Askold Surovetsky’s 16-week powerlifting program is a percentage-based system that programs squat, deadlift, and bench press across 8 microcycles. It was designed by Surovetsky – an Honorary Coach of Russia, CMS in powerlifting, and European Powerlifting champion – and has been tested over 3 years with lifters at different levels. The program runs 3 days per week. Squat-focused and deadlift-focused weeks alternate, and bench press is trained every session using one of two bench systems.

What I like about this program is how structured and self-contained it is. You plug in your maxes, and every set, rep, and percentage is laid out for you across all 16 weeks. No guesswork. Intensities ramp from about 74% up to 88% on working sets, with max-out sessions built into weeks 7 and 8. It’s a style of programming you’ll see in other popular Russian systems like Sheiko, but the structure here is more rigid and less customizable.

One thing to know going in: this program doesn’t include any accessory work. It programs only the three competition lifts, and bench is trained at all three weekly sessions, so pressing volume is already high. If you’re someone who needs a lot of variety or accessory volume, this might feel limited. But if you want a focused, no-nonsense peaking program for the big three, it does the job well.

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