How to Design Strength Training Programs?

How to Design Strength Training Programs using Prilepin's Table?

Author: Hristo Hristov, Published: 2004-02-10
Article Category: Strength Training Routines and Articles

During the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, Soviet sports scientist A.S.Prilepin collected
data from the training logs of more than 1000 World, Olympic, National and European
weightlifting champions. Prilepin synthesized his findings in a very simple table named after
himself. Prilepin's table gives time tested workout guidelines as to how did elite weightlifters train.
Now, I am talking about training guidelines for pure maximal strength. Here's the table:

Prilepin's Table
Intensity
70% and below
70-80%
80-89%
90% and above

Reps per Set

3-6
3-6
2-4
1-2

Optimal Total
24
18
15
7

Total Range
18-30
12-24
10-20
4-10

Have in mind, that this table is based on a study of weightlifters. However, it is quite applicable to
powerlifting and strength training. Prilepin's guidelines are widely used in the powerlifting circles,
and that's simply because they work. If you are looking for ways to refine your strength training
workouts, Prilepin's table is the answer.
Let's first define intensity. Intensity is defined as the % of the maximal weight one can do for one
rep(1RM). If you can lift 100 pounds one time for a given exercise, then lifting 70 pounds is
defined as 70% intensity.
Upon initial examination of the table, you will notice, that sets of more than 6 reps are not
performed. They induce too much fatigue, and obviously are counter-productive for strength
gains, especially in super technical lifts such as the Olympic lifts.
To understand the table, consider designing a workout, where you will lift 75% of your 1RM. The
table suggests that when training with 75% of your 1RM (Intensity Zone 70%-80%):

you perform sets of 3 to 6 reps

the total reps should be in the range of 12-24
the optimal total is 18 reps
if you do less than 12 total reps, the training stimulus would be too weak to elicit positive
strength adaptation
if you perform more than 24 reps, you are going to slow down, and fatigue too much

There is one major problem with the table. It gives guidelines for a specific intensity zone. If you
want to use 65%, 70%, 75%, and 80% of your 1RM in one workout, these weights fall into three
different intensity zones. The rep ranges still rule, but what about the total number of lifts? If you
add the guidelines for each intensity zone, you will end up with a grossly overestimated number

of lifts (in this case, the optimal number of lifts will be 24+18+15=57 lifts!). You will either tire
yourself out, or more probably, won't be able to finish the workout at all.
In this article, I propose a way to get over this shortcoming. I'll give you a strategy to find the
optimal number of lifts when designing strength training routines using weights from different
intensity zones.
My first idea is to introduce, what I will call the Prilepin Number of Lifts Score (PNLS). PNLS is a
measure of how the performed repetitions in a given intensity zone, relate to repetitions
performed in the other intensity zones.
Let's assign a PNLS of 1, to the upper range of number of lifts for each intensity zone. Look at
this table:

Prilepin Number of Lifts Score

Intensity
70% and below
70-80%
80-89%
90% and above

Upper Total Limit

30
24
20
10

PNLS
1
1
1
1

When you perform the upper limit of reps in a given intensity zone, this yields a PNLS of 1. The
PNLS for a given zone, will be calculated as (Number Of Performed Lifts in Zone)/(Upper Total
Limit). If you do 2 sets of 6 reps = 12 total reps with 60%1RM, the PNLS for these two sets is
12/30 = 0.4 (12 reps over 30 upper limit reps).
Now if you target a PNLS of 1 for the whole workout, you can add more sets in a different
intensity zone. If you add 5 sets of 3 reps = 15 total with 75%1RM, the PNLS of these 5 sets will
be 15/24 = 0.625
So if your workout is like this:
Bench Press - 2x6x60%, 5x3x75%
The total PNLS for the Bench Press will be 12/30 + 15/24 = 1.025. A PNLS of 1 is the upper limit
according to Prilepin's table. For most intensity zones, the optimal PNLS falls between 0.7 and
0.8. Remember, that PNLS is exercise specific, so if your workout consists of 5 different
exercises, each exercise will have its own PNLS.
This was my first idea of measuring the relation between intensity and the number of lifts. I
quickly discovered a problem in this scheme. Consider these two workouts:
workout #1: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 72%1RM (ZONE 70-80%)
workout #2: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 77%1RM (ZONE 70-80%)
Both workouts have a PNLS of 24/24 = 1, but workout #2 is harder. Now we need to devise a
formula that further refines the correlation between the number of lifts and intensity. The formula
should also fall within Prilepin's table guidelines.

