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Chad Vaughn 4 Weeks to Bigger Lifts Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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4 Weeks to Bigger Lifts is a short Olympic weightlifting program from Chad Vaughn, a two-time Olympic weightlifter. It runs five days a week for a month and works the snatch, the clean and jerk, and supporting squat and pull work.

Don’t read the name as a peaking cycle. This is a technique and position primer, not a block to add 20 pounds to your total in four weeks. The reps stay low and the point is cleaning up how the lifts feel, not chasing a number on the bar.

It’s a good fit if you can already do the lifts and want a month to fix your positions and make them feel automatic. Vaughn first shared it as a free Breaking Muscle program. If you’re after a peaking block or a way to push your total, this isn’t it, so come in expecting cleaner lifts rather than bigger numbers.

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Mike Burgener 23-Day Bulgarian Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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The 23-Day Bulgarian Program is a short, high-frequency Olympic weightlifting cycle from coach Mike Burgener (Coach B). You train five days a week and hit the snatch and the clean and jerk almost every day, with front and back squats rotating in. It runs about five weeks and 23 sessions in total.

It’s built for advanced lifters who are comfortable training the classic lifts often. The volume on the snatch and clean and jerk is heavy and constant, so it isn’t where you learn the lifts. If you want a longer build first, Burgener’s 12-week cycle is the slower option.

We rebuilt Coach B’s program as a clean Lift Vault spreadsheet. Enter your maxes once and every working weight for all 23 days fills in for you, so you can just train and log what you hit.

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Wil Fleming 4-Week Stronger Than Ever Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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The 4-Week Stronger Than Ever program is a short Olympic weightlifting cycle from coach Wil Fleming. It runs four days a week and works through the snatch, the clean and jerk, and heavy squatting, with the weights climbing and the reps dropping as you move through the month.

It fits lifters who already know the classic lifts and want a focused block to push their numbers up. Week 4 is the payoff, where you work to heavy doubles on the lifts and a back squat rep max.

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

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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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3 Day Chinese Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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This Chinese Olympic weightlifting program is a 3 day, 4 week peaking block designed for competition preparation. It was originally designed for school-aged lifters that were only able to train 3 days per week.

Program Overview

  • 4 week peaking mesocycle
  • 3 training days per week
  • Trains a variety lifts, but is designed to peak the snatch and clean & jerk
  • Trained lifts include the snatch, clean & jerk, power snatch, power clean, snatch pull, clean pull, deadlift, Romanian deadlift, back squat, front squat, hang snatch, push press, and press.
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6 Day 8 Week Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program (Glenn Pendlay)

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This is a 6 day, 8 week Olympic weightlifting program originally shared by Glenn Pendlay. It was originally shared over the course of 8 weeks in 2015 on his blog. The program is designed to be run in preparation for a weightlifting competition and can be considered a peaking program. It is well suited for an average intermediate weightlifter.

Intermediate Olympic Weightlifting Program Overview

  • This is an 8 week program, 6 days of training per week.
  • It is designed for intermediate weightlifters.
  • It can be used to peak for a weightlifting competition.
  • It programs for the following lifts (1RM unless noted otherwise):
    • Back squat (5 rep max)
    • Front squat (3 rep max)
    • Push press (5 rep max)
    • Snatch from hip
    • Snatch from knee
    • Clean & Jerk
    • Clean & Jerk (from hip)
    • Clean & Jerk (from knee)
    • Clean
    • Overhead Press
    • Power Snatch
    • Power Clean
  • The set and rep scheme is sets x reps (e.g. 2×3 means “2 sets of 3 reps”)
  • EMOM = every minute on the minute
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Torokhtiy 13 Week Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet (3 Day)

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This is a 13 week 3 day Olympic weightlifting program designed by Oleksiy Torokhtiy. It is a well-rounded base program, training a variety of snatch variations, clean variations, and squat variations in addition to back accessories.

