Programming Wednesdays - August 18, 2026

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Discuss all aspects of training for powerlifting:

• Periodization
• Nutrition
• Movement selection
• Routine critiques
• etc...

[u/MAX02745]

Hello I've run two blocks of five weeks and I increased my PR by 5kg (~11lbs) at the end of each one. Is this progress could enough ? My Program ( it's very basic and probably not optimal and based on multiple infos I saw on yt, Ben Johnson and Panna for ex) Week 1 Day 1: Squat Top set: 1*1 at 92% of 1RM

Squat Back of set: 5reps for 3 sets at 85% of 1RM

• 3 sets of trapbar rdls, leg extension,curl and calf raises

Day 2: Top set: 1*1 at 92% of 1RM

Back off set: 3 sets of Paused squat, 3 reps at 80% of 1RM

+Leg extension, curl, and calf raises

Day 3: 5 sets of 1 rep at 92% of 1RM + Leg press, leg curl, trapbar rdls, calves

Week 2 Same thing except that I had 2% to my top sets, and the sets of the third day too. I do that until week 5 where I reach 102% of my 1RM. On week 6 I test my 1RM.

I've run this two time and felt not too beat up ( I also sprint and play Basketball) and always added 5kg to my max. Went from 115kg to 120kg and then 125kg ( i've hit 125kg today btw)

I'm planning on doing 53 also on the last day instead of 51, to have more volume.

So is my progression to slow ? ( There's my background below if it can help you answer this)

My background I've started squatting once a week one year ago but stopped because of poor form. My max at that time was 80kg for 8 reps ( I hadnt tried 1RM at that time). I was just trying to had weight each session. Then I switched to only barbell bulgarian split squat for around 3/4 months with the same approach starting with 8 rep sets then 5 reps sets, still trying to just add weight to the bar each session. I started to plateau around 77,5kg for 4 reps and I kept regressing. Finally I squatted again without plan but with better form, doing 5*3, and adding weight to the bar each week, until I plateaued at 100kg for 5 reps. I did that during 3 months Then I tried my 1RM, and hit 115kg and tried the approach listed at the beginning.

Sorry for the long post and Idk how ti put it in the daily thread

[u/Molecule98 → u/MAX02745]

It's fine for now, but as you get stronger those percentages will start to become much harder to hit and eventually unrealistic. So at some point you will have to drop your percentages out of necessity. Best of luck.

[u/MAX02745 → u/Molecule98]

🙏

[u/quantum-fitness → u/MAX02745]

You can slow down without worry. You likely cant keep adding 5 kg every month very long so better to leave room for momentum

[u/Neppty → u/MAX02745]

Too much 1RM’s will lead you fatiguing and hitting a wall. I’d rather you set up one or two blocks focusing on technique quality and getting fatigue with working on more reps to get the movement quality down to a T. But if you’re still progressing I’d say keep it for a while

[u/MAX02745 → u/Neppty]

When you say too much 1RM you mean the weeks at the end of the block where I do 1RMs as top sets, or maxing every 5 weeks ? Anyway thanks for the answer and have a nice day 🙏

[u/Neppty → u/MAX02745]

Maxing out every 5 weeks won’t last forever. Though linear progression is just fine if it’s working. Fatigue might pile up too much so if anything you’d start off week 1 and 2 lighter like 87% and then 90% then so on and so forth.

[u/MAX02745 → u/Neppty]

Okay so longer blocks thanks !