Rippetoe's novice linear progression is the simplest program that works. Here's how to run it as a coach without grinding beginners into a stall.
The Starting Strength beginner method is almost aggressively simple: big barbell lifts, small weight added every session, for as long as recovery allows. This breakdown covers the method in our own words, adds our honest take on running it across a coaching roster - especially when to end the linear phase - and shows how to template the whole novice block once and reuse it for every new lifter you sign.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Rippetoe's novice linear progression works because an untrained lifter adapts fast enough to add a little weight to the main barbell lifts every session - so you exploit that early window with the simplest possible program instead of borrowing an advanced lifter's periodization. The one thing a coach should do about it: run the novice block as a simple, templated first phase, keep the weight jumps small enough to keep succeeding, and get good at spotting the end of the linear phase so you reset and progress the client instead of grinding them into repeated misses.
Mark Rippetoe - The Novice Linear Progression: Your First 30 Days
Source: Mark Rippetoe on the Starting Strength channel - "The Novice Linear Progression: Your First 30 Days". Watch on YouTube. The video sits on the official Starting Strength channel, which Rippetoe founded and authored the method for. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Starting Strength, and nothing here implies any endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Mark Rippetoe, and why coaches watch
Mark Rippetoe is an American strength coach and the author of Starting Strength, one of the most influential barbell-training texts in the field, and the founder of the coaching method and organization that carries its name. For strength-minded coaches he is a foundational reference: the Starting Strength model of teaching the main barbell lifts and progressing beginners linearly has shaped how a huge share of the industry thinks about novice programming. This video sits on the official Starting Strength channel, where Rippetoe teaches the method directly. The lens for this page isn't "should I run Starting Strength by the book," but "what does Rippetoe's novice-progression logic mean for how I onboard and progress new lifting clients across a whole roster."
What Rippetoe actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas in the video and the published Starting Strength method, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact examples and coaching detail.
- 1
Beginners adapt fast, so keep the program simple. An untrained lifter improves session to session, which means they don't need the periodization and wave loading of an advanced trainee - the novice window rewards the simplest program that keeps adding stress.
- 2
Progress the main barbell lifts, not accessories. The novice progression is built on the big compound barbell movements - that's where a beginner can add load quickly and where the strength that matters is built.
- 3
Add a small increment every session. The engine of the method is adding a little weight each workout for as long as it's possible - small, repeatable jumps that keep succeeding rather than big leaps that break down.
- 4
Recovery is what lets it continue. The progression only lasts as long as the lifter can recover enough to hit the next jump - eating and sleeping are part of the program, not optional extras, and they're often what actually stalls beginners.
- 5
It's a first phase, not forever. Linear progression exploits a temporary window. When adding weight every session stops working, the lifter has left the novice stage and needs a reset and eventually more structured programming - the skill is recognising that transition.
Coachway's take
We're fully on board with the core principle, and it's the discipline most coaches lack with beginners: for a true novice, the simplest program that keeps adding load is almost always the right one. New coaches love to over-engineer a first block - fancy splits, accessory menus, periodization a beginner has no use for yet. Rippetoe's point is the opposite: a beginner is a progression machine, so get out of the way and let them add weight to the big lifts.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: Rippetoe is describing an ideal novice who can train the barbell lifts a few times a week and recover well. Your roster isn't uniform. Some clients can't get under a barbell three times a week, some are learning the lifts over video with no gym floor to correct them, and some need the increments even smaller than the standard jumps to keep succeeding. The method survives all of that - but only if you treat the numbers as adjustable and the client's actual recovery and schedule as the real constraint.
The other coaching-specific job the program doesn't do for you is calling the end of it. A stalling beginner is the single most common place coaches go wrong - they keep prescribing the same jump the client keeps missing, and morale collapses. Your value is spotting the end of the linear window early: when clean reps stop landing across several honest attempts, you reset the weight and rebuild, and when a reset stops buying progress, you move the client toward more structured programming. That judgement is the coaching, not the spreadsheet.
So our version of his advice is: start every genuine beginner on a simple novice block built on the main lifts, keep the jumps conservative and technique-gated, treat food and sleep as part of the program, and watch for the stall so you progress the client instead of grinding them. Then - and this is the part that saves your evenings - build that novice block once as a template and reuse it, instead of hand-writing a first program for every new lifter from scratch.
Build the novice block once, assign it to every new lifter
A novice progression is only useful if you can deliver and monitor it without rebuilding a program for every new client. That's what Coachway's workout builder is for: build your novice linear-progression block once as a reusable template - the alternating barbell sessions, set and rep schemes, and per-lift starting loads - then assign it to each new lifter and adjust the increments to their recovery instead of starting blank. Because clients log every session, you can see whether the jumps are actually landing, and client progress tracking turns those logged lifts into the trend you watch for the stall - so you catch the end of the linear phase from the data instead of guessing.
If you want the strategy layer first, our guide to creating a client workout program covers building a first block that clients actually run, and the companion piece on workout programming principles for coaches covers the progression logic you extend once a beginner outgrows the linear phase.
Novice linear-progression starter block (fill-in)
A fill-in block you can copy for any new lifter. It follows the Starting Strength structure - two alternating barbell sessions run on three non-consecutive days a week, adding weight each session - but the starting loads, increments and reset rules below are our coaching defaults for onboarding a client, not figures stated in the video. Set the numbers to the individual, keep the jumps small enough to keep succeeding, and gate every jump on clean reps.
