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Deadlift 2 Days per Week - Powerlifting Programs

These are deadlift programs that call for the athlete to deadlift 2 days 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.

8 Week Deadlift Program Spreadsheet – GC Performance Training

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An 8 week deadlift specialty program that utilizes high block pulls, low block pulls, and competition style deadlifts to help build maximal deadlift strength. [Read more…]

Brian Alsruhe Mass Building Powerlifting Program

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Another free strength program from Brian Alsruhe, this time focusing on mass building. A video overview is below.

[Read more…]

Brazos Valley Barbell 8 Week Intermediate Powerlifting Program

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Brazos Valley Barbell Intermediate Powerlifting Program Overview

  • Written by David Woolson with Brazos Valley Barbell
  • 8 week powerlifting program
  • 1 deload week
  • 5 days per week
  • 3x weekly squat
  • 3-4x weekly bench press (if counting bench variations like CGBP)
  • 2x weekly deadlift

Long program description and video overview are available below. [Read more…]

TSA 9 Week Beginner Powerlifting Program

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The Strength Athlete (TSA) released their 9 week beginner powerlifting program (aka general beginner approach) as a follow up to their successful 9 week intermediate powerlifting program. Like the intermediate program before it, the beginner program is structured as a 4 day, 9 week program, but also includes a 4 week peak if preparing for a meet.

[Read more…]

Brogains 10 Week Powerbuilding Program Spreadsheet (4 Day)

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The Brogains powerbuilding program is a strength and hypertrophy program written by Brogan Pratt. It runs four days a week on an upper/lower split, with each half of the body getting one heavy day and one dynamic day.

It comes in two lengths from the same sheet. Run it as 10 weeks for a general training block, or as 12 weeks if you are peaking for a meet, in which case the last two weeks are the peak.

Progression runs off AMRAP sets rather than a fixed weekly jump. You record how many reps you hit and the sheet decides whether your training max moves, which means a bad week does not push you into weights you are not ready for.

[Read more…]

RTS General Intermediate Program Spreadsheet – Mike Tuchscherer

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The RTS General Intermediate Program is a free 9-week powerlifting program from Mike Tuchscherer and Reactive Training Systems (RTS), the coaches behind some of the strongest raw lifters in the sport. It runs four training days a week early on and drops to three days later in the cycle. Every session pairs a competition-style main lift with variations and accessories, and each lift is prescribed as a number of reps at a target RPE rather than a fixed percentage of your max.

The whole thing is autoregulated. Instead of grinding a fixed percentage on a bad day, you work up to a top set at the prescribed reps and RPE, then use RTS fatigue percents to add your working volume. You drop the bar by a set percentage and keep doing sets until the RPE climbs to target. It’s the same idea RTS built its reputation on, and it’s a different animal from a straight percentage block like GZCLP.

This is a loose template, not a polished beginner program. It’s built for intermediate lifters who already rate RPE well and understand fatigue percents. If you’re still learning to gauge RPE or you want something more scripted, run a percentage-based program first and come back to this one. For a similar 9-week RPE-driven peak that’s laid out a bit more cleanly, see the TSA 9 Week Intermediate Program.

[Read more…]

GZCLP Program Spreadsheets, Progression Tips, and Accessories

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GZCLP is a linear progression strength program for beginners, available in 3 day and 4 day versions. Each session is built from three tiers: a T1 main lift (starting at 5 sets of 3), a T2 variation (3 sets of 10), and a T3 accessory (3 sets of 15), with the last set of each tier an AMRAP.

It’s a simpler, faster-progressing version of Cody Lefever’s GZCL method. You add weight every time a lift comes up, like Starting Strength, but the tier structure gets you a lot more volume per session.

It’s highly customizable too: you pick the lifts you want to run in each tier, and the spreadsheets below handle the progression math for you.

[Read more…]

3 Peaking Template Spreadsheets by Barbell Medicine

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Following up on the popular Bridge Program, the crew at Barbell Medicine introduced a free peaking program for athletes preparing for a powerlifting or strengthlifting meet. [Read more…]

Powerlifting Academy 3 Day 16 Week Program Spreadsheet

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This is the Powerlifting Academy 16 week program spreadsheet, 3x weekly training version. There is also a 20 week version available.

