Powerlifting Program for Beginners – 12-Week 3-Day Strength Routine

Powerlifting program for beginners: three days a week, 12 weeks, built on the squat, bench press and deadlift. You add weight every session you finish and test your maxes at the end. It is the simplest powerlifting program there is, and the fastest way to get strong.

Hardy tracks every set for you. Log your reps, and the app raises or lowers your working weights by the rules below. No spreadsheet.

Weekly structure

Train three days a week with a rest day between, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

• Day 1: squat 3×5, bench press 3×5, barbell row 3×8–10, plank 3×60 s
• Day 2: deadlift 1×5, overhead press 3×5, romanian deadlift 3×8–10, chin-ups 3×6–10
• Day 3: squat 3×5, paused bench press 3×5, close-grip bench press 3×8–10, lat pulldown 3×10–12

Squat twice a week, bench press twice, deadlift once. That is the core of any powerlifting program: the three competition lifts, often.

Rest 3 minutes on the big lifts, 2 minutes on the romanian deadlift and 90 seconds on the rest.

Progression

Squat, bench press, paused bench press, overhead press and deadlift use a working weight. Finish every set with all 5 reps and the weight goes up next session. Miss reps three sessions in a row and Hardy suggests a 10% drop for you to review.

Squat, bench and press go up 5 lbs (2.5 kg) a session. Deadlift goes up 10 lbs (5 kg).

The paused bench has its own weight. Start it about 10% under your flat bench.

The other four exercises use double progression. Add reps each session until every set reaches the top of the range. Hardy then adds 5 lbs (2.5 kg), or 10 lbs (5 kg) on the romanian deadlift, and you start again from the bottom.

Beginner powerlifting program: who it suits

You have under a year under the bar and want to squat, bench and deadlift more. You may want to compete one day. Either way, this beginner powerlifting program is the first step.

Start light. Pick weights you can lift for 3 sets of 5 with two or three reps to spare. Hardy takes your first logged set as the working weight.

The weight catches up with you within a month. Patience now means months of progress later.

Already ran the 5x5 Workout? Start here 10% under your last 5x5 weights. The paused bench and the deadlift day are new.

12 week powerlifting program: week by week

• Weeks 1 to 11: add weight every session you finish. Miss reps and Hardy repeats the weight next time.
• Week 12: test. Work up to a heavy single on squat and bench on Day 1, and on deadlift on Day 2. Skip Day 3.
• After: enter your new maxes in Hardy, rest a few days and start the 12 week powerlifting program again from 10% under.

Stall twice on the same lift after a 10% drop and the program is done for that lift. Move on to 5/3/1 Boring But Big.

Tips

• Pause the bar on your chest for a full second on Day 3. That is how a bench press is judged in a meet.
• Warm up with the empty bar and the warm-up calculator before every big lift.
• Short on time? Drop the last two exercises of the day, never the first two.
• No chin-ups yet? Swap them for the lat pulldown in the editor.
• Bench stuck while squat and deadlift move? Run Smolov Jr for three weeks, then come back.

Hardy template: the common beginner linear progression on the three competition lifts, with a paused bench day.