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Perhaps you’ve seen a lifter pressing, twisting, or rowing a barbell by rotating it on end. Appropriately named, these landmine exercises produce lethally effective workouts. Landmine training is performed in settings from Division 1 college weight rooms to bodybuilding gyms to injury rehab clinics.

The barbell is used for lever-based resistance — one end pivots on the floor or in a purpose-built sleeve as the lifter moves the loaded end through space. Make no mistake, this is not flashy “training for the ‘Gram” or some gross misuse of equipment.

The landmine provides opportunities for exercises with characteristics distinct from traditional free-weight training. The best part? Landmines offer versatility to train the entire body along with multiple components of fitness. Here, you’ll find the best landmine workouts for building serious upper and lower-body muscle, along with elite-level conditioning. 

Best Landmine Workouts

Benefits of Landmine Training

Landmine training (literally) leverages a simple piece of equipment for a wide range of exercises. Traditional barbell training is already versatile, so why use your barbell as a landmine?

Landmines provide a more predictable bar path than a barbell moving freely through space. In motor learning — the scientific field that studies movement and skill acquisition — this predictable bar path represents a “constraint.” That is, the landmine is constrained to move along an arced path.

This constraint helps a lifter to master the form of technical multi-joint lifts, such as the presses, rows, and cleans used in the workouts below. It also promotes more consistent movement performance. Constant movements, when performed under load, stimulate the target muscles exceptionally effectively. The result is a fast-learning curve and predictable gains in strength and size.

The arced bar path also alters exercise form compared to barbell training. Landmine presses keep the shoulder out of end-range flexion, an area of common restriction. Landmine rows encourage ideal shoulder blade movement “down and back.” Landmine squats virtually ensure we sit back into our hips with an upright trunk position, which demands textbook form.

Landmine exercises also appear to stress our joints differently than traditional free weight lifts. (1) Altogether, the landmine may be helpful if you have banged up knees or shoulders. Set your landmine and get ready for a different angle on barbell training. 

Best Landmine Workout for Upper Body Muscle

The upper body landmine workout below is like a multi-course meal — a feast for your muscles. The meat and potatoes are compound exercises followed by isolation movements. 

Compound exercises, or those involving multiple joints, are efficient because they train many muscle groups simultaneously. They’re also very effective for building strength because they allow you to move heavier loads than exercises training a single joint in isolation.

Upper body compound exercises are broadly categorized as either “pushes” or “pulls.” Pushing exercises involve driving a resistance away from the body and training the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Pulling exercises involve drawing a resistance toward the body. These exercises train the back and biceps.

The compound exercises in this workout are structured as a series of push/pull supersets for efficiency. The final two movements are isolation exercises like a satisfying dessert after the main course. They train the glamour muscles that stretch our sleeves and broaden our frame.

Upper Body Training, One Arm at a Time

Due to the lever-based resistance of the landmine, your typical free weight loads and percentages will not be appropriate. It would be best to determine appropriate working weights that result in “hard” sets within the recommended repetition range.

To determine working weight for each exercise, perform two or more progressively heavier “work up” sets. Once you land on a weight that challenges you within the set rep range, stick with that load for your working sets. 

Half-Kneeling Landmine Press

• How to Do it: Assume a “half-kneeling” position with the working-side knee down. Hold the bar above your shoulder, brace your torso, and drive the bar up and forward along the natural arc of the landmine. Lower to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Meadows Row

• How to Do it: Stand perpendicular to the landmine. Hold the bar sleeve with an overhand grip and brace your non-working arm on your thigh. Lift the bar by driving your elbow out as you squeeze your shoulder blade toward your spine. Lower to full extension until you feel an intense stretch behind your shoulder. Be sure to load the bar with small diameter plates (five, 10, or 25-pound) to allow an extended range of motion.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Standing Landmine Press

• How to Do it: Face the landmine with a staggered stance, keeping your working side leg behind you. Press the bar forward and up until your elbow reaches full extension. Lower with control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Landmine Row

• How to Do it: Stand parallel to the barbell. Hinge forward at the hips and grip the barbell just before the sleeve. Pull your shoulder and arm back to row the weight toward the outside of your hip. Lower with control.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Landmine Lateral Raise

