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Powerlifting Program

Will this get me stronger?

OllyMcCully
OllyMcCully g Olly McCully
29 Post(s)
29 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2014
Posted

Hey Team,

I've had a go at writing a program with the speciifc intention of getting stronger on the three big lifts. A little about me; Im 6ft4, 98kg. My diet right now is about 3400 calroies, 230g protein daily. My lifts right now are: squat: 155kg, bench: 115kg, deadlift 200kg. The program I'm thinking of doing looks a little like this:

Day 1

Deadlift6x2

Bench8x3

Bent Row3x8

Lat Pull3x8

Dumbell Row3x10  

Day 2 

Bench8x1

Squat8x3

Incline3x8

Dips3x8

Push ups3x12  

Day 3 

Deadlift8x1

Pause Squat8x3

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x12

Pull ups3x5  

Day 4

Squat8x1

Deadlift8x3

Lunge3x8

Sissy Squat3x8

Leg Extension3x15

 

What do you guys think?  I've aimed to make it quite deadlift heavy as that's what I find hardest to make progress on. Any questions give me a shout.

 

Cheers,

 

Olly

AlphaDestiny
AlphaDestiny p Alexander Leonidas
101 Post(s)
101 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: February 2, 2017
Posted
Posted By: OllyMcCully

Hey Team,

I've had a go at writing a program with the speciifc intention of getting stronger on the three big lifts. A little about me; Im 6ft4, 98kg. My diet right now is about 3400 calroies, 230g protein daily. My lifts right now are: squat: 155kg, bench: 115kg, deadlift 200kg. The program I'm thinking of doing looks a little like this:

Day 1

Deadlift6x2

Bench8x3

Bent Row3x8

Lat Pull3x8

Dumbell Row3x10  

Day 2 

Bench8x1

Squat8x3

Incline3x8

Dips3x8

Push ups3x12  

Day 3 

Deadlift8x1

Pause Squat8x3

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x12

Pull ups3x5  

Day 4

Squat8x1

Deadlift8x3

Lunge3x8

Sissy Squat3x8

Leg Extension3x15

 

What do you guys think?  I've aimed to make it quite deadlift heavy as that's what I find hardest to make progress on. Any questions give me a shout.

 

Cheers,

 

Olly

Hey brother, are you doing this routine 3x a week? If so it looks very aggressive. That said, what percentages are you using? 8x1 at 85-90% versus 65% is a big difference, so it's a bit unclear what you're doing here. That said, 8x1 four times a week seems like too much volume IMO. If you want the higher training frequency, you can cut back the sets significantly. For day 1 I see there's no squats. How come? Day 4 includes leg extensions and sissy squats, which I don't think is specific either. If you want to include accessories, I'd recommend lower back and ab work (like standing cable crunches + reverse hypers). On a final note, day 3 and 4 includes no presses. I'm unsure why you're doing this if training 4x a week and wanting the extra frequency. I'd advise full body every workout.

In my opinion, this program is a bit all over the place. You need to better manage your volume/intensity, and possibly include percent work. A system you might like is Bulgarian Light, or a heavy-light-medium full body approach (3x). Even an upper/lower might suit you well (I recommend the westside barbell conjugate system). I really hope this helps Olly, I want you to make the best gains possible and I gave you my honest feedback. Wishing you the best of gains!

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: OllyMcCully

Hey Team,

I've had a go at writing a program with the speciifc intention of getting stronger on the three big lifts. A little about me; Im 6ft4, 98kg. My diet right now is about 3400 calroies, 230g protein daily. My lifts right now are: squat: 155kg, bench: 115kg, deadlift 200kg. The program I'm thinking of doing looks a little like this:

Day 1

Deadlift6x2

Bench8x3

Bent Row3x8

Lat Pull3x8

Dumbell Row3x10  

Day 2 

Bench8x1

Squat8x3

Incline3x8

Dips3x8

Push ups3x12  

Day 3 

Deadlift8x1

Pause Squat8x3

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x12

Pull ups3x5  

Day 4

Squat8x1

Deadlift8x3

Lunge3x8

Sissy Squat3x8

Leg Extension3x15

 

What do you guys think?  I've aimed to make it quite deadlift heavy as that's what I find hardest to make progress on. Any questions give me a shout.

 

Cheers,

 

Olly

@OllyMcCully Some great advice there from the yoke-king himself man!

 

It does look like a lot of heavy work. I understand you want to increase your max numbers and get stronger, but it seems like you're only going between 1 - 3 reps on your major compound lifts? Maybe some slightly higher rep ranges, or 'lighter' days might be helpful? Even going to 4 or 5 reps on some days.

