This is my personal opinion on an advanced routine for experienced lifters who have access to a well equipped gym.
Since I began powerlifting and focusing heavily on the big 3 lifts I found it difficult to time proper recovery. I also found it hard to add other variations of lifts I wanted to focus on.
For instance, moving Hex bar lifts into a week where you are already performing deadlifts and squats is a bit difficult. I always felt that my back was never properly recovered and having a desk job doesn't help either. Most people can probably better relate this to shoulder issues as most people tend to overwork them during the week. Shoulders are used in almost all exercises making it difficult to add a shoulder focused day, which is a limiting factor to increasing presses.
Five days a week of lifting is difficult to manage especially if you have a busy lifestyle and tend to miss a workout during the week. It sucks playing catch up, and can be upsetting when you feel like you need to skip a day entirely.
For about 5 years I was using a traditional RPT routine I was stagnating and admittedly getting a little bored with the routine. I moved to something called the powerlifting matrix for a short while; I did see some success with this routine, but felt like my form and mentality was beginning to break down towards the upper limits. Not hitting the numbers would make me feel inadequate and the work out was no longer fun. I felt the program needed a little more structure, but loved the simplified concept towards progression. Ultimately, this is how I came to the decision to try and implement a 9 day routine.
Pick a set of 3 lower body and 3 upper body exercises. I recommend:
This list is just a guideline and what works in my experience. If you have different goals or other lifts you would like to perform then go for it. I would still recommend sticking to Powerlifting, Weightlifting or Olympic Lifting variances.
Pick a rep number somewhere between 5-10 depending on your goals. If you are trying to focus on strength, stick to a lower number, if you are trying to build size go with something around 10. I am focusing on a little bit of both and I like even numbers so I decided on 8 as my rep number. *Please note if you have difficulty selecting a rep count or are unfamiliar with why the rep ranges exist for specific goals, I would recommend learning more about rep ranges before beginning a heavy lifting program like this one.
Pick a starting weight for each lift. To do this, I recommend a weight you know you can confidently hit for your rep range with good form and subtract 20 pounds from that number. So for example, if you can hit 135 x 8 on bench press and 8 is your rep number then your starting weight will be 115 for bench press.
Another way to decide on your starting weight is use something between 65%-70% of your one rep maximum. So if your one rep max is 300 pounds you will start with a weight between 195-210 pounds.
It's up to you to pick which Upper and Lower body routines to perform on consecutive days. Your routine should like this:
Or how I currently have it laid out:
Your goal is to complete your chosen number of reps (8) at your chosen weight for 4 consecutive sets. If you “miss” a set keep track of the reps actually completed. Once you complete your goal without any “missed” sets you will move the weight up 10 pounds for that lift the next rotation. So your notes should look something like:
| Lift | Weight | Goal Reps | Completed Reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | 135 | 8 | 8 |
| 135 | 8 | 8 | |
| 135 | 8 | 8 | |
| 135 | 8 | 8 |
| Lift | Weight | Goal Reps | Completed Reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | 145 | 8 | 7 |
| 145 | 8 | 6 | |
| 145 | 8 | 6 | |
| 145 | 8 | 6 |
Here in the first weeks rotation we hit our goals so we increased the weight for the following weeks rotation. We did not hit goals for rotation 2 so we continue with this weight and rep combination.
I understand this may be difficult to grasp if you don't have experience with a progressive styled routine. That is why I have created blank spreadsheet examples to get you started.
Warmup any way you want, I generally always warmup with an empty bar and work my way up to “working weight”. Usually taking about 10-15 minutes. For Bench press it looks like this:
On squat days I found it better to spend a longer time warming up and it looks like this:
There is no set time between sets take as long as you want.
After your main lift is done you are free to do any auxiliary exercises or cardio, this may vary depending on your goals, time and energy levels. Here are some examples of what my auxiliary lifts are after my main lift:
No matter the routine, you should be keeping track of your workouts in some way. Write your workouts down using the notes on your phone, text yourself, or use a notepad; whatever your choice, just make sure to write it down. I use google sheets, here is what my recent routines have looked liked.
I do not want to spend too much time discussing diet as it is a very complicated topic, but it is most important when discussing any exercise routine. I just want to say that this program is best paired with a high protein diet that keeps you in maintenance or above maintenance calories relative to your TDEE. Also feel free to utilize my free calorie / macro tracker that is tailored for IIFYM style diets.
Experienced lifters: This is a subjective definition, I believe an experienced lifter is someone who can lift near body weight with good form in any one of the big 3 lifts.
Big 3 lifts: Squats, Deadlifts and Bench Press. Some circles / Coaches / Leagues / Federations may swap Bench Presses with Strict Press or Push Press but it is in my experience Bench Press is part of the big three in most cases.
RPT: Reverse Pyramid Training, is a form of training so you perform your most intense working set first and tapper the weights down and reps up. It was popular in most “Intermittent Fasting” circles and first found following a leangains type of eating protocol. You can find further reading on this routine with Martin’s take and Andy’s.
Powerlifting Matrix: is a program that was introduced to me from a friend of mine, this is one of the most intense routines I have ever followed you can find a good write up on thepursuitofstrength. Long and short of it its a simple linear progression program that has you working closer to your 1 rep max then most programs.
High protein diet: This is subjective, but I believe a high protein diet to be anywhere between 1gms to 1.5gms of body weight in pounds. So a 200 pound man would eat between 200-300 grams of protein daily.
TDEE: Total Daily Energy Expenditure, you can use the following to calculate yours(I always recommend choosing sedentary for activity).
IIFYM: If it fits your macros. You can google this one as the original/best resource is now under a paywall.
I am a powerlifting enthusiast that enjoys lifting heavy things and putting them down. Although I have Personal Training and Diet Coaching experience, I am not currently certified or licensed in any fields. I am a full time programmer, new father and home gym owner. This site used to be home to a blog that I utilized poorly. I now plan to use this site as a platform to host articles and guides similar to this one.
Please use caution when performing any heavy lifts, always have a spotter present. Never lift through pain.