Powerlifting Program for Athletes

26 Powerlifting and Powerbuilding Programs | FREE Downloads | Written by Jon Chambers | Updated on 18 February 2022

Man sets up to perform deadlift using underhand grip in a gym. This weightlifting exercise is involved in competitions where cutting water weight can help lifters acheive specific weigh in goals.

The right powerlifting program for athletes is an effective way to build not only strength, but explosive power and mass as well. However, as an athlete you can’t just choose any plan and expect it to work.

As a sportsperson, you can’t use a traditional program that doesn’t account for your sports-specific training. If you do, your body will be unable to recover—stalling your progress not just in the gym, but on the field or court as well.

Let me tell you a personal story from when I was playing collegiate football.

As a division 1 athlete our workouts were already hard enough. But instead of making the smart choice to do my research beforehand, I decided that adding in an entire strength training program on top of my already-brutal football workouts would surely net me all kinds of gains and progress.

Man, was I wrong.

Instead of making double the progress, I stopped seeing results completely. I was simply pushing my body way too hard without taking into account my body’s ability to recover.

When I eventually realized this and made the proper adjustments, my results skyrocketed and I finally had a solid powerlifting program for athletes that would allow me to maximize my strength and muscle gains while still progressing in my sports abilities.

Powerlifting Program for Athletes: How It Works

At any given time, if your goal is to build strength and muscle, you simply need to provide your body with the most optimal stimulation possible. In the gym, this is done with the use of weights—they provide the stimulation that allows our body’s to grow and get stronger.

Ultimately, this means the very best powerlifting program for athletes simply needs to make sure that stimulus is as optimal as possible.

Without a doubt, this is done using periodization.

Periodization refers to the systematic process of altering different training variables to constantly force your body to adapt.

And when it comes to periodization, the daily undulating periodization (DUP) training program just can’t be beat (you can download the plan in full by going to the link).

About the Author

Squatting 500 pounds on an ohio rogue bar with a sports hernia

Jon Chambers

Jon Chambers is a powerlifter, strength coach, sports hernia expert, and writer involved in the strength training community for almost a decade on a mission to create the best strength and fitness guides on the web.