I created a table that includes for each intensity of 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, the upper limit number
of lifts(NOL) according to the Prilepin's table and the sum of the two. Here's what I came up with:
Intensity
60%
70%
80%
90%

Upper NOL
30
24
20
10

Intensity + NOL
90
94
100
100

Now you see that if we sum the intensity and the number of lifts(the upper NOL limit from
Prilepin's table), we end with a number of around 100.
Here's how I created my modified PNLS formula. Because the formula gives a relation between
the Intensity(weight) and the number of lifts(NOL), I will call it INOL.
INOL of a set = Number of Lifts(NOL) at a given intensity / (100 - intensity)
If we run the formula with the previous examples we get:
Bench Press - 2x6x60%, 5x3x75%
INOL(Bench Press) = 2x6/(100-60) + 5x3/(100-75) = 12/40 + 15/25 = 0.3 + 0.6 = 0.9
workout #1: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 72%1RM
INOL(#1) = 24/(100-72) = 0.86
workout #2: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 77%1RM
INOL(#2) = 24/(100-77) = 1.04
The INOL formula favors a greater number of lifts at a lower intensity, and a smaller number of
lifts at a higher intensity. This is good, because, very heavy lifts(above 90%1RM) fry the Central
Nervous System and induce a lot of fatigue. At the same time trainees are able to perform more
total lifts than the Prilepin's table guidelines at lower intensities. Prilepin's guidelines for Reps per
Set remain rock-solid. INOL will only influence the total number of lifts.
Now, what is the difference between 5x2x80% and 2x5x80%? They both have INOL of 10/20 =
0.5. But if you calculate the INOL as the sum of the INOLs for each set, you will get an idea of
which is tougher:
5 sets x 2 reps x 80%
INOL = 5 x (2/20) = 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1
2 sets x 5 reps x 80%
INOL = 2 x (5/20) = 0.25 + 0.25
In the first case, each set gave a 0.1 INOL(fatigue), while in the second case each set added a
0.25 INOL(fatigue). In the first example, the workout was easier because the total fatigue(INOL)
was fragmented into smaller parts. Now you can design your workouts, by both looking at the
total INOL, and the INOL distribution among the sets.
INOL is a good measure of fatigue, that takes into account the weight(intensity) and the number
of reps performed.

When you design strength training workouts, using mixed intensity zones, you can calculate the
INOL for each exercise and follow these guidelines. You can track and modify them to suit your
body for best results. By spreading the INOL among more weekly sessions you will be less
fatigued, compared to concentrating all work sets in less sessions. It is my view, that very
frequent workouts, with workout INOLs of 0.6-1 work best for most people. The only problem is
that for most people it is too impractical to lift very frequently.

Total WEEKLY INOL of a single exercise

Weekly INOL
less than 2
between 2 and 3
between 3 and 4
above 4

Guidelines
easy, doable, good to do after more tiring weeks and prepeaking
tough but doable, good for loading phases
brutal, lots of fatigue, good for a limited time and shock microcycles
Are you out of your mind??

Single Workout INOL of a single exercise

Workout INOL
less than 0.4
between 0.4 and 1
between 1 and 2
above 2

Guidelines
too few reps, not enough stimulous?
fresh, quite doable and optimal if you are not accumulating fatigue
tough, but good for loading phases
brutal

TRAINING
Training by Percents
as told by LOUIE SIMMONS
TABLE 1
Optimal Number of Lifts by Percent (Prilepin, 1974)
Percent Repetitions Optimal Range
70............. 3-6........... 18 lifts........12-24
80..............2-4............15 lifts........10-20
90............. 1-2 ........... 7-10 lifts.....4-10

TABLE 2
Week 1: 70% x 8x3 ,2 minutes between sets
Week 2: 75% x 8x3, 2 minutes between sets
Week 3: 80% x 6x3, 2 minutes between sets
Week 4: 85% x 5x2, 3 minutes between set
Week 5: (80x2, 85% x 2, 90% x2)5 minutes between sets
Week 6: contest

