Free Programs and Spreadsheets
Recommended Reading: Practical Programming for Strength Training by Mark Rippetoe (Amazon)
A powerlifting program is designed to improve an athlete's one rep max in the squat, bench press, and deadlift. The mark of a successful routine is an improvement in the athlete's powerlifting total.
Whether you're looking for a beginner program, intermediate program, or a peaking program, you'll find a great powerlifting workout routine to get stronger. All spreadsheets are mobile friendly and powered by Google Sheets (better than PDF) - and no website has more free programs than Lift Vault!
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Search the Lift Vault Program Library to find the exact program you're looking for based on many criteria (e.g. experience level, days per week, and much more).
The latest programs are also available below.
Related: Powerbuilding Programs, Bodybuilding Programs, Strength Training Programs, Hypertrophy Programs
This is a 6 week conjugate powerlifting program. It trains a wide variety of compound and isolation movements to build strength and develop muscle mass.
This program is described as a high-frequency, full-body training program. It was designed by Parakonan Training for the “humble-hungry” lifter: humble enough to know when to take weight off the bar and hungry enough to take what’s there.
[Read more…]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.
[Read more…]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.
[Read more…]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.
[Read more…]
A full body workout routine is any program that works all of the major muscle groups in each training session. They are effective for building strength, gaining muscle, and losing fat. As such, they are commonly recommended for many beginner lifters, though they are also well suited for intermediate and advanced lifters.
[Read more…]This is a 10 week powerlifting program for beginners. It was designed to help increase strength in the squat, bench press, and deadlift. It was created by PRs on the Platform.
[Read more…]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.
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.
[Read more…]May 2020 Update: Added Simple Jack’d 2x spreadsheet. You should probably run v2.0, as the creator of the program considers it superior to v1.0.
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…]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…]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.
[Read more…]A powerlifting program is any program designed to improve the performance of an athlete in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Powerlifting programs typically last between 4 weeks and 16 weeks. Lift Vault has programs grouped by week count for your convenience.
Popular options are 12 week powerlifting programs, 10 week powerlifting programs, 8 week powerlifting programs, and 6 week powerlifting programs, but we have everything from 3 weeks to 20 weeks.
Absolutely. Anyone that can safely perform the squat, bench press, and deadlift can use a powerlifting program. There are no special qualifications. Plus, running a beginner powerlifting program can actually help you improve coordination and motor recruitment.
The primary variables manipulated in a powerlifting program are frequency, intensity, and volume.
“Volume programs” tend to have higher volume & frequency paired with lower intensity and are best for off season training or as the beginning of a meet preparation.
A “peaking program” is any program that ends with tapering down volume and significantly increasing intensity in preparation for a powerlifting meet.
A beginner powerlifting program is any powerlifting program that takes advantage of the novice lifter’s ability to recover rapidly. As such, it tends to have shorter mesocycles than other programs. These usually range from 1 training session in length to 2 weeks.