• How to Do it: Stand with the end of the barbell just in front of your working side hip, quarter turned toward the landmine. Lift by pushing the bar forward and out until your wrist is higher than shoulder. Lower with control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-16 per arm
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Landmine Concentration Curl

• How to Do it: Drop into a wide-stance quarter squat and brace your upper arm against your inner thigh. Grab the end of the bar sleeve. Without moving your upper arm, curl the landmine barbell. Notice how the bar path forces you to keep your palm turned up and out as you curl. This enhances biceps stimulus. (2)(3) Lower with control. 

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time:Rest 90 seconds to two minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Best Landmine Workout for Lower Body Muscle

Wheels, lower extremities, jets, getaway sticks — whatever you call them, most people want strong, muscular legs.

Like the upper body, the basic compound movements of the lower body can be categorized as push and pull or, more commonly, squats and deadlifts, respectively. Squats and squat-derivatives train the glutes, quadriceps, and calf muscles. Deadlifts and deadlift-derivatives train the hamstrings and also hit the glutes.

Leg-Building Landmine Workout

This workout combines heavy, double-legged exercises with single-leg lifts to promote athleticism, and it finishes with a loaded mobility exercise for the commonly-neglected inner thigh muscles.

The landmine provides a small amount of balance assistance, which may allow single-leg variations of squats and deadlifts to be loaded heavier than free-weight single-leg versions.

To ensure adequate recovery, the lower body landmine exercises are structured as straight sets. Take two to three-minute rests to ensure intensity is maintained for maximum strength gains. (4)

Landmine Squat

• How to Do it: Cradle the end of the barbell atop your sternum with your arms pulled in toward your ribs. To account for the arced path of the bar, place your feet farther from the plates so that your body is inclined forward in the top position. Squat down as far as your mobility allows, and return to standing. 

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Modified Single-Leg Landmine Romanian Deadlift

• How to Do it: Unlike the standard single-leg landmine Romanian deadlift, which is performed facing the landmine, (5) the modified version provides more stability, which lets you lift more weight. Stand perpendicular to the landmine. Hold the sleeve palm-down with your inside hand. Hinge forward at your hips and allow your inside leg to travel behind you, while that foot rises into the air. Keep a slight bend in your standing knee and descend until you feel a strong sense of tension in your hamstring. Return to standing and repeat.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10 per leg.
• Rest time: Rest 2 to 3 minutes between sets.

Landmine Hack Squat

• How to Do it: Ensure you landmine base is secure and will not slide. Face away from the landmine and rest the sleeve on your upper trapezius, just inside the point of the shoulder. Position your feet well in front of your body. Keep your feet flat as you descend into a deep squat, reaching your hamstrings to your calves if possible. Drive up and back to the starting position. On your next set, rack the landmine on your opposite shoulder.

• Sets and Reps: 2 x 12-16
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Landmine Cossack Squat

• How to Do it: Face the landmine with a wide stance and hold the landmine in front of your sternum. Sit down and back, sinking into your right hip while allowing your left foot to pivot onto the heel. Push through your right leg to return to center. Perform all repetitions to the right, then repeat to the left.

• Sets and Reps: 2 x 8-10 per side.
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Landmine Workout for Conditioning

Barbell complexes are commonly used for metabolic conditioning. Complexes are sequences of lifts performed in continuous succession. The lifter finishes all reps of one lift before moving on to the next, using the same piece of equipment and the same weight for all movements.

Complexes can be designed to tax every energy system — the phosphagen system provides quick bursts of power. The glycolytic system becomes prominent as the complex drags on for more than the first few reps. Finally, if you string multiple complexes together in a fashion popularized by many notorious CrossFit workouts, the aerobic system helps you recover.

Every Two-Minute On the Two-Minute Landmine Complex

The landmine is a wonderful tool for complexes. The workout below uses repeated landmine complexes to promote metabolic conditioning. For simplicity, a time-based rest strategy provides most athletes an approximate 1:1 work to rest ratio. Every two minutes, you will start a new complex and complete it as quickly as you can.

