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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Brian DeGennaro 16-Week Olympic Weightlifting Program Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet via Brian DeGennaro, compiled by OWLsheets
Enter your 1RM for the snatch, the clean and jerk, the jerk, and your best clean. The snatch work runs off your snatch, the clean and jerk work runs off your clean and jerk, and the squats, deadlifts, and middle-grip pulls run off your best clean. That last group is why some of those loads land above 100 percent on purpose.
How the Program Works
You train five days a week, Sunday through Thursday, for 16 weeks. The work splits into two phases that move you from building strength toward peaking for a meet.
The Two Phases
Weeks 1 to 9 are the Strength phase. You put in heavier squat, pull, and classic-lift volume to build the base. Weeks 10 to 16 are the Realization phase, where the lifts get sharper and you peak for a meet, with mock meets along the way to test where you’re at.
How the Loading Works
This is Soviet, Prilepin-style percentage programming. Most days give you a percentage and a set-and-rep scheme worked off the right max, so you’re not guessing what to put on the bar.
The squats, deadlifts, and middle-grip pulls run off your best clean instead of a squat or deadlift max, so a few of those loads come out above 100 percent on purpose. That’s how the program is meant to run.
Work By Feel
Part of the program is run by feel on purpose. You’ll see cells that say work to daily max, build to max, or max reps, and there’s more of that as you get closer to the meet. The percentages set you up, then you push the top sets based on how you’re moving that day.
FAQ
Who is the DeGennaro 16-week program for?
Advanced lifters who already compete or are training toward a meet. It’s a long peaking block with high volume and a lot of work driven by feel, so it isn’t the place to learn the snatch or clean and jerk.
How many days a week is it?
Five. You train Sunday through Thursday, which leaves Friday and Saturday to rest before the next week.
What maxes do I need to enter?
Four: your snatch, your clean and jerk, your jerk, and your best clean. The sheet uses each one to load the right lifts, and the best clean is what drives your squats, deadlifts, and middle-grip pulls.
Why are some squat and pull loads over 100 percent?
Because those lifts run off your best clean, not a squat or deadlift max. Your squat and pull strength is higher than your clean, so when the program asks for a percentage of the clean, the number can land above 100 percent. That’s intended, not a typo.
Does it use a Prilepin table?
The loading is Prilepin-style, but the sheet doesn’t include an actual Prilepin table. The sets and reps are written out for you day by day, and some top sets are left to feel with notes like build to max or max reps.
