How to pick your starting weights for 5x5
Choose the right starting weights for squat, bench, press, row, and deadlift. Why starting too heavy is the biggest beginner mistake and how to avoid it.
Choosing your starting weights is the first real decision you make on 5x5, and it directly determines how much runway you have for linear progression. It’s also where most beginners make their first mistake.
The instinct is to load up the bar to something that feels like a “real” workout. That instinct will cost you weeks of progress and possibly lead to early injury. The correct starting weight feels embarrassingly light.
Here’s how to get it right.
The default starting weights
If you’ve never trained with a barbell, these are your starting points:
| Exercise | Starting Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 20kg / 45lb | Empty Olympic bar |
| Bench Press | 20kg / 45lb | Empty Olympic bar |
| Overhead Press | 20kg / 45lb | Empty Olympic bar |
| Barbell Row | 30kg / 65lb | Bar + 5kg each side |
| Deadlift | 40kg / 95lb | Bar + 10kg each side |
Barbell row and deadlift start heavier because you need plates on the bar to reach the proper pulling height. Without plates, the bar sits too low and forces you into a bad starting position.
These weights are deliberately light. A 20kg squat for an adult male feels trivial. That’s the point.
Why starting light works
Reason 1: Technique before load
You’re going to perform over 1,000 reps in your first two months of 5x5. Starting light means every one of those reps reinforces proper movement patterns.
A 2015 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that motor patterns established under light loads transferred directly to heavy loads, but patterns learned under heavy loads were often compensatory - meaning lifters developed bad habits to move weight they weren’t ready for.
Translation: perfect reps with light weight make you better at heavy weight. Ugly reps with heavy weight make you better at ugly reps.
Reason 2: Linear progression is finite
You only get a few months of adding weight every session. This is called the novice effect, and once it’s used up, you can’t get it back.
Starting at 20kg and adding 2.5kg per session for squats gives you roughly 4-6 months before stalling. Start at 60kg and you might stall in 6-8 weeks.
Same endpoint, different experience. One person had months of consistent success. The other had weeks of grinding and early failure.
Reason 3: Connective tissue adaptation
Muscles adapt to training stress in about 72 hours. Tendons and ligaments take 2-4 weeks. This mismatch is why starting too heavy causes tendon pain even when your muscles feel fine.
Starting light gives your connective tissue time to catch up. By the time the weight gets heavy, everything is ready for it.
Reason 4: Consistency compounds
Light starting weights mean you succeed every session for weeks. Success breeds motivation. Motivation drives consistency. Consistency produces results.
Starting too heavy means failing in week 2 or 3. Early failure kills motivation before the habit has formed.
The bar speed test
If you’re unsure whether your starting weight is right, use this test:
The bar should move fast on your first workout.
Not just “I can complete the reps” fast. Explosively fast. Like you could do 15 reps but you’re only doing 5.
If the bar moves slowly on day one, you started too heavy. If your last set feels hard on day one, you started way too heavy.
Remember: you’re going to add weight 3 times per week for months. The difficulty arrives on its own. You don’t need to go looking for it.
Scenarios: how to adjust
Complete beginner, no gym experience
Use the defaults exactly as written. Empty bar for squat, bench, and press. 30kg for rows. 40kg for deadlift.
If the empty bar feels heavy on overhead press (common for smaller lifters), find a lighter bar or use dumbbells until you build enough strength for the standard bar.
Beginner with some machine experience
You’ve been using gym machines for a few months but never touched a barbell. Start with the defaults.
Machine strength doesn’t transfer directly to barbell exercises. Machines stabilize the weight for you. With a barbell, your stabilizer muscles do that work - and they’re untrained.
The weight that felt manageable on the Smith machine squat will feel significantly heavier with a free barbell.
Returning after a break (less than 6 months)
Start at roughly 50% of where you left off.
If you were squatting 100kg before your break, start at 50kg. You’ll progress faster than a true beginner because of muscle memory, but your joints and connective tissue need time to re-adapt.
A common mistake: “I used to squat 100kg, so I’ll start at 80kg to be conservative.” That’s not conservative enough. You’ll be back to 100kg within 4-5 weeks starting at 50kg, and you’ll get there with zero injury risk.
Returning after a long break (6+ months)
Start at 30-40% of your previous weights, or just use the defaults if your numbers were modest.
After 6+ months off, muscle memory still helps but detraining is significant. Your body has genuinely lost capacity. Treat yourself like a beginner with slightly faster progression.
Experienced lifter switching to 5x5
You’ve been doing a different program - maybe bodybuilding splits or machine-based training - and you’re switching to 5x5.
Start at roughly 50% of your estimated 5-rep max for each lift.
If you can bench press 80kg for 5 reps, start at 40kg. This feels absurd. Do it anyway. The submaximal weeks let you adapt to the frequency and volume of 5x5, which is likely different from what you’re used to.
