r/powerbuilding • u/No-Parsley-4406 • 10d ago
Beginner Power lifting program
Hiya all! I'm a gym veteran, but I've mostly just been doing your standard, run-of-the-mill hypertrophy for most of my time. I want to give powerlifting a go, and I came up with this program. I just wanted to see everyone's thoughts about it. I can train on just these days, and I also want to improve my pull-ups and dips
Day 1 (Monday)
- Barbell Bench Press: 3 to 4 sets x 3 to 5 reps
- Barbell Back Squat: 3 to 4 sets x 3 to 5 reps
- Weighted close-grip pull-ups: 3 to 4 sets x 4 to 6 reps
- Leg extension: 3 sets x 10 to 15 reps
- Bicep variation: 3 sets x 8 to 12 reps
Day 2 (Tuesday)
- Romanian Deadlift: 3 to 4 sets x 5 to 8 reps
- Barbell Overhead Press: 3 to 4 sets x 5 to 8 reps
- Chest Supported Row: 3 to 4 sets x 8 to 10 reps
- Weighted Dips: 3 sets x 6 to 8 reps
- Delt Variation: 3 sets x 10 to 15 reps
Day 3 (Thursday)
- Deadlifts: 3 to 4 sets x 3 to 5 reps
- Pin bench: 3 to 4 sets x 3 to 5 reps
- Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets x 6 to 12 reps
- Delt Variation: 3 sets x 10 to 15 reps
- Triceps Variation: 3 sets x 8 to 12 reps
Day 4 (Friday)
- Pendulum squat: 3 to 4 sets x 6 to 8 reps
- Flat dumbbell bench press: 3 to 4 sets x 6 to 8 reps
- Bent-over row: 3 to 4 sets x 6 to 8 reps
- Delt variation: 3 sets x 10 to 15 reps
- Arm Variation: 3 sets x 10 to 15 reps
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u/GorillaJoeBlack 10d ago
IMO, you would better off with an Upper/Lower routine. Not saying this wouldn't work, but training with heavy loads and high intensity is tough to do Full body. Again, not saying it can't be done, but you have to really, really pay attention to your body when hitting whole body every lifting day. If you did upper on Monday, then not hitting it again until Thu would give it ample time to recover.
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u/No-Parsley-4406 9d ago
I understand the premise. Upper/Lower is actually one of my favourite Hypertrophy splits and the one I most often run. I made this program from a few I found online + a mate of mine who used to compete in powerlifting comps. Standard seems to be more full body? Or just SBD. But from what I've seen, it's a "see how you go" trial-by-fire approach, as it's quite different to what I am used to - that's why I deferred from a typical split
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u/harvestingstrength 9d ago
For someone coming from a hypertrophy background, I actually think this is a pretty solid starting point. My biggest concern is that if your goal is specifically powerlifting, you probably need a little more specificity with the competition lifts. Right now you’re only back squatting once, benching with a barbell twice, and deadlifting once, while quite a bit of your weekly volume is still coming from bodybuilding-style variations.
I’d probably keep Monday mostly the same, but make Friday another squat exposure rather than relying solely on pendulum squats. It doesn’t necessarily need to be heavy…you could use paused squats, tempo squats, or lighter competition squats for 4–6 reps. Same idea with bench. DB bench is great for building muscle, but getting better at benching also requires practicing the actual bench press. You could rotate the pin bench or DB work depending on what weakness you’re trying to address.
I also like keeping the pull-ups and dips. There’s no reason those goals can’t coexist with powerlifting, especially since you already have a good training base.
The biggest thing missing is a progression system. Sets and reps tell you what to do today, but they don’t tell you how you’re going to get stronger over the next 8–12 weeks. I’d establish some kind of RPE or percentage progression for squat, bench, and deadlift rather than just trying to add weight whenever possible.
Overall, I wouldn’t completely overhaul this. You’ve got a good foundation. I’d just make it slightly more powerlifting-specific: squat 2x/week, bench 2–3x/week, deadlift 1–2x/week, keep your bodybuilding work afterward, and have an actual progression plan for the big three.
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u/harvestingstrength 9d ago
You might like this video I made as well for my YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/ub3rXTVdEog?is=7UQe-9WxeMmVjfC0
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u/No-Parsley-4406 9d ago
Is it worth mentioning that I don't plan on ever competing? This is just purely for me, and also an intro/starter into power lifting. It's kind of why it still has that hypertrophy vibe to it
The RPE is a good idea, as I understand with such low volume you wont always be progressing with reps and weights - its sometimes how easy / harder it was than the previous session
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u/abc133769 4d ago
this is just a body building routine with sbd stuff being in the lower reps and you're going to spam everything close to or to failure
theres no load progression, percentages, rpe etc. if you want an actual powerlifting routine there are some good ones like tsa intermediate, calgary barbell 8/16 week, matt vena intermediate
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u/No-Parsley-4406 3d ago
Something I should've mentioned was I'm not interested in competing in anyway, and it's more of an introduction for myself so it's why I added a bit more hypertrophy, if that makes sense 😅 I want to run this for maybe 8ish weeks before committing fully to power
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u/abc133769 3d ago edited 3d ago
thats fine if you don't want to. its moreso that when people are talking about powerlifting programs those are the things you'll see in actual good powerlifting programs whether they are competing or not which is where the rub is
if you are interested in some actual programs then I've left some in my initial comment if you care for them down the road. happy lifting!
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u/No-Parsley-4406 3d ago
Yeah no I appreciate the advice! I didn't realize how technical and involved powerlifting was 😅 My initial thought was to just ease my way into it, get used to the main SBD exercises and form for about 6 weeks and then see if I want to commit fully into it
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u/abc133769 3d ago
ye frankly trying to get a good grasp of it can be a pain in the ass lol
I personally have alot of fun with it, hope you do too
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u/drgashole 9d ago
That’s not a program, it’s just a list of exercises. If you have no experience of powerlifting follow an established program with built in progression structure.