BAF Powerbuilder Program Welcome, to the Powerbuilder Program. This program is a 3-phase powerbuilding program designed to take the trainee from beginner to advanced levels of training. Stick with this program & there is no doubt you ll build a strong, well-rounded, physique. I designed this program with the trainee that works labor intensive careers in mind, which is why I strongly emphasize proper rest periods, sleep and deloads but is well suited for the trainees who have sedentary careers as well. The program This Program is built around 5 barbell movements: Squat: This movement engages almost every muscle in the body but the focus is on the legs. This program will make sure you build big wheels because it has you squatting 3 times a week.
If you don t like to back squat, feel free to front squat, which emphasizes stress on the quads. The bonus to front squatting is that it actually facilitates your deadlift. Placing the bar on the front of your body has the advantage of challenging you to keep upright which is what the deadlift is essentially about, getting the bar off the ground and pulling the body to an upright position while simultaneously locking out the hips.
Deadlift: This is by far one of my favorite movements. This movement also targets every muscle in the body but the focus, where most of the stress is placed on, is the whole posterior chain. The posterior chain includes the traps, lats, erectors, glutes, hamstrings, calves, etc. Having deadlifts in your program is one of the quickest ways to get stronger and put on muscle mass. Bench Press: This movement is one of the most popular and favorites amongst all meat heads. We want a big, powerful chest, so we bench two times a week in this program. Not only does this movement work the pectoral muscles, it works the anterior deltoids and medical deltoids to an extent as well as the triceps.
Barbell Rows: People think that in order to get big biceps they have to do a thousand sets of isolation movements such as arm curls, hammer curls, etc. If you want big biceps, you row, preferably with a supinated grip which engages the biceps big time. This movement targets the low lats, traps, lower back, middle back, the glutes and hips. The glutes and hips? Yes, we don t think about it much but the hip hinge that allows us to extend the hips when the movement is over simulates the top portion of a deadlift. So this movement is a powerful weapon in our arsenal on the road to a big back.
Standing Overhead Press: This movement is commonly left out of many peoples programs for some reason but it is essential in building big powerful shoulders, a big powerful physique in general. Think about it, when practiced on a consistent basis, this movement develops a powerful core, lower back, glutes, legs, and most importantly, shoulders. We OHP once a week so that we don t fry and injure our shoulders from too many pressing movements, but it s in there because it matters. Phases Strength phase: The Strength phase is predicated on the 5x5 set up with the accessories on each respective day complimenting the Quads & Upper Pull, Hamstrings & Upper Push, Upper Push & Upper Pull, respectively. The names for each day in this phase serves as a guide. Feel free to tweak the accessories but keep in mind that you want to keep them consistent with the program. For example, on Quads and upper pull day, you want to do the 3 barbell movements then do any respective upper pull(lat pull down, v bar pull down, cable rows, dumbbell rows, etc) & Quads(leg extension, lunges, leg press, etc) in order to keep that day balanced. Also, keep in mind that you do not want to tack on too much volume in the accessories. You WILL burn yourself out as the weights get progressively heavy, and it gets pretty heavy, pretty quickly since you re adding 5lbs to each lift each session.
This phase is 20 weeks, which includes deload weeks. 20 weeks, that s 16 weeks dedicated to consistent, strength building focus. During this period of 20 weeks, focus on proper form, sleep, caloric intake. On off days, feel free to do cardio, plyometrics, yoga, etc. During this phase, we might encounter plateaus or we might stop making progress all together on the 5x5 set rep scheme on any of the respective barbell movements this typically applies to benching and squatting. This is when you switch to a 3x5 set rep scheme. You will know when to switch to 3x5 when you consistently fail to hit 5x5 for every set and rep for a week consistently. When that happens switch to 3x5 when you fail on that set up, switch to 3x3 and then when you fail there work up to a heavy 1x5 and do 5%-10% lighter back-off sets of 2x3. Depending on where you are in your training, beginner or intermediate, you may or may not want to repeat this phase in order to get the most out of it. This phase is geared toward building a decent strength foundation. So progressing through the 5x5, 3x5, 3x3, 1x5+2x3(@5-10% lighter) might be a good option if one so chooses. If not, then moving onto the next phase is alright too. Powerbuilding phase: The Powerbuilding phase is geared more towards the intermediate/advance cusp of trainees and is a quasi auto regulated phase lasting 15 weeks. Here we won t increase weight every session but work with what our body is giving us that day. This phase is more volume based and you work with percentages of your 1 rep maxes on the barbell movements. These percentages are just guides and in this phase you want to train in such a way that suits your body s needs regarding each session. The focus is still based around barbell movements but the volume is higher than the previous phase to facilitate hypertrophy. Keep in mind that whatever your best set of five is on any given set of any given session, that is, you ve worked up to your heaviest set of five that day, take @87% of that and work that. For example, you
