Free Programs and Spreadsheets
Here are powerlifting and strength programs that incorporate high volume training. Volume is generally measured by tonnage, defined as (number of reps)*(weight per rep).
If you didn't find the high volume program you're looking for, try using the Lift Vault Program Library. It lets you search through all Lift Vault programs using lots of different criteria, including frequency per lifting movement.
Related: powerlifting programs, powerbuilding programs, bodybuilding programs, strength training programs
By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 26
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Mass, Strength
Uses RPE: false
Uses 1RM Percentage(%): True
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
Mythical Mass is a 6 month-long combination of various strength programs used for building mass.
The programs included are:
As you can see, the entire set of programming takes about 6 months to work through.
The goal? Get freaking huge.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization, Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, 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
Simple Jack’d is a blend of the Bulgarian Method and the Smolov base cycle: one focus lift you hit every session at 85%, plus three supplemental variations rotating through fixed rep targets. It’s a one week block rather than a fixed-length program, so you keep running it until progress stops. Four to six sessions a week.
The Bulgarian half is the focus lift: 3 to 6 reps at 85%, in as many sets as you like, every single session. The Smolov half is the supplemental work, where each variation gets a set rep total at a given intensity and climbs 2.5% once you’ve completed its cycle. Every lift progresses on its own clock depending on how often you train it.
Note: there are two versions below and you probably want v2.0. The creator considers it the better program, and it fixes the main complaint about the original, which asked for 40 reps per supplemental session regardless of how heavy that session was.
Simple Jack’d is a modified blend of the Bulgarian Method and the Smolov base cycle. It’s essentially a flexible one week volume accumulation block that can be run indefinitely for powerlifting and general strength goals.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Advanced
Weeks: 10
Periodization: Linear Periodization, Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: Deadlift, High Volume, Off Season
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
This is a 10 week deadlift program designed for building up work capacity during the competitive off-season. It was shared by Alex Bromley (Empire Barbell) on his YouTube channel, where he shared his experience using this style of deadlift training to help prepare for a strongman competition.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Beginner, Intermediate
Weeks: 11, 12, 8
Periodization: Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: Yes
Program goal: High Volume, 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
Dietmar Wolf runs coach education for the Norwegian Powerlifting Association, which is where these programs come from. Everything on this page is set up for raw lifting. If you compete in gear, the equipped versions are here. The programs below are either attributed to him or released directly by the Norwegian Powerlifting Association, and they represent one of the more successful national approaches in the sport.
A note on gear, because the federation’s own page is misleading here. Wolf wrote these for single-ply lifting, and styrkeloft.no still files them as equipped programs. The spreadsheets below are not the raw originals: they were adapted for raw lifting, and the beginner and intermediate sheets carry both sets of numbers, with a geared competition squat row sitting next to a raw one. Unless a lift says otherwise, run it raw. The high volume sheet takes a raw max as its input. What ties them together is moderate intensity and high frequency, run consistently rather than in dramatic peaks. Three of the four are 3 day programs. The fourth, from a Norwegian lifter rather than from Wolf himself, runs 4 days.
The first three spreadsheets came from the Norwegian Powerlifting Association’s site and have been loosely translated into English. The original Norwegian files are at the bottom of this page if you would rather work from those. If you would like to contribute a better translation, please let me know and I will post it.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 4
Periodization: Block Periodization
Meet prep program: Yes
Program goal: High Volume, Peaking, Strength
Uses RPE: Yes
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
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…]
By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Beginner
Weeks: 6
Periodization: Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Powerlifting
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
This is a 6 week long powerlifting volume block for novice lifters from the smart folks at Squats & Science. [Read more…]
By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 3
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Powerlifting, 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
This is Greg Nuckols’ high frequency block: a repeating three week cycle where you train the same lift five days a week at 65% to 85% of your 1RM, always stopping well short of failure. Every session is short. Nothing in it is a grinder. The whole point is to accumulate a large number of clean, fast reps rather than a small number of hard ones.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Intermediate
Weeks: 12
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: Yes
Program goal: Equipped, High Volume, Off Season, 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
This is the free program spreadsheet collection offered on Blaine Sumner’s site.
It contains:
All of the above programs are 12 weeks in length and are programmed off of percentages of the lifter’s training max. [Read more…]
By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 6
Periodization: Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Mass, 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
Building the Monolith is a 6-week strength and size program from Jim Wendler, the creator of 5/3/1. You train 3 days a week, and every session pairs a heavy lower body lift with a press and a pull. Loads run off a training max set at 85% of your true 1RM, which keeps the high-rep work like 5×5 squats and 10×5 pressing hard but doable.