Program Overview

  • The program is 13 weeks long.
  • The program has 3 primary training days per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).
    • If you have extra time, you can perform the Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday workouts, but they are optional.
  • There is a fair amount of exercise variety in the program, but here is general breakdown of exercise frequency for the three primary training days:
    • Back extensions: 3 times per week
    • Snatch + variations: 3 times per week
    • C&J + variations: 3 times per week
    • Squatting: 2 times per week
  • If you see an “X” it means to choose the weight yourself.
  • If you see “for technique” beside an exercise, it means to use less weight, slow the movement down, and focus on executing the lift with perfect form.
  • The rep scheme is weight x reps x sets.
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Glenn Pendlay Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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This is an Olympic weightlifting program outline for beginners. It was originally published by Glenn Pendlay in 2010 on his blog, which is now defunct. The article and program template have been reproduced here for archival purposes.

I also have created an accompanying spreadsheet that can be used to follow along with the program.

Program Overview

  • This program is for beginner Olympic weightlifters only.
    • The progression will be too rapid for more developed lifters to continually make progress.
  • The program consists of week A and week B training cycles, which can be repeated as long as the lifter is making progress.
  • Each training week is comprised of three training sessions.
  • These training sessions can be organized however you’d like, as long as recovery is adequate. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is one logical sequence.
    • Other variations would likely work too. The most important question is if you feel recovered heading into each training session and are able to continually add weight on the bar. The answer to both should be “yes.” If not, sleep and nutrition should be assessed. Else, if the athlete has been running the program for several months, they may have exhausted this rapid linear progression and should move to another program with slower progression.
  • Each training session consists of a snatching exercise, a clean & jerk exercise, a squatting movement, and at least one “complex.”
    • A complex is several exercises performed sequentially, in a circuit, with minimal rest in between exercises.
    • Complexes can include plyometric exercises like box jumps or long jumps, ab exercises, lower back exercises (e.g. reverse hyperextensions, back extensions, planks), and conditioning work like high rep kettlebell snatches or swings. Prehab work like shoulder dislocations or band pull-aparts can work too.
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Takano 12 Week Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet

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This is a 12 week Olympic weightlifting program with 3 to 6 training days per week, depending upon your classification. It can be used by beginner, intermediate, and advanced weightlifters, as it provides programming for multiple lifter classifications.

This program can be used in preparation for a weightlifting competition.

The program has seemingly been attributed to Bob Takano, though I have no idea if he had anything to do with it or not. You can find the best of Takano’s thinking in his book: Weightlifting Programming: A Winning Coach’s Guide.

Program Overview

Here’s a quick breakdown of the program. You’ll find more detail in the spreadsheet and the notes below.

  • 12 week program
  • 3 to 6 training days per week
  • Appropriate for the following classifications: CIII, CII, CI, CMS
  • Main exercise movements
    • Hang Power Snatch
    • Behind the Neck Push Press (BTNPP)
    • Hang Power Clean
    • Back Squat
    • Snatch Deadlift
    • Press
  • Frequency for snatches, cleans, and jerks varies from 2-6 times per week, depending upon the lifter’s classification
  • Accessory movements are also included

It is important to note that weight, sets, and reps are denoted like this: (weight/reps) x sets.

For example, (100/4)x3 means to lift 100 kg for 3 sets of 4 reps. (Or 100 lbs – the units do not matter).

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10 Week Squat Program (High Volume) by Greg Everett

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This is a 6 days per week, 10 week high frequency/volume squat peaking program designed by Greg Everett. While it was designed with Olympic weightlifters in mind, hence the high volume for front squats as well as back squats, it can be used by anyone looking for a high volume squat peaking program. [Read more…]

Tim Swords 7 Week Front Squat Program Spreadsheet

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Tim Swords is an olympic weightlifting coach and this is a 7 week squat program he employs. It can be used for the front squat or the back squat, though it is designed to peak the front squat.

These spreadsheets are based off of an interpretation of his work and are not officially endorsed or associated with him in any way.

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Hatch Squat Program Spreadsheet

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Created by Coach Gayle Hatch, the Hatch Squat Program is fairly straightforward:

  • Train the squat 2x per week for 12 weeks
  • Each training session programs front squats and back squats
  • The Hatch Squat Program uses a descending pyramid rep scheme
  • The athlete will attempt a 103% of 1RM squat in week 11

The Hatch Squat program would be useful for intermediate and advance lifters looking to break through a plateau on their squat. Because of it’s 1:1 rep ratio between the front and back squat, it’s written more with weightlifters in mind, not powerlifters. It could be effective for off season powerlifting training though. [Read more…]