The cycle above should be repeated not only for contests but continuously
throughout the year.
In the Eastern Bloc countries, lifters break world records during the full
course of the year. How do they do this? They do it by training by
percentages. There are many things that should be clarified to any
lifter who trains in such a manner. The tables and graph that
accompany this article can be used as guidelines for those who train
by percents.
What's wrong with the progressive overload theory of training? Let's
start in the first few weeks of a twelve week cycle. The weights are
normally in the 50-60 percent of max range at 6-10 reps which is fine
for building mass, but that's all it will accomplish. The strength portion
of that cycle, which consists of weights in the 7090 percent of max
range, is usually used for a few weeks in mid-cycle. But, weights above
90 percent max will produce no additional strength, leading to "maxing
out" on the last workout, but not at the contest! Absolute strength
must be tested at the contest, not in the gym.
Many people feel that training for 3 reps will keep them from
overtraining but this is a misconception (see Table 1). The main
concern for people who train for strength is to manage their training
witoptimal reps with a given percent. For instance, the Russian 6 week
training program consists of sets of 80 percent max for doubles. When
training with 80 percent, the optimal reps are 2-4 and the number of
total lifts should be no less than 10 and no more than 20. This is where
slow adaptation to training occurs.
When an athlete can progress from 5 doubles to the optimum of 10
doubles or 5 sets of 4 reps, he has then accomplished "slow
adaptation" through a greater training load which increases strength.
The athlete who can handle the greatest training load at the correct
percents will be the strongest. A bodybuilder may handle the same
total weights as a powerlifter, yet the bodybuilder will achieve greater
mass because his training occurs at the 50-60 percent max range,

which is designed for mass. Whereas, the powerlifter who trains with
70-90 percent will achieve strength and possibly lose mass at the end
of a cycle.
Here is a list of things to know about power cycling with percents:
1. Do not worry about not handling heavy weights all through the
cycle. It doesn't take heavy poundage's to build tendon and ligament
strength. Tendon and ligament strength is built by using 50-70
repetitions at about 30 percent of maximum weight.
2. To build speed and strength, use 2-6 reps at 70-90 percent.
3. For every 200 lifts, 20 of them (or 10 percent of the time) should be
above 90 percent, and up to 100 percent.
4. When training by percents, a rule of thumb for jumps (intermediate
weights) is to use 70 percent for 2 reps and 75 percent for 2 reps for
warmups, and then proceed to your optimum percent in the 70-90
percent range for multiple sets.
5. The Russian 6 week training program was never intended to be used
throughout the year. It does not provide enough recovery time
between workouts. Restoration techniques are not as developed here
in the USA as they are in the Eastern Bloc countries.
Instead of training 2-3 times per day, as they do in the Soviet Union,
we normally can only train once a day. The workout time may be the
same, but they can divide the workout into intense and fast segments,
spaced throughout the day. Therefore training tempo is important.
6. Optimal time between sets is one and a half minutes and should
never exceed five minutes. If left to fully recover, a muscle will never
be overloaded and no additional strength can be gained.
7. When training with weights over 90 percent, the weights at the end
of that workout should be dropped to 30 percent max to incorporate
speedstrength qualities as well This can be used as a substitute for
plyometrics which many people feel are dangerous and inconvenient.
8. To become stronger, one must raise the training load per workout.
Total tonnage in the correct percent training range is critical to achieve
absolute strength. This is simply achieved by adding sets but not
exceeding optimal lifts (see Table 1).
9. In the Soviet Union, 50 percent of all training is in the assistance
exercises, which are also trained by percents.

10. In the Soviet Union highly qualified athletes train in the 90 percent
range for 80 percent of their lifts. Ten percent of the lifts arebelow 70
percent and ten percent are above 90 percent.
By using the techniques described above, Laura Dodd rose to become
the greatest female squatter pound for pound by the Malone Formula.
She squatted 545 lbs. weighing 162 lbs. at 40 years of age after only
training for 5 years. Matt Dimel squatted 1010 lbs. also after 5 years of
training by this method.
Innovative ways of training must be utilized in this country to bridge
the gap with Soviet knowledge and success. What1 have presented is a
formula that can help anyone reach their genetic potential for
powerlifting strength.
If you have questions please call or write: Louie Simmons, 2720 Briggs
Road, Columbus, Ohio 43204 (614) 272-1123.
Louie Simmons, who has coached 13 national and 6 world
champions, submitted this article (previously published in POWER
PLATFORM) - See more at: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?
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