It’s a brute-force plateau breaker. Standard 5/3/1 runs slow monthly waves; Building the Monolith front-loads a huge amount of squatting and pressing over six hard weeks to pack on muscle and work capacity fast. You can see its DNA in later high-volume templates like GZCL and nSuns. Wendler wrote it for lifters who had stalled and wanted a short, punishing block to shake things loose.
This one’s built for advanced lifters trying to break a plateau. You need a solid strength base and the recovery to handle the volume while eating and sleeping to match. If you’re a novice or still adding weight every week on a linear program, you’ll get more out of standard 5/3/1 for now. For a bench-focused take on the same idea, check out Benching the Monolith.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Advanced, Beginner, Intermediate
Weeks: 4
Periodization: Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Powerlifting, 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
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…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 8
Periodization: Wave Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Hypertrophy
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
Hypertrophy Specific Training is Bryan Haycock’s method, and its defining idea is that you work through descending rep blocks rather than a single rep range. Two weeks of 15s, two weeks of 10s, two weeks of 5s, then two weeks holding those 5RM weights and adding negatives. Twenty-four workouts, three a week, eight weeks total.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Recommended by Lift Vault: Recommended
Experience level: Beginner, Intermediate
Weeks: Indefinite
Periodization: Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: No
Program goal: High Volume, Powerlifting, 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
nSuns 5/3/1 is a high volume linear progression powerlifting program inspired by Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1. It comes in 4, 5, and 6 day versions (plus squat and deadlift focused variants), and it progresses weekly instead of monthly.
Each day you’ll work the main lift for 9 sets, including an AMRAP set that drives next week’s weights, then a secondary lift for 8 more. It’s a ton of volume. Those who stick with it tend to add pounds to their total quickly, and the extra work capacity pays off in whatever program they run next. All of the spreadsheets below were assembled by Redditor /u/nsuns.
nSuns is best suited to late stage novices and early intermediates who recover well and want to push hard. If you’re brand new to lifting, you’ll progress faster on a simpler program like Starting Strength – a true novice can add weight multiple times per week and doesn’t need this much volume.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Advanced, Intermediate
Weeks: 5, 7, Indefinite
Periodization: Autoregulated, Linear Periodization
Meet prep program: Yes
Program goal: High Volume, Powerlifting
Uses RPE: Yes
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 Bulgarian Method is built on specificity, frequency and intensity: work up to a daily max on a small number of lifts, and do it often. This spreadsheet is based on Greg Nuckols’ Bulgarian Manual, which adapts the approach to one session per day instead of the two or three the original Bulgarian weightlifting program used.
This is advanced training and it is not a good fit for beginners or early intermediates. It asks you to judge your own capacity daily and adjust intensity on the spot, which is a skill that takes years to develop. If you cannot yet tell the difference between a heavy day and a bad day, this will grind you down.
The spreadsheet holds four separate templates rather than one program, and the order you run them in matters. Three of them are on-ramps; the fourth is the full approach.
[Read more…] By Kyle Risley
Last updated
Experience level: Advanced
Weeks: 13, 3
Periodization: Block Periodization, Undulating Periodization
Meet prep program: Yes
Program goal: High Volume, Peaking
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
Smolov is a Russian squat specialization and peaking cycle created by Sergey Smolov, a Soviet-era weightlifting coach. The full program runs 13 weeks and is built around four phases: a 2-week Introductory Microcycle, a 4-week Base Mesocycle (4 days per week of squatting), a 2-week Switching phase, and a 5-week Intense Mesocycle that ends with a 1RM test. There’s also a separate 3-week version called Smolov Jr that you can run for squat or bench press.
The idea behind Smolov is extreme squat frequency and volume at high percentages. The Base Mesocycle alone has you squatting 4 days per week with loads between 70% and 85% of your 1RM. Your body adapts to a level of squat volume most programs don’t approach. You need to eat, sleep, and recover around the program, not alongside it.
Smolov is for intermediate to advanced lifters with a solid squat base and a specific reason to peak, like a meet or a record attempt. If you’re a beginner, running a caloric deficit, or short on recovery time, skip it. For a less aggressive squat-focused peaking option, check out the Russian Squat Routine or the Hatch Squat Program.
[Read more…]