Basic Strength & Fitness Program For Non-Athletes by Jason Blaha

[alexanderberg]

Please Watch The Video For Progression & Basic Lift Information!


Workout 1
Barbell Squat 25%x5, 50%x5, 5 rep
Bench Press or Floor Press 25%x5, 50%x5, 5 reps
Conventional Deadlift 25%x5, 50%x5, 5 reps
Standing Overhead Press 50%x5, 5 reps
Chinups 3-5 negatives or 5 reps
Ab work one set 10-20 reps


Workout 2
Barbell Squat 25%x5, 50%x5, 6 rep
Bench Press or Floor Press 25%x5, 50%x5, 6 reps
Conventional Deadlift 25%x5, 50%x5, 6 reps
Standing Overhead Press 50%x5, 6 reps
Chinups 3-5 negatives or 5-6 reps
Ab work one set 10-20 reps


Workout 3
Barbell Squat 25%x5, 50%x5, 7 rep
Bench Press or Floor Press 25%x5, 50%x5, 7 reps
Conventional Deadlift 25%x5, 50%x5, 7 reps
Standing Overhead Press 50%x5, 7 reps
Chinups 3-5 negatives or 5-7 reps
Ab work one set 10-20 reps


Workout 4
Barbell Squat 25%x5, 50%x5, 8 rep
Bench Press or Floor Press 25%x5, 50%x5, 8 reps
Conventional Deadlift 25%x5, 50%x5, 8 reps
Standing Overhead Press 50%x5, 8 reps
Chinups 3-5 negatives or 5-8 reps
Ab work one set 10-20 reps

[Cranz]

Seems very similar to All Pro's, but I think ( and I've no good routine knowledge ) that it's neglecting the upper back. Most full body routines have you do rows, but then again Jason has much more knowledge so maybe deads + chins are enough.

[alexanderberg]

Seems very similar to All Pro's, but I think ( and I've no good routine knowledge ) that it's neglecting the upper back. Most full body routines have you do rows, but then again Jason has much more knowledge so maybe deads + chins are enough.

Chin-ups will emphasize the lats, teres and lower traps and deadlifts will hit the rhomboids, middle and upper traps, especially if you deadlift with a somewhat flexed thoracic spine. I find that sometimes my traps get very sore even if I didn't do any horizontal rows in a workout.

He also made a video about it:

[fourdegrees]

It's interesting because in the ICF video he says you should row 3x a week

[davisj3537]

I'm no programming wizard, but no one can deny a lot of beginners develop issues from having an overdeveloped chest and anterior delts. Granted most of them are doing more pressing than pulling, but intensity plays a huge role as well. It is no secret bench is an overly glorified lift and many people put too much emphasis on it.

I mean how many people have you run across that their back overpowers their chest and they develop problems because of it? To not have exercises in place to directly counteract anterior dominance makes me nervous. Not trying to say the program is no good. Just getting in on the discussion.

Cliffs-I'd like to see more of a directional pulling/pushing balance.

Edit: You see the same issue in hamstring/quad development. Few people have more developed hamstrings in comparison to quads since you see so many people doing half squats, leg presses and deadlifts. Where is the hamstring dominant exercise?

[alexanderberg]

I'm no programming wizard, but no one can deny a lot of beginners develop issues from having an overdeveloped chest and anterior delts. Granted most of them are doing more pressing than pulling, but intensity plays a huge role as well. It is no secret bench is an overly glorified lift and many people put too much emphasis on it.

I mean how many people have you run across that their back overpowers their chest and they develop problems because of it? To not have exercises in place to directly counteract anterior dominance makes me nervous. Not trying to say the program is no good. Just getting in on the discussion.

Cliffs-I'd like to see more of a directional pulling/pushing balance.

Edit: You see the same issue in hamstring/quad development. Few people have more developed hamstrings in comparison to quads since you see so many people doing half squats, leg presses and deadlifts. Where is the hamstring dominant exercise?

While I can acknowledge the points you make, I think that the importance of directional balance is overstated. Sure, you may press in both in a horizontal and vertical plane and only pull in a vertical plane, but let's take a look at the composition of the back. Sure, you may not be rowing in a horizontal plane, but the muscles that are used during bent-over rows and also hit to a great degree during deadlifts, specifically the rhomboids, trapezius and erectors. I can personally attest to my trapezius being the most sore muscle out of everything after a heavy deadlift session - I know people say that soreness isn't an indicator of blah blah blah, but it just illustrates their involvement. The posterior deltoid still gets worked to a great degree during chin-ups.

