r/powerbuilding

New here! Been lifting for years on and off with a year or so of proper consistency most recently. I train with my fiancé and our split changes around his work schedule. His rota is changing soon to something close to 5 on 5 off. All 12 hour shifts when he is in. Seeing as his rota is 10ish days I’m thinking we could try a power hypertrophy style PPL split to mix things up, with 6 sessions across the 10 days, and fit around that crazy shift pattern. What I’m wondering is, should we put the power of hypertrophy days when he is in work. The power days would be a few exercises shorter, but obviously heavy. I did a little research and some sources said heavy would be more fatiguing, others said the high rep days would be. I’m wondering what other people have experienced

M, 5'7, 80kg (176lbs)

Background: I used to go to the gym inconsistently for about 3 years on and off. At the beginning of this year, I decided to finally get serious and set a goal for myself to hit a 120kg bench press by the end of the year. This program seemed like the right choice to get things moving.

Progress:

Squat: 110kg to 130kg (+20kg)

Bench: 70kg (failed attempt) to 105kg (+35kg)

Deadlift: 140kg to 160kg (+20kg)

Total: 320kg to 395kg (+75kg)

My bench press absolutely skyrocketed on this program. I think a big part of that is because I already had some base muscle built up from those 3 years of messing around in the gym, and this program just taught my body how to actually use it efficiently. Going from failing 70kg to hitting a solid 105kg feels amazing and puts me in a really good spot for my end of year goal.

I ended up running the 16 week version over the course of 5 months. I actually stopped around the 3rd month and took a month off from the spreadsheet. During that month I was just training some bench and doing random stuff in the gym. After that, I jumped back on the program and finished it out.

For my daily workouts I kept things very simple. For warm ups, I would start with an empty bar and keep adding 20kg each time. My gym only has 10kg plates, so I would just add one to each side and consider that a warm up set until I got to the intended working weight in the sheet. Once I reached that target weight, I would just keep repeating it for the amount of sets the program called for. That was my exact routine for the whole block and it worked great for me.

Overall, I am very happy with the results. It was great to finally be consistent and see my numbers move up this much. I highly recommend the program to anyone looking for something straightforward that works.

Honestly feel that my Forearms are my weak point in terms of size and strength which I believe is inhibiting my strength progression in bench press and dips, can someone suggest forearm training to improve size and strength in these lift.

Hello, I’ve got a question concerning my squat
I’ve been training for powerlifting for approximately a year
And I’ve stoped squating due to back pain and I’m now starting again, but when squating I’ve got a pain in my lower/mid back which I assume is due to me arching my back when squating, I can keep my back about straight as long as I’m not going too deep but when I want to go for a comp squat I get that pain

- I’m squating fairly wide
- I was squating very low bar and am now squating low bar but not that low

If anyone have any clue where this pain might come from please help 😭

If it can help I can film my form, haven’t done it in a long time.

Thanks !

Hello all,
I’m fairly new to powerbuilding. I’ve been bodybuilding for about two years, but I feel like I’ve taken that as far as I want mentally — I need something more performance-driven now.
So I’m setting myself a challenge:
1000 lb total + sub-20 minute 5k.
I’ve just started the TSA beginner 13-week program on Boostcamp (4 days), and I’m planning to run alongside it:
1 sprint session
1 5k effort
1 long run
I’m 36, 176 lbs, and currently sitting at an 876 lb total.
Running is definitely my weak point right now, so I’m under no illusion — trying to push strength and endurance at the same time probably means slower progress on both. But that’s kind of the appeal.
Just curious if anyone’s chased similar hybrid goals — how did it go for you, and anything you’d do differently?

I’ve been lifting consistently for about 7 years now (2 to 4 sessions per week). 29 years old

I’m 176 cm (5’9”) for around 67 kg (147 lbs), with a very small frame and thin bones. I started from a really bad base — first obese, then skinny fat. When I began, even benching the empty bar was difficult.

Today, I’d say I’ve built decent hypertrophy and look “trained,” but my strength is still very poor — especially on bench press. I’ve been stuck at 75 kg (165 lbs) for 5x5 for almost 2 years with zero progress.

For comparison, my back is much stronger: I can do 4x8 at 73 kg on vertical pulls and around 80 kg on horizontal rows

I’ll be honest: I’m not super strict with my diet, but I do make sure to eat a lot of protein consistently. I also eat a lot in general — actually more than when I was obese.

At this point, I’m starting to think it might just be genetic. It feels like 90% of guys reach a 90–100 kg (200–220 lbs) bench within a couple of years, even without following a very structured program, while I’m stuck despite years of training.

Anyone else in a similar situation?

Hi,

I am 193 Lbs (M). I just started my weight loss process. I am on a 2000 calories diet. Exercising 5 days/week. My first week I lost 0.5lbs in fat. Is it too slow for the progress? Or is it just the beginning so it takes time? It feels a little disencourage but Im still on track. Can I get some advice?

Are there any powerlifters or serious weightlifters who had appendicitis? How long does it take to recover fully from it and start training as usual in blocks high intensity, weights etc.?

I tweaked my back deadlifting a month ago and am currently in the middle of a cut. I would like to maintain my muscle as efficiently as possible during this cut despite the tweak. Will hack and pendulum squats be safe and suitable for maintaining muscle? And then will trap deadlifts maintain for my deadlifts. I have to cut intensity a bit because of back pain and also some volume because of the cut. Also does anyone have any other recommendations for exercises just beyond maintaining muscle? I would like to also maintain my numbers for these lifts as I also hope to compete in powerlifting so any other exercises that carry over well but are less low back loading? I’m in the intermediate-advanced region (SBD: 455/295/585) if this is relevant as I know beginners have an easier time maintaining during injury since they need less volume overall. Thanks in advance

Before learning how bodybuilding and powerlifting worked, I primarily lost weight via running. After that I transitioned into workout only at the gym, powerlifting, and eventually powerbuilding.

I'm currently following a modified gzclp-5 day plan. How can i add running to this?

Day 1 - Monday

Tier 1 Back Squat 5*3

TIer 2 paused bench Press 3*8

Dummbell Row 2*10 

GHD Ab Crunch 2*10

Day 2 - Tuesday

Tier 1 Chin Ups 5*3

Tier 2 RDLs 2*8

Hamstring Curls 2*10

Leg Extension 3*10

Day 3 - Thursday

Tier 1 Bench 5*3 

Tier 2 Paused Squats 2*8

T-Bar Row 2*10

Calf Raises 2*10 

Day 4 - Friday

Tier 1 Deadlift 5*3

Tier 2 Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 3*8

Overhead Press 2*8

Cable Face Pulls 2*10

Day 5 - Arms

Cable Curls  2*10 

Seated Y-Raise 2*10

Tricep pushdowns 2*10

Hammer Curls 2*10

Overhead Tricep Extensions 2*10

I used to do pyramid 12/10/8/6 and Increase the weight each set , but it has many problem and when I reach top weight am already fatigued, am thinking about doing straight sets and increase weight across all when feeling stronger but gpt says that won't work for compound movements like bench, squats and deadlifts how should I make my progression method

I’ve been doing a lot of research and messing around with my split. I just cant seem to settle for something. I want to have a strong SBD while maintaiming a upper lower split

I’ve found that going from doing 5 working sets of a main lift per workout to doing 10 sets per workout has helped me tremendously. So I’m curious to see if you are plateuad then you are not doing very much volume?