• How to Do it: Place a moderate amount of weight on the landmine. First perform the Landmine Hang Clean & Jerk — Stand perpendicular to the bar and hold the sleeve in the hang position (palm down with your hand near your hip). Extend your hips, knees, and ankles as you shrug and pull the bar along its natural arc. As the bar is in motion, pivot to face the landmine and receive the bar with your other hand. Perform a split jerk by dropping down and immediately driving back up with your legs as you extend your elbow and switch your footing. Control the bar back to the hang position with both hands.The next movement is the classic standing Landmine Rotation — Hold the bar with both arms outstretched above you. Lower the bar to the left, allowing your hips to rotate and your feet to pivot. Rotate the landmine back up and across to the right, again allowing your feet and hips to move smoothly.The third and final exercise in this complex is a Landmine Push Press — This exercise begins similar to a shallow landmine squat with a ballistic concentric (“up”) phase. Transfer the energy from your leg drive into both arms as you press the bar up and forward. Repeat the process for for each repetition.

• Sets and Reps: One “set” of the complex consists of 3 reps of each movement — 3 per side landmine hang clean & jerk, 3 rotations in each direction, and 3 push presses. Perform one set every two minutes for a total of 12 to 16 minutes.
• Rest time: Perform one full set and rest the remainder of the two minute block. This rest strategy is a variation on the much more popular EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute), but “E2MO2M” doesn’t have the same ring.

How to Warm-Up for Landmine Workouts

Before you detonate these workouts, perform a high-quality warm-up to ensure your body is primed for performance. Options for effective warm-ups are innumerable, but for those who can’t spare the bandwidth to conjure one up, here’s a simple plan.

Start with five or six minutes of low intensity aerobic exercise (jump rope, bike, or cardio method of choice), then grab a light resistance band and move through the following sequence:

Landmine Workout Warm-Up

• Deep Squat with Trunk Rotations: Drop down into a deep squat. Keep your chest up and reach toward the ground with both arms between your legs. Use one arm to “pry” your same-side thigh outward as you reach up with the other arm. As you reach, keep your eyes on your overhead palm by rotating and extending your trunk. Repeat with the other hand. Perform 8 rotations in each direction, alternating sides each repetition.

• Backstep Lunge to Hip Flexor Stretch: Take a large step backwards and lower your knee to the ground. Squeeze your rear-leg glute muscles to feel a stretch in the front of the hip or thigh. If you are unable to achieve a stretch, attempt to tuck your pelvis under your body by bringing your belt buckle toward your chin. Hold the position momentarily. Return to standing and repeat with the opposite leg. Perform 8 reps per leg.
• Plank to Pike: Assume a tall plank or “top of the push-up position” supporting your body on your palms and forefeet. Move into a pike position by pushing forward with your hands and driving your hips back and up, Keep your spine, arms, and legs straight. Return to the plank position. Perform 8 reps. 
• Dynamic Hug: Wrap a light resistance band around your back just below your shoulder blades. Stand with arms outreached straight ahead at shoulder-height. Reach forward in a “hugging” motion. Imagine you are wrapping your arms around a gigantic tree to maximize the space between your arms as you reach your hands together. Reverse the movement, allowing your shoulder blades to move toward your spine as you open your arms. Perform 8 repetitions.
• Band Pull-Apart: Hold the resistance band straight ahead with your arms in front of your shoulders. Stretch the band by pulling your arms apart without bending your elbows. Initiate the movement by squeezing your shoulder blades toward your spine. When your hands are sideways in-line with your shoulders, return to the starting position. Perform 8 repetitions. 

An Angled Approach to New Gains

The landmine is a fun and versatile tool for training all major muscle groups. Landmine lifts promote a balanced physique while hammering the core, and may actually result in superior gains in on-field or on-court athleticism. (6) Bookmark these landmine workouts and blast your next high-quality training session.

