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Squat 3 Days per Week Powerlifting & Strength Programs

These are squat programs that call for the athlete to squat 3 days per week.

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

12 Week RPE Powerlifting Peaking Program by Mignone Strength

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This is a 12 week powerlifting peaking program written by Matt Mignone of Mignone Strength. You train 4 days a week, and each session has two of the three competition lifts (or a variation of them) followed by 3 to 6 accessory lifts.

Loads are based on RPE (rate of perceived exertion) instead of percentages. On the main lifts you work up to a top set at the target RPE, then do back-off sets a fixed percentage lighter. The 12 weeks are split into training blocks: sets of 5, then sets of 3, one overreaching week, a taper, and a 1RM test in week 12.

It’s a good fit for intermediate and advanced lifters with a meet or a max-out day about 12 weeks away who can already rate their sets accurately. If you’d rather work off a percentage of your 1RM, the Fred Hatfield 12 Week Peaking Program covers the same 12 weeks with fixed percentages.

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Golden Six Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Routine

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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workout routine known as “Golden Six” is a 3 day beginner bodybuilding routine that can be run indefinitely. It was used in the early days of Schwarzenegger’s training before he started higher volume training programs.

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Tactical Barbell Program Spreadsheets (Operator, Zulu, Fighter, Mass & More)

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This is a collection of templates for the Tactical Barbell program. Included are the Operator, Zulu, Fighter, Gladiator, Mass, and Grey Man templates – all in the same spreadsheet, with drop down menus and 1RM inputs for easy customization.

Tactical Barbell is K. Black’s strength system for people whose job demands more than lifting: military, law enforcement, fire fighters, and other first responders. Sessions are short and submaximal – you’ll work between 70% and 90% of your 1RM in 3 week waves – so you can keep training hard on the conditioning side without digging yourself into a recovery hole.

Most templates run 2 to 4 days per week on a 6 week cycle, so there’s a version for almost any schedule. If you want a minimalist strength base that leaves room for everything else in your life, it’s hard to beat. If a bigger squat or bench is your main goal, a dedicated program like 5/3/1 will get you there faster.

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6 Week Beginner Powerlifting Volume Program- Squats & Science

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This is a 6 week long powerlifting volume block for novice lifters from the smart folks at Squats & Science. [Read more…]

Brendan Tietz 7 Week Intermediate Powerlifting Program

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This is a spreadsheet derived from Brendan Tietz’s YouTube video on intermediate powerlifting and bodybuilding programming. If you’re a beginner lifter, please see Brendan Tietz Beginner Powerlifting Program. As this blends a significant amount of hypertrophy work with strength development, this could also be considered a powerbuilding program. This program utilizes a blend of percentage programming and RPE. If you’re unfamiliar with RPE, you can learn more about it here: RPE Calculator. [Read more…]

Brendan Tietz Beginner Powerlifting Program Spreadsheet

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August 6, 2019 Update: The spreadsheet is now available for copying and sharing. Apologies for the mix up.

A beginner powerlifting program released by Brendan Tietz. A video overview and full program details are below. [Read more…]

Tim Swords 7 Week Front Squat Program Spreadsheet

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The Tim Swords 7 Week Front Squat Program is a free percentage-based peaking cycle from Tim Swords, an Olympic weightlifting coach with Team Houston Weightlifting / FuBarbell. The program runs 7 weeks with 3 squat sessions per week. Front squats are the primary movement, trained twice a week, and back squats are trained once per week. The cycle builds to a max front squat attempt in week 6 and a max back squat attempt in week 7.

The training philosophy comes straight from Olympic weightlifting coaching: high-frequency submaximal front squat volume in the early weeks, gradually tightening intensity until you’re doing heavy singles and a true max attempt. You’ll work off both your front squat and back squat 1RMs throughout. Weeks 1-3 stay in the 60-80% range, weeks 4-5 climb to 85-95%, and week 6 peaks with singles at 100% and a max attempt. Week 7 is a taper that ends with a max back squat. It’s built to peak, not to build general fitness.

