: Gym without barbells. How do I get close to Starting Strength? I'm in a gym without barbells. How can I get as close as possible to the benefits of Starting Strength without the barbell. I'm thinking this... Leg presses:

Based on the comment you added to your question: that you will be switching gyms in Jan (one month away) - I would recommend that you do preparation work prior to Starting Strength - in other words, start it right at the new gym and use this time to prepare your form. Grab a broom handle or pvc pipe, review the SS book and videos and start practicing your squats, deadlifts, presses, etc.

Here's one video to start with:

I'm not sure what you do have available at your current gym, but focus on core and interval training (HITT/Tabata) so you're endurance is in condition.

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Dumbbell work instead

Without access to a barbell, I'd dramatically change the programming from what Starting Strength offers, using dumbbells as heavy as possible for as few reps as possible. I'd have to give up on the heavy squats and deadlifts that really make novice linear progressions work, but that's OK. I'd focus on general athleticism, meaning that some of the strength work that we could get with barbells but can't with lighter weights will be substituted with conditioning and speed work. Once you transition to barbells you'll be able to focus on pure strength, and will hopefully be well prepared by the dumbbell work.

Exercise selection

There are a wide variety of dumbbell exercises I would choose from, but I expect that I'd want to focus on the ones with which I could still challenge maximal strength: short farmer's walks, overhead presses, bench presses. I'd also make sure to get in some cleans, swings, and snatches. With all of these, I'd shoot for sets of three to five, but if the weight is sub-maximal I'd settle for more.

Targeting the lower body with less weight

One concern is that the lower body, being much stronger than the upper, will naturally be harder to challenge with maximal loads. One way to work around this is to use single-leg exercises like lunges, pistol squats, loaded step-ups, and single-leg deadlifts.

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Mobility / Flexibility work

Starting Strength includes "low bar back squats" which take a decent amount of flexibility to pull off correctly - its a different position than the more common "high bar back squat". I started doing low bar squats about 6 months ago, and personally had trouble with the thorasic (upper spine) and shoulder flexibility to keep my hands close in behind me when I'm resting the bar on the lower part of my shoulder blades. Also, some people might have really tight hamstrings and have trouble getting good squat depth.

In addition to the advice from others, you might want to double check that you have the range of motion to do a good low-bar back squat, and maybe use the month until you change gyms to do some flexibility work. (or you may not need to).

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