Super Strength: 8 Week Strength Building Workout for Beginners
This eight-week program is designed to help you get stronger throughout the entire body. Yes, the big three power lifts are involved, but this isn’t necessarily a powerlifting program. The goal will be to lift more weight with all the major body parts.
You’re going to train five days a week, but none of these workouts will be that long. You should be in and out of the gym or weight room in less than an hour. We’re going to keep this to barbells and dumbbells as much as possible, but you can also expect some machine work. If you don’t have cables or machines, do the best you can with what you do have.
Recommended: Need help building muscle? Take our Free Muscle Building Course
FAQ’s Before We Start
Who are these workouts for?
Beginners and intermediate lifters that are prioritizing strength will see the best results from a program like this. Advanced lifters and competitive powerlifters may not see as much improvement, but they can certainly use this as a way to break the monotony of a previous program they were on.
Will this help me build muscle or lose fat?
You might notice some body composition changes if you’re following a nutrition plan that supports those goals. When it comes to fat loss, your cardio commitment will also play a role in that. To be clear, that is not the purpose of this program. This is designed and focused on strength.
Can I substitute exercises?
You can’t substitute the first lift of each workout. That is how you’re going to gauge the progress you make. If you can’t do them, then this is also not the program for you. As for the other exercises, if you need to swap something out because of the lack of equipment, just make sure you use something that works the same muscle. Our Exercise Database section has a lot of awesome choices to consider.
These workouts are short. Can I combine them or cut rest time to make it quicker or fit my schedule?
If you feel you can cut sometime between sets, then that would be ok. I do not recommend combining workouts so you have fewer days to train. These are meant for you to get in, train hard, and get out. Each muscle group also has ample time to work and recover.
There aren’t enough exercises to target a specific muscle. Can I add those in?
If developing specific muscles are your focus, then you should also consider another program. Training for strength is different than training for hypertrophy. You’re using the weights and exercises for a different purpose. I do not recommend adding movements except if you want to add your own ab training into the program.
Max Out on These Lifts
Before you start the training, you will need to know where you’re starting at. So, you should max out on the following lifts over the course of a week.
- Squat
- Bench Press
- Deadlift
- Standing Barbell Press
- Bent-Over Barbell Row
Max out on one lift each day. Don’t combine max-out days because the max on the second lift may be compromised. I suggest doing three to five warm-up sets followed by three singles to come up with your number. The final weight you succeed with is your max.
Recommended: The Best 15-Minute Warm-Ups
An example of maxing out for a squat may look like this:
- 95 pounds x 5 reps
- 135 pounds x 5 reps
- 185 pounds x 3 reps
- 205 pounds x 3 reps
- 225 pounds x 1 rep
- 245 pounds x 1 rep
- 255 pounds x 1 rep
The weights listed are only examples. The weight you use could be lighter or heavier. Find those numbers and log them because you’ll need them.
The Workouts
The goal is to train five days in a row with two days off. If you need to take a day off in between because of your school or work schedule, that is ok. Just make sure you take two complete days off from weight training a week. Light to moderate cardio is ok, but you shouldn’t push it.
The lifts you max out on are the opening lifts of each workout. Once you warm up, you will perform five working sets with the same weight. The weight you use will be a percentage of your max. That percentage will change each week. The chart below will show you what weights to use each week. This applies to all five opening lifts – squat, bench press, deadlift, standing barbell press, and bent-over barbell row. Rest for three minutes between each set of the opening lifts and two minutes between all other sets.
| Week | Sets/Reps Percentages |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Max Out Week (test your baseline) |
| Week 2 | 5 sets of 4 with 80% of your max |
| Week 3 | 5 sets of 3 with 85% of your max |
| Week 4 | 5 sets of 2 with 90% of your max |
| Week 5 | 4 sets of 4 with 80% of your max |
| Week 6 | 4 sets of 3 with 85% of your max |
| Week 7 | 4 sets of 2 with 90% of your max |
| Week 8 | Max Out Week (retest) |
On the eighth week, you’ll test out all five lifts again as you did in the first week. You should notice an improvement in all of them, but the amount of improvement will vary from person to person. You may also see more improvement in one lift than another.
Below are the workouts you will follow for the next seven weeks after your first max-out week.
Monday - Squat
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | See Chart | See Chart |
| Front Squat | 3 | 5 |
| Bulgarian Split Squat | 3 | 8 |
| Leg Extension | 3 | 8 |
Tuesday - Bench Press
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | See Chart | See Chart |
| Incline Bench Press | 3 | 5 |
| Dumbbell Fly | 3 | 8 |
| Tricep Dips | 3 | 8 |
Wednesday - Deadlift
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | See Chart | See Chart |
| Good Mornings | 3 | 5 |
| Lying Leg Curl | 3 | 8 |
| Walking Lunge | 3 | 8 |
Thursday - Standing Barbell Press
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Standing Barbell Press | See Chart | See Chart |
| Front Raise | 3 | 5 |
| Seated Lateral Raise | 3 | 8 |
| Rope Tricep Extension | 3 | 8 |
Friday - Bent-Over Barbell Row
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Bent-Over Barbell Row | See Chart | See Chart |
| Pull Up or Lat Pull Down | 3 | 5 |
| Rear Lateral Raise | 3 | 8 |
| Incline Dumbbell Curl | 3 | 8 |
Nutrition
Some of you reading this may be wanting to lose weight, but restricting calories too much could hurt your strength cause. If you want a general guideline to follow, I would suggest sticking to these macro goals every day.
- Protein - .75 -1 gram per pound of bodyweight
- Fats - .5 grams per pound of bodyweight
- Carbs – 1 gram per pound of bodyweight
- Water – 1 gallon per day
You can break that up over 5-6 meals so they are smaller, or in three meals if that suits you best.
Recovery
Any and all forms of recovery could help you maximize your potential. Massages, foam rolling, stretching, and percussive gun treatments would all serve you well. The most important one of all is sleep. If you’re not sleeping enough, you aren’t going to see the best results.
What to Do After This Program
After you max out again on the eighth week, you can either give it a second run or move on to another program based on your new goals. That is up to you. If you take this for the full run, we would love to see how you do. Share your results in our comments section so we can encourage each other.