References

1. Collins, K. S., Klawitter, L. A., Waldera, R. W., Mahoney, S. J., & Christensen, B. K. (2021). Differences in muscle activity and kinetics between the goblet squat and landmine squat in men and women. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(10), 2661-2668.
2. Murray, W. M., Delp, S. L., Buchanan, T. S. (1995). Variation of muscle moment arms with elbow and forearm position. Journal of Biomechanics, 28(5), 513-525.
3. Kleiber, T., Kunz, L., & Disselhorst-Klug, C. (2015). Muscular coordination of biceps brachii and brachioradialis in elbow flexion with respect to hand position. Frontiers in Physiology, 6, 215.
4. Schoenfeld, B. J., Pope, Z. K., Benik, F. M., et al. (2016). Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(7), 1805-1812.
5. Weaver, A. N., & Kerksick, C. M. (2017). Implementing landmine single-leg Romanian deadlift into an athlete’s training program. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 39(1), 85-90.
6. Zweifel, M. (2017). Importance of horizontally loaded movements to sports performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 39(1), 21-26.

Featured Image: Merrick Lincoln, DPT, CSCS / YouTube

Daniel Ryjov has developed a reputation for displays of upper-body pressing strength. Unfortunately, while doing 150-pound dumbbell skull crushers during a May 2022 training session, Ryjov tore his right triceps tendon. 

On August 17, 2022, just four months post-injury, Ryjov performed a 225-pound (102-kilogram) bench press for 90 reps. The athlete performed softer lockouts of each rep and wore elbow wraps, but those might have been precautions to avoid further injury.

[Related: How to Do the Incline Dumbbell Curl for Bigger, Stronger Arms]

Ryjov called his AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) conditioning feat a “new World Record” in the caption of his Instagram post. However, it is unclear whose World Record mark he previously surpassed. (Larry “Wheels” Williams bench pressed 225 for 70 reps in 2018.) Ryjov also noted that he intended to capture 100 reps but racked up his barbell because he “miscounted” his number. 

For context on Ryjov’s achievement, the 225-pound bench press AMRAP is a standard evaluative test of strength for professional football draft prospects during the annual NFL Scouting Combine. In July 2020, professional strongmen Brian Shaw and Robert Oberst tried their hand at the Combine record of 51 reps that Justin Ernest set in 1999. Oberst eventually locked out 42 reps while Shaw bettered his peer with 44. Even with his quicker lockouts in consideration, Ryjov has now roughly doubled both athletes on his bench press AMRAP.

While Ryjov usually shares footage of himself completing noteworthy pressing achievements — such as a 605-pound bench press with a five-second pause from November 2021 — he does have formal powerlifting experience. 

Here’s a rundown of his first-place performance in the 110-kilogram division at the 2017 United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) SMG’s March Mayhem.

Daniel Ryjov (110KG) | 2017 USPA SMG’s March Mayhem Top Stats

• Squat (Wraps) — 275 kilograms (606.2 pounds)
• Bench Press (Raw) — 207.5 kilograms (457.4 pounds)
• Deadlift (Raw) — 300 kilograms (661.4 pounds)
• Total (Raw W/Wraps) — 782.5 kilograms (1,725.1 pounds)

Ryjov has not made an appearance on a sanctioned lifting platform since that competition. 

[Related: The Best Landmine Workouts for More Muscle and Better Conditioning]

Ryjov’s Future

Before he tore his triceps tendon, Ryjov was in a long-term pursuit of a 317.5-kilogram (700-pound) bench press, per his social media. Shortly before his injury occurred in May, the athlete attempted to bench press 306.1 kilograms (675 pounds) but could not lock out the weight.

At the time of this writing, Ryjov has not confirmed he would push for that milestone again. Additionally, even with this AMRAP bench press in the account, it’s unclear where Ryjov stands with his recovery. Nonetheless, just months after suffering a potentially devastating setback, it looks like the athlete is already pushing himself to be back on track and press eye-opening weight once more. 

Featured image: @danielryjov on Instagram

In mid-July 2022, promising bodybuilder Michal Križánek switched from the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Elite Pro League to the National Physique Committee (NPC). Križánek’s motivation behind the switch was to obtain his IFBB Pro Card and gain eventual qualification for the 2022 Mr. Olympia. Judging by his latest physique update, his training progress for those ambitious goals seems to be going well. 

