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Block Periodization Powerlifting Programs

Block periodization is a programming method that breaks each macrocycle into distinct mesocycles. These mesocycles, or blocks, are oriented to specific goals, such as hypertrophy, strength, and power.

Below you'll find powerlifting and strength training programs that utilize block periodization.

Recommended Block Periodization Training Programs:

  1. 36 Weeks of Powerlifting Training Blocks - Your Strongest Year
  2. 17 Week Block Periodization Peaking Program - Brad Arbic
  3. 14 Week Strength & Peaking Program - Squats & Science
  4. 8 Week Intermediate Strength Block - Squats & Science
  5. Candito 6 Week Powerlifting Program

 

If you don't find what you're looking for, check out the Lift Vault Program Library, which lets you search based on periodization type, experience level, and much more.

Related: powerlifting programs, powerbuilding programs, bodybuilding programs, strength training programs

Brian DeGennaro 16-Week Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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The Brian DeGennaro 16-Week Olympic Weightlifting Program, also called his Team Program, is a long peaking block for the snatch and the clean and jerk. You train five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, across two phases that build strength first and then sharpen the lifts for a meet.

It’s an advanced, competitive program. It’s built for lifters who already compete or are training toward a meet, not for someone still learning the lifts.

DeGennaro shared this as a free program, but his original weightlifting-forum post is offline now, so the spreadsheet is the easiest way to run it. Enter your maxes and the loads fill in for every day across both phases.

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Mike Burgener 12-Week Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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The Mike Burgener 12-Week Olympic Weightlifting Program is a longer build from coach Mike Burgener, known to most lifters as Coach B. It runs four days a week for three months and works through the snatch, the clean and jerk, and heavy squatting, with the intensity climbing and the volume dropping as the weeks go on.

It fits lifters who want a full three-month run rather than a quick peak. If you want something shorter, Coach B’s 23-day Bulgarian cycle is the faster option, but this one gives you the time to sharpen the lifts week by week. Week 12 day 4 is the payoff, where you work up to heavy singles at 85, 90, then 95 percent, or you go compete.

We rebuilt the program as a clean Lift Vault spreadsheet. Enter your maxes once and every working weight for all 12 weeks fills in for you, so you can just train and log what you hit.

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12 Week Intermediate Strongman Program Spreadsheet (Big Loz)

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Once you have a base of strongman training, you need a plan that pushes your main lifts hard while still building your events. This free 12 week intermediate strongman program comes straight from Laurence “Big Loz” Shahlaei, a 10x World’s Strongest Man competitor, published through Cerberus Strength.

You train 4 days a week across three 4-week blocks. The deadlift, strict press, safety bar squat, and push press all run on percentages that wave up to heavy singles, and the program peaks in weeks 11 and 12 with a PB attempt on deadlift and push press. Accessories, carries, and events round out each day.

We built the whole thing into an interactive spreadsheet. Enter your four main maxes once and every working weight prints out as “weight x reps” for all 12 weeks. Accessories and events have green cells you fill in as you train.

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LSUS 10-5-3 Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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The LSUS 10-5-3 is a 10-week Olympic weightlifting program created by Dr. Kyle Pierce at Louisiana State University Shreveport. It’s built on block periodization – you spend 3 weeks doing sets of 10, then 3 weeks of sets of 5, then 3 weeks of sets of 3, followed by a 1-week taper into a max-out or competition. You’ll train 5 days per week with a mix of Olympic lifts, squats, presses, pulls, pull-ups, and accessories.

The progression is textbook linear periodization. You start with high-volume, lower-intensity work to build muscle and work capacity, then steadily drop volume while cranking up intensity. It works. The program has real pedigree, too. Dr. Pierce used it to develop three-time U.S. Olympian Kendrick Farris, he’s a 3x USOC Weightlifting Coach of the Year, and it’s based on published research by Stone, Pierce, and colleagues on periodized training for weightlifters.

The caveat: this thing is a volume monster. You’re looking at roughly 75 working sets per week in the 10s phase, so if you’re not used to that kind of workload, you’ll need to ease into it or modify the volume down. I’d recommend this for intermediate to advanced Olympic weightlifters who have at least a year of consistent training under their belt and can handle 5 sessions per week.

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KONG: Savage Size in 12 Weeks Program Spreadsheet

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KONG: Savage Size in 12 Weeks is a hypertrophy program created by Alex Bromley of Empire Barbell. It’s a 5-day bodybuilding split that runs 12 weeks across three 4-week blocks, hitting each body part twice per week. It first appeared in Bromley’s book of the same name.

If you’re familiar with Bromley’s other work, like his Bullmastiff strength program, you know he programs in clear blocks and doesn’t waste your time. KONG takes a different angle: where Bullmastiff is strength-focused, KONG is built purely for size. Block 1 puts isolation exercises first, so you hit lagging body parts when you’re freshest. That’s backwards from how most people train, and it works.

I’d recommend it for intermediate lifters coming off a strength block who want a dedicated hypertrophy phase. The time cost is real at 5 days a week and 75 minutes a session, and some lifters needed extra rest days beyond the two off days, so keep that in mind if your recovery is limited.

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MASS IMPACT Program from Geoffrey Verity Schofield

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Program Overview

Welcome to Mass Impact, the ultimate training program for those who want to accelerate muscle growth while focusing on the most visually impactful muscle groups. This isn’t just another hypertrophy plan—it’s a roadmap to building an upper body so powerful it could double as body armor. With a targeted approach and advanced training techniques, Mass Impact ensures you’ll maximize every second in the gym.

