Beginner to Beast - Always Ready

This protocol is designed for true beginners. If your coordination is already developed or your nutrition is fairly solid, start further down and stay consistent. The results will come.

The first 18 months is not about perfecting a routine or optimising a diet. It is about learning — developing the coordination, skill, and intention required to efficiently train with genuine intensity, and building a relationship with nutrition that supports training and recovery without obsession. Consistency before complexity. The habit before the refinement.

Most programs sell a destination. This one is transparent about what the journey actually is. The beast is not the result of 18 months of training — it is what happens when someone who has learned to move and eat well simply never stops. The destination is not a physique or a number — it is being Always Ready.

This approach demands maturity — the willingness to choose slower, less glamorous progress over quick wins. It is about doing the work not only for yourself, but for those who depend on you, without chasing instant recognition. Consistency without immediate gratification is hard, but it forges true resilience. Being Always Ready means being confident that you can handle the challenges life presents you.

The Protocol

The protocol spans 12–18 months, gradually layering volume and complexity as your capacity grows. What follows is the structure: the workout examples, nutrition, and recovery principles that make up the program, and the progressive timeline that maps out how it all builds.

Strength workout example

The movements listed are joint actions, not specific exercises, and can be performed with a range of tools and variations. For an exercise list for each joint action see the Physical Health Reference. Not all movements are necessary to build a strong physique capable physique but they can become important for specialisation, prehabilitation, or rehabilitation.

When performing these workouts, it is important to be intentional. Focus on mind-muscle connection, stop at or close to technical failure, and progressively overload. Form matters most when starting out. Either slower tempos up to 8 seconds per rep or higher reps up to 30 allow you to build the skill that lifting heavy with no control will not. Most of the time when starting out you will feel pain before your body is ready to give up and will probably stop early. This means you might need to do more sets per week per body part to get the right amount of volume. This will also affect the rest you take between sets. Rough guide of 2-3 mins on compounds and 1-2 minutes on isolations before going again.

These are two example templates. The compound work stays the same; the isolation block shifts depending on whether the client wants more upper- or lower-body emphasis. As outside activity increases, total leg volume may be reduced to offset the added fatigue — how much depends on the intensity of the sets being performed.

Full Body Training with Upper-Body Isolation Focus

	FULL BODY 1	FULL BODY 2
A1	2 X Squat	2 X Hinge
B1	2 X Vertical Pull	2 X Horizontal Push
B2	2 X Vertical Push	2 X Horizontal Pull
C1	2 X Hinge	2 X Squat
D1	2 X Horizontal Push	2 X Vertical Pull
D2	2 X Horizontal Pull	2 X Vertical Push
E1	2 X Spinal Rotation	2 X Spinal Flexion (Rib to Pelvis)
F1	2 X Elbow Extension	2 X Elbow Flexion
F2	2 X Shoulder Extension	2 X Shoulder Flexion
G1	2 X Knee Extension	2 X Knee Flexion
G2	2 X Ankle Plantarflexion	2 X Ankle Dorsiflexion
H1	2 X Horizontal Shoulder Adduction	2 X Horizontal Shoulder Abduction
H2	2 X Shoulder Abduction	2 X Shoulder Adduction
I1	2 X Spinal Flexion (Pelvis to Rib)	2 X Spinal Lateral Flexion
I2	1 X Spinal Extension	1 X Spinal Extension

Full Body Training with Lower-Body Isolation Focus

	FULL BODY 1	FULL BODY 2
A1	2 X Squat	2 X Hinge
B1	2 X Vertical Pull	2 X Horizontal Push
B2	2 X Vertical Push	2 X Horizontal Pull
C1	2 X Hinge	2 X Squat
D1	2 X Horizontal Push	2 X Vertical Pull
D2	2 X Horizontal Pull	2 X Vertical Push
E1	2 X Spinal Rotation	2 X Spinal Flexion (Rib to Pelvis)
F1	2 X Hip Extension	2 X Hip Abduction
F1	2 X Knee Extension	2 X Knee Flexion
G1	2 X Elbow Extension	2 X Elbow Flexion
G2	2 X Shoulder Abduction	2 X Horizontal Shoulder Abduction
H2	2 X Hip Abduction	2 X Hip Extension
H2	2 X Ankle Plantarflexion	2 X Ankle Dorsiflexion
I1	2 X Spinal Flexion (Pelvis to Rib)	2 X Spinal Lateral Flexion
I2	2 X Spinal Extension	2 X Hip Adduction

Supersets and giant sets can be added to reduce session time without sacrificing volume. This table just showcases total volume in a week. For a deeper breakdown on strength training read Physical Health: Philosophy & Practice.

Functional HIIT Example: 20–45 mins

This is introduced after a year of training but if fitness allows for it, start earlier.