On August 16, 2022, Križánek shared a post on his Instagram where his upper body and lower body mass have a balanced shredded look. According to the bodybuilder, he weighs 133 kilograms (293.2 pounds) in the photo. 

[Related: How to Build Muscle: The Training and Diet Guide for Beginners and Advanced Lifters]

Based on the NPC’s standards, to get his Pro Card, Križánek will have to qualify for and win at least one of the upcoming North American Championships or the National Championships. A top-five result in a National Qualifier would garner him a roster spot in the North American Championships. A top-three finish would place him in The National Championships.

The 2022 NPC North American Championships will take place on August 31 in Pittsburgh, PA. The 2022 NPC National Championships will take place on December 2-3 in Orlando, FL, as a potential last step before the Olympia. 

In the event that Križánek earns his Pro Card in time, he will have to either win an IFBB Pro League contest or finish in the top three in points in the Men’s Open division by the time the qualification period ends on November 20, 2022. Notably, the NPC is the only amateur organization that the IFBB Pro League recognizes. 

At the time of this article’s publication, Križánek has not confirmed his next steps and when he’ll compete in a necessary regional contest. 

[Related: The Best Sled Workouts for Muscle, Strength, Fat Loss, and Recovery]

Big Strides Ahead

Should Križánek successfully find himself in December’s Mr. Olympia, he’ll be another noteworthy competitor in what is shaping up to be a stacked Men’s Open field.

There’s two-time defending Mr. Olympia (2020-2021) Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, who recently weighed in at 336 pounds, along with former winner (2019) Brandon Curry. Usual podium fixture Hadi Choopan could also be someone to watch. Finally, there’s 2021 fourth-place finisher Hunter Labrada and Nick “The Mutant” Walker, who took home fifth place at last year’s contest and believes he can potentially dethrone Big Ramy. 

From the qualification process to potential competitors, the obstacles ahead are set for Križánek. Now it’s just about him making the Olympia opportunity official. 

The 2022 Mr. Olympia will take place on December 16-18 in Las Vegas, NV. 

Featured image: @ifbbmichalkrizokrizanek on Instagram

Who wouldn’t want to be strong like a powerlifter while also being built like a bodybuilder? Maximizing strength and muscle is what drives many people to start lifting weights in the first place, so why not train for the best of both worlds? Powerlifting plus bodybuilding equals powerbuilding.

Although powerbuilding is often considered a specific style of training, it’s really just an overall structure given to any training plan. And it’s a structure that many experienced lifters were doing even before it was given a name.

While there’s no reason to be dogmatic, here are some basic guidelines that can help you decide where to put your focus, what to include and what to leave out, and how to best organize your training to pack on size and strength.

What is Powerbuilding?

Training for powerbuilding means that you focus on increasing strength in big, compound (multi-joint) lifts while also building muscle through more classic bodybuilding-type training with isolation (single-joint) exercises and exercise variations, also called accessory movements.

One example would be starting a workout with sets of deadlifts, followed by accessory exercises concentrated on individual muscle groups such as the back and hamstrings. The main compound lift would be done for lower reps with heavier weights to develop strength and power.

The accessory exercises are done with relatively higher rep ranges in order to develop individual muscles while reducing wear and tear on the joint. That can include anything from single-joint exercises like biceps curls to multi-joint movements like split squats or pull-ups.

An upside to powerbuilding is that you can choose what to prioritize for specific goals. If you eventually decide to enter a powerlifting competition, for example, you could allocate more time to training heavy with the big three powerlifts — back squat, bench press, and deadlift — and minimize some of the bodybuilding work.

Or, when beach season approaches, you might keep the heavy barbell lifts to a minimum and spend most of your training doing muscle-building accessory exercises to build a serious physique while remaining relatively strong.

While powerbuilding gives you flexibility in exercise choice, there are some things to keep in mind for the best results.

Who Should Use Powerbuilding

Powerbuilding is for those who don’t have one singular physique or performance focus, but instead want to be physically well-balanced.