may work up to a heavy 5 of 205lbs, calculate the 1rm then do another set of 5 @87% In order to calculate your 1rm(one rep maxes), go to symmetricstrength.com or download the app and plug in your numbers. The app will guide you. In order to begin the powerbuilding phase calculate each percentage using your best set of 5 for each barbell movement then take 87% of your 1rm and work 5 reps with that. Essentially, you are doing your best each session and your 1rm will fluctuate from session to session. Say you ve have partied the night before and work your way up to a 5 reps you consider weak but it s the best you can do that day. Calculate the 1rm, take 87% of that and do another set. Or you may have everything clicking on all cylinders, proper sleep, caloric intake, minimal stress and then hit a strong 5, you calculate the 1rm, take 87% of that and do another set. Look, some days you just might surprise yourself. At this point, it is a good idea to purchase micro plates to work with the weird numbers you get, just a suggestion. Hypertrophy/Muscular endurance Phase: The hypertrophy phase is similar to the previous phase in the sense that you are working with percentages yet again. It is only 4 weeks and it prepares your muscles for the strength phase again, if you choose to repeat the program. Work up to your best set of 8, calculate 1rm, then do 2 more sets of 8 at 60%(Week 1), 65%(Week 2), 70%(Week 3), 75%(Week 4), respectively. Supplements(Coming in a later version): To be used on off days. Consists of explosive movements, plyometrics, yoga, meditation techniques and more
*Once you get through this whole program, all three phases, it might be a good idea to move onto another program. You may or may not be too strong to keep making progress with these routines put forth in this manual. BAF Strength Phase (20 Weeks including deload weeks) Progression scheme: Linear Add 5lbs to Squat, Bench, Row, OHP & 10lbs to Deadlift each session. 3-5 Minutes Rest between each set on barbell movements, 60 to 90 seconds rest for accessories. When you get to a point where you stop making progress on 5x5, switch to 3x5 and continue adding weight, when you stop making progress on 3x5 switch to 3x3 and continue adding weight, when you stop making progress on 3x3, work up to a heavy 1x5 and do 5%-10% lighter back-off sets of 2x3. Deload: Either take the week off, or do 1 set of each movement. The idea is to give the body time to rest & adapt. Deload on the 5 th week. Monday Quads and Upper Pull B1: Squat 5x5 B2: Bench 5x5 B3: Barbell Row 5x5 a1: Lat-Pull Down 4x8
a2: Single Legged Leg Press 4x8 Wednesday Hamstrings and Upper Push B3: Squat 5x5 B2: OHP 5x5 B1: Deadlift 1x5 a1: Prone Hamstring Curl 4x10 a2: Dumbbell Bench Press 4x8 a3: Chest Flies 3x12 Flex Friday Upper Push & Upper Pull B1: Squat 5x5 B2: Bench 5x5 B3: Barbell Row 5x5 a1: Chin-ups 3x8 a2: Dips 4x10 a3: Rear Delt Rows/flies 3x8 Repeat for 16 weeks + Deload Every 5th Week = 20 Weeks. BAF Powerbuilding - PP Phase (15 Weeks including deload weeks) Progression Scheme: Auto-regulation On your heavy days, work up to a heavy set of 5, calculate your 1rm take 87% of that and do another set of 5 @87% on your squats, your bench and rows. On your light days work up to that heavy set of 5, calculate your 1rm then do another set of 5 @87% on your deadlift and OHP. Repeat the same process with 75% loads.
Deload: Either take the week off, or do 1 set of each movement. The idea is to give the body time to rest & adapt. Deload on the 5 th week. Monday Heavy w/ 3-5 minute rest intervals Bench 1x5+ @87% Back Squat 1x5+ @87% Front Squat 3x8 Rows 1x5+ @87% V-Bar Pull Down 4x8 Dips 4x8 Wednesday Light w/90 second rest intervals Deadlift 1x5 @87% OHP 1x5 @87% Squat 2x5 @75% Leg Curls 3x10 Rear Delt Rows/flies 3x12 Dips 4x12 Barbell Bicep Curls 4x12 Flex Friday Medium w/60 second rest intervals Bench 5x3+ @75% Back Squat 5x3 @75% Iso Row 5x3 @75% Leg Curls 3x10 Hammer Strength Chest Press 3x12
Chest Flies 3x12 Cable Rows 4x8 Lat-Pull Down 4x8 Barbell Bicep Curl 3x8 Optional Shoulders & Arms Lateral Raises 3x15 Standing OHP 3x5 Barbell/Cable Bicep Curl 4x12 Dumbbell Bicep Curl 3x12 Single Arm Cable Bicep Curl 3x15 Dips 4x12 Tricep Press Down 4x12 Overhead Tricep Ext.4x12 Single Arm Tricep Pull Down 3x15 Repeat For 12 Weeks + Deload every 5th week = 15 Weeks BAF Hypertrophy/Muscular Endurance Phase (5 weeks including deload week) Progression Scheme Auto regulation and each week increase the percentage by 5% on each lift. Work up to your best set of 8, calculate 1rm then do 2 more sets of 8 at 60%(Week 1), 65%(Week 2), 70%(Week 3), 75%(Week 4) Rest for 60-90 seconds between each set. Deload: Either take the week off, or do 1 set of each movement. The idea is to give the body time to rest & adapt. Deload on the 5 th week.
*Percentages are of 1rms Monday Quads and Upper Pull B1: Squat 3x8 @60% B2: Bench 3x8 @60% B3: Barbell Row 3x8 @60% a1: Lat-Pull Down 4x8 a2: Single Legged Leg Press 4x8 Wednesday Hamstrings and Upper Push B3: Squat 4x8 @60% B2: OHP 3x8 @60% B1: Deadlift 2x8 @60% a1: Prone Hamstring Curl 4x10 a2: Dumbbell Bench Press 4x8 a3: Chest Flies 3x12 Flex Friday Upper Push & Upper Pull B1: Squat 5x8 @60% B2: Bench 4x8 @60% B3: Barbell Row 4x8 @60% a1: Chin-ups 3x8 a2: Dips 4x10 a3: Rear delt rows/flies 3x8 Repeat for 4 Weeks + Deload after 4th week = 5 weeks