What to expect in your first four weeks

The first four weeks are not where the results are. They are where the habit is, and the habit is the thing everything else is built on. If you go looking for a changed body in week two you will be disappointed by something that is going perfectly well.

Week one

Loads are deliberately conservative. The job is to learn the movements and finish every session feeling like you could have done more. Almost everyone wants to push harder here. Almost everyone who does misses week three.

Weeks two and three

Soreness settles, loads start moving, and the sessions begin to feel routine rather than novel. This is the point most people historically stop, which is exactly why the check-in exists.

What to measure

• —Sessions completed out of sessions planned. That number is the program.
• —Weight on the bar, or reps at the same weight.
• —How you sleep, and how the stairs feel.
• —Photos monthly, not daily. The scale weekly, not daily.

If four weeks in you have done most of your sessions and the loads have crept up, the block worked — whatever the scale says.