Powerlifting Academy 16 Week Program Overview

  • 3x weekly training
  • Competition lifts are the primary focus, but the following variations are also used:
    • Squat
      • Pause squats
    • Bench Press
      • Bench press, closer grip
      • Bench press, close grip (what is often called CGBP)
    • Deadlift
      • Deficit deadlifts (3-6cm deficit)
      • Deadlift from boxes (8-12cm raised from floor, i.e. rack pulls)

[Read more…]

Doug Hepburn Method Powerbuilding Program Spreadsheet

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Doug Hepburn was a Canadian strongman who won the 1953 world weightlifting title and the 1954 Commonwealth Games, and he did it on training that looks almost too plain to work. Four days a week, two lifts per session, squat and bench on one day, deadlift and overhead press on the next. No percentages chart, no wave loading, no accessory list.

The method itself is one idea. You pick a weight you can handle, you keep it exactly the same, and you add a single rep each session until you hit the target. Only then does the weight go up, by five or ten pounds, and the whole climb starts again.

Everyone else in the 1950s was chasing heavier bar loads week to week. Hepburn added volume at a fixed load and let strength come from the accumulated work.

There are two programs here, A and B, and each has a power phase and a pump phase. I’d run this if you like simple, repeatable training and you’re happy to be patient. The catch is that it’s slow, it’s repetitive, and it programs almost no direct arm or back work, so if you want a varied session or you’re chasing a peak for a meet on a date, this is the wrong program.

[Read more…]

TSA 9 Week Intermediate Powerlifting Program (v1.0 + v2.0)

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The TSA 9 Week Intermediate Program is a free 9-week powerlifting peaking program from The Strength Athlete. It runs 4 days per week using a daily undulating periodization (DUP) structure, with squat and deadlift each trained twice a week and bench press trained three or four times depending on which version you run. The cycle ends with a test week (or mock meet) where you go for new maxes.

The program blends percentage-based loading with RPE-driven autoregulation. You load the main lifts off your 1RM, but RPE keeps the top sets in check, especially as the cycle peaks. The first four weeks build volume at moderate intensity, Week 5 is a deload, and Weeks 6-8 ramp intensity while volume drops. Week 9 is the test. There are two versions: v2.0 (the current recommended version) adds heavier top sets with higher-rep backoff work and more bench frequency; v1.0 is the original DUP template with a fixed percentage structure and a warmup tab included.

This program is built for intermediate powerlifters who already have a current 1RM for all three lifts and are comfortable with RPE. If you’re still new to the big three or don’t have a true 1RM to work from, start with the TSA 9 Week Beginner Powerlifting Program first. The intermediate program assumes you can recover from 4 days of training per week and is a strong choice if you’re peaking for a meet or a mock-meet test.

[Read more…]

Cast Iron Strength 12 Week Powerlifting Peaking Program

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Marc Keys billed this as “the best fucking 12 weeks of powerlifting you’ll have all year,” and the structure backs the swagger up. It’s a 12 week meet prep run on 4 total-body days a week, where every session touches at least two of the three lifts and the squat spends most of the block parked at 85%.

[Read more…]

Calgary Barbell 16 Week + 8 Week Program Spreadsheets

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Written by Calgary Barbell, the 16 week and 8 week programs are designed to improve the squat, bench press, and deadlift of the athlete in preparation for a powerlifting meet. You can, however, run them even if you’re not prepping for a meet.

Both programs run 4 sessions per week, hitting the squat and deadlift 3 times per week and the bench 4 times (counting competition lifts and variations). Load is programmed with a mix of 1RM percentages and RPE, and both include a taper week if you’re peaking for a meet.

The two are quite similar. The main difference is that the 16 week program has a fuller progression of each lift, whereas the 8 week program is more of a training snapshot. These suit intermediate lifters who are comfortable working with RPE. For another proven free meet prep option, check out the TSA 9 Week Intermediate Program.

[Read more…]

Candito 6 Week + Advanced Bench Press Hybrid Program

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The Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench Press Hybrid is a free 6-week bench specialization program by Jonnie Candito. It combines his Candito 6 Week Strength Program as the base for squat and deadlift work, then replaces the bench press entirely with his Advanced Bench Press Program. You’ll train 4 to 5 days per week over 6 weeks, with bench frequency ranging from 5 sessions per week in the early high-fatigue phase down to 2 per week in the volume block. Loading is driven by % of 1RM with an RPE column throughout.

The structure follows Candito’s Advanced Bench framework: weeks 1 to 3 are a maximum-fatigue block with high bench frequency and volume, week 4 drops frequency and adds specificity, week 5 hits a high-intensity peak set, and week 6 is the max-out. Squat and deadlift follow the standard 6-week progression alongside the bench work. The sheet also includes a Candito-prescribed deload week and a taper week sourced from Calgary Barbell’s structure (labeled as such, not Candito’s work).

