The Cube Method is a 10-week powerlifting program from Brandon Lilly, built around the squat, bench, and deadlift. You train four days a week: one day each for the big three, plus a fourth bodybuilding day for your weak points. Each main lift gets worked once a week, and week to week it rotates through a heavy day, an explosive day, and a rep day so you’re never grinding the same style twice in a row.
The cycle runs as three 3-week waves and finishes with a meet week where you test new maxes. Every load is figured as a percentage of your 1RM, and the loads climb wave over wave while the reps drop.
Lilly wrote the program, in his words, “out of my absolute frustration with my training, myself, and the sport of powerlifting.” It’s a back-to-basics answer to overcomplicated programming. Instead of chasing one quality at a time, the Cube develops heavy strength, bar speed, and rep volume together and rotates them so each lift sees all three. If you’ve run Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 or the Juggernaut Method, the wave idea will feel familiar. The Cube just spreads the three styles across your lifts each week instead of moving every lift through the same block together.
It’s built for intermediate and advanced lifters who already have a solid 1RM and a meet or a test day on the calendar. The percentages run high, so you need real numbers to work from. If you’re newer and still adding weight to the bar most weeks, you’ll get more out of a linear program like GZCLP first, then come back to the Cube once that stalls.
Table of Contents
Cube Method Spreadsheet
Enter your squat, bench, and deadlift 1RMs on the Setup tab and the sheet fills in every working weight for all 10 weeks, meet week included. The green cells are where you log the weight and reps you actually hit. Prefer to run it off a training max? Enter 90% of your true 1RM as your 1RM.
All credit for the program goes to Brandon Lilly. This is a Lift Vault rebuild of his Cube Method into a maxes-driven spreadsheet, with the percentages checked against his book and against write-ups from Barbend and Empire Barbell.
Program Overview
Each week you hit squat, bench, and deadlift once, and every week each lift is assigned a different style. One lift goes heavy, one goes explosive, and one does reps, and they rotate so that over three weeks each lift has done all three. Here’s the rotation inside a wave:
| Week | Squat | Bench | Deadlift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Heavy | Explosive | Rep |
| Week 2 | Explosive | Rep | Heavy |
| Week 3 | Rep | Heavy | Explosive |
Waves 2 and 3 keep the same rotation but push the loads up and cut the reps. Heavy days are low reps near your top end, explosive days are lighter and fast, and rep days build volume while you clean up technique. Here’s how the sets, reps, and percentages move across the three waves:
| Style | Wave 1 (Wk 1–3) | Wave 2 (Wk 4–6) | Wave 3 (Wk 7–9) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy | 5×2 @ 80% | 3×2 @ 85% | 2 @ 90%, 1 @ 92.5%, 1 @ 95%, 1+ @ 80% |
| Explosive | 8×3 @ 60% | 6×2 @ 65% | 5×2 @ 70% |
| Rep | 3×8 @ 70% | 3×6 @ 80% | 3×3 @ 85% |
The Bodybuilding Day (4th Day)
The fourth training day is a real part of the program, not an optional add-on. It’s a bodybuilding day aimed at the muscles that hold your squat, bench, or deadlift back. Pick 3 to 5 movements, do 4 to 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps at a moderate load, and take each set close to failure. Keep the barbell work light here. The point is quality muscle work, not another heavy session.
Good picks are dumbbell overhead press, lateral raises, rows, lat pulldowns, face pulls, curls, triceps pushdowns, hamstring curls, and back extensions. If you’re not sure where your weak points are, the r/powerlifting compendium to overcoming weak points is a solid starting place. The spreadsheet lays this day out for all 10 weeks so you can log it alongside your main work.
Meet Week
Week 10 is meet week. You work up to a heavy single on each lift, treating the last attempts like a competition. Rest fully, hit your new bests, then start a fresh cycle from those numbers.
The Cube Method Book
The spreadsheet gives you the loading, but the reasoning behind it lives in the book. To understand the rest of Lilly’s thinking on effort, recovery, and running the Cube long term, pick up The Cube Method.
Cube Method FAQs
What is the Cube Method?
It’s a 10-week powerlifting program by Brandon Lilly that trains the squat, bench, and deadlift each once a week. Every week a lift is assigned a heavy, explosive, or rep style, and those styles rotate so each lift trains all three across a wave. A fourth day handles bodybuilding work for weak points.
How long is the Cube Method?
One cycle is 10 weeks: three 3-week waves plus a meet week at the end. When you finish, you retest your maxes and start the next cycle from your new numbers.
Is the Cube Method good for beginners?
Not really. The Cube assumes you already have an honest 1RM and can handle high percentages. A true beginner will add weight faster on a linear program like GZCLP. Once linear progress stalls and you have a meet or a test day coming up, the Cube is a good next step.
What is the fourth day in the Cube Method?
It’s a bodybuilding day. You pick 3 to 5 movements that target your weak points and run them for 4 to 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps at a moderate weight, close to failure. It’s meant to add muscle where you need it without piling on more heavy barbell work.
Does the Cube Method use 1RM or a training max?
The percentages are based on your 1RM. If you’d rather leave a buffer, plug in 90% of your true 1RM as your 1RM on the Setup tab and every load will scale down to a training-max basis.
How does the Cube Method compare to 5/3/1?
Both use waves and both are aimed at building strength over the long haul. 5/3/1 moves every lift through the same rep scheme each week and is easy to run forever. The Cube is more meet-focused: it rotates heavy, explosive, and rep work across your lifts inside a 10-week peak, so there’s more variety week to week and a clear test day at the end.
Updates
- July 14, 2026 – Rebuilt the spreadsheet so it fills in every load from your own maxes, laid out the full 10-week cycle including the bodybuilding day and meet week, and rewrote the guide with the wave and rotation breakdown.
