training program for beginner

[Fat Boy]

i do have some video from a couple weeks back actually. i wouldn't have a clue how to put them up though. i will ask me mate to do it for me but

and for all this troll talk. i found this on google: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29

is that what you're talking about? are you fairdinkum? what did i say to start an argument or upset people by posting inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages to provoke an emotional response or disrupt normal on-topic discussion? that's what wikipedia says a troll (internet) is. mate, all i did was ask for some advice which i'd think is right on topic for this place. but i've never been on forums before so maybe i'm wrong??? anyway, reading what some of you blokes have wrote, according to that website you guys are like a troll!

[Fat Boy]

Check your weights, make sure those "kilos" aren't pounds. Otherwise you're probably not a beginner and you should read PPST.

def kilograms, mate. we don't use pounds over here. me mate doesn't have that book either. and the missus still hasn't been to the library. really though, i just need some basic advice. i'm not a serious weight lifter, i just started a couple months ago and read starting strength recently, now i'm not sure if i should just keep doing what i've been doing or do the program in the book?

pretty much i have two simple questions:

1. what should i do now to keep getting a bit stronger?
2. when i'm happy with my strength, what can i reduce things to just to keep it?

actually, i've got a few other things that are a bit confusing and would like to ask about them. but given the response from some of these wankers i think i'll just leave it at that for now

[Dan Stewart]

what are you talking about shutdowns for? coz i didn't. hard yakka...you're joking, right? maybe for office workers and formworkers! shutdowns are a holiday compared to city work. i've done plenty of FIFO work over the years and apart from the hours it doesn't compare. you spend your days gearing up, hanging from your balls for half an hour, then coming down to hydrate as per reg most of the time. plus you hardly ever use system, it's all tube and fit. more to the point, you're never humping gear all day and you'd get your ass kicked off the job for carrying more than 2 standards on any of the shutdowns i've worked (karratha, gove, roxby) anyway. so you're talking out your ass. why?

i've been scaffing for 12 years. x6 standard carries are a daily routine now. x5-6 boards, x8 2.4s, x4 8 board trannies, etc. you know how much a standard weighs right? 20 kg (not factoring the render the tradies get on em or how shit a job the yardies done cleaning the gear). 8 footers 15 kg, bitch trannies 25 kg, etc. do the math. you probably think one handed three star lifts are unbelievable too! i don't know why you bring up your bro's fairytales, that's what you call "flagrant bullshit". humping gear all day is ordinary. so you're either not a scaffer or you're just a soft cock. either way, you're just some wanker who came in here talking shit trying to be a dick for whatever reason. i came here to get some advice from mark, and provided some background info that i thought might be relevant to whatever suggestion he might have for me. take a hike, buddy

Look mate maybe there is a world of supermen out there just walking around with 120kg over their shoulder and yes full points, I'm not a scaffer and my only experience with them is on shutdowns and a very little bit of formfit in the city. Sometimes out here on site you forget that the mines regs have created a soft and fluffy little world all of its own where no one is allowed to work too hard so no one gets hurt, so I'll give you that one. To put in perspective the reason you are getting called a troll on this thread though, you're saying that within 8 weeks you have surpassed the strength standard for an advanced lifter, all the while lifting phenomenal loads all day at work as well. Within a few months, you'll meet the standard for an elite lifter. I suppose the freaks have to come from somewhere though, so if you (and the guys you work with?) are that genetic freak, then I wholeheartedly apologise, I take off my hat and I commend you.
But if you're just talking shit, get a life.

[DeriHughes]

... given the response from some of these wankers i think i'll just leave it at that for now

Wow, you're coming across pretty aggressively for someone asking for free advice you know.. If you're legit then I'm sure we'll all apologise. But if you are, then you would also realise the numbers you claimed and the sophistication of your programme (pause benches, multiple different types of squats etc.) demonstrate that you're not really an 8-weeks in beginner who is just "doing his own thing" and doesn't know anything about lifting. Which is why it smells of bullshit - feel free to provide some proof that it's not, or just call us all wankers again for questioning you.