This program is for advanced lifters who want to prioritize bench press while keeping squat and deadlift moving. You need to know your current 1RM for all three lifts and be familiar with RPE before you start. It’s not a beginner program. If you haven’t run the base Candito 6 Week Strength Program yet, start there first.

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The Bridge by Barbell Medicine Program Spreadsheet

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The Bridge is an 8 week strength program from Jordan Feigenbaum and Austin Baraki at Barbell Medicine. You train 3 days a week on the competition lifts plus close variations, and the whole thing runs on RPE rather than percentages of your 1RM.

The name describes the job. It’s built for lifters finishing a novice linear progression like Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5×5, where adding weight every session has stopped working and the next step is a program that varies intensity across the week.

Sessions run 70 to 90 minutes, which is longer than most novice programs and worth knowing before you start. Learning to rate RPE accurately is the other adjustment, and it takes a few weeks. The review section below includes a well-known critique of whether this is the right first step straight off a novice LP.

[Read more…]

Candito 10 or 14 Week Advanced Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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Released in February 2018, this deadlift specific program is the latest in a long line of excellent powerlifting programs from Jonnie Candito.

This is an advanced deadlift program and should not be used by novice lifters. For the novice and intermediate lifter, check out Candito’s 6 Week Program or Linear Strength Programs.

The advanced deadlift program is structured as follows: [Read more…]

Dan Alexander 10 Week Powerlifting Peaking Program

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10/1/19 Edit: Fixed the rounding and added support for lbs and kgs! 🙂

Dan Alexander’s 10 week Powerlifting Peaking Program is designed to improve the 1RM of the squat, bench, and deadlift by 5%. Spread across the three lifts, this can result in a sizeable boost to a lifter’s total on the competition platform.

This program is a hybrid of Korte’s 3×3 program and Verhoshansky’s Soviet peaking routine. [Read more…]

Fred Hatfield (Dr. Squat) 9 Week Peaking Program Spreadsheet

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Fred Hatfield, better known as Dr. Squat, built this 9 week peaking program around two sessions per week for a given lift: one heavy, one light. You can run it for a single lift or for all three. The program finishes with a single at 110% of the max you entered, which is where the 10% target comes from.

The A workout barely moves. It sits at 5 sets of 2 and creeps up by less than a percent a week, from 80% to 85% across the whole program. All the real work happens on the B workout, which climbs from 5 sets of 3 at 85% to a single at 110%.

This is a peaking block, not a training program. It assumes you already have a base and want to express it on a given date. If you are still adding weight session to session, a linear progression will serve you better than this.

[Read more…]

6 Week Soviet Peaking Powerlifting Program

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This 6 week program peaks a single lift on two sessions a week: one light day, one heavy day. It was designed by Soviet coach Yuri Verkhoshansky and described to John Abdo, who brought it back to the USA.

Every session opens the same way, with a fixed warmup ramp of 45%, 55% and 65%. What changes week to week is what happens after that. The light day stays in the 70% to 85% range and never gets long. The heavy day builds through a top block, then drops back down for backoff work, and in three of the six weeks finishes with a set taken to failure.

The target is a 5% increase, and week 6 tests it directly: the heavy day ramps through singles at 90%, 95%, 100% and finishes at 105% of the max you entered. Set your 1 rep max without rounding up, because that last single is the whole point of the block.

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Greg Nuckols 28 Programs Spreadsheet

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Greg Nuckols released 28 free training programs through his site, Stronger by Science. The bundle covers squat, bench press, and deadlift individually, with templates for beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifters at 1, 2, or 3 training days per week for each lift. Every program runs on a 4-week cycle, and you test your 1RM at the end of each cycle. The math: 3 lifts x 3 skill levels x 3 frequencies = 27 programs, plus a 4th deadlift variation (low volume, medium volume, and high volume in addition to the standard beginner version) = 28 total.

The design comes from Nuckols’ data-driven approach to strength training. Instead of a single fixed program, the bundle gives you a modular system: pick your lift, your experience level, and how many days per week you can train that lift. You use the squat, bench, and deadlift programs together, each running at whatever frequency fits your schedule. Intermediate and advanced templates add lift variations (front squats alongside back squats, for example), while beginner programs focus on the competition lifts to build the movement pattern first.

These programs are a good fit for intermediate and advanced lifters who want a percentage-based, structured template they can customize by frequency. Beginners can run them too — the 1x per week beginner versions are the most approachable entry point. You’ll need a 1RM estimate for each lift to get started. If you’re brand new to powerlifting, you might get more mileage from a full-body novice program first. See also: Greg Nuckols High Frequency Program (free spreadsheet).

[Read more…]