A 3-day squat / bench / deadlift program — build maximal strength on the big three with hypertrophy back-off work.
Maximal strength on squat, bench and deadlift — with enough volume behind it to keep building muscle.
Periodización
Cómo realizarlo
Level-up rule: run a column until you own EVERY top-of-range set at its loads for two consecutive weeks — then the next column is yours. Junior ≈ your first month, Intermediate ≈ month 3, Advanced ≈ month 6. Your bodyweight will change on the way; the loads don’t care — re-calibrate after every deload week and let the working weights, not the scale, decide the column.
Control de volumen
Series duras directas por grupo muscular y semana — los sinergistas no cuentan (los empujes también trabajan el tríceps, los jalones el bíceps). 10–20 series duras es la zona de crecimiento: por debajo es mantenimiento, por encima exige una recuperación de élite.
Cómo realizarlo
Encuentra tu peso
Don't max out to find your numbers. (1) Warm up, then load the reference weight for your level. (2) Do one set: if you finish the top of the rep range with MORE than the target RIR left, add 2.5 kg (upper) / 5 kg (lower) and repeat; if you can't reach the bottom of the range at the target RIR, take the same off. (3) That weight is your working load for every set that day. Junior: start one notch BELOW the reference and earn the jumps — clean reps beat heavy reps.
Cómo realizarlo
Each day is built around one heavy barbell lift for 5 sets of 4–6 at 82–87% — strength lives here. The back-off work keeps muscle growing so strength has somewhere to come from. Rest 3–4 minutes on the main lift; strength needs full recovery between sets, not a pump. The core finisher recovers fast — you can also run it daily or on rest days; obliques count.
Progresión
+2.5 kg on the main lift every week you complete all 5 sets of 4–6 at 2 RIR. Miss a week? Repeat the weight. Miss twice? Take 10% off and build back up — that wave IS the program.
Calentamiento
General: 5 min easy cardio + dynamic mobility for the day's joints. Per heavy compound, ramp: 10 reps empty bar → 5 @ 50% → 3 @ 70% → 1 @ 85% of your working weight. Isolation: one light feeder set.
Autorregulación (RPE/RIR)
RIR = reps in reserve (left in the tank); RPE 8 = 2 RIR. Pick a load that lands you on the target RIR at the last rep — feel strong, add weight; feel flat, take some off. Anchor every working weight to YOUR own 1RM, not the reference numbers.
Cardio
2 × 20 min zone 2 on off days, kept away from squat and deadlift days. It builds the work capacity that lets you recover between heavy sets — without stealing a single kilo of strength.
Descarga
Every 5th–6th week: volume −40%, intensity −10%, every set left at 4+ RIR. One light week resets fatigue before the next mesocycle.
Horario semanal
Mon Squat · Wed Bench · Fri Deadlift — a rest day between each session
El entrenamiento
Los pesos de trabajo son orientativos para un atleta de referencia. Ajústalos a tu propio 1RM y alcanza el RPE objetivo: la prescripción es el %1RM, las repeticiones y el RIR, no los kilos.
Las indicaciones en palabras claras
Cada ejercicio lleva algunas cifras. Así se leen, sin tecnicismos.
Reference loads assume an ~80–90 kg male. Lighter or female athletes typically scale to ~60–70% of the upper-body numbers and ~70–80% of the lower-body numbers — the %1RM, reps and RIR stay identical.
Fase de entrenamiento
Peso de trabajo por nivel
Quads · Core
5
Ejercicios
17
Series
~65
min
Five heavy sets of squats after a full ramp, then leg press and leg curl to build the muscle behind the strength. Nothing here should compromise Friday's deadlift.
Short on time? Superset lever seated squat calf raise on leg press machine + cable kneeling crunch: one set of each back-to-back, then rest 60 s — saves ~4 min with no cost on isolation work. Never superset the day's primary lift.
Sit back to the bench, stay tight, drive up fast — every rep from the same setup.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Sled loaded. Feet mid-platform, knees track the toes, never bounce out of the bottom.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Machine stack. Hips pinned down, squeeze at full bend, 3 s lowering.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Full stretch at the bottom, 1 s squeeze at the top — no bouncing.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Cable stack. Flex the spine rib-to-hip, exhale hard, don't pull with the arms.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Heavy squatting leaves the hip flexor short and the quads and erectors loaded. Hips and quads get the rounds; unload the spine before you leave.

Deep lunge, drive the back hip forward, tuck the pelvis. Short hip flexors tilt your pelvis into every squat that follows — this is the priority after squatting and leg pressing.

Lying on your side, grab the top foot, heel to the glute, push the hip slightly forward. Keep knee beside knee — don't let it flare out.

Sit tall, arms forward, roll down vertebra by vertebra. After heavy hinging this unloads the erectors — no swinging, no bouncing.