If you want to be strong, muscular, and fit, there’s no reason to get stuck working towards some grandiose weight in a barbell lift, reaching a specific body fat percentage number, or breaking a certain time for an endurance workout.

That’s not to say you won’t still set PRs (personal records), build endurance, and drastically improve your body composition with a more general training powerbuilding approach.

You may not break state lifting records or be shredded enough to step on a bodybuilding stage, but you can still end up stronger and more muscular than people who put all of their training eggs in a single basket.

Powerbuilding training can also be useful for people who compete in other sports or physical hobbies. When you’re approaching a competition, strength and conditioning training does need to be tailored to your specific sport or activity, especially when you’re competing at a very high level.

As long as you’re not in a competitive season, powerbuilding can be a great way to build a broad foundation for novice athletes and it can help experienced athletes remain well-rounded.

Powerbuilding for New Lifters

It’s great that powerlifting-inspired, strength-focused training has become popular in recent years. However, too many people with no lifting background dive headfirst into heavy training after seeing it for the first time.

While powerlifting can build an excellent level of upper and lower-body strength, beginners need to build a foundation using more variety than this type of specialized training can provide. Powerbuilding training is a better alternative for beginners because it builds a much broader base by developing more attributes with more exercise variety.

A beginner starting with a broad base will be in a better position to build on. With powerbuilding, you can steadily improve in big barbell lifts, similar to powerlifting-based training. Those barbell lifts can be markers for you to track your progress — not just in strength, but also in movement quality. Your technique will improve as you progress.

You also have more freedom when choosing  different exercises, variations, and training methods on a powerbuilding program. Powerlifting is exclusively focused on moving the most total weight in the back squat, flat bench press, and deadlift. Powerbuilding lets you focus on different barbell lifts while performing a wide variety of isolation exercises. In the long-term, this leads to better balance, proportion, and overall healthy function throughout your body.

Why Train for Powerbuilding

A Powerbuilding routine is excellent not only for building strength and muscle, but also for developing work capacity and resilience toward injury. This is primarily because powerbuilding allows flexibility to use a variety of exercises and training methods, instead of a relatively smaller handful of goal-specific exercises or methods.

Muscles grow bigger and stronger more quickly than the connective tissue that attaches those muscles to bones. If your training routine is excessively focused on building strength, like many powerlifting-based programs, you’re on a potentially dangerous path.

The disproportionate increase in muscular strength may create a condition where your muscles exert levels of force that your connective tissues can’t support. That can lead to the type of injury that keeps nagging for years.

Powerbuilding programs make it simple to incorporate moderate-to-high rep accessory exercises which increase blood supply and metabolic growth factors to tendons and ligaments. This type of training makes the connective tissues thicker and stronger, while increasing the muscles’ ability to withstand fatigue and do more work.

Powerbuilding routines also leave room for hybrid training methods which build muscle and aerobic capacity together, such as “tempo interval circuits” — alternating 20 to 45 seconds of steady state activity (rowing, stationary bike riding, sled dragging, etc.) with 10 to 15 reps of an accessory exercise, repeated for a total of 20 to 60 minutes.

These methods can all be included in powerbuilding programs to build a more well-rounded, highly capable body that’s more resistant to injury. You can still decide to specialize with powerlifting or bodybuilding-focused training later, if it suits your specific goal.

How to Plan a Powerbuilding Routine

While you do have a lot of flexibility when arranging your powerbuilding training plan, there are some important things to consider when designing a program.

Choose Your Main Lifts

First, decide which compound lifts to prioritize. You can use the classic back squat, flat bench press, and deadlift, or you can substitute similar alternatives. For example, you could trade the bench press for the overhead press if overhead strength appeals to you.

To focus on leg strength, you may want to include both the back squat and front squat while leaving out the deadlift for a few months. However, using “overlapping” exercises or very similar movements will require extra attention to planning, explained later.

There are no strict rules regarding which exercises to include, just pick what you like and stick with it. You can choose whatever big compound lifts you prefer, and you can even change them over time.

However, because the main lift is strength-focused, it should be a movement which allows the greatest potential weight to be lifted. This will almost always be a barbell exercise. Plan to use three to five sets of three to six reps with a challenging weight.