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Full Year of Powerlifting Programming

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David Woolson, strong and smart dude over at Brazos Valley Strength, has boldly declared that he intends to release free powerlifting programming over the next year.

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15 Week Intermediate Powerlifting Program (2021 Update)

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This is a 15 week intermediate powerlifting program from PRs on the Platform. It utilizes block periodization and can be run repeatedly or used to peak for a powerlifting competition.

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6 Week Patrik Nyman Prilepin Bench Press Program

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This is a 6 week week bench press program based upon the Prilepin chart. As it only utilizes two bench press training days per week, I’d probably recommend it for more advanced bench pressers that are not able to recover from three bench press training days per week.

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10 Week Powerlifting Program [Brazos Valley Barbell]

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Strength 2.0 is a 10 week powerlifting program created by David Woolson at Brazos Valley Barbell. The program utilizes 5 training days per week, calculates load based on RPE and percentage of one rep max, and ends with attempting to set a new one rep max.

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15 Week Intermediate Powerlifting Program (PRs on the Platform)

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This is a 15 week, 4 day intermediate powerlifting program by PRs On The Platform, a powerlifting coaching service.

Thanks to PRs on the Platform for sharing this program with Lift Vault through the program submission form.

Program Overview

This powerlifting program is comprised of three training blocks: a volume/hypertrophy block (weeks 1-5), a strength block (weeks 6-10), and a competition peaking block (weeks 11-15). As such, it can be used for meet preparation.

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Heavy, Light, Medium (HLM) Program Spreadsheet

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Heavy, Light, Medium (HLM) programs are a simple and effective way to organize strength training. Each training session consists of either a heavy, medium, or light load for a given lift. The HLM training style is extremely flexible and can be used to accommodate many training goals.

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Prep10 10 Week Peaking Program Spreadsheet

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Prep10 is a 10 week powerlifting peaking program designed for beginners and intermediates. It uses block periodization to take the lifter through a 5 week hypertrophy mesocycle, followed by a 1 week transition mesocycle, a 3 week intensity mesocycle, and a 1 week deload. This program could be used to peak for a meet taking place on week 11 (assuming week 10 is the deload week). [Read more…]

14 Week Block Periodization Powerlifting Program (Empire Barbell)

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This is a powerlifting program designed by Empire Barbell that utilizes block periodization. Training is broken into three distinct blocks: intensification #1, volume, and intensification #2. These blocks can be run in order straight through, or can be repeated with some limitations (explained more below). Running each block once would represent 14 weeks of training in total. [Read more…]

Lyle McDonald Generic Bulking Routine Spreadsheet

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Lyle McDonald’s Generic Bulking Routine (GBR) is a 4-day upper/lower split built for intermediate lifters who want to gain size. You train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Each 6-8 week cycle ends with a 2-week deload, and Lyle targeted a weight gain of about 0.5 to 1 pound per week while running it. There are four spreadsheet variants below, from pure hypertrophy to strength focus.

The GBR originated on Lyle’s bodyrecomposition.com forum around 2008-2009. The core idea is moderate-volume compound and isolation work with built-in flexibility on set counts. You decide during each set whether to do the lower or upper end of the prescribed range based on how you feel. Lyle described this as intentional, not a gap in the program. The jcdfitness.com FAQ PDF is the best single reference for the full program details.

This program is for intermediate lifters who have moved past their beginner gains and want a structured split to build mass. You need to eat in a caloric surplus and be comfortable self-regulating volume. If you’re still new to lifting, a more prescriptive program like Starting Strength or the Ripped Body Intermediate Bodybuilding Program will serve you better before you tackle the GBR.

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Shortcut to SIZE Reviews

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Shortcut to Size is a 4 day body part split program by Jim Stoppani (who also created Shortcut to Shred). It is best suited for athletes with aesthetic or hypertrophy goals. It is a 12 week bodybuilding program broken down into three 4 week phases. [Read more…]

Joe Delaney Ibiza Shreds 6 Day Upper/Lower Split Workout Routine

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Joe Delaney’s Ibiza Shreds program is a 6 day upper/lower split workout routine focused on bodybuilding and hypertrophy. It runs for 3 blocks spread across 10 weeks, each week comprised of two upper body training days, two lower body training days, and two isolation exercise + abs training days. [Read more…]

Joe Delaney 5 Day Full Body Split Spreadsheet

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Joe Delaney’s 5 day full body workout split is a bodybuilding workout routine focused on aesthetic goals and having fun in the gym. This workout was birthed from Joey D’s personal training experience with different workout splits and represents how he has been training as of January 2020.

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12 Week RPE Powerlifting Peaking Program by Mignone Strength

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Program Overview

This is a 12 week powerlifting peaking program based on rate of perceived exertion (RPE). It uses 4 training days per week and divides the 12 week program into four different training blocks ending with a taper. It was created by Matt Mignone at Mignone Strength [Read more…]

17 Week Block Periodization Powerlifting Peaking Program by Brad Arbic

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Program Summary

This is a 17 week powerlifting peaking program broken up into 3 different training blocks: hypertrophy, strength, and peaking. It uses 4 training days per week: squat, bench press, deadlift, and another bench press training session. [Read more…]