The Strength Week
Squat, press, deadlift and bench across four days with a rest either side of the deadlift. Low reps, heavy loads, long rests.
- GOAL
- Strength
- LEVEL
- Intermediate
- LENGTH
- 1 week
- SESSIONS
- 4 per week
Four sessions built around the four main barbell lifts, one lift leading each day. Working sets sit in the 3–5 rep range at 80–87 percent of a current one-rep max, with three to five minutes of rest between them. The deadlift sits on Thursday with a rest day on either side, because it costs more to recover from than anything else in the week. Accessory work is deliberately minimal — two or three movements per session, kept well short of failure, present to support the main lift rather than to add fatigue. Progress here is measured in kilos on the bar, not in how tired a session left you.
- →Wants to add load to squat, bench, deadlift and overhead press specifically
- →Has at least a year of barbell training
- →Comfortable training heavy with long rest periods and low total reps
- →Willing to leave the gym feeling like they could have done more
- →Knows a current, honest 1-rep max or 5-rep max on all four lifts
- →Can hold position under a load at 85 percent for a set of three
- →Has access to a full barbell setup with a rack and plates in 1.25 kg increments
One heavy main lift per day at 80–87 percent, with enough rest around the deadlift that it can be trained hard rather than survived.
- MondayLower Body A — Squat FocusSquat leads. Working sets of 3–5 at 82–87 percent, three to five minutes between sets.
- TuesdayUpper Body B — Vertical Press and PullOverhead press leads. Pulling volume balances it out; keep it submaximal.
- WednesdayRest, or 20–30 min easy walkingDeliberate. Deadlift day is tomorrow.
- ThursdayDeadlift DayThe most demanding day of the week. Stop the session if bar speed drops off — do not chase a missed rep.
- FridayRestFull rest. Deadlifts cost more than the session log shows.
- SaturdayUpper Body A — Horizontal Press and PullBench leads. Sets of 3–5, same intensity band as Monday's squat.
- SundayRest
PROGRESSIONEvery main lift stops one to two reps short of failure — no missed reps this week. Accessories stay at three reps in reserve; they are not the point.
- →Run this week again next week with the same four lifts in the same order. Only the load changes.
- →Add 2.5 kg to squat and deadlift and 1.25 kg to bench and overhead press each week, holding sets and reps constant.
- →If you miss a rep on a main lift, repeat that lift's load next week rather than adding. Two misses in a row means drop it 10 percent and build back.
- →Hold accessory work flat all week and all block — it exists to support the lifts, so adding volume there defeats the purpose.
- →After four weeks of adding load, run a fifth week at 70 percent for the same sets and reps before testing or starting again.
- →Never move deadlift day next to squat day, even if the schedule slips. Drop the session instead.
- →5-rep max on back squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press
- →Bar speed on the last working set of each main lift, filmed from the side
- →Number of missed reps across the week — the target is zero
- →Bodyweight, taken the same morning each week