Guides · Programming

The Starting Strength Routine

Three sessions a week. Five compound lifts. Add weight every single session until you can't. That's the whole program — and for a true novice, it's still the fastest way to add plates to a barbell.

Why Starting Strength works for novices

A brand-new lifter can recover from a heavy session in 48–72 hours. That means every workout is an opportunity to lift a little more than last time. Mark Rippetoe's program exploits that window with three full-body sessions per week and micro-jumps in load — 2.5 kg upper, 5 kg lower — until progress stalls. Most trainees add 30–60 kg to their squat in the first three months.

The two workouts

Alternate Workout A and Workout B, three days a week (Mon / Wed / Fri).

Workout A

• Back Squat — 3×5
• Bench Press — 3×5
• Deadlift — 1×5

Workout B

• Back Squat — 3×5
• Overhead Press — 3×5
• Deadlift — 1×5 (or Power Clean 5×3)

Loading rules

• Squat: +5 kg every session.
• Bench / Press: +2.5 kg every session.
• Deadlift: +5 kg every session (moves to every other session once heavy).
• Failed a session? Repeat the same load next time.
• Failed twice in a row? Reset that lift 10% and ramp back with normal jumps.

Tracking linear progression in Altis

Log every working set. Altis's per-exercise Elo turns each session into a comparable score: even when the jump is small, you can see the curve steepening or flattening at a glance.

• Elo climbing session over session → keep loading the standard jumps.
• First missed rep → repeat the load; Elo stays flat.
• Two misses in a row → Altis flags a reset — drop 10% and rebuild.
• Elo plateau across all three lifts for 2+ weeks → linear progression is over; graduate to a 4-week intermediate template (e.g. 5/3/1 or Texas Method).

How long does Starting Strength last?

For most trainees: 3–6 months of pure novice gains before the resets stop working. Bigger, younger, well-fed lifters ride the linear progression longer; older or under-eating lifters cap out sooner. When Elo says it's over, it's over — stalling harder won't unstick it.

How to run this in Altis

1. Open Training and create two saved sessions: "SS Workout A" and "SS Workout B".
2. Alternate A/B in the Planning tab (Mon / Wed / Fri) and enable the reminder.
3. Log every working set. Watch Progress for the first plateau signal per lift.
4. When linear progression ends, compare next-step programs in the powerlifting program comparison.