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.
Mike Burgener 23-Day Bulgarian Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet via Mike Burgener (Coach B), archived by OWLsheets
On the Setup tab, enter your 1RM for the snatch, clean and jerk, front squat, and back squat. The Program tab then lays out all 23 days with the load already worked out for every set, and you log what you actually lifted as you go.
How the Program Works
You train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The snatch and the clean and jerk show up nearly every day, and you rotate front and back squats through the week.
The Weekly Rhythm
Five sessions a week keep the classic lifts in your hands constantly. Day 3 of each week is the hard one, where you work up to a max for the day on the snatch, the clean and jerk, and the front squat. The other days hold steady at prescribed percentages.
Reading the Loads
The sheet is percentage-based off your maxes. A cell like 235x1x5 means 235 pounds for 1 rep, done for 5 sets. Enter your 1RM for the snatch, clean and jerk, front squat, and back squat on the Setup tab and the working weights fill in across all 23 days.
Finishing the Cycle
After day 23, Coach B suggests a couple of light technique days to settle in, then a PR attempt. If you compete, that PR attempt can be a meet on the Saturday. Run the program as written and don’t add exercises to it.
FAQ
Who is the 23-Day Bulgarian program for?
Advanced lifters who already snatch and clean and jerk with solid technique and can handle training the classic lifts five days a week. The frequency is high from day one, so it isn’t the place to learn the lifts.
How many days a week is it?
Five. The program runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday for about five weeks, which works out to 23 sessions.
What does a cell like 235x1x5 mean?
Load, then reps, then sets. So 235x1x5 is 235 pounds for 1 rep, repeated for 5 sets. The sheet works that number out from the max you entered for that lift.
Do I need to know my maxes?
Yes. The sheet calculates every load from your 1RM in the snatch, clean and jerk, front squat, and back squat. Enter all four on the Setup tab and the rest of the program fills itself in.
Where did this program come from?
It’s Mike Burgener’s program, and Coach B’s original mikesgym.org page is no longer online. The spreadsheet is credited to him and sourced from the OWLsheets archive. If you want a longer build, Burgener’s 12-week cycle is the slower route.