This program is right for intermediate-plus lifters who can handle squatting 3 days per week and want a bigger front squat. It’s popular with weightlifters who compete and need to peak both lifts on a set timeline. If you’re newer to squatting or haven’t run a peaking block before, you’d be better served by a longer general strength cycle first, like the Hatch Squat Program. For other Olympic weightlifting-focused programs, check out the LSUS 10-5-3 Olympic Weightlifting Program.

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Brendan Tietz Submax DUP 12 Week Powerlifting Program Spreadsheet

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A daily undulating periodization program from Brendan Tietz for powerlifters. As this is a submaximal powerlifting program, this is best suited for off season work, not peaking for a meet. [Read more…]

All Pro Simple Beginner Routine Program Spreadsheet

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The All Pro Simple Beginner Routine (ASBR) is a 3 day full body program built around seven barbell lifts, run in 5 week cycles. Every session hits every lift. What changes between sessions is only the load: 100% on the heavy day, 90% on the medium day, 80% on the light day.

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Brazos Valley Barbell 8 Week Intermediate Powerlifting Program

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The Brazos Valley Barbell Intermediate Program is an 8-week powerlifting program with 5 training days per week, written by David Woolson. It’s two 4-week blocks, each with three hard weeks and a deload. You squat 3 times a week, bench 4 times (counting feet-up and close-grip bench), and deadlift twice, and every session pairs the main lifts with a few accessories.

The first block uses tempo and paused variations to clean up technique at moderate weights. The second block moves to the competition lifts and builds to a heavy triple on the squat and bench press and a heavy double on the deadlift in week 7. Every main lift has both a percentage and an RPE, so you get a target weight and room to adjust it on the day. David’s 10 Week Powerlifting Program and Full Year of Powerlifting Programming are also on Lift Vault.

David wrote it for the lifters who asked for it, who mostly had one to three years of training and fewer than three meets. He says in the video that it might be a little advanced for that group, and you’ll need to be comfortable judging RPE. If you’re newer than that, start with something simpler like GZCLP.

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RTS General Intermediate Program Spreadsheet – Mike Tuchscherer

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The RTS General Intermediate Program is a free 9-week powerlifting program from Mike Tuchscherer and Reactive Training Systems (RTS), the coaches behind some of the strongest raw lifters in the sport. It runs four training days a week early on and drops to three days later in the cycle. Every session pairs a competition-style main lift with variations and accessories, and each lift is prescribed as a number of reps at a target RPE rather than a fixed percentage of your max.

The whole thing is autoregulated. Instead of grinding a fixed percentage on a bad day, you work up to a top set at the prescribed reps and RPE, then use RTS fatigue percents to add your working volume. You drop the bar by a set percentage and keep doing sets until the RPE climbs to target. It’s the same idea RTS built its reputation on, and it’s a different animal from a straight percentage block like GZCLP.

This is a loose template, not a polished beginner program. It’s built for intermediate lifters who already rate RPE well and understand fatigue percents. If you’re still learning to gauge RPE or you want something more scripted, run a percentage-based program first and come back to this one. For a similar 9-week RPE-driven peak that’s laid out a bit more cleanly, see the TSA 9 Week Intermediate Program.

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3 Peaking Template Spreadsheets by Barbell Medicine

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Following up on the popular Bridge Program, the crew at Barbell Medicine introduced a free peaking program for athletes preparing for a powerlifting or strengthlifting meet. [Read more…]

GZCL Jacked and Tactical (Bench + Squat Only)

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This is a variation of Tactical Barbell programming combined with the GZCL program framework. It only programs the bench press and squat movements. Deadlifts are not included. This is ideal for athletes that are either unable to deadlift or looking to focus primarily on improving their bench press and squat. [Read more…]

Calgary Barbell 16 Week + 8 Week Program Spreadsheets

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Written by Calgary Barbell, the 16 week and 8 week programs are designed to improve the squat, bench press, and deadlift of the athlete in preparation for a powerlifting meet. You can, however, run them even if you’re not prepping for a meet.

Both programs run 4 sessions per week, hitting the squat and deadlift 3 times per week and the bench 4 times (counting competition lifts and variations). Load is programmed with a mix of 1RM percentages and RPE, and both include a taper week if you’re peaking for a meet.