Re your questions, I would say:
1. Keep doing what you're doing if it's working. If you're stalling, deload 10% and build back up. Start micro-loading your lifts. Buy PPST3 and read it.
2. I don't think you will be able to stop gaining strength, given your genetics, unless you take up CrossFit

[Fat Boy]

Look mate maybe there is a world of supermen out there just walking around with 120kg over their shoulder and yes full points, I'm not a scaffer and my only experience with them is on shutdowns and a very little bit of formfit in the city. Sometimes out here on site you forget that the mines regs have created a soft and fluffy little world all of its own where no one is allowed to work too hard so no one gets hurt, so I'll give you that one. To put in perspective the reason you are getting called a troll on this thread though, you're saying that within 8 weeks you have surpassed the strength standard for an advanced lifter, all the while lifting phenomenal loads all day at work as well. Within a few months, you'll meet the standard for an elite lifter. I suppose the freaks have to come from somewhere though, so if you (and the guys you work with?) are that genetic freak, then I wholeheartedly apologise, I take off my hat and I commend you.
But if you're just talking shit, get a life.

i've been scaffing for 12 years though. i can still remember 2 standards feeling like a tonne when i first started. obviously, like training with weights, physical labour builds strength too. not as effectively as lifting weights but you'd expect someone to improve after more than a decade on the tools, unless they're a bludger. and not every scaffer humps 6 standards and 5 boards, etc. but our blokes are competitive bastards, plus us leading hands get decent bonuses completing jobs under time, which is a bloody good incentive to encourage the competitiveness and lead by example. turtles don't last long with us. when you have 30 odd tonne to strip you can't afford to have them around

so it's got nothing to do with genetics i don't think. just hard work, day after day, year after year. you'd think i started working out from a different base than some bloke that's been sitting on his ass at a computer for 10 years. and likely have a different mental approach than him in the gym too

[Fat Boy]

Wow, you're coming across pretty aggressively for someone asking for free advice you know.. If you're legit then I'm sure we'll all apologise. But if you are, then you would also realise the numbers you claimed and the sophistication of your programme (pause benches, multiple different types of squats etc.) demonstrate that you're not really an 8-weeks in beginner who is just "doing his own thing" and doesn't know anything about lifting. Which is why it smells of bullshit - feel free to provide some proof that it's not, or just call us all wankers again for questioning you.

Re your questions, I would say:
1. Keep doing what you're doing if it's working. If you're stalling, deload 10% and build back up. Start micro-loading your lifts. Buy PPST3 and read it.
2. I don't think you will be able to stop gaining strength, given your genetics, unless you take up CrossFit

just returning the favour. i think one bloke in here gave a legit response. you act like an asshole you get treated like an asshole. i made my post here to ask for some advice and wasn't aggressive at all. most of you blokes seemed more concerned with something else than offering any and made no questions relevant to helping someone out but chose to be hostile instead. so thanks at least for your tips now. i didn't realize my numbers were anything special either. and as to the exercises i'm doing, they're about the most basic movements i can think of. squatting and picking things up is only natural, i do it everyday at work. and everyone knows how to bench. when i tried to think of a way to make it harder, pausing on my chest for a long time seemed the most obvious thing to do. i thought of and tried bringing my grip in really close, but it didn't seem as good as just holding the bar on my chest for a few seconds. i also played league as a kid. we used to overhead press with dumbells, squat, deadlift, bench, and row with barbells in gym. our coach always made us pause on the bench cause a lot of kids would cheat (sort of bounce it) and he had us do different kinds of squats. front squats, jump squats, overhead squats etc. but i always preferred the squat with the barbell high on my back. i don't have any dumbells, otherwise i'd use them to overhead press but the barbell is good enough

i don't know what proof is needed for either. i'm only after advice on how to structure the program, not a pat on the back. maybe if i wanted some pointers on how to perform the exercises, that would make sense

1. seems most logical. i'll keep doing what i been doing
2. isn't there a way to just maintain? maybe cut training back to once or twice a week and rotate the exercises at maybe fewer reps but as heavy as you can do? something like:

day 1 (monday for arguments sake)
squat with the bar low on the back for 4 sets of 3 reps
bench with a short pause for 4 sets of 3 reps
deadlift for 3 sets of 5 reps

day 2 (friday)
deadlift 4 sets of 3 reps
bench with no pause for 5 sets of 5 reps
squat with the bar high on the back for 3 sets of 5 reps

and the followng week would be day 1 on tuesday and day 2 on saturday and keep going like that. maybe every second week change one of those bench exercises for an overhead press or just throw some in at the end of every second workout for a couple sets but higher reps, say 8? if anyone has done a sort of maintenance program, any pointers would be good. but when the time comes i'll just have to experiment i guess

[dotyl9h]

tldr, bloke

[ChrisRozon]

So I think your original question was about choosing starting weights?

Anyway, there's a good section in the beginning of the Starting Strength book on this, basically involving some trial and error on your first session. Since you're already lifting, you can probably just eyeball what you think you can hit 3x5 / 1x5 and adjust as needed over the next workout.