I'm personally experimenting with cutting out or not doing nearly any forms of overhead pressing since my anterior delts get worked plenty doing flat presses, incline presses and dips. The fact is that the lateral deltoid doesn't get worked to a big degree during overhead pressing. If you have the arms in front of your while pressing overhead, you're performing shoulder extension, not abduction, and if you're pressing behind the neck, your glenohumeral joint is in external rotation and the lateral deltoid doesn't perform shoulder abduction in that position, only transverse extension (think rear delt fly).

So if anything, I think the overhead press may perhaps be unnecessary and could potentially lead to a harmful imbalance, but I don't think that's likely.


I do, however, see your point about hamstring dominance especially since he advocates a high-bar squat for this program which causes more knee extension which deemphasizes the hamstrings. Leverage has an impact on hamstring involvement in the conventional deadlift, but mostly, the glutes will do a lot of the work. I can personally say that my hamstrings are usually the most sore after a session, but I mostly squat low-bar and wide and my hips are quite high doing conv. deadlifts. Considering who this program is intended towards, I just don't think this will be a major issue, but I understand your point of view.

[davisj3537]

While I can acknowledge the points you make, I think that the importance of directional balance is overstated. Sure, you may press in both in a horizontal and vertical plane and only pull in a vertical plane, but let's take a look at the composition of the back. Sure, you may not be rowing in a horizontal plane, but the muscles that are used during bent-over rows and also hit to a great degree during deadlifts, specifically the rhomboids, trapezius and erectors. I can personally attest to my trapezius being the most sore muscle out of everything after a heavy deadlift session - I know people say that soreness isn't an indicator of blah blah blah, but it just illustrates their involvement. The posterior deltoid still gets worked to a great degree during chin-ups.

I'm personally experimenting with cutting out or not doing nearly any forms of overhead pressing since my anterior delts get worked plenty doing flat presses, incline presses and dips. The fact is that the lateral deltoid doesn't get worked to a big degree during overhead pressing. If you have the arms in front of your while pressing overhead, you're performing shoulder extension, not abduction, and if you're pressing behind the neck, your glenohumeral joint is in external rotation and the lateral deltoid doesn't perform shoulder abduction in that position, only transverse extension (think rear delt fly).

So if anything, I think the overhead press may perhaps be unnecessary and could potentially lead to a harmful imbalance, but I don't think that's likely.


I do, however, see your point about hamstring dominance especially since he advocates a high-bar squat for this program which causes more knee extension which deemphasizes the hamstrings. Leverage has an impact on hamstring involvement in the conventional deadlift, but mostly, the glutes will do a lot of the work. I can personally say that my hamstrings are usually the most sore after a session, but I mostly squat low-bar and wide and my hips are quite high doing conv. deadlifts. Considering who this program is intended towards, I just don't think this will be a major issue, but I understand your point of view.

Good points. While I may not agree with everything you made a good case.

I just think you can't overdo posterior work vs anterior work IF you are being reasonable. You see many people advocating a 2:1 ratio for a reason. This program is at a 1:1 ratio. I do agree that in a lot of cases the balance for push/pull or ham/quad won't be issue. That can be said for most beginners as they don't make it past 3 months of training. If they stuck on this for a year that would be a different story IMO.

[GibRed]

Sorry to drag up an old thread.

But is this designed to be just one working set? or a more typical 3 working sets?

[connorpat1995]

Sorry to drag up an old thread.

But is this designed to be just one working set? or a more typical 3 working sets?

One work set

[nightanole]

I ran this for 2 months during workapalosa. Boy did it suck when i went back to sets of 3. At best it maintained strength. It seems the program just doesnt have enough volume if you are working with or above bw. I went from 175 squats in sets of 3 to 205 for a set of one, but then when i went back on my normal program i had to go back to 175. hell id be at 205 for 3 sets 3x a week if i just did my normal workout.

[GibRed]

I am on a cut so looking to just maintain lbm for now, so I may run it for a few weeks to see how it goes, but then SS or similar when I get to finally lean bulk.