# phase.fitness for powerlifters

> You do not need another template. You need the next block written from what the last one actually produced — the e1RMs your logs made, the weekly sets checked against the bands, and a meet timeline that counts back from the date.

phase.fitness · Strength & physique · Updated 15 October 2026 · HTML version: https://www.phase.fitness/for/powerlifters

## The short answer

phase.fitness plans powerlifting from the document its generator reads: a volume phase at 65–80%, a strength phase at 75–90%, a peak at 85–100% and a one-week deload, with weekly sets per lift by experience — squat 8–12 / 12–18 / 15–25, bench 8–12 / 12–20 / 18–30, deadlift 4–8 / 6–12 / 8–16 — extracted into bands that the generated week is checked against. Loads carry an RPE and the estimated 1RM is recomputed from every logged set. For a meet, a 12-week timeline is laid back from the date with openers at 90–93%. Routines go to Hevy or Liftosaur; the sets come back and write the next block.

## How many sets a week for squat, bench and deadlift?

phase.fitness uses the bands from its powerlifting document, by experience: squat 8–12, 12–18 or 15–25 weekly sets for beginner, intermediate and advanced; bench 8–12, 12–20 or 18–30; deadlift 4–8, 6–12 or 8–16. The generated week is checked against those bands, not only written from them.

## How should a training max be updated between blocks?

From every set you log. phase.fitness recomputes the estimated 1RM from the loads, reps and RPE that come back from Hevy or Liftosaur, and the next phase's percentages are written from that number rather than from a maximum you tested months ago.

## Your week, honestly

- **The template does not know your last block.** It starts from a 1RM you typed in January and never reads the sets you actually did.
- **The generated week has five squat sets.** The document says twelve to eighteen for an intermediate; a plan that is not checked against the number is a plan that gets it wrong.
- **Peaking is guesswork.** Last heavy day, taper, openers — the timeline exists in the literature and not in the app.

## What phase.fitness does about it

- **Blocks with bands** — Hypertrophy, strength, peaking and deload with the volume and intensity the powerlifting document prescribes, and weekly sets per lift checked against your experience level. (https://www.phase.fitness/methodology/powerlifting-training)
- **RPE and e1RM from your logs** — Every set logged in Hevy or Liftosaur updates the estimated 1RM; the next phase's percentages are written from it, and each week of the current phase follows the percentages planned at its start.
- **Meet timeline** — Give phase.fitness the date and it lays the 12-week timeline the document describes, with the last heavy day seven days out and openers at 90–93%.
- **Hevy and Liftosaur, two-way** — Routines with sets, reps, percentages and RPE go out; logged workouts come back. Or to a Garmin watch, with sets and reps on the wrist. (https://www.phase.fitness/integrations)

## Programs to start from

- [Powerlifting program: accumulate, intensify, peak](https://www.phase.fitness/training-programs/powerlifting-program) — phase.fitness writes a powerlifting block from the document its generator reads: a volume phase at 65–80%, a strength phase at 75–90%, a peak at 85–100%, weekly sets per lift set by your experience, and every load regulated by RPE.
- [Strength training program, periodized](https://www.phase.fitness/training-programs/strength-training-program) — phase.fitness writes strength as blocks with different jobs — volume, then intensity, then expression — with weekly set bands the plan is checked against and loads regulated by RPE, instead of the same 5×5 until it stops working.
- [Upper / lower split, four days](https://www.phase.fitness/training-programs/upper-lower-split-program) — phase.fitness writes upper/lower as the four-day split the frequency document recommends for intermediates: every muscle twice a week, a strength day and a hypertrophy day for each half, and two blocks — volume, then intensity — with a deload between them.
- [Olympic weightlifting program in blocks](https://www.phase.fitness/training-programs/olympic-weightlifting-program) — phase.fitness writes a weightlifting cycle the way the weightlifting document prescribes: technical quality as the first trainable quality, intensity prescribed by percentage but regulated by the day, high frequency on the classic lifts because they are skills, and squat volume that falls sharply before a peak.

## The apps you already use

- **Hevy** — Strength routines are written to Hevy; logged workouts return to phase.fitness. Cardio and calisthenics do not travel here.
- **Liftosaur** — Strength programs are pushed as Liftoscript; workout history comes back.
- **Garmin** — Write it here, train it on your Garmin: strength and cardio sessions are sent to Garmin Connect and appear on the watch, and the activities you finish come back to mark the plan done.

## The evidence

The knowledge-base documents this page is built from (The phase.fitness generator reads them for this case):

- [Powerlifting Training Guidelines](https://www.phase.fitness/methodology/powerlifting-training) — updated 2026-08-23
- [Block Periodization Guide](https://www.phase.fitness/methodology/block-periodization) — updated 2025-01-18
- [RPE and Autoregulation Guide](https://www.phase.fitness/methodology/rpe-autoregulation) — updated 2026-09-14

Read more in the knowledge base:

- [How to peak for a powerlifting meet](https://www.phase.fitness/learn/posts/how-to-peak-powerlifting-meet)
- [Block periodization: evidence and application](https://www.phase.fitness/learn/posts/block-periodization-evidence-application)
- [How to auto-regulate training with RPE](https://www.phase.fitness/learn/posts/auto-regulate-training-rpe)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does phase.fitness use RPE or percentages?

Both: in phase.fitness, loads are prescribed as a percentage of an estimated 1RM and regulated by RPE, with the estimate recomputed from your logged sets. The RPE scale in the document — 8 is two reps in reserve — is the one the app uses.

### Can I keep my program in Hevy?

Yes. phase.fitness writes the routines to Hevy with sets, reps, percentages and RPE, and reads the logged workouts back. Liftosaur works the same way; you connect one or the other.

### Will it plan my meet?

Yes. From the date, phase.fitness lays the 12-week timeline the powerlifting document describes: volume, strength, peaking at 90–100%, a taper week, and openers at 90–93% of your current 1RM.

## The only app that plans strength, cardio and calisthenics together

For a powerlifter the calisthenics day is scapular control and trunk bracing — support holds, hanging leg raises, L-sits — the upper-back and midline strength a heavy squat borrows from, at no cost to recovery.

Right now, phase.fitness is the only training app that writes strength, cardio and calisthenics into one periodized program — same calendar, same phases, same recovery budget.

You choose the mix. A calisthenics-only plan, a cardio-only block, strength plus cardio, or all three: the phases, the end-of-phase analysis and the sync work the same way with one modality or three.

**Why calisthenics is in the plan.** Bodyweight skill work is strength training in a different shape. Straight-arm work, levers and handstands build scapular control, tendon capacity and relative strength that barbell and machine work leave untouched, and they transfer because they are closed-chain, whole-body patterns. Treated as a modality rather than a warm-up, they get sets, holds and progressions like a squat does.

No exercise catalogue on the market contains a tuck front lever, so those sessions run in the phase.fitness built-in player; strength goes to Hevy, Liftosaur or a Garmin watch, cardio to Garmin and Intervals.icu.

Build your first program: https://www.phase.fitness/signup