Best Powerlifting Program to Gain Strength ?

I want to gain a lot of quality strength and muscle weight. My goals so far are:

  1. Increase my Flat Bench Press 5 rep max from 60 to ~200 lbs.
  2. Increase my Incline Bench Press 8 rep max from 30 to 145 lbs.
  3. Increase my Rack Pull 5 rep max from 90 to 250 lbs.
  4. Increase my Deadlift 8 rep max from 50 to 225 lbs.
  5. Increase my Millitary Press 8 rep max from 10 to 100 lbs.
  6. Increase my Squat 5 rep max from 50 to 220 lbs.

I know these are pretty extreme but I don’t expect to hit these numbers for a few years ( 14 now ). What program(s) do you recommend for me ? My stats are:

5’7"
234.4 ( yes I’m “big” )
Lifting for almost a year, serious lifting for 5 months

Thanks in advance !

Are you involved in any sports or just lifting? I honestly wouldn’t suggest most people to do sets of 8 on deadlift just because of fatigue and form breakdown. Is there any reason you’re doing rack pulls as a main movement? I’ve never heard of anyone having a rack pull goal. Being so young both physically and in training age you would probably benefit the most from a general strength program that progresses slowly in my opinion.

I’d take a look at 5/3/1, it starts light and progresses slowly so you could really solidify form and set yourself up for success when you start to be more able to gain really high amounts of strength.

[quote]tylerkeen42 wrote:
Are you involved in any sports or just lifting? I honestly wouldn’t suggest most people to do sets of 8 on deadlift just because of fatigue and form breakdown. Is there any reason you’re doing rack pulls as a main movement? I’ve never heard of anyone having a rack pull goal. Being so young both physically and in training age you would probably benefit the most from a general strength program that progresses slowly in my opinion.

I’d take a look at 5/3/1, it starts light and progresses slowly so you could really solidify form and set yourself up for success when you start to be more able to gain really high amounts of strength.[/quote]

Right now just lifting but football next year. I wanted to gain a ton of strength before I joined the team. I added a rack pull goal just because I like to do them and I go to failure with all exercises so that’s where I get the rep made a.

Uh 531 would be retarded for this kid to run right now. There would be a less than 10lb difference between his 70 and 80% work.

I hate saying this, but just do starting strength or some other bullshit 5x5 beginner program. You don’t need powerlifting specific strength, you need strength in general.

Just stick to one of those for a few months and then reevaluate where you are.

Read the book Squat Every Day. Do what the book advises. Be consistent. In 10 years you’ll be an animal and unstoppable. Basically, squat, bench, and deadlift every day. Use starting weights that are maybe 70% of your max right now. Increase the weight your are using extremely slowly and gradually every day.

Do only 4 or 5 sets total(including warm ups) per movement. Keep your reps on warm ups to 5 or less and top sets to 1-3 reps. Keep lifting sessions to less than an hour a day. Do overhead presses at least 3 times a week in conjunction with the other movements. Never use a weight you cannot do the reps with. Do pullups and pushups on off days as well as sprinting. Lift 5 to 6 days a week. Get strong!

Starting Strength 5x5. Do 531 once you get everything you can from 5x5. You don’t move enough weight yet to start 531. You need volume. Lots of compound lifts.

[quote]osu122975 wrote:
Starting Strength 5x5. Do 531 once you get everything you can from 5x5. You don’t move enough weight yet to start 531. You need volume. Lots of compound lifts. [/quote]
This this this this. Just do what’s gotten strong people strong for a long friggin time.

Am I reading it right that you have been lfting for a year half of that seriously and you squat 50lbs for a 5rm? What have you been doing? Seriously man like what?

[quote]budreiser wrote:
Uh 531 would be retarded for this kid to run right now. There would be a less than 10lb difference between his 70 and 80% work.

I hate saying this, but just do starting strength or some other bullshit 5x5 beginner program. You don’t need powerlifting specific strength, you need strength in general.

