Powerlifting Training Plan. Powerlifting Workout What is powerlifting? Benefits of powerlifting training Powerlifting training plans are centered on the three main compound lifts. Weeks Initial Volume Phase During this phase, you should aim to add to your workout each week. Ensure the bench bar touches your chest before pressing.

Accessory Lift: 3 x 6 Incline Dumbbell Bench Press. Pick a weight that feels heavy but comfortable. Day D — Accessory Lifts 3 x 8 Weighted Pull Ups. Our Products. Related Products. Creatine Monohydrate g.

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Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author. When you need to build strength, logic will guide you to adopt a powerlifting program since they are the strongest athletes in the world. When you need power , an Olympic weightlifting training program is a no-brainer.

However if you need both attributes, you cannot haphazardly cherry-pick and combine what you like from each program and expect outstanding results. Weight training frequency for an athlete can range between one to four sessions per week depending on the sport, phase of training, and time of year Reynolds et.

This article will focus on a 3 and 4 session per week training split because if you are here at BarBend, you probably love to lift.

Lifting 3 to 4 times per week is a very common training frequency in many sports, since it still allows for 3 to 4 days of either sport specific conditioning or rest.

Consider these 12 ways to maximize your rest day. Lifting any more frequently than this is likely coming at the expense of inadequate recovery or insufficient sport specific conditioning.

There is never enough room in a weekly training plan to do every useful exercise, so selecting movements that give you the most bang for your buck is critical.

The short list of exercises to develop strength and power is easy: the squat, bench press, and deadlift for strength; and snatch, clean, and jerk for power. A post shared by JJ Watt jjwatt. How Should You Order Your Exercises? Exercises can be ordered in many different ways depending on the objective of the movements and needs of a sport, however creating an appropriate exercise order generally centers on how one exercise affects the quality of effort or the technique of another exercise.

The snatch, clean, and jerk require high velocities, and excellent technique to complete Garhammer The strength exercises squat, bench press, and deadlift require maximal force capabilities that can result in a significant energy expenditure Robergs et. To ensure an athlete performs optimally in these movements they should immediately follow the Olympic weightlifting movements in the program.

Main-lift derivatives that occupy a supplemental role in the training plan can conclude a training session when energy levels of the athlete are lowest. But it is an incomplete analysis to only consider fatigue as it occurs in a single training session when arranging exercises in a program.

Not only is energy depleted within a training session, but there are also energy decrements throughout a training week Dawson et. Assuming an athlete gets the bulk of their training completed during the work week, and gets more recovery on the weekends, performance will be best early in the training week and diminish as the week goes on.

The exercises or attributes that an athlete needs to most improve upon should be scheduled early in a training week to optimize performance. These sample templates apply many of the same training principles in their design. Both templates place the Olympic lifts at the beginning of training sessions to ensure power output and technical focus is not masked by fatigue from a preceding exercise.

The execution of the snatch requires greater speed than the clean and jerk, and thus ideally is scheduled early in the training week to optimize speed and power Garhammer The Olympic lifts are generally programmed using a low training volume and few repetitions per set that should have minimal deleterious effects on the performance of the powerlifting exercises Hartmann et.

A post shared by 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 jhharrison In fact, the high power outputs generated in the Olympic lifts may actually potentiate improved performance in the powerlifting movements Gilbert et.

The 3x per week training template utilizes both upper and lower body accessory exercises within each session, since training sessions are not scheduled on consecutive days.

The 4x per week training template groups upper body accessory exercises with the Olympic lifts, and lower body accessory work with the lower body intensive powerlifting exercises. The weight is just very heavy! The clean and jerk and the snatch need to be driven with explosive power in weightlifting.

The barbell needs to be pulled from the floor, guided up the body and thrown overhead with the use of momentum, so speed is vital. When driving through a snatch, or a clean and jerk, if the movements do not occur in the right sequence, or if there is not enough explosive power behind the leg drive, the lift will fail.

Since the lift has to be performed so quickly, weightlifters are given little to no time to make a necessary adjustment and often will have to concede the failed lift as an unsuccessful attempt. In the pressurised, high-stake environment of competitions, weightlifting misses get even more frequent.

