62 reviews for Matt Vena Intermediate Powerlifting Program
Version 2.0 of program
From champion powerlifter and coach Matt Vena, this program is a generalized powerlifting routine for intermediate lifters, focusing on squats, bench presses, and deadlifts with specific variations and accessory work. Here's a concise breakdown:
Squats:
Day 1: Regular squats and tempo squats (4-second descent, 0.5-second pause).
Day 3: Paused squats (1-second pause at the bottom).
Bench Press:
Day 1: Larsen press and dumbbell incline bench for hypertrophy.
Day 2: Tempo bench single (4-count descent) and back-off sets.
Day 3: Primary bench day with long pause bench (2-second pause).
Day 4: Regular bench press and close grip bench press (2-3 finger widths narrower).
Deadlifts:
Day 2: Romanian deadlifts for hinge work and posterior chain hypertrophy.
Day 4: Paused deadlifts (1 inch off the floor, 1-second pause).
Accessory Work:
Triceps: Included on three bench days.
Back and Biceps: Back work on day 2, biceps on day 1. First set to failure, remaining sets to RPE8.
Progression Scheme:
Microcycles: 3-week cycles, adding a rep each week, then resetting reps and adding 3% weight.
Singles: Cycle through RPE 6-7-8 over the microcycles.
Taper Week: One moderate day, one light day, then max out with RPE6-8-10 jumps.
Focus on consistent form, controlled tempos, and autoregulating based on daily performance. Adjust weight and reps as needed to avoid overshooting and ensure steady progress.
Read the full guide on the website for full program details:
Dion
Man, 313 weeks complete
2 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Good program.
Motiejus P.
Man, 171 week complete
2 years of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
4 times a week bench never felt like it was too much. If you actually follow the given weight and set realistic rpes it shouldn't be much of an issue. However, I did feel quite a bit of fatigue when it comes to the posterior chain. This can be easily solved by including more high bar squats and using a belt more frequently. Personally, I like to limit belt usage on smaller weights to strengthen the posterior chain, but it does have to be managed to not overdo it.
Ville Karisalmi
Man, 346 weeks complete
2 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
I did not finish the 7th week of this program and I didn't train past that because of the 4 times a week benching was too much for me. I got shooting pain in my right pec in certain positions, due to benching too often. My one and only change in the program was to do it only 3 times a week, which did not solve the problem I had with it. So eventually I had to take a complete week off of benching which did fix the problem and this was when I decided to change the program to something else. Did I get any gains on this program? Absolutely. I did a 5lb PR on bench immediately after my week long break and it was moving so fast and smooth that I bet I could add another 5-10lb's on it easy. I also managed to do a 10lb pr on military press and that's without training it. My squats feel so much better and even thou I haven't even maxed out on anything for lower body, I can say I'm able to add 10lb's to 20 lb's on my squat and even with my T-rex arms, I'm certain I can do the same with deadlifts. Like with a lot of cookie-cutter programs the program has to try to take care of every possible weakpoint of a lifter, which this program does rather well with the multiple variations. Even thou I quit the program half way, it doesn't mean that you should. I would still recommend this for people to atleast try, maybe you won't face the same problems I did.
Deanna H.
Woman, 423 weeks complete
3 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
I have done at least six powerlifting programs on the app, and this is the first one I've had to quit. It is INTENSE. Prior to this one I completed the TSA intermediate program, which was very challenging and set up very similarly to this one. I thought it would be too much for me, but I loved it. This program has four days of benching coupled with four tough lower body days. It was too much for my back and I strained it twice, in the second and third week. I took a week off to recover and decided to switch programs. Please listen to your body if you do this workout, and don't overdo it. A week off from the gym is torture!
talan T.
Man, 165 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
I enjoyed this program. Its structure felt very natural to me, and I was able to progress quite well on bench and deadlift, however I feel like there was just too much squat volume. On the first squat session of the week it prescribes 6 total sets of squat, 3 sets of competition style squat, with another 3 sets of tempo. This amount of volume just got to me in a bad way. I’ve ended up reducing the number of tempo squats to 2, sometimes even skipping them and doing another movement. Other than that the program has been smooth sailing so far, estimating a gain of 50lbs on both bench and deads, so overall not a bad program, but Im also newer to powerlifting so I could probably progress off of anything.
Man
7 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Pause deadlifts are genius
Kane S.
Man, 275 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Good so far. I got tired of making my own programs and just wanted to try someone else’s for a change. It’s a good switch up and I do appreciate the layout. Thank you.
Hommedoeuf
Man, 3012 weeks complete
3 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
Added 50lbs to my total on this program with my squat and deadlift both increasing by 20lbs and my bench by 10lbs. As an intermediate this was about what I expected. Overall, I was really happy with this program. It had more accessory work than I had been doing previously and I ended up getting some pretty solid gains in arm and chest growth. This was an unexpected bonus. Would definitely run this again!
mohamed Hesham.
Man, 202 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
I did train for a month (bodybuilding) and then did 3 weeks of this program and then took deload week in the middle and this is the fourth week i feel that my bench press is becoming way easier and the squat too but i still struggle with deadlift and my back hurts if you are going to run this you better run sumo not conventional ( i Don't have good sumo technique) so i have to do it conventional And at the end believe in high frequency training but make sure you go for lower volume and intensity so you don't die
danify
Man, 173 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Bench skyrockets like crazy