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Chalkby Reckoner

Guides

How to train, step by step.

43 guides

  1. An oxide resistance band hangs from a chalked pull-up bar in an empty brick gym, its loop open and still, late sun raking across the floor.Pull-ups1 November 2026Your first pull-up with bandsA band has no honest number. The bands you own, lightest to heaviest, are the ladder, and the top rung is a pull-up with no band at all.Reckoner · 4 min read
  2. A lifter holds a phone showing the Reckoner Train screen: seated dumbbell shoulder press, 2 × 12 kg for 8 reps.Splits29 October 2026A 3-day full body gym plan for beginnersThree days a week, six lifts a day, your whole body every session. Here is the plan day by day, how hard each set should be, how the weight rises, and why week six is lighter.Reckoner · 7 min read
  3. Three people performing push-ups on the floor of a gym, lowering their chests toward the ground.Push-ups28 October 2026Push-up variations, from easiest to hardestA push-up builds muscle and strength as well as a bench press when it is hard enough for you. Keep it hard by changing the variation rather than adding reps forever.Reckoner · 5 min read
  4. Woman sitting on the gym floor with her arm resting across her forehead after a tiring workout.Iron and energy28 October 2026Iron, undereating and the warning signs to take seriouslyFeeling flat in training is usually a hard week and nothing more. Sometimes it is your body short of iron or short of food, and both are worth knowing the signs of, because both are easy to miss and a doctor can help with both.Reckoner · 5 min read
  5. Woman performing a barbell lunge in a gym, with her rear knee lowered toward the floor.Single-leg training27 October 2026Single-leg training: lunges, split squats and step-upsSingle-leg lifts build muscle about as well as two-legged ones, and you get strongest at whichever version you practice. Choose by your kit and your goal, and train both legs hard.Reckoner · 5 min read
  6. Mature woman lifting dumbbells outdoors, focusing on her strength training workout.Menopause22 October 2026Strength training through menopauseMenopause changes your hormones, your sleep and your bones. It does not change the fact that you can get stronger, and lifting is one of the things the NHS points to for both your bones and your symptoms.Reckoner · 5 min read
  7. Older woman performing a kettlebell squat during a strength training workout at the gym.Bone health21 October 2026Lifting and bone health: why it matters for womenBone is living tissue, and it responds to load much like muscle does. Women build less of it and lose it faster around menopause, which makes lifting one of the most useful things you can do for your skeleton, at any age.Reckoner · 5 min read
  8. Woman performing a seated dumbbell shoulder press in a gym, holding weights at shoulder height.Volume21 October 2026How many sets per muscle each weekCount your hard sets per muscle across the week, not per session. Around ten a week is where muscle growth reliably picks up, more keeps helping at a slowing rate, and strength needs fewer sets than size does.Reckoner · 5 min read
  9. Woman walking on a treadmill in a gym, with strength training machines visible nearby.Session order20 October 2026Cardio before or after lifting?After, for anything hard. Lifting first keeps your strength work at its best, and cardio around a session costs your strength and muscle very little while it stays easy and short. A few easy minutes before the first set make a good warm-up.Reckoner · 5 min read
  10. Man wearing a weightlifting belt holding a heavily loaded barbell at the top of a deadlift.Bracing20 October 2026Bracing and breathing for heavy liftsBefore a heavy rep, take a big breath low into your belly, tighten your trunk around it, and hold it through the hard part of the rep. On lighter sets, breathe steadily instead. Knowing which set wants which is most of the skill.Reckoner · 5 min read
  11. A stack of weight plates in the gym next to a weight bench.Training blocks15 October 2026What your first block was forSix weeks in, most of what changed is the part you cannot see. Your first block taught you the lifts, replaced a guess with your real numbers, and ends with a lighter week so the next one starts fresh.Reckoner · 5 min read
  12. Pre workout, creatine and protein powder stacked up next to a shaker with pre-workoutSupplements13 October 2026The pros and cons of pre-workoutOne ingredient in a pre-workout has strong evidence behind it for lifting. The scoop is usually too small to hold an effective dose of most of the others.Reckoner · 6 min read
  13. A woman sitting in the gym with tape on her arm and hand.Pain8 October 2026Training around painPain is not one thing. Some of it means stop and get help today, some of it means see somebody soon, and some of it means change the lift and keep training the rest of you. This page helps you tell which, and it cannot tell you what is wrong.Reckoner · 6 min read
  14. Protein powder on a counter with a scoopSupplements7 October 2026The pros and cons of protein powderProtein powder is not a supplement in any interesting sense. It is food, sold dry, and what it does for you depends entirely on what you were eating already.Reckoner · 6 min read
  15. A neon sign that reads, The Journey is on. First week2 October 2026Your first week of liftingYour first week is not a test. The weights are a deliberately light guess, the sessions are practice, and the one thing you have to get right is an honest record of what you did.Reckoner · 6 min read
  16. A group of people performing a split squat with a barbell.Form1 October 2026Good lifting form, and why it mattersGood form is not a pose you hold or a list of rules you pass once. It is the same rep, done the same way, set after set, and it is what makes every other number in your training mean something.Reckoner · 9 min read
  17. A trainer helping a student at the gymStarting a program30 September 2026A beginner strength program, and how to start oneAlmost any beginner strength program works if you run it honestly for six months. The choice of program is the easy decision, and it is not the one that decides anything.Reckoner · 9 min read
  18. A home gym setupEquipment28 September 2026Home gym and dumbbell only programsWhether you have a rack in the garage or two dumbbells and a bench, the kit decides two things. How small a step you can take, and how far up you can go.Reckoner · 6 min read
  19. A Garmin watch resting on a rockThe gym activity25 September 2026Running a gym workout from a GarminThe watch will record your gym workout more honestly than your memory will. The first few sessions go badly anyway, and it is always the same three things.Reckoner · 5 min read
  20. A woman doing bicep curls with an EZ barBeginners23 September 2026Strength training for beginners: where to startYou do not need to be fit to start lifting, and you do not need a perfect program. You need a handful of movements done well, two or three times a week, and a little more each week than the last. Here is how, and a program you can start today.Reckoner · 12 min read
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