Novice Linear Progression (3-Lift)

A three-day full-body novice programme built around four or five compound lifts: squat, press, bench press, deadlift, and power clean (or barbell row where power cleans are unavailable). Sessions alternate between Workout A and Workout B across the week, with a full rest day between each training day. The defining feature is simple: the same lifts appear every session, and weight goes up every time.

Novices in their first several months of structured barbell training, or returning lifters who have lost their old numbers and want a fast, rules-driven re-ramp. Most suitable when you can train three times a week with a rest day between sessions and recover from lower-body work.

Workout A runs squat 3×5, press 3×5, deadlift 1×5. Workout B runs squat 3×5, bench press 3×5, and power clean 5×3 (or barbell row 3×5). Squat appears in every session; bench and press alternate across the week, as do deadlift and power clean. You are not rotating exercises — the same small menu repeats while the weight goes up.

Add weight to every working set in every session. Typical starting increments are around 2.5 kg on upper-body lifts and 5 kg on lower-body lifts, halving once progress slows. Deadlift and power clean progress once a week rather than session by session. When a lift stalls (failing to hit 3×5 at the same weight across two attempts), reset to roughly 90% of the stall weight and ramp back up; when that stops working too, graduate to an intermediate programme such as Texas Method or Madcow 5×5.

Starting Strength was popularised by Mark Rippetoe in *Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training* (2005) and the novice programme chapter of *Practical Programming for Strength Training*. VALDA adapts the training pattern — lifts, reps, and progression rule — for use inside the app, but does not claim authorship of the method.