Beginner Template

Programming Discussion
1

Hello To everyone ,

Some days ago i purchased the Beginner template , which it seems - from a first look and personal review - seems to be a very effective and well planned program .

In terms of Strength training, i am not a novice, but more of returning lifter ( i have some technical proficiency with the lifts because i used to train consistently for some years ) that for various life obligations

was forced to take a hiatus from training for 2 to 3 months , which means that i sure did lose some strength on the basic lifts . I dont know how much strength i lost though.

This also means that , as of present, i have no knowledge of my current 1 RMS ( SQ , BP, DL , Over Head Press , etc etc ) or no knowledge of the weights that i must use

for my first day of training, and i also have no experience with RPE , so this is something completely new to me .

While i have spent the last days reading the Barbell Prescription document , i still have some question as to which is the best or correct method to enter the initial weights

for the frist 2 weeks where you enter the initial weights for your lifts.

So, Should i “spend” 1 week to find the current 1 RMS ( for the exercise that are going to be trained ) for my lifts and then start the program based on the numbers of my

1 RM’ s or should i just head to the gym and try to find the correct weight for the days lifts using RPE as my guide ( i have absolutely zero experience with RPE as already mentioned ) ?

I am afraid that if i enter the wrong weights from the start of the program , this will “follow” me down the road …and that this in time may lead to an overall ineffectiveness

of my training or i am just being too extravagant / excessive here ?

So any thoughts on this from the Designers & Coached of the Beginner Template?

Thanks in advance for your assistance , which will be much appreciated ,

Br,

Giannis

2

Hi Giannis, you’ve chosen a good program and you’ll do well on it if you just try your best to follow the prescription.

There is no way that you’ll break the program based on where you start. Very worst case you may take a few more weeks which in the context of a lifetime of training, really shouldn’t matter.
Go in on day one, warm up and then add weight to the bar. Find a weight that you think you could do a 3-4 more reps at and that’s probably a 6. Follow the guidance for upping the weight for 7s and 8s. If you find it was too heavy, you’ll know because you won’t finish the set. If it was too light, you may not realise but as you add weight over the following sessions you’ll catch up.

There is no right weight to start and there is no wrong way to start. This is really self correcting over time and you’ll learn RPE and get stronger. There is nothing you can do that would ruin this for you other than missing sessions.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

3

Hi Ozneil ,

I really appreciate your immediate and informative reply , it did help. !

Have a nice day

Kind Regards,