Maddie So… you want to learn more about powerlifting programming? Keep scrolling!
Hey fellow lifters! I’m so glad you’re here!
In this post, we’ll go over several important factors of powerlifting programming such as workout frequency, exercise selection, reps and sets, rest time, as well as a few example workouts.
This post is all about important details of powerlifting programming.
*Note: This post includes several Amazon affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link (at no extra cost to you). Please read full disclosure here. Also, I am not a doctor or dietician. I am a personal trainer and powerlifting coach. It’s always best to speak with your doctor before making any changes to your diet and/or lifestyle.
Powerlifting programming for beginners:
What we’ll cover…
- Important terminology
- Training frequency
- Exercise selection
- Programming reps & sets
- Programming rest time
- Principle of overload
- Example beginner powerlifting workout
- Example intermediate powerlifting workout
After reading this post, don’t forget to check out…
Everything You Need to Know About My Diet as a Competitive Female Powerlifter
BEST 12 Week Powerlifting Program for Complete Beginners (Simple & Effective)
Powerlifting Kilo Conversion Chart | A FREE Printable
Powerlifting Training Program PDF
Total Strength is an awesome beginner powerlifting program for strength! Total Strength vol. 2 is more of an advanced powerlifting program.
Important terminology
Intensity – How hard your body has to work to complete a given exercise
- Usually measured by RPE
Volume – How much total work you do
- i.e. the total number of repetitions of a given exercises
- 5 sets of 5 reps equals 25 total reps which is referred to as volume
Rep – The total number of times you perform a given exercise before resting
Set – Tells you how many times you’ll complete a prescribed number of reps
Powerlifting programming: training frequency
Assuming you’re a beginner or intermediate powerlifter, you should be training for powerlifting three to four times a week. Advanced and elite powerlifters may do better training five to six days a week; though, the information in this post is best suited for beginners and intermediates.
Beginner powerlifters – train 3x per week
- Squat, bench press (or overhead press), and deadlift every workout
Intermediate powerlifters – train 4x per week
- Try an upper/lower body powerlifting workout split:
- Monday – lower body (SQ, DL)
- Tuesday – upper body (BP)
- Thursday – lower body (SQ, DL)
- Friday – upper body (BP)
Powerlifting programming: exercise selection
Obviously, powerlifting is all about the back squat, bench press, and deadlift, so your training should be centered around those lifts.
You can perform variations of SBD (squat, bench deadlift) for accessory exercises, or you can add in completely different movements such as lunges, tricep dips, and rack pulls. It’s suggested that you mix in a little bit of both variations and separate accessories, especially if you’re past the beginning stage of powerlifting training.
Your workouts should contain four to eight exercises in total.
If you know of any specific weaknesses (e.g., weak core, weak left arm) try to do specific movements to address those weaknesses or imbalances. I LOVE doing dead bugs and captain’s chair leg raises for core strength, and single-arm weaknesses can be targeted by doing single-arm dumbbell exercises (e.g. dumbbell chest presses, dumbbell incline presses).
On the contrary, single-leg weaknesses can be addressed by doing single-leg movements such as lunges or split squats. Over time, you’ll need to switch up your exercise selection to keep making progress.
Continue doing squats, bench presses, and deadlifts, but select different accessory movements to add in some variability.
The Lift Log
This Lift Log by Boldstrive allows you to easily and conveniently track your powerlifting workouts. You are able to log exercise selection as well as reps and sets which is great for tracking progressive overload!
Powerlifting programming: reps & sets
As for SBD, you should keep your rep ranges at five (maybe six at the very highest) or less per set. Though, when powerlifters advance, it may be necessary for them to increase that number a bit to achieve higher volume.
Three to eight sets are appropriate depending on how many reps per set you perform of a given exercise. (The fewer reps per set generally means more total sets. The more reps per set typically equals fewer total sets.)
When you’re completely new to powerlifting, around fifteen total reps per SBD exercise is a good starting point (ex. 3×5, 4×4, 5×3). But when you get to the point of needing higher volume (3-6 months into training), about twenty-five total reps per SBD exercise may be more appropriate (ex. 5×5, 6×4, 4×6).
