The fist thing you do is picking a proper exercise that fits the slot of the template.

Let's use the first exercise of the Lower day as an example for the rest of the guide. This slot reads "Heavy compound for the quadriceps (to get 5-10 reps per leg per set)", so to set the program you go to the exercise list in the main post, look at the list of exercises for the quadriceps, and select an exercise that allows you to get close to failure with around 5-10 consecutive repetitions. Let's say the exercise that fits the criteria for you is the reverse lunges (quad compound level 2).

Note: For the slots that don't specify any intensity in the Starter and Novice programs, select exercises that allow you to go close to failure with at least 5 and no more than 15 consecutive repetitions.

Also, in the beginner-advanced programs, you'll notice that some of the exercises have an intensity prescription only (heavy, medium, light). To give you a loose guideline, in those programs for a "heavy" exercise you want to be able to reach failure within the 5-10 or 5-15 rep-range, for a "medium intensity" one you want to be in the 10-20 rep-range, and for a "light" exercise in the 20-30 one. Then when it's not specified, try to fall anywhere within the 10-30 rep-range.

When it's time to do the workout that contains the new exercise, and you do it for the first time, you're just going to do a single set to failure, and that's going to be your metric to determine the initial amount of reps per set for your regular workouts. It's important that you reach failure (not being able to do more reps) while using good technique and tempo, so maintain good form and don't take extra rest between reps.

So continuing with the example, let's say you're running the novice program in the regular schedule (monday to friday), and so comes tuesday and it's time to do the Lower workout, which contains the new exercise you selected, the reverse lunges, and you're going to do it for the very first time. So you go ahead and do a single set to failure: you begin, and let's say you reach failure having done 7 total repetitions.

Now that you have your results, you determine the initial amount of reps per set by subtracting 3 reps to that amount, if in the program it's the first exercise in the session to target the main muscle group, or 6 reps if it's the second exercise for that muscle group. So for example in the Upper day of the novice program, you would subtract 3 reps to the vertical pull test result, since it's the first exercise in the session that targets the back, and 6 reps to the horizontal pull test result, since it's the second exercise to target the back in that session. You would also subtract 6 reps from the close-grip press, since it heavily involves the chest and triceps which you already worked with the horizontal press earlier in the session.

Going back to the example, since you got 7 reps in your test, then on your regular workout you're going to do 4 reps on every set.

The way you progress is as follows: you have a certain number of reps per set that you have to do in a given session, and you try to get that number of reps on every set. You stick to that number of reps, even if you feel you can do more. If you succeed, you increase that number by 1 the next session.

So let's go back to our example. On tuesday, during the first Lower session of the week, you performed the test to determine the initial amount of reps per set, which resulted in 4 reps per set. Now comes friday and it's time to hit the Lower workout again, and now you're going to do the reverse lunges normally, for 3 sets as prescribed, and you're going to try to do 4 reps on each set. Let's say you succeed and you get 4-4-4, what you do now is increase that number by 1 next time, so next tuesday when you have to do reverse lunges again, you're going to try to do 5-5-5. The results over several weeks can go like this:

• Week 1, Lower 1: test day, a single set, got 7 reps

• Week 1, Lower 2: 4-4-4

• Week 2, Lower 1: 5-5-5

• Week 2, Lower 2: 6-6-6

• Week 3, Lower 1: 7-7-7

• Week 3, Lower 2: 8-8-8

• Week 4, Lower 1: 9-9-9

• Week 4, Lower 2: 10-10-10

• 
  

So over the course of 4 weeks you progressed until you were able to do 10 reps per set. The first weeks were kind of easy, but it became progressively harder.

For the specific cases of the levels 1 and 2 of the vertical pulls (negative pull-ups and chin-ups), you need to do something different because you're more limited. In this case, you should continue to follow the progression rules that are specifically detailed in the negative pull-up instructions in the exercise list of the main post, so do as many chin-ups as you can at the beginning of every set and then reach the 5 rep-count with negatives. Once you can do a set of 5 full chin-ups, stop using negatives, and begin using this beginner progression but without doing the initial test and subtraction, and also give yourself more time to reach the same number of reps across all sets. So it could go like this:

• Session 1: Set 1: 3 full chin-ups and 2 negatives (3/2). Set 2: 2 full chin-ups and 3 negatives (2/3). Set 3: 1 full chin-up and 4 negatives (1/4)

• Session 2: 4/1 - 3/2 - 2/3

• Session 3: 4/1 - 3/2 - 3/2

• Session 4: 5 - 3/2 - 3/2. <--------reached 5 full chin-ups, from now on you stop doing negatives and just work with the regular progression

• Session 5: 5-4-3

• Session 6: 5-4-4

• Session 7: 5-5-5

It would be nice if we could just get stronger linearly forever like in the example above, but the more realistic scenario is that eventually you're going to fail to reach the same number of reps across all sets, due to fatigue accumulation and because of progressively getting closer to failure as you get further away from the first easy weeks and start accumulating more reps.

What you do in this scenario is a form of reactive deload: when you fail to reach the same number of reps across all sets for two sessions in a row (to exclude the possibility of just having a bad session), the next session you do 3 fewer reps per set, and you return to the regular number of reps the session after that. Let's apply it to the example we used before for the reverse lunges:

• Week 1, Lower 1: test day, a single set, got 7 reps

• Week 1, Lower 2: 4-4-4

• Week 2, Lower 1: 5-5-5

• Week 2, Lower 2: 6-5-4 <--- Missed

• Week 3, Lower 1: 6-6-6 <--- Succeed, it wasn't 2 missed sessions in a row, so you continue normally

• Week 3, Lower 2: 7-7-7

• Week 4, Lower 1: 8-8-8

• Week 4, Lower 2: 9-7-7 <--- Missed

• Week 5, Lower 1: 9-9-8 <--- Missed again. Two in a row

• Week 5, Lower 2: 6-6-6 <--- Reactive deload, 9 - 3 = 6

• Week 6, Lower 1: 9-9-9 <--- Tried the missed attempt again, succeed

• Week 6, Lower 2: 10-10-10

In the case of the vertical pulls (pull-ups, chin-ups) because the load is so high, you need a little more time to produce the adaptations needed to do more reps. Because of that, give yourself more room to fail and grow: instead of deloading when you fail to reach the same number of reps across sets on 2 consecutive sessions, wait for 4 or 5 missed attempts.

Now you have a problem: if you remember from the Novice Template, the slot for which you selected the reverse lunges read "Heavy compound for the quadriceps (to get 5-10 reps per leg per set)", and well, you got stronger and now you reached the top end of that rep-range, since you can already do it for 10 reps.

When you reach the limit amount of reps that were prescribed for the exercise, then it's time to replace the exercise for a harder variation. So what you do is you go back to the Step 1 of this guide and begin the whole process again, select a new exercise, test it to determine the initial number of reps per set, progress by increasing the number of reps every session, until you get to the top end again and repeat the process with another new exercise.

Since you were doing lunges, which is the quad compound level 2, then now that you maxed it out, you replace it for the quad compound level 3, bulgarian split squats, and go back to the Step 2.

When you start having to deload too frequently on multiple exercises, and you consistently fail to break the plateaus afterwards, and if non-training factors aren't an issue (mainly diet and sleep), then it's time to move on to the intermediate model of progression, and if you were using the novice program, then it's time to move on to one of the beginner-intermediate-advanced programs.