Starting Strength’s novice linear progression is a barbell strength program associated with Mark Rippetoe. A novice here means someone who can recover and improve between workouts, not simply someone new to gyms.
Train three nonconsecutive days each week, alternating Workout A and Workout B. Squat every session, alternate the press and bench press, and initially build the deadlift before introducing the power clean.
Set starting loads, plan A/B sessions, calculate lift-specific jumps, record resets and log training. It is not an official Starting Strength product.
Perform warm-up sets before each work weight. The listed sets are work sets; they do not mean jumping from an empty bar directly to the day’s heaviest load.
Begin each lift with the empty bar or a light implement and add weight through sets of five. Stop increasing when the lift feels meaningfully heavy but technique and bar speed remain controlled.
That conservative work weight begins the progression. Do not calculate it from a one-rep maximum or start near failure; the early runway is part of the program.
Add weight every time a lift is trained while all prescribed reps remain technically sound. Early lower-body jumps may be larger, then should fall as the easy gains are used.
Typical later jumps are about 5 lb for squats and deadlifts. Presses, bench presses and cleans often require smaller increases; use fractional plates to microload rather than repeating oversized jumps.
Once pulling a heavy deadlift every session becomes difficult to recover from, alternate it with the power clean. The classic power-clean prescription is Power clean: 5×3, performed explosively with sound technique.
Later adjustments may reduce pulling frequency, add chin-ups, or make one weekly squat session lighter. These are responses to demonstrated recovery needs, not automatic changes made after a fixed number of weeks.
First ask whether the load was correct, rest between sets was long enough, food and sleep were adequate, and every prescribed rep was attempted. Correct those problems before rewriting the program.
If the same lift repeatedly fails despite those conditions, reduce that lift roughly 5–10%, rebuild with smaller jumps and record the reset. Repeated resets without renewed progress signal that a larger programming change may be due.
Keep at least one day between sessions and the longer weekend break in a normal three-day week. Eat enough for the goal, sleep consistently and avoid adding conditioning or accessory volume that disrupts the main progression.
These lifts are technical. Use qualified coaching or the official instruction resources when form is uncertain, and seek medical guidance for pain or limitations that exercise substitutions cannot safely solve.
Starting Strength is distinguished by 3×5 squats each session, one heavy deadlift set, smaller workout-to-workout load increases, and the power clean in the standard novice progression.
The novice phase ends when appropriate loads, smaller jumps, adequate recovery and sensible resets no longer produce session-to-session progress. It does not end on a preset date or when training first becomes hard.
Move to intermediate programming that distributes stress and recovery across a week. Do not keep resetting indefinitely or jump early to complex programming while simple progress still works.