If you perform accessory movements that are variations of SBD, you can apply the same rules as stated above for programming reps and sets. However, if you do other movements such as dips, rows, or lunges (smaller exercises), you can perform around eight to twelve reps per set for increased volume; I suggest completing three to four sets.
Just like we discussed above in the exercise selection section, keep in mind that you need to switch up your reps and sets to continue making progress over time–you can’t do 3x5s forever.
Consider doing the same rep/set scheme for several months and then try something different. Also keep in mind that as the intensity gets higher, the volume will have to get lower. This mostly applies to intermediate lifters.
12 Week Powerlifting Program PDF (It’s Free!)
Powerlifting programming: rest time
Between SBD sets, two to five minutes of rest is ideal for beginner and intermediate powerlifters. Required rest time will increase as you advance. You can take 60 to 90 seconds between accessory movement sets such as those of dips, rows, and lunges.
Principle of overload
The principle of overload means that you NEED to keep making your lifts more difficult in order to continue making strength gains. Overload can be achieved by increasing the load (weight), the number of reps, sets, or decreasing rest time.
As a beginner powerlifter, you’ll make strength gains FAST. Therefore, you should follow a linear progression model which means you increase all your lifts (SBD) by five pounds every single workout. Don’t worry about changing your rep/set ranges.
Intermediate lifters won’t be able to increase their lifts as quickly, but there are still many ways for them to apply overload. For example, if you bench 110 pounds for a 3×5 one week, try benching the same weight for a 3×6 the next week. OR you can try a 4×5 instead.
As you can see, I increased the number of reps in one scenario, but I increased the number of sets in the other. If you are able to bench the same amount with the new rep/set range, go back to a 3×5 but try it at 115 pounds (+5 pounds) the following week.
Micro Plates
Eventually, you may struggle to add 5 pounds to your lifts, especially during the bench press.
This is why micro plates by Logest are a lifesaver. They allow me to increase my lifts by 2.5 total pounds as opposed to 5.
It may seem complicated, but the general idea of overload is to continuously make your sets more challenging week-by-week as your muscles make strength adaptations.
Example workout (beginner)
Here is an example beginner powerlifting workout applying all of the principles stated above:
| EXERCISE | SETS X REPS |
| Barbell Back Squat | 3×5 |
| Barbell Bench Press | 3×5 |
| Conventional Deadlifts | 3×5 |
| Walking Lunges | 3×8 (each leg) |
| Bent Over Rows | 3×8 |
Example workout (intermediate)
Here is an example intermediate powerlifting workout applying all of the principles stated above:
| EXERCISE | SETS X REPS |
| Barbell Back Squat | 5×5 |
| Pause Deadlifts (Deadlift Variation) | 5×3 |
| Walking Lunges | 3×8 (each leg) |
| Heavy Goblet Squats | 3×12 |
| Leg Extensions | 3×12 |
Notice the back squat and deadlift (powerlifting lifts) are kept in sets of 5 or less. This is optimal for gaining total strength.
On the other hand, the accessory lifts (lunges, goblet squats, and leg extensions) are kept at higher reps.
As powerlifters, we don’t need to gain total strength in these 3 accessories, so they are just used for increased volume. Therefore, they can be done in higher rep ranges.
The takeaway
Powerlifting programming will vary from lifter to lifter based on experience level.
But there are 5 crucial aspects of powerlifting programming regardless of how strong a lifter is:
- Training frequency
- 3x a week for beginners
- 4x a week for intermediates
- Exercise selection
- SBD
- Accessories
- Programming reps and sets
- 15 total reps per SBD exercise for beginners
- 25 total reps per SBD exercise for beginners
- Programming rest time
- 2-5 minutes of rest per set
- Principle of overload
- Continuously making your workouts “more challenging” as you become stronger
We hope you learned something from this post and now feel more confident in creating your own effective powerlifting workouts.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to comment below!