Novice block planner
The week (3 non-consecutive days, alternate A / B)
| Day | Session | Main lifts | Your notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Workout A | Squat, overhead press, deadlift | — |
| Tue | Rest | — | — |
| Wed | Workout B | Squat, bench press, row | — |
| Thu | Rest | — | — |
| Fri | Workout A (then B next week) | Squat, overhead press, deadlift | — |
| Sat | Rest / easy walk | — | — |
| Sun | Rest | — | — |
Per-lift progression + reset (coaching defaults, not from the video)
| Lift | Working sets | Add / session | Reset trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | 3 x 5 | smaller increment | miss reps 3 sessions |
| Bench press | 3 x 5 | smallest increment | miss reps 3 sessions |
| Overhead press | 3 x 5 | smallest increment | miss reps 3 sessions |
| Deadlift | 1 x 5 | larger increment | miss reps 2 sessions |
| Row | 3 x 5 | smaller increment | miss reps 3 sessions |
How to use it: start each lift at a load the client completes with clean technique, then add the smallest increment that lets them keep succeeding every session. Only bank a jump when the reps and form hold. When a lift misses across the reset trigger above, drop it back (a ~10% cut is a common reset) and build up again - and if the reset stalls too, the client has left the novice phase and needs more structured programming.
NOVICE LINEAR-PROGRESSION STARTER BLOCK (via Coachway) - Starting Strength structure, 3 non-consecutive days/week, alternate A / B THE WEEK Day Session Main lifts Your notes Mon Workout A Squat, overhead press, deadlift Tue Rest Wed Workout B Squat, bench press, row Thu Rest Fri Workout A (then B next week) Squat, overhead press, deadlift Sat Rest / easy walk Sun Rest PER-LIFT PROGRESSION + RESET (coaching defaults - our onboarding defaults, not from the video) Lift Working sets Add/session Reset trigger Squat 3 x 5 smaller increment miss reps 3 sessions Bench press 3 x 5 smallest increment miss reps 3 sessions Overhead press 3 x 5 smallest increment miss reps 3 sessions Deadlift 1 x 5 larger increment miss reps 2 sessions Row 3 x 5 smaller increment miss reps 3 sessions HOW TO USE: Start each lift at a clean-technique load. Add the smallest increment that keeps succeeding every session; only bank a jump when reps and form hold. On the reset trigger, drop the load back (~10% is a common reset) and rebuild. If the reset also stalls, the client has left the novice phase - move to more structured programming.
Novice linear progression for clients - FAQ
What is novice linear progression?
Novice linear progression is Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength method for beginners: you train the main barbell lifts a few times a week and add a small amount of weight every single session, for as long as recovery allows it. The logic is that an untrained lifter adapts so fast that they can get stronger workout to workout - there is no need for the wave loading, deloads and periodization that a more advanced lifter requires. As a coach, the takeaway is that a brand-new client's program should be almost boringly simple: pick the big lifts, add weight often, and don't complicate what is already working.
How long does novice linear progression last before it stops working?
Only as long as the client can recover enough to add weight session to session - which is the fast early adaptation window Rippetoe is exploiting, not a fixed calendar length. When a client starts missing the same jump across several attempts even with food and sleep in order, that is the signal the pure add-every-session phase is ending, and it is time to reset the weight and eventually move toward more structured progression. For a coach, the honest framing is: linear progression is the first block, not the whole plan, and the skill is spotting the end of it early instead of grinding a stalled beginner into the ground.
Should beginners really add weight every session?
Within the novice window, yes - that is the entire point of the method, and it is what makes it so motivating for new clients: visible progress on the bar at every session. The nuance a coach has to add is that the increment has to be small enough to keep succeeding at, and that adding weight only counts when reps and technique hold. A jump the client can only complete by breaking down their form is not progress you want to bank. So the coaching version is: add weight every session the client earns it, keep the jumps conservative, and treat clean reps as the thing you are actually progressing.
Is Starting Strength a good program for online coaching clients?
For a genuine beginner who wants to get strong with barbells and can train consistently, the novice linear progression is a very defensible starting block - it is simple to run, simple to explain, and it produces fast, morale-building results. Where a coach earns their keep is the parts the program itself does not solve: teaching the lifts remotely, checking form from video, adjusting when a client's schedule or recovery does not fit three barbell sessions a week, and knowing when to end the linear phase. Run as one templated block that you monitor and adapt per client, it fits online coaching well; run blindly, it stalls like anything else.
More training-science breakdowns
- · Alan Thrall on the Starting Strength deadlift setup - teaching the barbell lifts your novice block is built on.
- · Dr. Mike Israetel on how many sets per muscle - the volume logic you extend once a lifter outgrows linear progression.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
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Build the novice block once, reuse it across every new lifter
A novice progression only pays off if you can deliver and monitor it without rebuilding a program per client. Coachway's workout builder lets you template your linear-progression block, assign it in seconds, and adjust the increments per client - while they log every session so progress tracking shows you when the linear phase is ending. Start your 14-day free trial and onboard your first lifting client from one screen.