Know Your Training Split

Next, decide what order you’ll train your lifts and muscle groups. You can do this by following a push/pull split, an upper/lower split, or a muscle group split.

Push/Pull Split: The push/pull split alternates training days focused on “pushing” muscles and movements (including squat and squat variations, chest and shoulder training, and triceps work) with days focused on “pulling” muscles and movements (including deadlifts and deadlift variations, back exercises like rows and pulldowns, and biceps training).

The most common way to program a push/pull split is to pair a pushing movement main lift with accessory pushing exercises. For example, a workout could begin with heavy squats, followed up with upper and lower-body pushing accessory exercises including hack squats, leg extensions, overhead dumbbell pressing, and skull crushers.

If you’re training with more than one push (or pull) workout per week, you might focus the accessory work to only the muscles used in the main lift. For example, heavy front squats followed by the leg press, Bulgarian split squat, standing calf raise, and ab training.

Upper/Lower Split: This is exactly what it sounds like — each training day is devoted to either upper body or lower body exercises.

On day one, you might bench press and then do the dumbbell overhead press, pulldowns, cable rows, and triceps extensions. Day two could include the deadlift, lunges, hamstring curls, and calf raises. While day three might focus on the barbell row, chin-ups, chest dips, incline pressing, and biceps curls.

This approach can be manipulated to improve overall recovery time by adding rest days to extend the time between workouts. This makes it a very suitable choice for older lifters who may need to carefully monitor the weekly wear and tear on their body.

Muscle Group Split: This is a classic “body part split” seen in most bodybuilding programs, with each training day focused on one or two specific muscle groups. However, the main compound lifts still focus on building strength with that body part as the primary working muscle.

Training days typically work around the chest, back, shoulders, arms (sometimes broken down into a biceps day and a triceps day), and legs. “Leg day” may also be separated into one quadriceps day (with squats) and one hamstring day (with deadlifts).

For example, you might start “quadriceps day” with front squats, and then maximize muscle growth with accessory exercises that specifically work the leg muscles used in a squat — including lunges and leg extensions.

On shoulder day, you may use the push press as a main lift, followed by dumbbell overhead pressing, lateral raises, rear delt flyes, triceps pushdowns.

Choose Your Accessory Exercises

Once you’ve selected your main lifts and training split, you’ll know which accessory movements can be plugged into each day.

Accessory movements should be chosen to build size in muscles that need attention and are appropriate for each training day. If you’re following a push/pull split, you wouldn’t perform leg curls as an accessory movement after bench press; they’re different types of movements and the hamstrings aren’t recruited when benching.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking accessory exercises are a lesser priority than your main lift. Accessory movements are primarily responsible for the “building” part of powerbuilding. They help you pack on size and support strength progression in the main lifts.

When it comes to accessory exercises, work for three to five sets of eight to 15 reps. You may want to include traditional isolation exercises like lateral raises or seated leg extensions, or variations of the main lift such as an incline bench press or dumbbell overhead press.

You could also use alternative exercises like kettlebell swings, farmer’s walks, or sled drags to build the size and conditioning you’re looking for. Accessory movements allow you to focus more on muscle growth than raw strength, so choose the movements based on your individual needs.

Determine Your Training Frequency

The last step to setting up your powerbuilding program is to decide how many days per week you’re going to train. Typically, the longer you’ve been training, the more volume of work you must do to continue to see progress.

This usually means more experienced lifters will need to train more days each week than when they first started. Someone who has been doing powerbuilding training for a year or less can often improve with only two to three workouts a week because the overall stimulus is still relatively new and their body responds well.

Lifters with more than two years experience will probably need to train three to five days per week to achieve the volume and intensity needed to continue seeing results. One or even two workouts per week couldn’t accommodate enough exercises with enough sets and reps, using enough weight, to trigger sufficient muscle and strength gains.

However, you can structure your week to make the most out of fewer training days. Yes, the longer you consistently train, the more work you will need to add overall. But if you appropriately pair your compound lifts and add accessory exercises that fill in any potential gaps, you don’t necessarily need to lift five days a week.