• 250m–1km run / 125–500m SkiErg / 6–25m Sled (50–170kg)

• 250m–1km run / 30 sec kettlebell swings (12-32kg) /25–100m farmer carries (12–32kg)

• 250m–1km run / 125–500m RowErg/ 10-50m (Lunges 16-30kg)

• 250m–1km run / 10–30 calories assault bike / 8–12 medicine ball overhead (16-40kg)

• 250m–1km run / 10–40m burpee broad jumps / 13–50 wall balls (4–9kg)

  
  

Nutrition & Recovery

Nutrition doesn't need to be complicated at this stage. The macro targets below are a starting point: enough protein to support muscle growth and recovery, enough fats to maintain hormonal health, and carbohydrates adjusted to your activity level. Worrying about perfection is a contradiction to health. But limiting ultra-processed foods, drinks and alcohol where possible and prioritising whole foods, will make things easier in the long run.

The goal is a steady relationship with food, which takes time and attention rather than brute force. Once you've spent a few months noticing what you eat and how it affects you, macros stop being the whole picture — you start caring about the quality of the food behind the numbers, not just whether they add up. That's the shift from IIFYM to IIFYM&M, and it happens when you're ready for it, not on a schedule. For more details, check out Physical Health: Philosophy & Practice.

General Population Guide (excluding structured exercise)

Macros	Average Male (2,000–2,400 kcal)	Average Female (1,600–2,000 kcal)
Protein	120–140g (500–600 kcal)	100–125g (400–500 kcal)
Fats	65–90g (600–840 kcal)	53–78g (480–700 kcal)
Carbs	150–230g (640–960 kcal)	130–225g (520–900 kcal)

Sleep and recovery are simple but important. Have a consistent schedule, keep your room dark, quiet, and cool, cut screens before bed, and get direct sunlight in the morning. Beyond that, recovery has less to do with what you do after training and more to do with everything else — work stress, relationships, and unresolved pressure will break down recovery faster than a missed stretch session. Move consistently, eat well, sleep enough, and deal with what is actually keeping your nervous system on edge. The details are covered in the Physical Health post, but the principle is this: recovery does not need a complex protocol — it needs a life that is not constantly working against it.

Progressive structure: Beginner to Beast

The phases below are guidelines, not deadlines. Progression follows competence, not the calendar. There is no merit in rushing a phase you have not earned your way through. The more attention given to understanding movement outside the gym — watching, reading, and studying training techniques — the faster coordination develops inside it.

The more you put in, the more you get back. Progression will not always be linear. Life is unpredictable — illness, injury, work or family commitments can all cause minor setbacks. Missing a session here and there is not going to undo all your hard work. Trust the process and get back to it.

0–3 Months — Coordination & Mind-Muscle Connection

• Daily steps: 8–10k (never stops)

• 2 strength sessions per week (mostly machines, focus on breathing and mind-muscle connection) keeping RIR (reps in reserve)

• Slower tempos or more reps, control eccentrics, engage concentrics

  
  

3–6 Months — Coordination & Mind-Muscle Connection

• Add a zone 2 cardio session per week (30–45 mins — run, swim, cycle, etc.)

• Tempos or reps can slowly be reduced (adjust every three months)

6–9 Months — Technique & Range of Motion

• Can introduce iso-lateral machines, cables (Focus on full range of motion and the engagement of the target muscles)

• Deeper stretch on eccentrics and squeeze concentrics on machines

• Begin IIFYM nutrition tracking

9–12 Months — Technique & Range of Motion

• Add supplements if recovery and lifestyle demands would benefit from them

• Deep stretch on all current movements

12–15 Months — Intensity

• Can introduce barbell lifts: squat variations, bench press, military press, trap bar deadlift

• Add one weekly functional HIIT session (carries, sleds, cardio, throws, rotations)

• Nutrition evolves to IIFYM&M (macros and micros)

• Start pushing towards technical failure (0 RIR) on machines

15–18 Months — Intensity

• Can introduce dumbbell variations and unilateral movements: chest press, single-arm rows, shoulder press, Bulgarian split squats

• Can push to technical failure on all lifts

18+ Months — Your Call

The foundation is built. From here, training becomes personal — shaped by what you enjoy, what your life demands, and where you want to take it. More structure, less structure, a sport, a skill, a new discipline. The framework has done its job. What you do with it is yours.

Conclusion

Focus on the macro before the micro. Build consistency in training, nutrition, and sleep before layering in supplements or advanced recovery strategies. These tools can sharpen your results, but they will never replace the foundational habits that keep your body and psyche functioning at a high level. To truly improve health, develop other areas of your life — work, relationships, finances, environment.

Once the foundation is built, the Always Ready baseline is straightforward: 8–10k steps daily, 2–4 strength sessions per week performing 4–10 working sets per muscle group to or near failure, one functional HIIT session, and one zone 2 cardio session of 45 minutes or more. This isn't a rigid plan — if life calls for something different, you adjust. That's the point: your body is ready.

Wherever you're starting from, you may not be able to recover from all this immediately — or you may need more to keep progressing. This is simply the standard to build toward and maintain. Start with what your current capacity allows, train with intention, and let intensity rise as that capacity grows.

Ego removed, the path becomes obvious: not through cycles of obsession and collapse but consistent movement, honest nutrition, and genuine recovery — not a physique performed for others. Just someone who is strong, functional, resilient, and always ready for whatever life demands.