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Start Lifting When You Don't Know What to Do book cover

“I want to start lifting, but I don't know what to do once I walk into the gym.”

12 weeks · 158-page book PDF

Start Lifting When You Don't Know What to Do

Strength Training for Beginners: Your First Gym Visit, the Moves That Matter, How Much to Lift and How to Keep Going

You want to get stronger, but the gym feels like a place where everyone else already knows what to do.

By Quincy L. Harvey, strength and conditioning coach.

$9.99

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  • Instant download: 6 x 9 in PDF
  • The program in the app, ready to log
  • The full book: 15 chapters in 5 parts, with the published source behind every finding
  • Your first gym visit, step by step, including what to do when you feel watched
  • The five basic movement patterns, each with an easier and a harder version
  • How to choose your starting weights with a simple 1-to-10 effort scale
  • What soreness is normal, what pain is not, and when to stop
  • A 12-week beginner plan: three days a week, with a lighter week every fourth week
  • The 12-week plan as its own printable PDF to download and take to the gym
  • The same 12-week plan in the Composite Athlete app, so you can log every session on your phone
  • An illustrated guide to every exercise in the plan
  • Educational information only; not medical advice

Look inside

Start Lifting When You Don't Know What to Do is a strength training guide for adults who are starting out or coming back after years away. Coach Quincy L. Harvey starts before your first set: what to bring, which equipment to use, the few moves that matter, how much weight to pick up and how hard to work. Every finding comes with its published source.

A page from Start Lifting When You Don't Know What to Do
Quincy L. Harvey, founder of Composite Athlete

About the coach

Quincy L. Harvey is a strength and conditioning coach and the founder of Composite Athlete. His own training spans running from 5K to the half marathon, track and field, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, mixed martial arts, weightlifting, bodybuilding, functional fitness and mountain biking. He writes plans for people with a specific goal and a real week.

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