For example, you might follow an upper/lower split three days per week using the bench press and barbell row as main lifts on one upper body day, trap bar deadlifts and squats on a lower body day, and a shoulder press on the next training day.

Common Powerbuilding Mistakes

Powerbuilding can be a relatively straightforward approach to training — lift heavy and then lift a little lighter — but several common mistakes can limit your recovery and reduce results.

Poor Fatigue Management

One of the biggest issues to keep in mind is managing your fatigue throughout the week. You can do this by following a proper training split, grouping main lifts together, and organizing your split to reduce the total training days each week. Each of these were addressed in the planning section above.

You can also manage nervous system fatigue by avoiding excessive overlap with similar exercises. If you were to design a powerbuilding routine with four different squat variations as the main lift four days in a row, you never give your nervous system or squatting muscles a chance to recover. You’ll likely burnout before seeing any significant results.

Instead, you might do back squats and squat cleans on day one, with Zercher squats and front squats on day three or four. This creates a structure that allows you time to recover from the physical and physiological stresses of squatting.

Yes, it may suck to do heavy cleans after heavy squats or front squats after heavy Zerchers, but your body will adapt because it’s given the chance to recover. In the end, the total training plan will be more productive and you will adapt and grow stronger from it.

Overemphasizing Main Lifts or De-emphasizing Accessory Work

Some lifters get so caught up in chasing heavy weights that they overlook accessory work. If they’re in a hurry on a given day, accessory movements might be performed haphazardly, with reduced effort, or even skipped entirely. That’s a one way ticket to plateau city, where strength stalls and muscles remain under-sized.

For optimal gains in both size and strength, the main lift and the accessories should be approached with balanced effort and enthusiasm. If you wouldn’t skip a set of heavy deadlifts, you shouldn’t consider skipping a set of pulldowns or lunges.

If the unexpected happens and you need to trim your time in the gym, don’t simply drop the accessory movements. Take the opportunity to dial up the intensity and use supersets to fit more training sets into a shorter amount of time.

Sample Powerbuilding Routines

Now that you have the general outline for how to structure your training, here’s a sample program putting it all into action.

This adaptable template keeps the main lifts focused on building strength and includes alternative methods to increase work capacity and develop muscle.

Day One

• Back Squat: 4 x 5 (70% one-rep max)
• Overhead Press: 5 x 3 (75% one-rep max)
• Bulgarian Split Squat: 4×10 (each leg)
• Dumbbell Upright Row: 4×10 (superset with previous exercise)

Tempo Interval Circuit — Perform for 20 minutes:

• Sled Push: 30 seconds 
• Feet-Elevated Push-up: 15 reps
• Sled Pull: 30 seconds 
• Lat Pulldown: 10 reps

Day Two

• Deadlift: 2 x 3 (75% one-rep max), 2 x 3 (80% one-rep max)
• Landmine Row: 4 x 6 (each side)
• Romanian Deadlift: 4 x 6
• Cable Pull-Through: 3 x 15
• Two-Arm Dumbbell Row: 4 x 10 (superset with two following exercises)
• Cable Face Pull: 4 x 10 
• Pallof Press: 4 x 6 (each side)

Day Three

• Bench Press: 4 x 5 (70% one-rep max)
• Front Squat: 4 x 3 (75% one-rep max)
• Goblet Squat: 4 x 8
• Lateral Lunge: 3 x 6 (each side)
• Dumbbell Floor Press: 3 x 12 (superset with previous exercise)

Accessory Circuit — As many sets as possible in eight minutes: 

• Inverted Row: 6 reps 
• Chest-Supported Front Raise: 8 reps
• Chest-Supported Rear Raise: 8 reps 
• Seated Hammer Curl: 10 reps 
• Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension: 8 reps 

Building the Best of Both Worlds

Powerbuilding training is not only a great way to build a broad base for beginners, it’s one of the most efficient ways to structure your workouts for becoming stronger, more muscular, leaner, and capable of more than just picking up heavy things or flexing in poses. If you’re motivated to build a well-rounded body, spend some time powerbuilding.

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