There are many templates and they help to simplify your training. Keep learning and adding to your routines. Attached you find an overview of the most useful templates I have found.

 

 

Before we go into the details of powerlifting program templates, let me ask you a couple of questions: 

 

 

These questions will determine whether you will succeed or fail. Research shows that people who write down their goals and reflect on them are more likely to make them a reality. When was the last time you did this? Can you even remember? If you can not it is time to get a pen and paper and start. Many people go about their lives like this: 

 

 

This is a great way to get confused. What you want changes hundreds of times a day depending on what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Your body and mind will immediately and instinctively react to your sensory input. Great to survive in the wilderness. Not so great to build your retirement fund. Humans usually do not perform well when it comes to delayed feedback loops in unfamiliar environments. Read the book Nudge for excellent detail on this topic. Making what you want the center of attention will not be very helpful. You will spread your resources thin and scatter your time between too many activities. Frustration and misery will be the result. Something interesting happens when you flip the running order of these questions on their head:

 

 

This way you will focus on your life goals. What is meaningful and fulfilling will take on importance. Your thoughts and actions will become more connected and success will follow. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's Ted talk on the golden circle will change your life. 

 

It all starts with better habits and rituals to get more done in less time. A good way of forming new habits is keeping a journal. I have been using the self journal from best self for two years now and my marriage and salary have dramatically improved. You can check it out via this link. 

 

 

To pick the right program for yourself it is paramount to know what you actually want to achieve. Be as specific as you can as this helps to pick out the best program for your needs. It is also never bad to reflect on your plans with your family and a personal trainer. The more you share your plans the more refined and pinpointed they will become. As Bruce Lee said:

 

Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is specifically your own. 

 

 

Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your total consists of three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, squat, and deadlift. For each lift, you get three attempts to establish your best weight. Your best attempt for each lift will be counted towards your total. Based on your total you will be ranked against your competitors. 

 

A big difference to lifting in the gym is that you will be judged. Three referees will observe your actions from different angles. They decide whether you performed according to the standards of the federation you are competing in. Two out of three judges have to agree for the attempt to qualify. You need at least one qualifying attempt for each lift to make it on the board. Otherwise, you will be disqualified. 

 

Your total usually splits into 40/40/20. The squat and deadlift usually contribute roughly 40 percent each while the bench press adds up to 20 percent. Strong legs will carry you far in powerlifting. 

 

To start building your total you will begin somewhere. Templates are usually a good way to start training without making it too complicated. 

 

 

Starting Strength is one of the two most popular training templates for powerlifting. You will train three times a week and use the following movements:

 

 

The program mainly works with sets of five and linear progression. This means that the weight increases each workout until you repeatedly fail. Then it is followed by a deload. Starting Strength is well suited to athletes who are starting out without a coach or do not want to pay for more sophisticated templates. 

 

Stronglifts is the other popular beginner program. It is very similar to Starting Strength in structure and profession. Where they differ is exercise selection and instructions. In my opinion, the instructions for Stronglifts are easier to follow than for Starting Strength. You will do the following exercises on Stronglifts: 

 

 

You will work with sets of fives and train three times a week. The profession is linear. This is a solid beginner program with a little more focus on powerlifting than starting Strength. 

 

Powerlifting to win is a program that has been designed by the website of the same name. The main difference to the more popular programs is that it incorporates autoregulation. Autoregulation means that you push yourself on good days and take a step back on worse days. This program is also solid, but might be too risky for beginners. Beginners usually like to overestimate what they can do.

 

If you want to invest money this is the place to go to. Powerlifting AI works with the numbers you put in and adjusts your program to your personal needs. It can not a lot better than that. The only downside is that it is not necessarily suited for beginners. There are many moving parts which you might not be able to do yet or don’t understand the needed input. 

 

Templates are a crutch. They do not accommodate for what makes you special. Use them as a base to build around them. It is important that you keep yourself informed and improve your routines continuously.