Strength training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being including increased bone, muscle, tendon and ligament strength and toughness, improved joint function, reduced potential for injury, improved cardiac function and elevated good cholesterol.

My name is Saro and I’m here to help you get stronger the fastest way possible. Welcome to my site.

Most people who want to get in shape don’t know where to begin. They also lack the experience and know-how when it comes to training in general. A lot of it has to do with general lazyness, the overwhelming amount of (bad) information that’s available in magazines, books, friends, on the web, and overall intimidation that stems from the word “strength training”. A lot of training “routines” out there are garbage, inefficient and are a waste of time. I will show you what works to maximize your gains as a newcomer to training and get you up to top speed.

The target audience of this site is for absolute beginners to [weight] training in general. People with a few months, a year or two of experience are also welcome. People who are getting back into shape will benefit highly from this routine. There is nothing complicated about it and is used by athletes, trainers, strongmen, powerlifters, bodybuilders and more worldwide. It is no secret either: it has been buried by the wealth of misinformation and myths out there, toppled over by the ad-ridden “training” magazines that do nothing but waste people’s times.

On this website, I will teach you how to lift weights properly, give you an easy to follow training program and how to manage your overall diet. Before you cringe at the mention of “diet”, it does not necessarily mean that you will be eating less. In fact, with this type of program, eating more is encouraged (of course clean, healthy foods are preferred). I will talk about this further throughout my site.

The information on this site is totally free and I won’t charge you a cent for it. What’s the catch? None; there is no catch. I don’t even want your email address to send you a lame e-book. Everything on this website is the knowledge I have learned from several years of weight training experience and a few key books I have read that I want to share with you. It is my gift to the newcomers to training and people willing to learn something classic. I was once too a beginner in the world of training and have come a long way, but still have years ahead of me in terms of gaining more knowledge. I’m your everyday average guy who wanted to change his life for the better. I wasn’t overweight, but I wasn’t exactly healthy either. My eating habits were a mess (junk food aplenty) and I was very, very weak. Luckily for me, I had friends help me get started in basic weight training, but efficiency was never achieved. Over the years, however, I learned what worked — and more specifically, what didn’t.

I’m not going to lie to you — you definitely need to get a copy of Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength book. If you actually want to learn how to squat, deadlift, bench, power clean and press properly, this book is mandatory. If I were to teach it to you myself, I would have to meet you in person and coach you. Copy/pasting the information from the book onto this website would be copyright infringement and would get me in a lot of trouble.

I promise you one thing: this book is all you need to read to get started. It is totally written for the beginner, and it gets straight to the point with no BS thrown in. Mark Rippetoe has 30+ years of experience under his belt, and this guy knows what he’s doing. Just because his name isn’t “Arnold Schwarzanegger” doesn’t mean he’s not strong and fit. Google his name and see who Mark Rippetoe is.

Do yourself a favour, just purchase a copy of the book. If you don’t like it, just send it back to Amazon and have your money refunded. Chances are, if you do actually read it, you’ll keep it and most likely refer to it as the other bible: the strength training bible.

If you ever get lost, need more information on the book, don’t quite understand how it all works — shoot me an email, or visit the Bodybuilding.com forums for a wealth of information on this subject.

So, what are you waiting for? Get healthy already and become physically stronger. Lose the beer gut and feel good for once: Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength book is all you need to get started.

Buy the book!

After, take a look at your workout routine and what you’ll be training exactly.

So, let’s rewind back a year ago and beyond that. I was training at a local gym for 7 years straight, till I finally decided to plunk down the cash and buy a squat rack for the home. After saving up non-stop, my wish finally came true and I was the proud owner of a Powertec squat rack system. Long story short, I bought the rack, Olympic bar, weights and a tree-stand to organize the weights. Notice in this equation that a hyper-extension bench is not present. See, I didn’t have enough saved up for it, so I thought to myself, “whatever, I’ll pick it up in the future when I have the funds.”

I should have bought the hyper-extension bench and dealt with the weights thrown all over the floor instead.

Within a month or two my lower back weakened tremendously, and one day it just decided to crap out on me while squatting. Luckily for me, I managed to put the bar back safely onto the rack, but my lower back never felt the same after that incident. Doing squats, deadlifts or anything heavy just wasn’t pleasant for my back. I had to take some time off as much as I was against it. Fortunately for me, over the course of the summer, I had other ways of staying active and fit, so taking some time off weight training wasn’t that bad.

Fast forward two months ago from today. After letting my lower back heal and watching everything I do with it (picking up things from the floor, moving stuff, sleeping, etc) I felt ready to lift weights again. I started off slow and always made sure to keep my back “straight” (that is, arced). Today, I am back up to 90% of my strength, but I have a lot of trouble doing rows.

The moral of this story? Don’t skimp out on the hyper-extensions. They may not be fun to do, but they’re damn-sure necessary. Your lower back can’t always be indirectly trained on its own and needs some direct work, especially when you deal with higher weights.

I decided to go ahead and purchase the hyper-extension machine as the funds were available. It should be coming in this week. Lesson learned.

