Beginners ... How to Start

I see this over and over in my gym. A person which did not do any sports for many years decides to join a gym and starts a "routine". Bad form, dangerous body movement patterns, wrong selection of exercises.

Sometimes there is a good coach to help out but most of the time not.

Our average Joe is about 30 years old, office rat, 10kg (22 lbs) overweight, rounded shoulders, soft belly, anterior pelvic tilt, terrible dorsi flexion, very low motor skills, horrible mobility, dysfunctional glutes. Joe's work capacity is shit, the days of weekend football are long gone.

And he starts squatting with terrible form, benching with terrible form, deadlifting with terrible form.

I strongly believe, before going on a "routine" your body should be prepared for it with minimizing apparent weaknesses, muscular imbalances, wrong posture. Our average Joe should also improve conditioning to be able to handle volume later on. All this is critical for learning proper form later on and handling volume.


Before Joe goes on a routine, let him do this (or something similar) for 6 weeks:
Note: (this is not a copy-paste recipe, rather a template tool how to handle total beginners)




Week 1

Day 1:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
DB chest-supported rows: 2 sets of 8
hanging leg raises: 2 sets of 5

Day 2:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
face pulls: 2 sets of 8
hypers: 2 sets of 8




Week 2

Day 1:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
DB chest-supported rows: 3 sets of 8
push-ups: 3 sets of 8
hanging leg raises: 3 sets of 5

Day 2:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
face pulls: 3 sets of 8
bodyweight squats: 3 sets of 8
hypers: 3 sets of 8




Week 3

Day 1:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
DB chest-supported rows: 3 sets of 8
push-ups: 3 sets of 8
hanging leg raises: 3 sets of 8
hip thrust: 3 sets of 8

Day 2:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
face pulls: 3 sets of 8
bodyweight squats: 3 sets of 8
hypers: 3 sets of 8
side planks: 3 sets of 8

Day 3:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
push-ups: 3 sets of 8
walking lunges: 3 sets of 8
prowler pushes: 5 trips




Week 4

Day 1:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
low cable rows: 3 sets of 8
push-ups: 3 sets of 12
Russian twists: 3 sets of 12
hip thrust: 3 sets of 8

Day 2:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
seated DB presses: 3 sets of 8
bodyweight squats: 3 sets of 15
hypers: 3 sets of 8
side planks: 3 sets of 8
rope: 400 jumps

Day 3:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
push-ups: 3 sets of 15
walking lunges: 3 sets of 12
prowler pushes: 8 trips




Week 5

Day 1:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
low cable rows: 3 sets of 8
push-ups: 3 sets of 20
Russian twists: 3 sets of 12
hip thrust: 3 sets of 8

Day 2:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
seated DB presses: 3 sets of 8
KB squats: 3 sets of 8
hypers: 3 sets of 8
side planks: 3 sets of 8
rope: 800 jumps

Day 3:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
push-ups: 3 sets of 20
pull-ups: 3 sets of 6
walking lunges: 3 sets of 20
prowler pushes: 10 trips




Week 6

Day 1:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
DB rows: 3 sets of 8
push-ups: 3 sets of 20
bench press: 3 sets of 5 (light and supervised with a full stop at chest)
leg raises: 3 sets of 20
hip thrust: 3 sets of 8

Day 2:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
seated DB presses: 3 sets of 8
squats: 3 sets of 5 (light and supervised, highbar)
hypers: 3 sets of 8
side planks: 3 sets of 8
rope: 1000 jumps

Day 3:
bike warm-up: 5 min
mobility drills: 3 min
push-ups: 3 sets of 20
deadlift: 3 sets of 5 (light and supervised, conventional)
pull-ups: 3 sets of 6
walking lunges: 3 sets of 20
prowler pushes: 15 trips



Adjust as necessary based on improving strengths, weaknesses, observations, progress, shorten by a week or two or extend the cycle by a couple of weeks if necessary.

Remember, if Joe's body is not prepared for proper bar paths, correct form and increasing volume, injuries will come, sooner or later.


Now get on a powerlifting program, motherfucker!

How to Select Assistance Exercises and Rep Ranges

I said that before and it is still true: the powerlifts should be your main focus and bread and butter, it is 70-80% of your work and energy, you should have a smart plan regarding each session programming of powerlifts and a mid-term plan (several weeks) as well. A well programmed cycle.

However, carefully selected assistance and corresponding volume on assistance exercises can boost your powerlifts, help you with your weaknesses and MOST IMPORTANTLY improve efficiency and motor skills on the main lift.

Now, what is it, a "weakness".

Many people think a weakness in powerlifting is a small or a weak muscle group. I rather see it as a deviation from the most efficient bar path during the powerlifts. Such weakness prevents my body from optimal transfer of power. So, a weakness can be a weaker muscle group (several muscles), bad firing of some muscles, wrong transition, scar tissue resulting in different movement pattern or, most likely, all the above combined.

Note: to know your weaknesses, it is much better to video yourself and ask a stronger buddy or better yet, a professional coach about your weaknesses. Many times they will be way different from what you might think.


Let's take me as an example:

Squat: I have relatively weak legs compared to strong back and my weakness is that about 3-4" above parallel I hit a sticking point. Also, on very heavy reps the bar shifts a bit forward when looking from the side when strong back tries to take over from weaker muscle groups. So my weakness is the transition from the movement out of the hole at 4" above parallel where the quads should take over and the core should maintain the rigid position for optimal power transfer. Conclusion: quads and core together.

Bench press: I have a very strong triceps and press quite narrow, my weakest part of the benching path is off the chest. Anything I press first 2-4" I will lockout. Conclusion: chest and lats.

Deadlift: Whatever I pull off the floor, I will lockout and my biggest weakness is hips shooting up on heavy reps with upper back rounding and relying again on strong back. The starting position of conventional is where legs are above 4" above parallel, my exact weakness in squats. So, again: quads and core together, with some upper back stability issue on heavier sets.


How do I select assistance now based on "my" weaknesses?

1/ I select what I must, not what I like (better yet, let your coach or buddy select)
2/ I select what I suck at, not what I excel at (better yet, let your coach or buddy select)
3/ for large assistance lifts (front squats, Romanian DL, close grip bench press, etc.), I like to do 3 sets of 6 quite heavy, a little lower volume because they are compound lifts and stress the CNS a lot
4/ for other assistance I like 3 sets of 8-10 moderately heavy (leave 2 perfect reps in the tank on the last set
5/ for abs I like bigger volume, 5 sets of 10, very heavy

So this is how a week (around mid-cycle) might look like, selecting assistance based on my powerlift weaknesses and rep shemes I like and tested to be efficient for me:



Monday:
SQUAT: 6 sets of 3 around 80%
BENCH PESS: 5 sets of 3 around 80%
front squat: 3 sets of 6
pull-ups: 3 sets of 8
ab wheel: 5 sets of 10


Wednesday:
BENCH PRESS: 5 sets of 2 around 80%
DEADLIFT: 4 sets of 2 around 85%
incline DB press: 3 sets of 8
bent over rows: 3 sets of 6
hypers: 3 sets of 8


Friday:
SQUAT: 5 sets of 3 around 80%
BENCH PRESS: 2 sets of 2 with 80%, 4 sets of 2 with 85%, 2 sets of 2 with 80%
chest DB flys: 3 sets of 10
DB lunges: 3 sets of 8
dynamic side plank: 5 sets of 10






Hope you get the idea now. Good luck!