Powerlifting aims to develop maximum muscular strength, whilst weightlifting also requires a focus on explosive power and extensive technique work in order to perform the overhead lifts. To do this lifters will use heavy weights, but only perform few repetitions, and will have days that are focused on one of the competition lifts, either the bench press, squat or deadlift.

Training routines will also include the accessory exercises required to build the strength for the competition lifts. For example, doing split squats to build strength in the back squat. If a lifter has a weaker grip strength, a day focused on the deadlift could include exercises such as reverse curls and farmers walks.

A powerlifting workout will have longer rest periods than other types of strength training programmes, and more rest days in the training week, because the weights lifted are generally heavier and require more recovery.

Weightlifting training is a much more technical type of training because of the overhead aspect of the lift, which must be performed fast and with the correct form. To train a lifter for the clean and jerk and the snatch, weightlifting training focuses firstly on correctly performing the movement and then executing the technique, and then alongside this develops the explosive power and strength needed.

This is because the overall weight used is lighter and therefore easier to recover from. This section is another where there are similarities and differences. Having said that, powerlifting does target more muscle groups directly, because of the three different lifts used in competitive powerlifting.

The three different lifts in powerlifting will use a multitude of different muscles. Across the powerlifting spectrum muscles worked include:.

On the topic of bench presses, I recently weighed up the differences between them, which you can read here.

If we compare a deadlift and a clean…. A deadlift is fairly simple, you set up with the bar on the floor, close to your shins and your back tight. From there you push into the floor, pull on the bar and stand up. Movement complete. A clean involves a very similar set up, but then adds in a double knee bend and an aggressive extension of the hips and quads to elevate the barbell.

Practically, this means that weightlifting movements require longer to learn, and more frequent practice. Since the weightlifting movements are more technically demanding than the powerlifting movements, they need to be trained more frequently.

Typically, recreational level weightlifting programmes will include snatches, cleans and jerks at least two to three times per week, as well as lighter variations like power snatches and power cleans 1 to 2 times per week.

At the elite level, 9 or more sessions of weightlifting movements per week are commonplace. Sometimes bench press might be trained three to four times, but movements like squats will usually only be trained twice, and many programmes only include heavy deadlifts once per week.

You have to bear in mind that the weightlifting movements are significantly less taxing than the powerlifting movements. Weightlifters perform plenty of snatches, cleans, jerks and close variations, along with clean and snatch pulls, back squats and front squats.

Powerlifters perform plenty of back squats, bench presses, deadlifts and close variations, along with a decent amount of hypertrophy bodybuilding style assistance work. Aside from the obvious difference in lifts performed, the major differences in competition are more to do with governance, bar loading and atmosphere.

Weightlifting is governed internationally by the IWF International Weightlifting Federation which sets the rules for competition worldwide. Powerlifting has multiple individual governing bodies, each of whom has different rules and regulations.

The most notable body is the IPF International Powerlifting Federation. Weightlifting competitions are quiet. There tends to be a bit of music as competitors enter or exit the stage, plus plenty of shouting if the lift is made successfully, but it is silent when the lifter makes their attempt.

The idea is that this allows for maximal concentration on the lift. Powerlifting competitions on the other hand are loud. The lifters and the people watching shout, grunt, scream and generally go nuts as lifts are made. The work becomes more directed as the movements are the competition lifts or their variants.

On the bench days, rowing and pulling are kept in, but the volume is reduced from the accumulation block. On squat days, the main movement is the competition squat, followed by a general specific movement for the deadlift, followed by another general specific movement for the squat with reduced intensities.

The deadlift day follows the same template, except with a DL-SQ-DL setup. Both days have general work done in a circuit at the end to maintain GPP. This may or may not need to be cut depending on feel. The intensity of this work should be low. There are pros and cons to this setup.

The pros are the amount of specific and general specific work will have a higher transference to the competition lifts. These lifts also stress training economy as they give a lot of bang for your buck. The cons of a setup like this are that it's very time-consuming. Using big, compound lifts requires more attention to technique.

