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.
Table of Contents
- 1 Wolf’s Older Programs: Which Should You Run?
- 2 Guidance from Dietmar Wolf
- 3 Spreadsheets
- 3.1 Norwegian Beginner Powerlifting Program (3 day, 8 week program)
- 3.2 Norwegian Intermediate Powerlifting Program (3 day, 12 week program)
- 3.3 Norwegian High Volume Powerlifting Program (3 day, 8 week program)
- 3.4 Norwegian 4 Day Powerlifting Program (Frode E. Haugen)
- 3.5 Norwegian Powerlifting Programs (original Norwegian)
- 4 Current Norwegian Programs (Raw)
- 5 Guidance From Dietmar Wolf
- 6 Lifting in Gear?
- 7 Updates
Wolf’s Older Programs: Which Should You Run?
| Program | Days | Length | Gear | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian Beginner | 3 | 8 weeks | Raw or geared | Newer lifters, and can be used to peak for a meet |
| Norwegian Intermediate | 3 | 12 weeks | Raw or geared | Established lifters, also usable as meet prep |
| Norwegian High Volume | 3 | 8 weeks | Raw | Off-season blocks between competitions |
| Norwegian 4 Day (Frode E. Haugen) | 4 | 11 weeks | Not stated | Lifters who want a fourth session; not a Wolf program |
The most important distinction is the high volume program. It is explicitly designed to be run between competitions rather than into one, so it does not peak. If you have a meet on the calendar, the beginner or intermediate program is the one you want.
Guidance from Dietmar Wolf
If you plan to run one of these, read the relevant guidance first. The spreadsheets are training templates and assume you already understand the approach behind them.
- Dietmar Wolf, Volume Program Guidance (PDF)
- Dietmar Wolf, Powerlifting Program Guidance, any level (PDF)
Spreadsheets
Norwegian Beginner Powerlifting Program (3 day, 8 week program)
This program can be used for peaking in preparation for a powerlifting meet.
Norwegian Intermediate Powerlifting Program (3 day, 12 week program)
This program can also be used for peaking, and at 12 weeks it gives you more room to build before the taper than the beginner version does.
Norwegian High Volume Powerlifting Program (3 day, 8 week program)
This routine is designed to be run between competitions, not in preparation for a meet.
Norwegian 4 Day Powerlifting Program (Frode E. Haugen)
This 11 week program appears to have been created by Frode E. Haugen, a Norwegian powerlifter, rather than by Dietmar Wolf. It is labeled separately here to avoid confusion. It is not on the federation’s site either, so unlike the three above there is no official word on whether it was written for raw or equipped lifting. It is not on the federation’s site either, so unlike the three above there is no official word on whether it was written for raw or equipped lifting.
Norwegian Powerlifting Programs (original Norwegian)
The spreadsheets above have been loosely translated into English. If you would prefer the original Norwegian language files, they are here.
Current Norwegian Programs (Raw)
Everything above is Wolf’s older material. The federation has since published a newer set, and these are the ones to run if you are starting fresh. Four programs, all written for raw lifting: two 15 week peaking blocks for meet prep, and two 8 week volume blocks for the time between meets. Each comes in a 3 day and a 4 day version.
| Program | Days | Length | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Day Raw Peaking | 3 | 15 weeks | Meet prep |
| 4 Day Raw Peaking | 4 | 15 weeks | Meet prep with a fourth session |
| 3 Day Raw Volume | 3 | 8 weeks | Off-season blocks |
| 4 Day Raw Volume | 4 | 8 weeks | Off-season with a fourth session |
Every sheet works the same way. Put your goal squat, bench and deadlift into the three cells at the top and the whole program fills in, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg. The percentages run off exercise-specific maxes rather than your competition lifts, so a paused squat is calculated from a paused squat max that the sheet works out for you.
These are Lift Vault translations of the federation’s own files. I kept Wolf’s formulas exactly as he wrote them and only changed the language, so the numbers you get are the numbers the federation publishes.
3 Day Raw Peaking Program (15 Weeks)
The default choice for most lifters here. Fifteen weeks into a meet, three sessions a week, all three lifts trained in each of them.
4 Day Raw Peaking Program (15 Weeks)
The same block spread across four sessions, so each one is shorter. Worth it if your sessions are running long or you recover better from smaller doses.
3 Day Raw Volume Program (8 Weeks)
An off-season block. It does not peak, so do not run it into a competition date and expect to be sharp.
4 Day Raw Volume Program (8 Weeks)
Guidance From Dietmar Wolf
Wolf published a written guide for each family of programs above, covering exercise execution and how to read the loading. Both are Norwegian language Word documents hosted by the federation.
- Guide to the 3 and 4 day peaking programs (Norwegian)
- Guide to the 3 and 4 day volume programs (Norwegian)
Lifting in Gear?
Wolf wrote equipped versions of all four current programs, with suit and shirt work in the peaking blocks and knee wraps in the volume blocks. Those are on the Norwegian equipped powerlifting programs page.
Updates
- Converted the post to the block editor and added a comparison of the four programs, including which are meant for meet prep and which are not. Removed a note saying the page was a resource dump that would be filled in later.
- Corrected the Norwegian lifter’s name, which appeared as “Frode H. Haugenz” in the text while the heading above it read “Frode E. Haugen”.
