Powerbuilding 3 results and notes

Other Discussions Programming Discussion
1

I just finished 14 weeks of the Powerbuilding 3 program.

Before…After USAPL meet 1 week before starting and simulated meet at the gym for after

Weight 153…161 lbs
Waist ???..85.5 cm

Squat 295…345
Bench 215…230
Deadlift 320…365

I lifted 4 days per week, ran 5 miles 1 day per week, and added on the GPP work at the end of each lifting session. I like running middle distance and I don’t want to go to the gym 6 days per week. I also have a job with a lot of walking so I wanted to take 2 full days off per week.

Thoughts on the program:

-I liked that most of the lifting is in the 6-8 RPE range. It seemed like a good balance of minimal fatigue with max strength gains.

-I was able to get most lifting sessions done within 70-90 min which is pretty reasonable

-I was able to do a linear progression on the SBD most weeks

-I found decreasing returns from the GPP tricep/bicep programming. My weight lfited plateaued after week 6 on the 12 reps. I tried different variations after plateauing but it didn’t help.

-If you want to do any body building on the wrist or calves it seems like you have to program that yourself. This program can’t do everything so I think that’s fair.

-I don’t think I did a very good job of programming for my bench weaknesses. I struggled at mid-lift and I think I can program better for this next time

I was happy with the program and I will run it again starting in 2 weeks.

2

I finish week 5 of this plan tomorrow. Did you run the plan with all of the default exercises? I have enjoyed it a lot so far. Mostly finishing it in 60m but then I’ve got 10m of the supplement at the end and usually 5 getting going in the morning. So I’m typically in and out of the gym in 1h20m. Unlike you I’ve been doing my GPP on their own days, I love hitting the gym everyday, but I’m ready to go home after 1 hour.
Yeah, I agree with you that I miss the calves, especially since it is a weak point for me.
My biggest takeaway so far isn’t really specific to this plan, rather to me. Based on my 1-4 rep performance the calculator estimates way more than I can handle for the 8-12 rep exercises.

3

My default for the primary lifts was usually low bar squat, paused bench, and deadlift.

I did start with the deficient deadlift for block 1 because my weak point on a 1 rep max was getting the bar off of the ground.

But, I did rotate the supplement lifts each block based off of weaknesses.

The calculator is a little bit of a blunt tool. It was useful for the power lifts but less useful for the GPP and supplemental work.

4

Cool, thanks for the review.
For what it is worth years ago I had phenomenal bench press improvement on a program that focused on upright row, lateral raise, and triceps. Only benching 1 or 2 times a week.