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Squat 2 Days per Week Powerlifting & Strength Programs

These are squat programs that call for the athlete to squat 2 days per week.

To search through all programs based on lots of different criteria, check out the Lift Vault Program Library.

New Rules of Lifting for Women Workout Program Spreadsheet

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New Rules of Lifting for Women is a 7-stage, full-body program from The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove. You train 3 days a week and alternate two workouts, an “A” workout and a “B” workout. Each session pairs compound lifts with core and single-leg work, and the whole program runs about 6 months.

Progression isn’t based on percentages of your 1RM. You pick a weight you can just finish for the sets and reps a stage calls for, and once you can complete every set at the top of the rep range, you add a little weight and start again at the bottom. The book also walks through exercise form and a nutrition plan, so it’s a full package if you’re newer to lifting or coming back to it.

It’s a good fit for beginner and intermediate women who want a structured full-body program with a diet plan built in. If you’re after a glute-focused routine, Strong Curves is worth a look, and if you want the simplest possible barbell start, StrongLifts 5×5 is a gentler on-ramp. If you’re chasing a percentage-driven powerlifting peak, you’ll want a different program.

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Madcow 5×5 Program Spreadsheet (Intermediate + Advanced)

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Madcow 5×5 is a free 3-day-per-week, full-body strength program built as a derivative of Bill Starr’s original 5×5 work. Each session ramps through progressively heavier sets of 5 on the squat, bench press, and row, finishing on a top set. Monday is your volume day, Wednesday is a lighter recovery day, and Friday is your heaviest day. Two versions are on this page: the Intermediate, which runs indefinitely with weekly linear jumps, and the Advanced, a fixed 9-week program with two distinct blocks.

The idea behind the program is simple: you ramp up to a top set, try to beat it the following week, and let Wednesday’s lighter session keep you fresh for Friday. Weekly progression keeps each jump small enough to sustain for months without burning out the way daily jumps eventually do. It’s closer in feel to Texas Method than to a straight beginner LP, but the bar math is less involved.

Madcow is the right move once you’ve stalled on session-to-session jumps from something like StrongLifts 5×5 or Starting Strength and you’re ready to move to weekly progress. Beginners still adding weight every workout should finish a beginner LP first. Lifters already managing training blocks or running percentage-based programs will likely find Madcow too conservative.

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GreySkull LP Program Spreadsheet

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Created by John Sheaffer (aka Johnny Pain), Greyskull LP is a 3-day-per-week full body routine for novice lifters. You train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, hitting squats and a press or bench variation every session, with deadlifts mixed in. Each session follows the same basic structure: two work sets of 5, then a final “5+” AMRAP set on the main lifts.

The AMRAP set is what separates Greyskull LP from programs like Starting Strength and StrongLifts 5×5. Those programs have you stop at 5 reps on every set. Greyskull LP keeps the linear progression (adding weight every session), but lets you go all out on the last set. That extra volume helps you build more muscle alongside the strength gains, and it gives you a longer productive run before you stall.

This is a beginner program. If you haven’t stalled on linear progression yet, you’re exactly who it’s designed for. If you’ve already burned through a novice LP and stalled multiple times, you’ll get more out of something like GZCLP, which is built for people who’ve outgrown the basic add-weight-every-session model.

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Jonnie Candito Linear Program Spreadsheet

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The Candito Linear Program is a free 4-day-per-week upper-lower program from Jonnie Candito. You run it with one of three emphasis variants — Control, Power, or Hypertrophy — that modify the secondary days while keeping the heavy days identical across all three. There’s also a 3-day-per-week version (Mon/Wed/Fri) built into the program. Progression is simple: add weight each week to the main lifts (squat, bench, deadlift) and run it until you stall.

The design keeps two heavy days constant every week (heavy lower on Monday, heavy upper on Tuesday — 3×6 squat/deadlift and 3×6 bench with back work). The two variation days are where you pick your emphasis. Control uses pause variations to build technique and time under tension. Power swaps the lower variation day for explosive work to develop fast-twitch fiber. Hypertrophy bumps the variation days to higher volume (5×8) for more muscle size. You pick one emphasis and run it. When you stall on a lift, drop 15 lbs and continue. After three resets, slow your progression to every two weeks.

This program is best for novice-to-early-intermediate lifters who know how to perform the main lifts safely and want a structured linear program with more variety than StrongLifts 5×5. If you’ve never touched a barbell, spend a few months learning the movements first. If you’ve already exhausted linear progression and stall fast, the Candito 6 Week Program is the natural next step.

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Jonnie Candito 6 Week Powerlifting Program Spreadsheet

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Jonnie Candito’s 6 week program is a powerlifting peaking program. It consists of several short training blocks dedicated to muscular conditioning, hypertrophy, strength, linear weight increases, acclimation to heavy weights, intensity, and testing. It is held in especially high regard for improving the one rep max of the squat, though it programs all three lifts.

Note: Novice lifters will progress more quickly using the Candito Linear Progression Program. For a deadlift specific program, see newly the released Candito Deadlift Program.

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