Programme
SP First Steps
These programmes are general training information, not coaching and not medical advice. They cannot know your injury history, your health, or how you slept. Start at a weight you are certain you can control, stop if something hurts rather than aches, and if you are training around an injury or a health condition — or you have not trained before — get a professional's eyes on it first.
For anyone who's never really lifted before and finds a barbell intimidating on day one. Two full-body sessions a week, built almost entirely around machines and dumbbells, so the focus stays on learning to push yourself rather than learning technique under load at the same time.
Day A
- Leg Press — 3 × 10
- Chest Press Machine — 3 × 10
- Seated Row Machine — 3 × 10
- Lat Pulldown — 3 × 10
- Leg Curl — 2 × 12
- Plank — 3 × 20–30s
Day B
- Leg Extension — 3 × 12
- Leg Curl — 3 × 12
- Shoulder Press Machine — 3 × 10
- Cable Row — 3 × 10
- Assisted Dip or Push-Up — 3 × AMRAP
- Plank — 3 × 20–30s
Rotate A/B twice a week with a rest day between sessions. Add a little weight or a rep whenever a set feels comfortably completed. After 6–8 weeks of steady progress, SP Foundations below is the natural next step once you're ready to bring barbell work in — see "Choosing Your First Programme" under Articles for more on when to make that jump.
The list
New kit, new programmes and training content, sent when there is actually something to say. No weekly nothing-emails.