For those who are curious, I am following Bill Starr’s 5×5 program, featured on Madcow’s site.

The second book by Mark Rippetoe is Practical Programming for Strength Training, targeted towards people who are moving onwards from the beginner’s strength training routine (and entering the intermediate stage). It features chapters on periodization and advance techniques on strength training for people who can no longer move up in strength on the original routine. I will be writing a few articles on the intermediate book as soon as I finish reading it and putting it to use.

Please note that the above is a review and is considered an opinion. This site and its reviews and opinions have nothing to do with Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore or The Aasgard Company.

One of my weakest areas of training is the bench press I have to admit. As of this post, I am going up in weight on the squat and deadlift on a weekly basis, while the power clean and shoulder press are progressing slowly. This is to be expected according to a professional strength training coach as the squat and deaf-lift use more muscles than the other exercises, so you will go up in weight much quicker on them as opposed to the shoulder press, power clean and bench press.

If you are interested in breaking a bench press plateau, take a look at the following suggestions.

1. Eat well and check your diet: most rookies who start training will go up in weight and strength quite quickly without eating properly, but will end up plateauing eventually. Nutrition is probably the biggest cause of plateaus. If you want your muscles to recover and get stronger, proper nutrition is required during this phase. Remember, muscle is not made in the gym; it’s when you go home and recover after your workouts with good, clean food that allows your muscles to grow. Double check your diet; take in more protein and (clean) carbohydrates during the day. After your workout, have more protein (shakes are good) and eat well. Sometimes, people don’t eat enough and hence plateau since the muscles don’t have enough (or any) food to recover.
2. Make sure your triceps and shoulders are good: weak triceps and shoulders will definitely stall your bench press, so make sure they’re up to par with the rest of your body. Are you doing the shoulder presses properly? Perhaps you may need additional triceps work (weighted dips are great!) to help with the load. This is usually overlooked by a lot of people.
3. Switch to dumbbells: some people have better results with dumbbells than barbells. Rippetoe even says that dumbbells are a great (actually, better) alternative to barbells when it comes to the bench press, as it allows greater range of motion. Of course, you should definitely master the barbell bench press first before you switch to dumbbells.
4. Take a break if you are over-training: if you have been training for months without taking a break, you should really consider laying off the weights for a week to let your fatigued body heal completely. Chances are you will come back stronger than when you left the weights. I have personally seen my strength shoot up quite a bit when I did this once, so I recommend this to anyone who has been training non-stop for months. Of course, if you’re a newcomer to weight training, taking a week off during the first 6 months to a year (in my opinion) is useless. Rookies should train as much and not miss a workout for a year (at least) as over-training their bodies during this stage is almost non-existent. For a rookie, there is no such thing as over-training. No such thing.

A lot of people will also recommend doing high repetitions for a month or two. I personally think this “recommendation” isn’t that great since it defeats the whole purpose of a strength training routine. Just my opinion, anyway.

1. Always perform warm ups before your exercises. Warming up allows your muscles to get ready to the exercises’ motions and oncoming weight increases. By getting your muscles warmed up and increasing your heart rate, you are preparing your muscles for activity and letting them know that you’re about to use them. On Rippetoe’s routine, you should always warm up with an empty bar and then gradually increase the weights slowly until your work sets. Take a look at the warming up page for more information on how to properly warm up.
2. Make sure you’re 100% certain you can lift the weight. I’ve seen it too many times and it’s happened to me on one occasion (that resulted in my injury!): people (usually newbies) get too cocky and load up more weight on the bar then they can handle. Besides witnessing weights tumble down onto the floor, the unlucky ones will receive a jolt of pain in specific muscles. My advice: increase your weights slowly and don’t rush anything. Remember, there’s always the next workout to increase in weight!
3. Stretch your muscles after every workout. Usually overlooked and forgotten, stretching after your workouts will help with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) which is basically next-day soreness and/or pain (a lot of rookies new to training will feel it). Stretching is beneficial for keeping your muscles happy, as it allows your muscles to strengthen, increase the range within a joint, and more blood and oxygen to pass through (thanks to the mechanical means of stretching the muscle). This way, future cramps are prevented and you’ll be ready for your next workout without (much) pain. Sometimes people also tend to stretch before their workouts. I consider this good practice as well and highly recommend it to start off your training on the right foot.
   

When starting a strength training routine, there are two workout schedules to follow, and I have listed them below. You will pretty much alternate workouts every other day. Take a look at the schedule below to get an understanding of what to do when:

• Monday: Workout A
• Wednesday: Workout B
• Friday: Workout A

The following week, your schedule will look like this:

• Monday: Workout B
• Wednesday: Workout A
• Friday: Workout B

As you can see, we are alternating workouts every other training day. Now, you don’t have to train only on Monday/Wednesday/Friday; you can, for example, train Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday instead. The key thing to remember here is that you should train 3 times a week non-consecutively as to let your body recover for a full day after your training day. After one week of training is over, you take two days off and then start the next week of training.

If you’re new to weight lifting, stick to this workout routine and don’t change anything. Training more often per week does not mean more results (in fact, you can hinder your progress if you over-train).

