Powerbuilding — Upper / Lower / Full
Strength + size on 3 days. For lifters who know their numbers.
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Frequency
- 3 days/week
- Session
- ~70 min
- Level
- Advanced
The program
Strength up front, size in the back half. Three days a week — a heavy upper, a heavy lower, and a full-body day — across three four-week blocks: accumulation, intensification, then a realization peak.
Each main lift takes heavy top sets at the block's percentage of your 1RM, then one hypertrophy back-off set. Accessories chase reps at a prescribed RIR that tightens as each block climbs. Percentages shown are of your true 1RM — already converted from a training max of about 90%.
Grounded in KILO Strength Society's back-off set methodology, RTS RPE targets and Greg Nuckols' three-block accumulation–intensification–realization macrocycle, with structural-balance accessory choices from PRESZN's program-design logic.
Week 1, as written
The actual first-week prescriptions from the app — exercises, sets, tempos and rests, exactly as the program runs them.
Session 1Upper — Heavy▾
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 × 4–6 · 66% 1RM · 3 min rest |
| Chest-Supported Row | 4 × 6–8 · 2 min rest |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 × 8–12 · 90s rest |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 × 8–12 · 90s rest |
| Lateral Raise | 3 × 12–15 · 1 min rest |
| Rope Pushdown | 2 × 10–12 · 1 min rest |
Session 2Lower — Heavy▾
| Back Squat | 4 × 4–6 · 66% 1RM · 210s rest |
| Romanian Deadlift | 4 × 6–8 · 2 min rest |
| Leg Press | 3 × 8–12 · 90s rest |
| Seated Leg Curl | 3 × 10–12 · 1 min rest |
| Seated Leg Extension | 2 × 12–15 · 1 min rest |
| Standing Calf Raise | 3 × 12–15 · 45s rest |
Session 3Full Body▾
| Deadlift | 3 × 3–5 · 66% 1RM · 210s rest |
| Overhead Press | 3 × 6–8 · 150s rest |
| Front Squat | 3 × 6–8 · 2 min rest |
| Seated Cable Row | 3 × 10–12 · 90s rest |
| Face Pull | 2 × 15–20 · 1 min rest |
| Hanging Leg Raise | 2 × 10–15 · 1 min rest |
Week 1 as programmed in the app. Later weeks progress loads, volume and variations block by block.
How it progresses
- —Top-set percentages climb block by block: accumulate, intensify, realise.
- —One hypertrophy back-off set after every heavy top set — the size work is built in, not bolted on.
- —Accessory RIR targets tighten as the blocks climb.
Who it's for
- —You want a bigger total and a bigger frame from the same three sessions.
- —You know your 1RMs and can run percentages honestly.
- —You like a visible peak at the end of a cycle.
Methods inside
Equipment
Barbell · Dumbbells · Cable Machine · Machines · Bench · Squat Rack
Questions
What is powerbuilding?
Training for strength and size at the same time: heavy, low-rep top sets for the strength stimulus, followed by higher-rep back-off and accessory work for hypertrophy. This program structures both across a 12-week peak.
Why do back-off sets matter for scoring?
In PRESZN every hard set is scored against your trailing 4-week average for that exercise — top sets and back-offs alike. Back-offs are real hard sets: they are in your average, and they are contested like everything else.
Do I need a spotter?
For the heaviest top sets in Block 3, a spotter or safeties are sensible. Nothing in the program asks for a true 1RM attempt until you choose to test.