Back leg straight, heel down, drive the hip toward the wall. This targets the gastrocnemius — the heel never leaves the ground.
Static stretching belongs AFTER the session, never before it — held before a heavy set it measurably costs force output. Move into each position until you feel mild tension, never pain, and breathe out into it. Hold still: no bouncing on a fatigued muscle. Skip a muscle that is cramping and walk it off first.
Chest · Shoulders · Triceps · Upper Back · Core
6
Ejercicios
20
Series
~70
min
Five heavy sets of bench, then overhead and incline pressing for the shoulders and triceps. The pulldown balances all that pressing — a strong bench needs a strong back to press from.
This day is built around focused quality volume — supersets here would make the sets compete. Short on time: trim rest on everything except the primary lift by 15–30 s (saves ~4 min) and keep the primary's full rest untouched.
Shoulder blades pinned, feet planted, bar to lower chest — press fast, same groove every rep.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Seated, braced, press straight up — ribs down, full lockout, no leg drive.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Cable stack. Drive elbows to hips, squeeze the lats, control up.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Per dumbbell. 30° incline, deep stretch at the bottom, press in a slight arc.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Cable stack. Elbows pinned to the ribs, spread the rope at the bottom, full squeeze.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Curl the pelvis up against the cable, abs do the work — don't yank from the hip flexors.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Heavy benching pins the shoulder blades and shortens the pecs under load for every set. Open the chest, then let the upper back move again.

Clasp your hands behind your back, lift the sternum and pull the shoulders back and down. Don't arch the lower back — the stretch belongs in the chest, not the lumbar spine.

Elbow points at the ceiling, hand walks down between the shoulder blades. Keep the ribs down — otherwise the pelvis tips and you stretch your back, not the triceps.

Interlace the fingers, press the arms forward and deliberately round the upper back to spread the shoulder blades. The exact counter-move to every row.

Arm straight across the chest, pull on the upper arm — never on the elbow joint. Keep the shoulder down or the pull migrates into your neck.
Static stretching belongs AFTER the session, never before it — held before a heavy set it measurably costs force output. Move into each position until you feel mild tension, never pain, and breathe out into it. Hold still: no bouncing on a fatigued muscle. Skip a muscle that is cramping and walk it off first.
Posterior Chain · Back · Biceps · Core
6
Ejercicios
20
Series
~75
min
Five heavy pulls, dead-stop every rep — no touch-and-go. Rows and RDLs build the back and hamstrings that keep the bar path honest; curls finish the arms.
This day is built around focused quality volume — supersets here would make the sets compete. Short on time: trim rest on everything except the primary lift by 15–30 s (saves ~4 min) and keep the primary's full rest untouched.
Bar over mid-foot, wedge the hips in, push the floor away — reset every rep from a dead stop.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Torso ~45°, pull to the navel, no jerking the weight up.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Soft knees, hips back until the hamstrings load, bar close to the legs the whole way.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Assist weight — LESS assistance is harder. Set assist so the last 1–2 reps are hard. Full hang to chin-over-bar.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Barbell curl: elbows pinned, no swing, full squeeze up, control down.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Series de calentamiento
Paso a paso
Bodyweight. Roll up one vertebra at a time, lower under control, chin off the chest.
¿Máquina ocupada o no está en tu gimnasio?
Paso a paso
After heavy pulls the hamstrings and erectors are the whole story. Use the supine version — it lengthens the hamstring with the least load on a spine that just worked hard.

On your back, one leg toward the ceiling, the other stays flat on the floor. The version with the least pull on the lower back — the right pick after heavy deadlifts.

Sit tall, arms forward, roll down vertebra by vertebra. After heavy hinging this unloads the erectors — no swinging, no bouncing.

Ankle over the opposite knee, chest pushed forward and tall. The moment the back rounds you are stretching the back, not the glute.

Arm straight, palm down, gently pull the fingers toward you, then turn the palm over and stretch the other side. After pulling and curling days this keeps the grip fresh.
Static stretching belongs AFTER the session, never before it — held before a heavy set it measurably costs force output. Move into each position until you feel mild tension, never pain, and breathe out into it. Hold still: no bouncing on a fatigued muscle. Skip a muscle that is cramping and walk it off first.
Para el entrenador
The main lift owns the session — everything after it is support, never competition.
Every heavy rep from the same setup: same stance, same brace, same bar path.
Bar speed is the honest coach — when the bar slows badly, the set is done.
Progressive overload in small steps — +2.5 kg a week compounds to +130 kg a year on paper; ride the wave as long as it moves.
Recovery is training — 7–9 h sleep, 1.6–2.2 g protein/kg bodyweight, full rest days between sessions.
Para el entrenador
Grinding missed reps — a failed 1RM teaches nothing your logbook doesn't already know.
Turning back-off work into a second max-out — it supports the main lift, it doesn't replace it.
Cutting rest short on heavy sets — 90 seconds is a pump protocol, not a strength protocol.
Skipping the deload week because you feel strong — that feeling is exactly what it protects.