Reader,

At training 3 days a week, your first 100 sessions takes about 8 months. That's the real unit of measurement and something I look for my lifters to accomplish when I bring them on board. Once you understand what happens inside that window, the six-week transformation promises start to look pretty silly.

The first month is about getting your technique locked in. Squat, press, deadlift, done right, every time. For most people this is the first time anyone has ever actually coached them through these movements, and the difference between someone who has 20 sessions of good reps under their belt and someone who has been winging it for two years is immediately obvious. The foundation to the rest of your training starts here with quality, efficient movement. Everything that comes later is built on top of it.

Then the progression starts to ramp up. The weight goes up every single week, and it does that for months. New personal records on the squat, the deadlift, the press, bench, and key accessory lifts stacking up session after session. That's the novice progression doing exactly what it's supposed to do, and most trainees, even those that have attempted it on their own before, have genuinely never experienced anything like it. They came in squatting a shakey 95-185lbs pounds and five months later they're hitting 275-315.

Somewhere around in the middle the the body starts to catch up with the performance. The weight on the bar has been climbing for months and now it shows. Clothes fit differently, your wife and kids start noticing you are bigger and stronger. The movements that felt technical and deliberate early on are automatic now. You've learned how to grind and push and get in the gym and train whether you want to or not. There's a confidence that comes from knowing exactly what you're capable of and watching that number go up on a schedule.

By session 70-100 you're moving into early intermediate work. The weekly PRs slow down because the easy gains have been collected, but the lifter showing up to that session is unrecognizable from the one who walked in at session one. Stronger than they've ever been in their life. Moving well under real weight. Consistent in a way that used to feel impossible. If you can make it through the 100th session, you have a damn fine chance that you'll have seen a drastic physical transformation, and you have Built Your Base and become a pure blooded Dedicated Recreational Lifter who has now put himself in a position to continue to train and enjoy a lifetime of strength.

So... get a good plan in place. Execute 100 sessions and you will be a new person.

Sam Krapf, SSC
Ground Zero Strength
For Coaching: coaching.gzstrength.com​