The HSKY Beginner Program

This is a novice/beginner general strength training program. It aims to build a solid amount of muscle and strength to someone with little to no experience in the weight room. It should be run for around 12 weeks, since this is enough time for the benefits of the program to be reaped. However, it can be run for many more weeks if necessary. 

Without any more rambling, here is the program:

Additional Notes:

- Rest 1 day between sessions

- Focus on mastering the form from the beginning while the weight is still light. Recording yourself can really help with this

- For exercises in the "C" category, weight is less important than form

- There is no need to increase the weight on these exercises until it becomes easy, so only do so every few weeks

- All the exercises in the program can be substituted/rotated depending on preference, past injuries etc. I have provided a exercises substitution list below.

- Assistance exercises (C category) can be rotated every 3-4 weeks if wanted

- The main exercises (A and B category) shouldn't be changed for the duration of the cycle(12-16 weeks)

- Test your main lifts on the last day of the cycle

Substitutions include but are not limited to:

- Squat Variation: High Bar Back Squat, Low Bar Back Squat, Front Squat, Pause Back Squat

- Hip Hinge(Hamstrings): Romanian Deadlift, Hyperextension, Goodmorning, Stiff Legged Deadlift

- Quad Accessory: Step Up, Leg Press, Reverse Hack Squat, Reverse Lunge

- Core Exercise: Ab Wheel Rollout, Suitcase Hold, Leg Raise

- Horizontal Press: Bench Press, Weighted Dip, Larsen Press

- Vertical Press: Overhead Press, Pin Press, Trap Bar Overhead Press, AD Press

- Vertical Pull: Chinup, Neutral Grip Pullup

- Horizontal Row: Facepull, Rear Delt Flye, Cable Y Raise, Inverted Row, Seal Row

- Explosive Exercise: Power Clean, Power Snatch, Snatch Grip High Pull, Jump Squat, Kettlebell Swing

- Deadlift Variation: Conventional Deadlift, Sumo Deadlift, Trap Bar Deadlift

- Knee Flexion: Seated Leg Curl, Glute Ham Raise, Nordic Curl

This is a perfect program for novice trainees. The 3 day split allows for full recovery between sessions. The main premise of this program is to perform 5 x 5 for every primary movements and add 2.5kgs every week(this may not be possible for some upper-body movements). A trainee can run this program for as long as they like until they reach the early-intermediate stage(for most, this will be around the 100kg bench press, 140kgs squat and 180kgs deadlift). If you decide to run the program past 16 weeks, test your maxes and then reset the program with 70% of your 1RM on each lift. Your progress will slow down as you spend more time on this program. 

Just in case you don't understand the progression model presented here, below is a hypothetical scenario of a lifter who is on the program and the progression that this lifter would employ:

This is a great friggin program and I would run it myself if I had to start training all over again. All you have to do is work hard, stay consistent, sleep and eat plenty of food. Enjoy!