Powerbuilding Program: A Free 8-Week Plan for Strength and Size

What a powerbuilding program is

A powerbuilding program trains for strength and size at the same time: heavy, low-rep sets on the squat, bench press or deadlift first, then lighter sets and more volume for the muscles you want bigger.

It suits lifters who want a heavier squat, bench and deadlift and a bigger physique, and don't have a meet date forcing them to pick one.

Why the mix works

Strength and size want slightly different things, and powerbuilding gives each what it needs.

• Heavy weight for strength, any weight for size. Weights above about 80% of your one-rep max (1RM) build more strength than light ones, but muscle grows about the same with light, moderate or heavy weights as long as the sets are hard (a large review of 28 studies). So the heavy top set is there for strength, and the lighter sets build muscle without beating up your joints.
• More sets keep paying off for size longer than for strength. Both go up with more weekly sets, but strength levels off sooner (a review of 67 studies). Strength needs a few heavy sets; size keeps benefiting from more.
• You don't need to go to failure. Training to failure gives muscle growth only a tiny edge over stopping a rep or two short (a review of 15 studies). Stopping one to three reps short on accessories keeps you fresh for the next session.

Hypertrophy vs. strength training covers the differences in more depth.

Who this program is for

This plan is for intermediate lifters: you've finished a beginner program like Starting Strength, your squat, bench and deadlift technique is consistent, and you can train four days a week. If you can still add weight every session, a beginner program will make you stronger faster. If you have a meet or a test date, the 12-week powerlifting program builds toward it; this plan doesn't.

The 8-week powerbuilding program

The plan runs in two 3-week waves, each followed by a lighter week. Every main lift is a percentage of your 1RM. If you haven't tested yours recently, estimate it from a hard set of 3 to 5 reps with the 1RM calculator.

Download the 8-week plan as a spreadsheet (.xlsx). Enter your three maxes and the top sets and back-off sets fill in. It also has logs for the main lifts and accessories and works out your new 1RM from week 7.

Weekly layout

That's more than 10 hard sets a week for the chest and quads, about 10 or more for the back and hamstrings, and fewer direct sets for the shoulders and arms, which also get work from all the pressing and pulling. About 10 hard sets per muscle per week is a good starting point for growth, as how many sets per week explains. Rest 3 to 5 minutes after the heavy sets and 1 to 2 minutes between accessory sets.

Main lifts, week by week

Days 1 to 3 start with one heavy top set, then drop to back-off sets for volume. On the deadlift, keep the back-off weight but cap each set at 5 reps.

The top sets get heavier each week while the back-off sets swap reps for weight. A top set should end with about 2 or 3 reps left in the tank, and the back-off sets a little more, though they'll feel harder than that after the heavy set. In the lighter weeks, cut every accessory to 2 sets too.

For a lifter with a 100 kg bench press, that means 80 kg for 5 and 3 x 8 at 67.5 kg in week 1, and 90 kg for 2 and 3 x 5 at 77.5 kg in week 6.

Accessories: double progression

Accessories use rep ranges instead of percentages. Keep the weight until you hit the top of the range on every set, then add the smallest step you can and work back up from the bottom of the range. Stop each set 1 to 3 reps short of failure. Double progression covers the method in detail. The Day 4 close-grip bench press works the same way.

After week 8

Week 7's top set doubles as a test. Enter the weight and reps into the 1RM calculator, then run the next 8 weeks from that estimate. If the estimate went up, the plan is working. If it went down, look at sleep, food and missed sessions before changing the program. Why your lifts stopped progressing works through those causes in order.

Powerbuilding vs. functional bodybuilding

Both borrow from bodybuilding, but they point in different directions.

Functional bodybuilding started in 2016 as a way back to training for Marcus Filly, a CrossFit Games athlete, and his coach Mike Lee at OPEX. OPEX describes it as training that puts how well you move ahead of how hard you go, with set tempos, full range of motion and fixed rest periods.

Nobody has compared the two in a study. If a bigger squat, bench and deadlift is part of your goal, powerbuilding trains for it directly. If it isn't, a functional bodybuilding program gives you the muscle-building half with less heavy lifting.

Tracking powerbuilding in GymEvo

Powerbuilding produces two kinds of progress, heavier top sets and more reps on accessories, and both are easy to lose track of across four sessions a week. GymEvo shows last session's numbers on every set, and each exercise can have its own rep range and weight step, which is how double progression runs. You can set a main lift up as a multi-week periodization cycle with each week's sets, reps and percentages, and the app works out the weights from your 1RM. Periodization, per-exercise rep ranges and the estimated 1RM chart are free. Premium adds the rep-range distribution chart, which shows whether your training really is split between heavy and moderate sets, plus the max-weight chart and weekly and monthly reviews. See how GymEvo helps you build muscle.