You can read more about how 5x5 compares in our 5x5 vs PPL breakdown or StrongLifts vs Starting Strength comparison.
Overweight or very strong beginner
Some people are naturally strong. If you weigh 120kg and have done manual labor your whole life, the empty bar truly isn’t challenging enough for squats.
Use this test: load the bar to a weight where you can comfortably do 10+ reps with perfect form. That’s your starting weight for 5x5.
Even for naturally strong beginners, this typically means 40-60kg for squats, not 100kg. Leave room to progress.
Exercise-by-exercise guidelines
Squat
Most people start with the empty bar and it’s the right call. The squat is technically demanding, and the extra practice reps are valuable.
Signs you started too heavy:
- Knees caving inward
- Can’t hit depth (hip crease below knee)
- Lower back rounding at the bottom
- Forward lean increasing through the set
If any of these appear on your first workout, drop the weight. Learn more about proper form in our squat guide.
Bench press
Empty bar for most beginners. The bench press feels deceptively simple but has important setup details (shoulder blade retraction, arch, leg drive) that take time to learn.
Signs you started too heavy:
- Bar path wanders left or right
- Shoulder blades come loose from the bench
- Butt lifts off the bench
- Can’t touch chest on every rep
Our bench press form guide covers the setup in detail.
Overhead press
The exercise most likely to feel genuinely difficult at the empty bar. The OHP uses smaller muscles than any other 5x5 exercise and allows the least compensation.
If 20kg is challenging for 5x5, drop to a lighter bar. Some gyms carry 15kg technique bars. Alternatively, use two dumbbells until you build enough pressing strength.
The press stalls earlier and more often than any other lift. Don’t make it harder by starting heavy. Our overhead press guide has the complete technique breakdown.
Barbell row
Starts at 30kg because you need plates on the bar to pull from the correct height. If 30kg is too heavy, use bumper plates (which have full diameter even at light weights) to maintain proper bar height with less weight.
Signs you started too heavy:
- Excessive body momentum (jerking the weight up)
- Can’t keep back angle consistent
- Pulling to your belly instead of lower chest
- Grip failing before your back
See our barbell row form guide for technique details.
Deadlift
Starts at 40kg for the same reason as rows - you need plate diameter for correct pulling height. If this is too heavy, use bumper plates at a lower weight.
The deadlift is most people’s strongest lift, so 40kg usually isn’t challenging. If it feels easy, don’t add extra weight - just follow the normal progression of 5kg per session. You’ll be at serious weight within weeks.
Read our deadlift technique guide for the full form breakdown.
The ego problem
This needs its own section because it derails more beginners than anything else.
You walk into the gym. The guy next to you is squatting 140kg. You load the empty bar and feel embarrassed. So you add plates until it looks respectable.
Three things happen:
- Your form suffers because the weight is too heavy to control
- You stall in 3-4 weeks instead of 3-4 months
- You possibly get hurt
Meanwhile, the guy squatting 140kg started with the empty bar too. He just started six months ago.
Nobody in the gym is judging your weights. And if they are, their opinion is irrelevant to your progress. The only number that matters is the one you’ll be lifting six months from now.
A study published in Sports Medicine (2017) reviewing beginner training programs found that programs emphasizing gradual load increases from conservative starting points produced significantly better 12-month outcomes than programs starting at higher percentages of estimated maxes. Patience pays in measurable kilograms.
When to move faster
There are rare situations where faster progression makes sense:
Legitimately strong beginners who can empty-bar squat for 20 effortless reps might add 5kg per session instead of 2.5kg for the first few weeks. But only if form is flawless.
Returning athletes with recent barbell experience (less than 3 months off) might start at 60-70% of their previous working weights and progress normally from there.
Even in these cases, the principle holds: if in doubt, start lighter. You can always add weight next session. You can’t undo a strain or a wasted deload cycle.
For more on how weight increases work week to week, read our guide on how much weight to add each workout.
How to track from day one
Write down every weight for every exercise after every session. This sounds obvious but most beginners skip it and then can’t remember what they lifted last time.
A training log does three things:
- Tells you exactly what to lift each session (last weight + 2.5kg)
- Shows you objective progress when motivation dips
- Helps you identify patterns when something stalls
Use a notebook, a spreadsheet, or an app. The method doesn’t matter as long as you actually do it. Our guide on tracking your lifts covers this in depth.
Start lighter than you think
If you take one thing from this article: your starting weight should feel too easy. Not “manageable.” Not “about right.” Too easy.
The weight gets heavy on its own. Progression is built into the program. Your job on day one is to show up, move the bar well, and come back on day two ready to add weight.
Six months of consistent 2.5kg jumps beats two months of grinding followed by four months of frustration. Start light. Finish strong. For the full picture on how weight increases, deloads, and plateaus work, see the complete progression guide.
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