The RTS Generalized Intermediate Program
I get lots of people coming on the site asking for a program check. Actually thoroughly checking a program is an involved process and it usually requires more information than the poster supplies. What’s more, it turns out that “is this a good program” is actually a bad question. Yes, there’s science and some hard rules when it comes to planning training. But there’s also a lot of art to it. So posting a program and asking if it’s good is kind of like posting a picture of a painting and asking for a critique. You can critique some stuff, but how you paint isn’t going to be the same way I paint.
With that in mind, I decided to write the General Intermediate Program. This is a simple 9 week program for people to use and use as inspiration for their own programming.
When I get a new athlete for coaching, I first gather a lot of information. This keeps me from making assumptions during the planning process and helps me to write effective training from the first training day. In an instance like this, I’m building a generalized program, so there isn’t a person to provide those details. That means they’re left as assumptions.
In order to be as clear about my assumptions as possible, I’m going to write this program for an avatar. That means I’m going to write it for a person who doesn’t really exist, but is a composite of many people who often ask this question. The closer you are to the avatar, the better it will work for you. The further away, the more stuff should change.
The Avatar
This program is written for David. David is 30 years old and weighs 215 pounds. He has been lifting for 4 years and has posted Class 3 numbers in the Russian Classification Chart. He comes from a background of various 5×5 programs and has done a short stint of 5/3/1. He is able to continue his transition from a 3x weekly template to a 4x weekly template. He has read enough articles on the RTS site to be familiar with RPE’s and Fatigue percents. He has no significant injuries and no significant time restrictions. He has basic equipment. David trains and competes raw (no knee wraps). He deadlifts conventional style and his sticking points are all at the bottom of the lift.
The Program
| Week 1 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| 3ct Pause Bench | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Tuesday | ||
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Floor Press | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Front Squat | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Thursday | ||
| Pin Squat | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x6 @10 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Push Press | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Friday | ||
| 2″ Deficit Deadlift | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Close Grip Bench | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Snatch Grip SLDL | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) No Drop Sets | |
| Week 2 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| 2ct Pause Bench | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Tuesday | ||
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Pin Press (mid range) | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| 303 Tempo Squat | Work up to x7 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Thursday | ||
| Squat w/belt, wraps | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Incline | Work up to x7 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| Rack Pull (below knee) | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| J.M. Press | Work up to x7 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Lever Rows | Work up to x7 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Week 3 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| 3ct Pause Bench | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Tuesday | ||
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Floor Press | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Front Squat | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Thursday | ||
| Pin Squat | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x8 @10 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Push Press | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| 2″ Deficit Deadlift | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Bench | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Snatch Grip SLDL | Work up to x5 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Week 4 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| 2ct Pause Bench | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Tuesday | ||
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Pin Press (mid range) | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| 303 Tempo Squat | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Thursday | ||
| Squat w/belt, wraps | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Incline | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| Rack Pull (below knee) | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| J.M. Press | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Lever Rows | Work up to x6 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Week 5 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x7 @10 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Bench | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Wednesday | ||
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Push Press | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Front Squat | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| 2ct Pause Squat | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Pin Press (chest level) | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Snatch Grip SLDL | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Week 6 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Floor Press | Work up to x6 @8 (Repeat) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Wednesday | ||
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x4 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Military | Work up to x6 @8 (Repeat) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| 2ct Pause Squat | Work up to x6 @8 (Repeat) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| Squat w/belt, wraps | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| 2ct Pause Bench | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Pendlay Rows | Work up to x6 @8 (Repeat) 6-9% Fatigue | |
| Week 7 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x6 @10 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Bench | Work up to x4 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Wednesday | ||
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Push Press | Work up to x4 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Front Squat | Work up to x4 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| 2ct Pause Squat | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Pin Press (chest level) | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Snatch Grip SLDL | Work up to x4 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Week 8 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | ||
| Squat w/belt | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Bench (touch and go) | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Close Grip Floor Press | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Wednesday | ||
| Competition Raw Bench | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Deadlift w/belt | Work up to x3 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Military | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| 2ct Pause Squat | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Friday | ||
| Squat w/belt, wraps | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| 2ct Pause Bench | Work up to x2 @9 (Load Drop) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Pendlay Rows | Work up to x5 @8 (Repeat) 4-6% Fatigue | |
| Week 9 | Exercise | Protocol |
| Monday | Squat, Bench, and Deadlift | Work up to 92% of previous 1RM for one set of one. |
| Wednesday | Squat, Bench, and Deadlift | Go through your warm up routine (not heavier than 80%) |
| Friday / Saturday | Practice competition | Test 1RM in Squat, Bench, and Deadlift |
Other useful articles:
Understanding RPE’s
Fatigue Percents Revisited
Anything in this section
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About the Author Mike Tuchscherer is the owner and head coach at RTS. He has been powerlifting since 2001 and since has traveled all over the world for competitions. In 2009, he was the first man from USA powerlifting to win a gold medal at the World Games – the highest possible achievement in powerlifting. He has coached over a dozen competitors at the world championships, a score of national champions, and multiple world record holders. |