The Exercises / Lifts

Here’s a list of the exercises associated for every workout along with their appropriate Sets and Repetitions. These exercises are placed in order, so always follow them accordingly and never do one before the other just because you feel like it or else you will be ruining the whole point of this routine. The numbers next to the exercises are Sets X Reps. If you don’t know any of these exercises or how to execute them properly, look into getting a copy a strength training book for your own sake.

Workout A

• Squats: 3 x 5
• Bench Press: 3 x 5
• Deadlift: 1 x 5
• Dips (weighted): 2 x 5-8

Workout B

• Squats: 3 x 5
• Press: 3 x 5
• Power Clean: 3 x 5
• Chin-ups: 3 x 8

Every Workout / Assistance Work / OPTIONAL

• Weighted Sit-ups at a 45 degree angle on decline bench: 3 x 5
• Weighted Hyper-extensions: 3 x 8

Do not add, remove or substitute ANY of these exercises or else you will be wasting your time. These are key exercises to increasing strength in any individual in the shortest amount of time. No other exercises out there come close to the efficacy of the ones listed above. Adding more exercises to this list is considered over-training. Removing any of these exercises just because you don’t like them means you have already handicapped yourself for gaining the most amount of strength. Please do not mess with this routine or else you are seriously wasting your time. You might as well quit now if you don’t believe in strength training.

As you can see, there is no “bicep curls” or any direct arm work involved because your arms will be indirectly trained over time. I have seen my arms personally grow at their peak just by following this strength training routine and I haven’t done any direct bicep work. Why? Sometimes indirect work to a muscle is the best way to train it as opposed to targeting it directly. A lot of people don’t seem to understand that these days and they choose to ignore it. Just give this program a month of work and you will see your arms get sore without you doing a bicep curl.

Lastly, the weighted sit-ups and hyper-extensions are optional. If it gets in the way of progressing on the five core lifts (squats, deads, power cleans, shoulder presses, bench presses) then stop doing them.

What You Need to Know

Proper warm-ups are always required for proper strength training. You should do a minimum of 3 warm-up sets before you start your heavy sets. If you are unsure how to warm up, take a look at my warming up page.

Never increase (or “ramp”) your working/heavy sets. If you start doing 150 lbs of squats, then you do it 3 times for the remainder of your exercise workout (this is called “sets across”). Do not increase in weight once you have started your heavy set. Leave the increase for the next time you do squats. This goes for any exercise: proper technique is always more important than the amount of weight on the bar.

Somewhat Acceptable Substitutions

Honestly, you should stick to the above exercises, but you can substitute a few of the exercises with the following options. You should know that you’re much better off doing power cleans than barbell rows. As a famous strength training coach has said many times, “My opinion about barbell rows is as follows: f*** barbell rows. Really. F*** them. Stop wasting time worrying about barbell rows and get your deadlift up to 500. By then you’ll have your own opinion and you won’t have to worry about mine.”

• Replacing Power Cleans: you can do Pendlay Rows (3 x 5) and Chin-ups ( 2 x 8 ) as a replacement.
• Replacing Dips: Decline Dumbbell Bench press with your hands’ palms facing each other.

Additions to the Workouts

I’m quite confident to say that these additions will never come handy on this program, but should the need arise, you can add the following exercises to your weekly routine on Fridays only (or the last training day of the week). If you are just starting out new on this program, do not do these until 3 weeks into the routine. Trust me, these are really unnecessary and only here for the few people with exceptions.

• Parallel Bar Dips or Inline Skullcrushers (2 x 8-12)
• Barbell / Dumbell / EZ-Curls: (2 x 8-12)

Workout A

• Squats (3×5)
• Bench Press (3×5)
• Deadlift (1×5)

Workout B

• Squats (3×5)
• Shoulder Press (3×5)
• Power Cleans (3×5)

This section is presently stalled as it would take quite a time to write about every supplement out there. For now, please take a look at pogue’s Sports Supplements Guide for Beginners.

The supplements industry is a multi-billion dollar one and truthfully, one can do without them in their dietary regime. Almost all the supplements you can buy off a store’s shelf can be substituted by eating the right kind of foods. But there comes a time where one does not have sufficient amount of time during a day to consume all the necessary nutrients, or maybe this said person does not enjoy the foods he is eating. Whatever the case, supplements exist and they’re out there for everyone’s taking. Before we dive into what works and what doesn’t, please note that I am not a dietary expert and the advice I give you on the following pages are not to be considered medical advice. With that said, read on!

Proteins

If there is one supplement you should be taking, it is a protein one. Whey protein is an excellent source and highly recommended to any trainer. Simply put, your muscles crave it especially after you “rip” them apart during your training. Muscle recovery thrives on protein, and prohibiting them from it will result is loss of your gains and time. Having a nice protein shake after your workouts is encouraged.

Creatine

A supplement usually seen negatively, creatine still carries a wide load of myths to this day, usually by people who have no idea what this stuff does to begin with. I have decided to dedicate a page solely on explaining what creatine is.

Pro-hormones, Testosterone Boosters & Nitric Oxide

Don’t bother with this crap. Trust me.