After I broke down what makes a great beginner weight lifting program, I had dozens of people ask for examples. Sure, it’s great to talk about squatting and hinging and progressive overload, but what do all those things mean?

In other words: which program should I actually do?

Here I take a look at 5 of the most popular beginner lifting programs. First, I’ll show the program. Then I tell you the good and bad of each program, giving an overall grade and suggesting some changes to make them better.

These are the 5 programs:

• Starting Strength (SS)
• Ice Cream Fitness 5×5 (ICF 5×5)
• Pull Push Legs (PPL)
• NerdFitness Beginner Bodyweight Circuit
• Westside for Skinny Bastards (WS4SB)

Remember, the best program is the one you can stick to.

All these programs can be useful. The information in this article will help you find the program that gets you results.

Starting Strength

(SS) may be the most popular beginner weight lifting program on the planet. First , the program focuses heavily on the main lifts in powerlifting.

The program is simple: 2 different workouts done 3 days a week.

Workout A Workout B 3×5 Squat 3×5 Squat 3×5 Bench Press 3×5 Overhead Press 1×5 Deadlift 5×3 Power Cleans (can be substituted with Barbell Rows)

The Good

Starting Strength is incredibly simple and easy to understand. It has only 5 exercises to learn, and tells you exactly how much weight you should use each session. The time commitment is present, but it far from extensive.

The progression of the program is easy and logical: start light and add 5lbs a session. The credibility is high – Rippetoe is a renowned strength coach and you will quickly see yourself getting stronger. Unlike a lot of beginner programs, you won’t find yourself exhausted after your first session (which makes you more likely to continue).

The program is basically balanced in terms of the major movements. It has squat, hinge, push, and pull movements.

The Bad

The program is simple, but it throws you into squats and deadlifts very quickly. Frankly, most people don’t have the mobility and balance to squat and deadlift effectively on their first gym session. I see a lot of people on SS adding too much weight before they’ve mastered the movements, limiting their progress and risking injury. Newcomers are often intimidated by squats and deadlifts, and this program does nothing to fix that.

In addition, Starting Strength has no unilateral or core exercises. Squats and deadlifts are not enough to work your core and improve your posture. The program would benefit from including some specific core work. Single-arm and single-leg exercises are important to maintain balance on both sides of your body, but the program misses those as well.

SS does have a pretty balanced mix of movements, but some people don’t like the emphasis on the lower body. You won’t do that much upper body work on Starting Strength, so you might want a different program if that’s part of your goals.

Finally, I hesitate to recommend a program that has 6 sets of squats for every 1 set of hinge. Deadlifts can be super tiring, but I still like having more opportunities to practice them in beginner programs.

The Grade – B+

Starting Strength stands out because of its simple, clear progression. It takes the absolute simplest approach to progress, and for that reason it can be easier to stick to and get results with than other programs.

However, the actual exercises you do in SS may not be the best. They do have the key emphasis on compound movements, but they are missing core work, unilateral work, and work that helps you practice deadlifts/back squats.

Ice Cream Fitness 5×5

Jason Blaha developed to add more upper body work to similar 3×5 and 5×5 beginner programs. The program is similar to Starting Strength (and the related Stronglifts), with a few changes.

As with SS, you’ll do 2 workouts, 3 times a week.

Workout A Workout B 5×5 Squat 5×5 Squat 5×5 Bench Press 1×5 Deadlift 5×5 Bent Over Row 5×5 Standing Press 3×8 Barbell Shrug 5×5 Barbell Row (10% lighter than Workout A) 3×8 Tricep Extension 3×8 Close Grip Bench 3×8 Barbell or Incline Curls 3×8 Barbell or Incline Curls 2×10 Hyperextensions with Plate 3×10 Cable Crunches 3×10 Cable Crunches

 

The Good

If you thought Starting Strength was missing upper body exercises, you won’t think the same about ICF.

ICF 5×5 focuses on the major compound lifts and linear progression, but adds some supplementary exercises for your upper body. It includes all the major movement categories, including some core exercises.

The Bad

ICF 5×5 is long.

These workouts are going to take a long time. 5×5 takes a lot longer than 3×5, and you have more exercises to learn as well. The higher complexity and time commitment makes it less likely that a beginner will stick to it.

Like Starting Strength, ICF suffers from a lack of unilateral exercises. It also has WAY more squatting than hinging – the ratio is now 10 to 1 – and throws you into squats and deadlifts without any preparation.

ICF does have core work, but only one exercise based on the anterior (front) core. I’d like to see more isometric core work that includes the other kinds of core training.

Finally, the increased number of exercises and sets means that it takes more to recover and progress on this program. You’ll need to commit to eating and sleeping a lot or you’ll start to stall.

The Grade – B

If you’re ready for the time commitment, ICF offers more upper body work than the similar Starting Strength. However, it takes much longer and doesn’t solve the bigger problems that Starting Strength has.

Pull Push Legs

There are a number of programs based on a pull push legs (commonly abbreviated PPL) split. The program reviewed here , and is a linear progression program for new lifters.

Unlike Starting Strength and Ice Cream Fitness, PPL is a 6 day a week program. You’ll repeat 3 workouts 2x each.

Pull Push Legs Deadlifts 1×5+/Barbell Rows 4×5, 1×5+ (alternate) 4×5, 1×5+ Bench Press/4×5, 1×5+ Overhead Press (alternate) 2×5, 1×5+ Squat 3×8-12 Pulldowns OR Pull-ups OR Chin-ups 3×8-12 Overhead Press/3×8-12 Bench Press (opposite of first exercise) 3×8-12 Romanian Deadlift 3×8-12 Seated Cable Rows OR Chest Supported Rows 3×8-12 Incline Dumbbell Press 3×8-12 Leg Press 5×15-20 Face Pulls 3×8-12 Triceps Pushdowns superset with3×15-20 Lateral Raises 3×8-12 Leg Curls 4×8-12 Hammer Curls 3×8-12 Overhead Triceps Extensions superset with3×15-20 Lateral Raises 5×8-12 Calf Raises 4×8-12 Dumbbell Curls

The Good

This program covers your bases on all the major movements except core work. Unlike with SS and ICF, you have a good ratio of squatting to hinging because of the inclusion of Romanian Deadlifts.

There is also plenty of opportunity to train upper body (more than you can with Starting Strength).

The program naturally focuses on linear progression and compound exercises, which are the two most important factors to success. Add 5lbs to the first lift of each session (10 for deadlifts) and you will eventually progress.

This program does require you to be in the gym a lot, but that comes with some benefits. From a habit-forming perspective, it

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