70s Powerlifter
18 week old school powerlifting protocol to will leave you in a different solar system
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The 70s Powerlifter Program, by Alex Bromley, is designed with a heavy influence of the prototypical 70’s powerlifter here (hence the name). Many of the accounts of some of the monsters that populated meets at that time, such as Doug Young and Bill Kazmaier, cited high volume approaches with many compound variations and plenty of bodybuilding movements to top it off.
Read more about the program below for an overview and progression guidance.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
- LevelIntermediate, Advanced
- GoalPowerlifting
- EquipmentFull Gym
- Program Length18 weeks
- Days Per Week4 days
- Time Per Workout90 minutes
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70s Powerlifter Program
4 Days per week
Upper/Lower/Upper/Lower (1 lift each day)
3 - 3 Week Volumizing Waves
3 - 3 Week Intensifying Waves
Leans on both Variations of Main Lift and Bodybuilding Work
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
There’s a heavy influence of the prototypical 70’s lifter here. Many of the accounts of some of the monsters that populated meets at that time, such as Doug Young and Bill Kazmaier, cited high volume approaches with many compound variations and plenty of bodybuilding movements to top it off.
There was also an apparent lack of creativity in the progressions, something I see as a positive. If the main lift was done for 5 sets of 10, often times, so were the second and third. Turns out they all progressed just as well as if they had been done for 8s, 6s, 12s, or anything in between. Each lift doesn’t, in fact, need it’s own unique progression scheme. Just set a baseline of work for each lift and progress forward.
PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS
Main movement %'s
The range in percentages (ex. 60-65-75%) is to give you flexibility depending on how you recover each week. If the weight moves well, do most of your sets at the top range. If you feel under-recovered, do all of them at the low end. Increases in weight is second priority; the important thing is that weight doesn't go down as you add a set each week.
Deload weeks
Deload weeks are not included in the written program. However, take a deload week as needed.
Be warned
This is an abnormal amount of work. The point of programming is to adapt to amounts of work that you are not used to. If you commit to this, understand that success hinges on reasonable weight selection. You will be more and more fatigued for each successive compound movement, so be prepared to adjust the weights way down. If any set in the Base phase was within 3 reps of failure, it was too heavy.