 

But like Alex says, it also depends on the percentages you're going for, because you wouldn't want to be maxing out at each rep range each day like that. I think if you're going to go 4 days per week, you could go with an upper/lower split, or a push/pull full body split. For example, doing chest, shoulders, quads one day, then back, hamstrings, traps and shoulders (rear) another day, and repeat each workout twice with slight variations (I see you have a pause squat, so maybe a pause bench press too? Maybe some deficit deadlifts to go with the regular deadlifts? Especially helpful if deadlifts are hard for you to progress on).

 

That should give you a few things to think about!

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OllyMcCully
OllyMcCully g Olly McCully
29 Post(s)
29 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2014
Posted
Posted By: AlphaDestiny

Hey brother, are you doing this routine 3x a week? If so it looks very aggressive. That said, what percentages are you using? 8x1 at 85-90% versus 65% is a big difference, so it's a bit unclear what you're doing here. That said, 8x1 four times a week seems like too much volume IMO. If you want the higher training frequency, you can cut back the sets significantly. For day 1 I see there's no squats. How come? Day 4 includes leg extensions and sissy squats, which I don't think is specific either. If you want to include accessories, I'd recommend lower back and ab work (like standing cable crunches + reverse hypers). On a final note, day 3 and 4 includes no presses. I'm unsure why you're doing this if training 4x a week and wanting the extra frequency. I'd advise full body every workout.

In my opinion, this program is a bit all over the place. You need to better manage your volume/intensity, and possibly include percent work. A system you might like is Bulgarian Light, or a heavy-light-medium full body approach (3x). Even an upper/lower might suit you well (I recommend the westside barbell conjugate system). I really hope this helps Olly, I want you to make the best gains possible and I gave you my honest feedback. Wishing you the best of gains!

Hey, thanks for getting back to me. So ideally the program would be run 4 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) with an additional day for sprint training. I’d programmed for a gradual increase in weight over the course of 12 weeks starting at roughly 75% of 1RM. In regard to the no squatting in day 1/no pressing in day 3 and 4 I was hesitant to hit each of the big lifts (or variation of) everyday – I didn’t want to overtrain. That being said, I know very little about overtraining. I had figured sissy squats and leg extensions were a good way to hit the quads with out frying the nervous system with squats. I was hoping to use a program I’d written but thanks for the recommended programs I’ll definitely check them out.

I’ve had a go at taking your recommendations on board, what do you think:

Day 1

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Bench6x3 @ 70%

Zercher Squat5x3

Bent Row3x8

Pull ups3x5 

Day 2 

Bench5x1 @85%

Squat6x3 @60%

Incline3x8

Dips3x8

Push ups3x12  

Day 3 

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Pause Squat6x3 @60%

CG Bench3x5  

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x12

Day 4

Squat5x1@80%

Deficit Deadlift6x3 @55%

Floor Press3x8

Lunge3x8

Back Extensions3x15

OllyMcCully
OllyMcCully g Olly McCully
29 Post(s)
29 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2014
Posted
Posted By: Scott_Herman

@OllyMcCully Some great advice there from the yoke-king himself man!

 

It does look like a lot of heavy work. I understand you want to increase your max numbers and get stronger, but it seems like you're only going between 1 - 3 reps on your major compound lifts? Maybe some slightly higher rep ranges, or 'lighter' days might be helpful? Even going to 4 or 5 reps on some days.

 

But like Alex says, it also depends on the percentages you're going for, because you wouldn't want to be maxing out at each rep range each day like that. I think if you're going to go 4 days per week, you could go with an upper/lower split, or a push/pull full body split. For example, doing chest, shoulders, quads one day, then back, hamstrings, traps and shoulders (rear) another day, and repeat each workout twice with slight variations (I see you have a pause squat, so maybe a pause bench press too? Maybe some deficit deadlifts to go with the regular deadlifts? Especially helpful if deadlifts are hard for you to progress on).

 

That should give you a few things to think about!

Hey Scott, thanks for replying. I've taken a look at what Alex said and tried to take some his ideas on baord. i've also had a look at including some of the excerices you recommened, what do you think?

 

Day 1

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Bench6x3 @ 70%

Zercher Squat5x3

Bent Row3x8

Pull ups3x5 

Day 2 

Bench5x1 @85%

Squat6x3 @60%

Incline3x8

Dips3x8

Push ups3x12  

Day 3 

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Pause Squat6x3 @60%

CG Bench3x5  

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x12

Day 4

Squat5x1@80%

Deficit Deadlift6x3 @55%

Floor Press3x8

Lunge3x8

Back Extensions3x15

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: OllyMcCully

Hey Scott, thanks for replying. I've taken a look at what Alex said and tried to take some his ideas on baord. i've also had a look at including some of the excerices you recommened, what do you think?

