Free Programs and Spreadsheets
These are deadlift programs that call for the athlete to deadlift 1 day per week. Some are deadlift-only programs, while others program all lifting movements.
To search through all programs based on lots of different criteria, check out the Lift Vault Program Library.
By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Intermediate
Weeks: Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization, Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: Strength
Uses RPE: No
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): Yes
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The Texas Method is a strength program that focuses on training 3 days a week and hitting a new PR each week, making it ideal for intermediate lifters that can still progress on a weekly basis. Each training week represents one cycle: Monday is volume day, Wednesday is an active recovery day, and Friday is an intensity day where a new PR is set.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 9, Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: Hypertrophy, Strength
Uses RPE: No
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): Yes
As an affiliate of various sites, including Amazon Associates, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases via links in this post at no extra cost to you. See Full Disclosure
Madcow 5×5 is a free 3-day-per-week, full-body strength program built as a derivative of Bill Starr’s original 5×5 work. Each session ramps through progressively heavier sets of 5 on the squat, bench press, and row, finishing on a top set. Monday is your volume day, Wednesday is a lighter recovery day, and Friday is your heaviest day. Two versions are on this page: the Intermediate, which runs indefinitely with weekly linear jumps, and the Advanced, a fixed 9-week program with two distinct blocks.
The idea behind the program is simple: you ramp up to a top set, try to beat it the following week, and let Wednesday’s lighter session keep you fresh for Friday. Weekly progression keeps each jump small enough to sustain for months without burning out the way daily jumps eventually do. It’s closer in feel to Texas Method than to a straight beginner LP, but the bar math is less involved.
Madcow is the right move once you’ve stalled on session-to-session jumps from something like StrongLifts 5×5 or Starting Strength and you’re ready to move to weekly progress. Beginners still adding weight every workout should finish a beginner LP first. Lifters already managing training blocks or running percentage-based programs will likely find Madcow too conservative.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Beginner
Weeks: Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: Hypertrophy, Strength
Uses RPE: No
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): Yes
As an affiliate of various sites, including Amazon Associates, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases via links in this post at no extra cost to you. See Full Disclosure
Created by John Sheaffer (aka Johnny Pain), Greyskull LP is a 3-day-per-week full body routine for novice lifters. You train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, hitting squats and a press or bench variation every session, with deadlifts mixed in. Each session follows the same basic structure: two work sets of 5, then a final “5+” AMRAP set on the main lifts.
The AMRAP set is what separates Greyskull LP from programs like Starting Strength and StrongLifts 5×5. Those programs have you stop at 5 reps on every set. Greyskull LP keeps the linear progression (adding weight every session), but lets you go all out on the last set. That extra volume helps you build more muscle alongside the strength gains, and it gives you a longer productive run before you stall.
This is a beginner program. If you haven’t stalled on linear progression yet, you’re exactly who it’s designed for. If you’ve already burned through a novice LP and stalled multiple times, you’ll get more out of something like GZCLP, which is built for people who’ve outgrown the basic add-weight-every-session model.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Intermediate
Weeks: 10
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: Yes
Program goal: Peaking, Powerlifting
Uses RPE: No
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): Yes
As an affiliate of various sites, including Amazon Associates, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases via links in this post at no extra cost to you. See Full Disclosure
Ed Coan wrote this 10 week deadlift program for Mark Phillipi, who reported taking his deadlift from 505 lbs to 540 lbs on it. It runs on one deadlift session per week: a heavy top set, a block of speed triples at a much lighter weight, then power shrugs in the back half.
The whole thing is driven off a desired max rather than your current one. You set a goal above what you can pull today, and every weight in the program is calculated backward from that number. The spreadsheet’s worked example goes from a 410 lb current max to a 430 lb goal, so 20 lbs is the reference point to start from. Week 10 is the goal itself, taken as a single.
It cuts against the usual advice that the way to deadlift more is to deadlift less. If you like pulling often, are rebuilding after time off, or just want a change from programs that bury the deadlift behind squat variations, this is worth a look.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Beginner
Weeks: Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: Strength
Uses RPE: No
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): Yes
As an affiliate of various sites, including Amazon Associates, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases via links in this post at no extra cost to you. See Full Disclosure
The Bill Starr 5×5 is a three-day-a-week barbell program built on weekly linear progression. You train Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the days run heavy, light and medium in that order, and each session is squats plus one press plus one pull. Every 5×5 is a ramp, not five sets across, so only the last set is a genuinely hard set.
The progression is the whole program. You work up to your current five-rep maxes over three or four weeks, hit them, then keep adding the same small increment every week and set a personal record each Monday until you stall.
There’s no percentage chart and no deload schedule. You go up until you can’t, then you reset a few weeks back and climb again.
This suits an intermediate lifter who has run out of road on a beginner program that adds weight every session. It’s a poor fit if you want variety, if you can only train twice a week, or if you need to peak for a meet on a fixed date. The version on this page is the linear one, and the spreadsheet below does the weekly maths for you.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Beginner
Weeks: Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: Strength
Uses RPE: No
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): Yes
As an affiliate of various sites, including Amazon Associates, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases via links in this post at no extra cost to you. See Full Disclosure
StrongLifts 5×5 is a 3-day-per-week beginner strength program built around two alternating workouts. Workout A is squat, bench press, and barbell row. Workout B is squat, overhead press, and deadlift. You train each one 3 times every two weeks, always squatting, adding 5 lb to the bar each session. Mehdi at stronglifts.com based it on Bill Starr’s 5×5 from the 1970s.
The idea is pure linear progression: no percentages, no wave loading, no periodization. You just add weight every single session until you can’t anymore. That simplicity is the whole point. Every session you squat, which is what drives the strength base. It’s the easiest possible novice program to follow, by design.
StrongLifts is for true beginners or people coming back after a long layoff. If you’ve been lifting consistently for more than 6 months, you’ll probably stall faster than the program expects, and something like Starting Strength or GZCLP may serve you better. Both the lb and kg versions of the spreadsheet are below.
[Read more…]