you often see athletes using it on a regular basis—it’s basically the opposite of the deadlift.

Where the deadlift builds dense, strong as fuck muscle, the power clean builds explosive, powerful muscle fibers. The combination of these two exercises will give you a lean, mean, fighting machine.

The power clean, despite its difficulty to master, works your entire body, with an emphasis on the shoulders, back, and core.

The legs are worked from generating enough power to pull the barbell up to your chest. The shoulders, traps, and arms are worked by pulling it up far enough for you to get your elbows underneath it.

The back and core are also worked by you having to support yourself, so that you don’t topple over from the barbell’s momentum.

Mark Rippetoe & Starting Strength

Starting Strength incorporates every single one of these compound lifts into a single routine. It’s got the squat, the deadlift, the bench, the overhead press, and the power clean—all in one package.

This is why Starting Strength is, by far, the best workout routine for beginners. It’s short, fast, and most importantly, super effective.

When I first did Starting Strength, I was astounded with the progress. I had just gotten over major surgery, so I’d lost pretty much all of my muscle gains. I decided to try out Starting Strength and see where it took me.

In just 6 months my lifts went from pathetic to beastly:

• Squat: 45 to 285
• Bench: 45 to 195
• Deadlift: 95 to 350
• Overhead press: 45 to 155
• Power Clean: 45 to 225

Starting strength works. Do it, and you won’t be disappointed. I recommend that you actually buy the book, however, to get a solid background on form and technique.

Don’t be one of those guys who reads a single article on the internet and then tries to squat, but ends up breaking his back. Seriously, don’t be a dumbass.

Starting Strength Summary

As I’ve said, I would highly recommend checking out Mark Rippetoe’s book—he explains everything in depth. I actually bought it even after I’d been lifting for years, and I do not regret it. Mark’s insight into squatting technique and strength building is absolutely insane.

For years I thought that I’d been doing all these exercises right…I was wrong. I would’ve killed to have had this book when I first started working out. It would’ve saved me literally HOURS of time in the gym, and helped me build twice the strength in half the time.

In fact, this book was so good that I put it on my list of the top books every man should read. If you’re not interested in buying the book, then at least look around for his videos on YouTube and learn about form before you do anything stupid.

If you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns, be sure to leave me a message down below. And, as always, I’ll see you next time.