 

Day 1

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Bench6x3 @ 70%

Zercher Squat5x3

Bent Row3x8

Pull ups3x5 

Day 2 

Bench5x1 @85%

Squat6x3 @60%

Incline3x8

Dips3x8

Push ups3x12  

Day 3 

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Pause Squat6x3 @60%

CG Bench3x5  

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x12

Day 4

Squat5x1@80%

Deficit Deadlift6x3 @55%

Floor Press3x8

Lunge3x8

Back Extensions3x15

@OllyMcCully It's good to see the percentages in there now. It looks a little better. So basically it's: Full Body, Upper, Lower, Lower. Is it worth doing the same 5x1 deadlift twice? Especially at the same percentage. Obviously you have the deficit deadlifts in there at a 6x3, but it could be worth changing one of the regular deadlift days to something else as well - maybe even a 4x4 for example.

 

Also, are your percentages based off your overall 1RM? Or are they based off of what you can do for each rep range? For example, when you're doing pause squats at 60% for 3 reps, is that 60% of your overall 1RM, or is that 60% of your 3RM for your squats?

 

And is there enough overall back work? You have basically all of day 2 dedicated to pushing. but only 2 exercises on day one for your upper / middle back / lats, and that's really all the work they get the entire week. Possibly too much pushing and not enough pulling?

Need 1 on 1 coaching? Send me a direct message to learn more!
OllyMcCully
OllyMcCully g Olly McCully
29 Post(s)
29 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2014
Posted
Posted By: Scott_Herman

@OllyMcCully It's good to see the percentages in there now. It looks a little better. So basically it's: Full Body, Upper, Lower, Lower. Is it worth doing the same 5x1 deadlift twice? Especially at the same percentage. Obviously you have the deficit deadlifts in there at a 6x3, but it could be worth changing one of the regular deadlift days to something else as well - maybe even a 4x4 for example.

 

Also, are your percentages based off your overall 1RM? Or are they based off of what you can do for each rep range? For example, when you're doing pause squats at 60% for 3 reps, is that 60% of your overall 1RM, or is that 60% of your 3RM for your squats?

 

And is there enough overall back work? You have basically all of day 2 dedicated to pushing. but only 2 exercises on day one for your upper / middle back / lats, and that's really all the work they get the entire week. Possibly too much pushing and not enough pulling?

Hey man, thanks for your help with this, I really appreciate it. I've aimed to make it a full body day for all four days. I've taken your advice and removed the second set of heavy deadlifts and replaced them with pause deadlifts in the 4x4 rep range. Ive also added in some more pulling work to even out the presing. The percentages are based off the 1RM. What do you think?

Day 1 Full Body

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Bench6x3 @ 70%

Zercher Squat5x3

Bent Row3x8

Pull ups3x5 

Day 2 Upper

Bench5x1 @85%

Squat6x3 @60%

Overhead press3x5

Pendlay 3x6

Dips3x8

Day 3 Lower

Pause Deadlifts 4x4 @60%

Pause Squat6x3 @60%

CG Bench3x5  

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x15

Day 4 Lower

Squat5x1@80%

Deficit Deadlift6x3 @55%

Floor Press3x8

Pull ups30 reps in as few sets as possible

Back Extensions3x15

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: OllyMcCully

Hey man, thanks for your help with this, I really appreciate it. I've aimed to make it a full body day for all four days. I've taken your advice and removed the second set of heavy deadlifts and replaced them with pause deadlifts in the 4x4 rep range. Ive also added in some more pulling work to even out the presing. The percentages are based off the 1RM. What do you think?

Day 1 Full Body

Deadlift5x1 @75%

Bench6x3 @ 70%

Zercher Squat5x3

Bent Row3x8

Pull ups3x5 

Day 2 Upper

Bench5x1 @85%

Squat6x3 @60%

Overhead press3x5

Pendlay 3x6

Dips3x8

Day 3 Lower

Pause Deadlifts 4x4 @60%

Pause Squat6x3 @60%

CG Bench3x5  

RDLs3x8

Back Extensions3x15

Day 4 Lower

Squat5x1@80%

Deficit Deadlift6x3 @55%

Floor Press3x8

Pull ups30 reps in as few sets as possible

Back Extensions3x15

@OllyMcCully This looks better. The only thing I wonder about is if the deficit deadlifts are at too low of a percentage? Working at 55% for 3 reps almost seems like you would be doing a deload every week. Obviously I can understand you don't want to be hitting high percentages every day, but if you're going that low on your percentage, maybe doing a few more reps wouldn't hurt for just a little more volume on the deadlifts? Like a 5x5 or 4x6?

 

That's up to you really, just another thought.

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