Just stick to one of those for a few months and then reevaluate where you are.[/quote]
Lol honestly I assumed they were typos because he said he’s been lifting seriously for half a year. But if they aren’t I totally agree

[quote]Jrpowerlifter25 wrote:
Right now just lifting but football next year. I wanted to gain a ton of strength before I joined the team. I added a rack pull goal just because I like to do them and I go to failure with all exercises so that’s where I get the rep made a.
[/quote]

Don’t train to failure so often. At least try to avoid it for now and you’ll see the difference in progress. (Progress is measured in weeks and months, not days, so be patient.) You should be learning and reinforcing good technique while you are still learning the correct motor patterns.

Pushing yourself to failure and ingraining poor technique early on is going to set you back in the future when you have to relearn the movements. This is the tough part starting off as a beginner without a good strength coach. In the future, maybe in a couple years, you’ll find that it’s okay to have occasional form break down to make gains but not right now. Stick to basic movements - mainly squat, bench, deadlift, military press, rows and pullups - and make an effort to improve your conditioning.

Run, sprint, farmer’s walk, whatever, just get your heart rate up over sustained periods of time. Strength will come if you stick to the above advice and it seems conditioning should be just as important given your height and weight. You won’t be able to utilize all that strength in football if you aren’t conditioned to stay on the field.

You’ll blow past those goals you set if you are patient and consistent with training.

[quote]Reed wrote:
Am I reading it right that you have been lfting for a year half of that seriously and you squat 50lbs for a 5rm? What have you been doing? Seriously man like what?[/quote]

I squat 50 lbs on a 55 lb bar and I already weigh quite a lot. And unfortunately I don’t train legs as much as I should.

So you squat 105lbs? Are you not counting the bar weight in the OP I’m not trying to be ride just trying to make sense of all of this.

Adding a 55lb bar to all of those weights makes them make a little more sense. You should count the bar. That’s the normal way to do it.

Also, are you sure it’s a 55lb bar? Not that it matters too much. But most commercial gyms have 45lb bars. 55lb bars are more of a specialty.

there is no way someone can train seriously for 6 months and squat 105 weighing 200+…something just doesnt add up…regardless for the sake of the thread just run starting strength, i ran a similiar 5x5 program for 2 years and pushed the lifts up 150 to 250 pounds each over that time

to gain strength as a beginner

-eat
-sleep
-run a 5x5 program

My guess is that he’s running that full body routine every session, training to failure each time, using poor form, not eating decent quality food and not getting much rest to not make as much progress as he should. Maybe he can shed light on what he has done for the past year. I agree that Starting Strength is the way to go.

OP, don’t be discouraged by the responses. You’ll make quick progress once you get these things in order.

[quote]lift206 wrote:
My guess is that he’s running that full body routine every session, training to failure each time, using poor form, not eating decent quality food and not getting much rest to not make as much progress as he should. Maybe he can shed light on what he has done for the past year. I agree that Starting Strength is the way to go.

OP, don’t be discouraged by the responses. You’ll make quick progress once you get these things in order.[/quote]

I’ve never done full body routines I did a simple chest and tris, back and bis, legs, and shoulders split.

Yea our gym has 2 45 lb bars and 2 55 lb bars.

I’ve never done full body routines I did a simple chest and tris, back and bis, legs, and shoulders split.[/quote]

Ahhhh…the long shadow of Joe Weider.

5x5 full body program done 3-4 days a week will make you strong. Keep a journal.Pull more than you press.

Most workouts you should leave the gym with something left in the tank. That will keep you looking forward to the next workout. Eat lots of meat and don’t eat too much sugar.

Don’t overthink things.

My advice would be to go over to the Beginner’s forum and ask for help there. Post your EXACT routine, your EXACT diet (specifically what you ate yesterday), your sleep schedule (how many hours a week), and any special considerations such as diseases, injuries, etc. Given your progress over the past year, I suspect that you need help with more than just picking a routine. The good news is that you’re very young so if you get started on the right path now, you can have a bright future ahead of you with lifting.

Also watch alot of videos from good lifters and make sure your form is correct, a 105x5 squat is a huge red flag