This 4 week program is where you should begin if you are a beginner or de-conditioned from not training for a while. It will help you safely develop a solid foundation of strength and control through a full range of motion. You'll use body weight and some lighter free-weights.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

There are several pieces of equipment you’ll need to perform this program. Ideally, you’d have access to a gym with dumbbells up to at least 50 lbs. and a cable machine, but a modest home gym will get the job done as well.

After reading this page, go through the coaching videos and begin writing a list of any equipment you don’t have and order them. I’ve included Amazon links to to make this easy for you.

TRAINING SCHEDULE AND FREQUENCY

Each week you will perform the A, B and C-Day programs once, beginning each session with the same warm-up. It’s nice if you can take a day between training sessions, but not at all needed. On your non-training days, find time to do your Recover & Realign sessions, especially if you’re feeling stiff and sore.

Many newbies make the mistake of thinking that when they’re achy and sore they should move as little as possible and rest. This is a big mistake! Believe it or not, you will be even stiffer and it will last longer. Push through the initial discomfort and you will make much better progress.

WHAT THINGS MEAN ON YOUR TRAINING LOG

First off, you'll find the PDF of your training log with the warm-up for weeks 1 & 2. Print it out and let’s take a look.

1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e are what we call a super-set.

That means you perform a set of each consecutively before repeating the first exercise again.

The column to the right indicates how many reps you’ll perform of each exercise.

This part of your training session goes like this…

Perform 8 split squats per leg, immediately do a batwing on the floor for 20 seconds, followed by 8 repetitions of butt to wall, 8 goblet box squats and a plank on forearms. This is your first super-set. Rest a minute, sip your water, perform that two more times and you’re done.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR WEIGHTS

Choosing the appropriate weights for each exercise is more art than science, at least for beginners or when you’re de-conditioned. You don’t truly know your upper limits yet because they haven’t been sufficiently tested.

Advanced athletes know those limits and can use specific percentages of their maximum abilities.

So how do you choose your weights? First, keep these three objectives in mind:

1) Begin with a modest weight and master the quality of the movement.

2) When you can control the movement beautifully, slowly and steadily increase the weight.

3) Never go heavier or do more reps than you can perform with good form.

Keeping "good form" means, not exceeding your current ability to stabilize and protect your joints and ligaments.

Safety is always priority but you need to challenge yourself by increasing the weights. Heavier weights give you stronger, more injury resistant bones and connective tissue. Training to maintain good form with heavier loads means being able to live a more vigorous life without fear of getting hurt.

What this usually looks like…

Generally, your first set will feel easy, your middle set(s) will be getting heavier and your last set should feel kinda heavy.

In truth, the first week you will simply experiment with different weights to find the sweet spot of just challenging enough. Feel free to make a note for yourself if your last weight for an exercise was too easy or too hard.

Each week after that, try to make your first and last sets a little heavier than you did the week before, but never compromise good form.

GOALS FOR THE END OF THE PROGRAM

There are certain strength goals I’d like you to be striving for in several exercises by the end of your 4th week.

*Reverse Lunges – 10 reps per leg (no added weight)
*Push-Ups – 5 reps
*Goblet Squat – 10 reps holding 20% of your body weight
*Single Arm Dumbbell Row – 10 reps each side with 10% of your body weight
*Sumo Stance Deadlift with Dumbbell – 10 reps with 20% of your body weight
*Dynamic Quadruped 1 – 10 reps per side
*Farmer’s Carry – 40 steps with 20% body weight in each hand

If you accomplish them all at the end of the program and are wondering what to do next, congratulations! Nice work. I suggest you then check out The Overhaul Protocol Training Program. It’s an 8 week program I wrote specifically for everyone who completes Foundational Strength.

If you haven’t reached all of these goals at the end of the month, I recommend repeating week 4 of the training program for several more weeks until you do.