45 reviews for Matt Vena Intermediate Powerlifting Program
Version 2.0 of program
From champion powerlifter and coach Matt Vena, this program is a generalized powerlifting routine for intermediate lifters, focusing on squats, bench presses, and deadlifts with specific variations and accessory work. Here's a concise breakdown:
Squats:
Day 1: Regular squats and tempo squats (4-second descent, 0.5-second pause).
Day 3: Paused squats (1-second pause at the bottom).
Bench Press:
Day 1: Larsen press and dumbbell incline bench for hypertrophy.
Day 2: Tempo bench single (4-count descent) and back-off sets.
Day 3: Primary bench day with long pause bench (2-second pause).
Day 4: Regular bench press and close grip bench press (2-3 finger widths narrower).
Deadlifts:
Day 2: Romanian deadlifts for hinge work and posterior chain hypertrophy.
Day 4: Paused deadlifts (1 inch off the floor, 1-second pause).
Accessory Work:
Triceps: Included on three bench days.
Back and Biceps: Back work on day 2, biceps on day 1. First set to failure, remaining sets to RPE8.
Progression Scheme:
Microcycles: 3-week cycles, adding a rep each week, then resetting reps and adding 3% weight.
Singles: Cycle through RPE 6-7-8 over the microcycles.
Taper Week: One moderate day, one light day, then max out with RPE6-8-10 jumps.
Focus on consistent form, controlled tempos, and autoregulating based on daily performance. Adjust weight and reps as needed to avoid overshooting and ensure steady progress.
Read the full guide on the website for full program details:
Ben G.
Man, 205 weeks complete
2 years of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Good plan I just had to add more back, arms and shoulders as I didn’t want to lack
Chaos Disciple
Man, 411 week complete
5 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
Tl;dr: +55lbs to squat +15lbs to bench +20lbs to deadlift The changes I made weren't earth shattering, but I'll share them here for posterity: - I didn't have reliable dumbbells, or a incline bench, so I did barbell incline press at a very slight incline. - I did about half or more of the tricep work overhead. - The biggest change I made was splitting the work into AM/PM sessions. Both to fit my schedule, but also since the description says workouts should take 60mins to complete, and the only way that was possible was to split the workload in half. Highly recommend. Squat: I let myself get out of practice with squats, and this program was perfect for reestablishing familiarity. Brought it back to 305lbs from 250lbs. I followed the advice from Matt's videos and did all of the volume high-bar until the taper, when the program specifies 'low-bar'. Bench: I just finished a Bench program, so wasn't expecting much on the back of a 20lb PR, but this program added another 15lbs, bringing me up to 275 from 260. Didn't start to encounter over-use issues until week 10, so a near perfect amount of bench volume. I had no idea I could bench so frequently! Deadlift: This one is harder to quantify, because on test day I really botched the weight selections- both for my last warm-ups, but also my main attempts- leading to multiple failed lifts. I still added 40lbs to my recent PR, and 20 to my all time PR, pulling 445lbs from 405 a couple months before the program. It's always easy to say what you could have done, but I think if I had followed the advice at the end of the program's description and taken more conservative jumps (like I did with squats) a 460lb pull would have been a reasonable expectation. Overall great program. I dock it 1 star for an incomplete description. I also don't know how this differs from the 1.0 program, but they look identical, and I can no longer find the version that I ran. To get the most from this program you should use his YouTube channel to fill in anything not written or understood here.
John T.
Man, 253 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Went from a bench max of 230lbs to 240lbs in 4 weeks. Deadlift hasn’t been tested but all my rep ranges have increased. Squats are definitely getting more solid in stability and form. Great progress for a meet in December.
Emil R.
Man5 weeks complete
7 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Great program so far. I thought the intensity was a little low at first, but I've been enjoying not destroying myself on every set. And it seems to work
jkzu123
Man, 1611 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
Less than expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Excellent program, only did the last 4 weeks of the program due to being in a hurry, ended up increasing my squat by 10kg and my deadlift by a good 15kg. However, my bench strength stayed the same, if not even got a little worse. The bench press volume may be adjusted to your own preferences like me who does way better with a little less volume (around 12-14 sets per week).
Andrew C.
Man, 338 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
This is a challenging, volume centric program. The weight is manageable, but I found the volume/frequency can quickly become overwhelming without proper mobility work and rest. I added one mobility day per week, and always began/ended the workouts with a ton of stretching. Near the end, around week 9-10, the compounded volume was extreme. My workouts stretched to about 1.5 hours, and I had to occasionally drop weight to avoid injury. This is an intense program that’s not for the faint of heart.
Cameron C.
Man5 weeks complete
4 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Great stuff! Thank you!
Renard C.
Man, 513 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
Proves the basics always
Grant L.
Man, 165 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
So far I’ve really enjoyed the program. I’ve seen go strength gains in all my compounds especially squats and deadlifts.
Nazim N.
Man, 187 weeks complete
2 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
This program is really good i have increased my lift in 2nonths of serious training I would recommend this program it is real good 👍🏻