Starting Strength Program: Beginner's guide to building muscle

Developed by coach Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength is a straightforward, no-nonsense program designed to help beginners build strength using basic barbell exercises. This program emphasizes simplicity, progressive overload, and proper technique, making it a go-to choice for lifters who want to establish a solid base in strength training.

What Is Starting Strength?

Starting Strength is a beginner’s strength training program that focuses on five key barbell exercises. Unlike many workout routines that emphasize high volume or isolation exercises, Starting Strength is built around compound movements—exercises that engage multiple muscle groups. This approach maximizes strength development across the entire body, while teaching proper form and movement patterns.

The core of the program is progressive overload, meaning you’ll add weight to the bar each workout, ensuring continuous improvement and strength gains.

The Starting Strength Program

Starting Strength revolves around five essential compound lifts, performed three times per week on non-consecutive days, alternating between two workout sessions.

Workout A:

Squat Sets: 3 Reps: 5

Target: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back

The squat is the primary lower body movement in Starting Strength, performed every workout session. It’s a full-body movement that develops strength from the legs up through the core and back.

Bench Press Sets: 3 Reps: 5

Target: Chest, shoulders, triceps

Bench presses focus on upper-body pushing strength. With consistent progression, this exercise builds chest and shoulder mass along with tricep power.

Deadlift Sets: 1 Reps: 5

Target: Lower back, hamstrings, glutes, traps

The deadlift is another crucial full-body lift, but it is only performed for one working set, as it heavily taxes the central nervous system. It builds tremendous strength in the posterior chain, back, and core.

Workout B:

Squat Sets: 3 Reps: 5

Target: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back

Squats remain a staple in every workout session.

Overhead Press Sets: 3 Reps: 5

Target: Shoulders, triceps, upper chest

The overhead press strengthens the shoulders and triceps, while also engaging the core for stability.

Power Clean Sets: 5 Reps: 3

Target: Upper back, traps, legs

The power clean is a more explosive movement that trains both strength and power. It helps build speed and explosiveness, and is an excellent accessory to the deadlift.

Weekly Schedule

The program alternates between two workouts—Workout A and Workout B—three times per week, ideally with a day of rest in between. A typical weekly schedule might look like this:

• Monday: Workout A

• Wednesday: Workout B

• Friday: Workout A

The following week, you would start with Workout B on Monday, continuing to alternate between the two sessions.

Rest Days: How Often Should You Rest?

Rest is a critical part of the Starting Strength program. Because the workouts are intense and involve heavy, compound movements, your body needs time to recover. For most beginners, one full rest day between workouts is sufficient. However, there are different approaches you can take depending on your goals, lifestyle, and recovery ability:

Standard Rest Approach:

• Rest every other day: This means having one rest day between workouts (e.g., Monday/Wednesday/Friday training schedule). This is optimal for most beginners, allowing time for muscle repair and central nervous system recovery while still keeping workout frequency high enough for consistent strength gains.

Additional Rest Day (4-Day Split):

• Rest more frequently: If you feel particularly fatigued or need extra recovery, you can take an additional rest day during the week, shifting to a four-day cycle. This would look like:

  • Day 1: Workout A

  • Day 3: Workout B

  • Day 5: Workout A

  • Day 8: Workout B

  • This allows you to train three times over a span of eight days, offering more recovery time between sessions without drastically reducing frequency.

Alternative Weekly Schedules

While the standard Monday/Wednesday/Friday routine works well for most, you can modify the schedule to suit your lifestyle, as long as you maintain the basic principles of rest and alternating workouts. Here are a few alternative options:

• Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday

• Saturday/Monday/Wednesday

No matter the schedule you choose, the key is ensuring adequate rest between workouts, allowing your muscles and nervous system to fully recover and come back stronger for the next session.

By balancing your training days with appropriate rest, you'll maximize the effectiveness of the Starting Strength program and sustain long-term progress without risking overtraining or injury.

Sets, Reps, and Progression

The Starting Strength program uses a simple 3 sets of 5 reps structure for most exercises. The exception is the deadlift, which is performed for 1 set of 5 reps, and the power clean, which follows a 5 sets of 3 reps format.

Progression:

• Add weight every workout: The key to Starting Strength is progressive overload. After each session, you increase the weight on the bar. For most beginners, this means adding 2.5-5 pounds per workout for upper-body lifts (bench press, overhead press) and 5-10 pounds per workout for lower-body lifts (squat, deadlift).

• Focus on form: Before increasing the load, ensure your form is correct. Consistent small progressions are safer and more sustainable than making large jumps in weight too quickly.

Why Tracking Workouts is Essential

To get the most out of Starting Strength, tracking your workouts is essential. By logging your lifts, you can monitor progress, ensure you’re increasing the weight as planned, and identify any plateaus or areas of weakness. Using a workout tracking app like Setgraph can make this easier, as you can log each set, rep, and weight effortlessly and receive insights into your progression over time.

The Setgraph app simplifies tracking by allowing you to input all of your lifts, sets, and reps with just a few taps. Better yet, it comes with the Starting Strength program built-in, so you can jump right into the routine without needing to set up a new plan. With built-in tracking, you'll be able to monitor your progress, adjust weights, and ensure you’re progressing according to the program’s guidelines, helping you stay on track to reach your strength goals.

When to Move Beyond Starting Strength

Starting Strength is designed for beginners, and most people will be able to make continuous progress on this program for several months. However, as you advance and your gains begin to plateau, it may be time to switch to a more intermediate program that offers more volume, varied rep ranges, or additional accessory exercises.

Typical signs that you’re ready to move on include:

• Consistently failing to hit your target reps on multiple exercises, even after deloading (reducing weight to reset).

• Extended periods of stalled progress, despite consistent effort.

• Desire to introduce more variety or target specific muscle groups with isolation exercises.

At this point, you may want to explore programs like Texas Method or 5/3/1, which offer more complex periodization strategies for continued growth.

Conclusion

Starting Strength is one of the most effective beginner programs for building strength. Its focus on compound lifts, progressive overload, and simplicity makes it an excellent choice for those looking to build a solid strength foundation. By sticking to the program, tracking your workouts, and following proper recovery protocols, you can make significant progress in just a few months. Whether you’re new to lifting or returning after a break, Starting Strength can help you achieve your goals efficiently and effectively.

With the Setgraph app, you’ll be able to seamlessly integrate this powerful program into your training, track your progress, and continue advancing in your strength journey.