Because of this, more rest is needed between sets. Also, the four-day split may not work for everyone because of the time it may take.

For some lifters, this split may be too much to recover from. For others, they may need more general work for a particular area due to injury history, particular weakness, etc.

Here's a variation of the four-day split above. The bench days are the same, but the squat and deadlift days have been altered. As you can see, there is less general specific work in this template. It's less time-consuming for those who let that nagging problem called "real life" get in the way and is easier to recover from for some who have a propensity for overtraining or injuries.

You can also plug in more general work for particular weak areas. Some of you may have even more obligations that mean you can only train three days a week. Since quitting your job and leaving your family might not be an option, you may want to use a setup like this.

This would work if the powers that be work, family, etc. allow you three days to train, and time isn't an issue on those three days. This would also be good if you feel you recover well and want to use specific and general specific work.

An added bonus is that it will prepare you for a meet due to the three lifts being trained either specifically or with a general specific variant. If you only have three days and have limited time, the following setup may be best.

Now, one last template you may want to use. I know accommodating resistance is popular among a lot of powerlifters.

This is especially true in multi-ply federations. I suggest you don't use bands on the specific exercises. The point of doing these lifts is to refine technique and the bands will alter the motor patterns.

Chains are a gray area. They can be used on specific exercises, but in most cases, it's better to use them on the general specific lifts. To give an example, this could work as a variation of a four-day variation using chains and bands on the general specific lifts. The reason I used RPE is that it's hard to give a percentage because of fatigue from the main movement.

When you add in the extra tension from bands or weight from chains, it can become even harder to pinpoint.

Realization is the final piece of the puzzle. This block will have low volume, high intensity, and full recoveries between workouts. It generally runs for two weeks. During this block, some lifters may choose to dedicate a separate day for each lift.

After the specific movement, some light general accessory work can be performed. The volume and intensity of this work should be low.

I'll demonstrate a basic realization block using each setup. With this setup, each lift has a dedicated day with some light accessory work after. The purpose of the accessory work is to flush some blood and act as light GPP.

It should not be heavy or taxing. Some lifters may opt for only having two main training days during this block. If this is the case, they'll have one bench day and a day for the squat and deadlift. Here's one way to set this up:. Another way that may be used to set this up would be doing the general accessory work on a separate day.

Remember, the extra workouts are light and used to enhance recovery. When using Block Periodization leading up to a contest, it's important for a lifter to know how many weeks total they have. It may be best to work backward from the meet. Below is an week training cycle. The blocks are designated, as well as when certain gear will be used.

It's written working backward from the meet. Block Periodization is not a one-size-fits-all training system. It is not a matter of sets x reps, exact exercises, and personal beliefs.

It's an organizational outline that classifies means of preparation from general to specific. To successfully implement this system, a lifter must be able to thoughtfully place particular exercises into blocks that correspond with the principles of general preparation, general specific preparation, and specific preparation.

By having an understanding of this style of programming, a lifter will be able to take advantage of the general qualities gained from the early stages of training by promoting transference to the competition squat, bench, and deadlift. I hope this article has stimulated some thought and cleared up the misconceptions about Block Periodization.

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Education Books elitefts eBooks Team eBooks. Essentials Coffee Shaker Cups Featured Category. Women Apparel Tees Sleeveless Strong her Apparel Limited Edition. Gabriel Naspinski. A Practical Guide for Implementing Block Periodization for Powerlifting.

How I Learned of Block Periodization I first became aware of Block Periodization while interning under Buddy Morris and James Smith at the University of Pittsburgh.

Part 2 - SAPT. February 5 at pm. The Keys to Periodization Brandon's Blueprint. August 22 at am. The study lasted 15 […]. February 13 at am. That's not block periodization. Block uses residuals to peak. February 13 at pm. And if you read my multiple other articles on programming, you will see that I acknowledge the same thing that you just did.

This was written about 7 years ago when I had a poor understanding of the subject. Thanks for reading as best of luck to you.