Intermediate 6-Day Powerbuilding

Your primary horizontal push strength movement. Shoulder blades retracted, feet planted, bar to mid-chest. Drive hard off the bottom and lock out fully. In a powerbuilding program, this sets the load benchmark for the entire push week.

Press the bar from shoulder height straight overhead. Brace your core and glutes throughout and lock out fully. Trained at strength rep ranges on Push A to develop vertical pressing power.

Bench at 30 degrees. Lower the dumbbells to get a full chest stretch at the bottom, then press back up. Higher rep accessory work after the heavy barbell pressing develops the upper chest at a hypertrophy rep range.

Light dumbbells, slight elbow bend. Raise both arms to shoulder height and lower with control. Consistent lateral raise volume across both push sessions builds shoulder width over time.

High cable with rope attachment. Elbows pinned to your sides, push to full extension and spread the rope ends apart. Direct triceps work after the pressing compounds supports both strength and size.

Hinge to roughly 45 degrees. Pull the bar to your lower chest leading with your elbows, hold for one second at the top, then lower under control. Matches the bench press in strength priority across the week.

Palms facing you, hands shoulder-width. Pull until your chin clears the bar, then lower slowly. Add weight with a belt when you consistently hit 6 reps across all sets. The chin-up is treated as a strength movement here, not an accessory.

Hinge forward with light dumbbells. Raise both arms out to the sides until parallel to the floor. Rear delt health work is essential in a program with this much pressing volume across six sessions per week.

Standing barbell curl at a strength-adjacent rep range. The barbell allows heavier loading than dumbbells for direct bicep strength development alongside the chin-up work.

Palms facing inward throughout. Curl one dumbbell to your shoulder and lower slowly. Hammer curls target the brachialis for arm thickness alongside the bicep work from barbell curls.

Your primary lower body strength movement. Bar on upper traps, feet shoulder-width. Descend to at least parallel with full tension throughout, then drive back up through the floor. Deadlifts are introduced in Phase 2 once the squat pattern is established and the weekly structure feels manageable.

Rear foot on a bench, dumbbells at your sides. Lower your back knee toward the floor and push back through your front heel. Unilateral work after the heavy bilateral lifts catches imbalances and adds leg volume without additional spinal loading.

Balls of your feet on an elevated surface. Full stretch at the bottom, pause for one second, then drive all the way up and pause at the top. First of two weekly calf sessions.

Lie on your back with knees bent. Curl your upper body off the floor by contracting your abs, then lower with control. Direct ab work at the end of a heavy squat session.

Bench at 30 degrees. A different pressing angle from Push A flat bench, at a higher rep range. Push B provides the hypertrophy volume that supports Push A strength gains over time.

Set cables at chest height. Bring both handles together in a wide arc and squeeze at the peak of the contraction. Cable flys provide a loaded stretch in a way that barbell pressing cannot.

Sit or stand with dumbbells at shoulder height. Press both overhead and lower with control. Provides shoulder hypertrophy volume at a higher rep range than the barbell overhead press on Push A.

Second lateral raise session of the week. Side delts respond particularly well to higher frequency and controlled tempo. Six sets of lateral raises per week across both push sessions is an effective stimulus for shoulder width.

Lie on a flat bench with an EZ bar at arm's length above your chest. Lower the bar toward your forehead by bending only at the elbows, then extend back to the top. Skull crushers provide a strong stretch stimulus to the long head of the triceps that overhead pressing movements cannot fully replicate.

Overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder width. Pull until your chin clears the bar, then lower slowly over 3 to 4 seconds. Pull B leads with pull-ups as the primary vertical pull at a hypertrophy rep range, complementing the chin-ups on Pull A.

Sit upright at the cable station. Pull the handle to your lower chest leading with your elbows, pause for one second at full contraction, then lower slowly. Provides horizontal pull volume at hypertrophy rep ranges to complement the heavy barbell rows on Pull A.

One hand and knee on a bench. Row the dumbbell to your hip leading with your elbow, squeeze at the top, lower slowly. Trains each side independently to catch imbalances that bilateral rows can mask.

Hinge forward with light dumbbells. Raise both arms out to the sides until parallel to the floor. Your second rear delt session of the week. At 6 sessions per week with heavy pressing, rear delt health work cannot be neglected.

Hold a barbell at hip height with a shoulder-width grip. Instead of curling in an arc, drag the bar up your torso. keeping it in contact with your body throughout the movement. The drag curl keeps the elbows tracking back rather than forward, maximally loading the long head of the bicep in a way a standard curl cannot.

Hold a dumbbell at your chest and squat to depth. Legs B uses goblet squats rather than barbell squats to provide quad volume with less axial loading after a heavy Legs A earlier in the week.