The two are quite similar. The main difference is that the 16 week program has a fuller progression of each lift, whereas the 8 week program is more of a training snapshot. These suit intermediate lifters who are comfortable working with RPE. For another proven free meet prep option, check out the TSA 9 Week Intermediate Program.

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The Bridge by Barbell Medicine Program Spreadsheet

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The Bridge is an 8 week strength program from Jordan Feigenbaum and Austin Baraki at Barbell Medicine. You train 3 days a week on the competition lifts plus close variations, and the whole thing runs on RPE rather than percentages of your 1RM.

The name describes the job. It’s built for lifters finishing a novice linear progression like Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5×5, where adding weight every session has stopped working and the next step is a program that varies intensity across the week.

Sessions run 70 to 90 minutes, which is longer than most novice programs and worth knowing before you start. Learning to rate RPE accurately is the other adjustment, and it takes a few weeks. The review section below includes a well-known critique of whether this is the right first step straight off a novice LP.

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USSR Yearbook Squat Routines 1974 and 1976 Spreadsheets

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The original strains of what became the Russian Squat Routine, the 1974 and 1976 USSR “Yearbook” routines are very specific and should only be used when preparing the squat for competition. These are not general, off-season programs to be run repeatedly.

Differences:

  • 1974 is a 3 week program, 1976 is a 6 week program
  • Both are high itensity; but 1976 stays at or above 80% of 1RM for all 6 weeks of the program
    • 1974 dips into the 60% range on the lighter workout days, but stays at or above 75% the rest of the sessions
  • 1974 works primarily with 3-5 rep ranges, 1976 works with significantly more sets of 2 reps, likely as a result of the higher intensity
  • 1974 comes with two 3 week flavors that can be run sequentially (flavor 1, then flavor 2), repeatedly (flavor 1 or 2, then repeat for the next 3 weeks) to achieve the 6 week cycle

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Greg Nuckols 28 Programs Spreadsheet

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Greg Nuckols released 28 free training programs through his site, Stronger by Science. The bundle covers squat, bench press, and deadlift individually, with templates for beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifters at 1, 2, or 3 training days per week for each lift. Every program runs on a 4-week cycle, and you test your 1RM at the end of each cycle. The math: 3 lifts x 3 skill levels x 3 frequencies = 27 programs, plus a 4th deadlift variation (low volume, medium volume, and high volume in addition to the standard beginner version) = 28 total.

The design comes from Nuckols’ data-driven approach to strength training. Instead of a single fixed program, the bundle gives you a modular system: pick your lift, your experience level, and how many days per week you can train that lift. You use the squat, bench, and deadlift programs together, each running at whatever frequency fits your schedule. Intermediate and advanced templates add lift variations (front squats alongside back squats, for example), while beginner programs focus on the competition lifts to build the movement pattern first.

These programs are a good fit for intermediate and advanced lifters who want a percentage-based, structured template they can customize by frequency. Beginners can run them too — the 1x per week beginner versions are the most approachable entry point. You’ll need a 1RM estimate for each lift to get started. If you’re brand new to powerlifting, you might get more mileage from a full-body novice program first. See also: Greg Nuckols High Frequency Program (free spreadsheet).

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Hypertrophy Specific Training (HST) Program Spreadsheet – 8 Week

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Hypertrophy Specific Training is Bryan Haycock’s method, and its defining idea is that you work through descending rep blocks rather than a single rep range. Two weeks of 15s, two weeks of 10s, two weeks of 5s, then two weeks holding those 5RM weights and adding negatives. Twenty-four workouts, three a week, eight weeks total.

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Cowboy Method Spreadsheets – Original and Modified

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While the Texas Method has long been a popular intermediate program for graduates of Rippetoe’s Starting Strength or other novice programs like Strong Lifts, a popular Texas Method variation to emerge has been the Cowboy Method.

Included here are the Original Cowboy Method and a Modified Cowboy Method. [Read more…]

Kizen 16 Week Powerbuilding Program (4 Week Preview + PDF)

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This is the free first 4 weeks of Kizen’s 16 week powerbuilding program, put together by Silent Mike, Bart Kwan, and Omar Isuf. You train 6 days a week: three days built around the big three and their variations, and three accessory days run almost entirely as supersets. It comes with a PDF that walks through the reasoning behind the split.

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