Upper back against a bench, barbell across your hips. Drive your hips to full extension and squeeze your glutes for two seconds at the top. The hip thrust provides direct glute development that the squat and deadlift cannot fully replicate.

Push your hips back and lower the bar along your shins until you feel a strong hamstring stretch, then drive back up. Trained on Legs B at a hypertrophy rep range to develop hamstring size while the conventional deadlift on Legs A builds hamstring strength.

Hold dumbbells at your sides and step forward into a lunge. Lower your back knee to the floor, pause briefly, then push back to standing. Unilateral volume at the end of Legs B adds quad and glute work with less spinal demand.

Your second calf session of the week. Same full range of motion from complete stretch to full contraction. Twice-weekly calf training with full range is the most reliable way to develop calves.

One extra set at a lower rep range. By Phase 2 your bench should be meaningfully heavier than Week 1. Finish each set with 1 to 2 reps in reserve. Never grind.

One extra set at a lower rep range. Keep your technique locked in. The overhead press demands precise bar path more than any other lift.

One extra set with heavier dumbbells. Upper chest accessory volume accumulates meaningfully across Phase 2 with the combination of incline DB on Push A and incline barbell on Push B.

Same sets, slightly heavier dumbbells. Six sets of lateral raises per week across both push sessions is a meaningful stimulus for shoulder width.

Same sets, slightly more weight. Tricep volume across both push days supports both pressing strength and arm size.

One extra set at a lower rep range. Match the bench press in sets and loading progression. Your row strength directly supports your bench strength over time.

One extra set at a lower rep range with added weight where possible. Weighted chin-ups at Phase 2 are one of the most effective upper back strength builders in this program.

One extra set. Rear delt health becomes even more important in Phase 2 as pressing loads increase. Do not skip this.

One extra set with heavier loading. By Phase 2 your barbell curl should be noticeably stronger than Week 1.

One extra set with slightly heavier dumbbells. Hammer curls and barbell curls together give complete bicep development across the week.

Same sets as Phase 1, heavier loading. The deadlift is now added after squats, so squat volume stays controlled. Push the weight each week you hit all reps with good form.

Introduced in Phase 2 after 4 weeks of establishing the squat pattern. Two working sets after squats. Keep these sub-maximal. this is not a deadlift-focused program. Drive through the floor, extend fully, lower with control.

Same sets, heavier loading. Add a pause at the bottom of each rep in Phase 2 to eliminate bounce and increase the training effect without additional weight.

Same sets, slightly heavier loading. Calves are trained twice per week throughout this program. Full range of motion on every rep.

Lie on your back with knees bent. Curl your upper body off the floor by contracting your abs, then lower with control. Direct ab work at the end of a heavy squat session.

One extra set with heavier loading. Combined with Push A incline dumbbell work, upper chest volume across the week is substantial by Phase 2.

One extra set. Cable flys provide a constant load through the full range of motion. The stretch position loading at the bottom is particularly effective for chest hypertrophy.

One extra set with heavier dumbbells. Your second shoulder press session of the week. By Phase 2 the accumulated shoulder volume across both push days becomes significant.

One extra set. Eight sets of lateral raises per week across both push sessions in Phase 2 is a serious stimulus for side delt development.

Lie on a flat bench with an EZ bar at arm's length above your chest. Lower the bar toward your forehead by bending only at the elbows, then extend back to the top. Skull crushers provide a strong stretch stimulus to the long head of the triceps that overhead pressing movements cannot fully replicate.

One extra set. If you are consistently hitting 10 reps across all sets, add a weight belt. Five sets of pull-ups in Phase 2 is serious lat work.

One extra set. The seated cable row is one of the most effective mid-back exercises available. Five sets in Phase 2 with a two-second pause at contraction is a substantial back-building stimulus.

One extra set with heavier loading. The single-arm row catches side-to-side imbalances that bilateral rowing cannot address.

Same sets. Rear delt health work appears on both pull days throughout the program. Consistent volume over 8 weeks produces meaningful improvements in shoulder health and posterior delt development.

Hold a barbell at hip height with a shoulder-width grip. Instead of curling in an arc, drag the bar up your torso. keeping it in contact with your body throughout the movement. The drag curl keeps the elbows tracking back rather than forward, maximally loading the long head of the bicep in a way a standard curl cannot.

Same sets, heavier dumbbell than Phase 1. Goblet squats on Legs B give meaningful quad volume without the spinal loading of a second weekly barbell squat session.

Same sets, heavier loading. Hold the top for two full seconds on every rep.

Same sets, heavier loading. Slow the lowering phase to 3 to 4 seconds. The loaded stretch is where most of the hamstring hypertrophy stimulus comes from.

Same sets, heavier dumbbells. A pause at the bottom of each lunge makes every rep more effective.

Same sets, slightly heavier loading. Twice-weekly calf training with full range of motion is the most reliable driver of calf development.