A 12-week, 3-day full-body block built around the squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press. Heavy top set, volume back-offs, a light volume day for squat and press, and a testing week to cash the work in. Strength and size, run out of a garage.
Programmed by Andy Baker. Co-author, Practical Programming for Strength Training and The Barbell Prescription.
Twelve weeks of programming you can pin to the rack. Here is what is in the PDF, in the order you will read it.
Power-building means the main lifts go up while the assistance work fills the shirt. Three things make that possible.
Each main lift opens with a single heavy top set, then drops to a volume back-off block at a lower percentage. The intensity work keeps the nervous system sharp, the volume work drives strength and size. Loads are written as percentages of your current 1RM.
Squat and overhead press get a heavy day and a light volume day each week. Bench and deadlift get one heavy day each. The PDF spells out a 4-day option that gives bench and press equal frequency if that fits your goals better.
The program runs 12 progressive weeks. Week 13 is a squat and press deload, a bench retest mid-week, and a Friday or Saturday mock meet for new squat, press, and deadlift 1RMs. You finish the program with four new maxes, not a guess.
The 8s week, taken straight from the program. Week two drops to 3×5 on the main lifts, week three to 3×2. Loads, rotation rules, and the full reset protocol live in the PDF.
Squat · Press
Pull
Bench · Deadlift
Push
Squat · Press
Pull
Verbatim from Week 1 of the program · all 12 weeks plus the test week in the PDF
Coach · 2005 — Now 
Fifteen weeks of basic-barbell training built on percentage work and bar speed. Three days a week, rack and barbell only.
Thirteen weeks of three-day Heavy-Light-Medium for a rack, barbell, bench, and chin bar.
Thirteen-week 5×5 peaking program. Three days a week, upper/lower split, built around the squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press.
The Baker Barbell Club is the recurring side of the same coaching practice. New programming every week, written by Andy, delivered Sunday. 400+ members. $27 a month. Cancel any time.
You will get an email with a download link to the PDF after checkout. Save it to your phone, your laptop, or print it. There is no login, no app, and no expiring access.
Yes. The program is built around a rack, a barbell, a bench, and plates. Chin ups, pull ups, dips, and push ups cover the assistance work. Lat pulldowns or rows substitute for chins, dumbbell or incline presses substitute for dips.
Yes. The program runs on percentages of your 1RM on all four lifts. If you don't have a recent 1RM, you can estimate from a recent 2-to-5 rep max (1×2 ≈ 95%, 1×3 ≈ 90%, 1×5 ≈ 85%) or take a week to test before starting. Old 1RMs from six months ago aren't useful.
Maybe. Day 1 covers Squat and Press intensity and volume plus chins. Day 2 covers Bench and Deadlift intensity and volume plus dips. The 3-day cadence is the default and produces faster progress, the 2-day option is there when life gets in the way.
Not advised. Any program that increases load in a linear fashion tends to break down on a calorie deficit. Eat at maintenance or a slight surplus for the duration of the block.
Miss 1–2 sessions in a week, repeat that week before moving on. Miss a full week or more, restart at Week 1. If a layoff was long enough to lose strength or weight, retest your 1RMs before restarting.
This program is a self-contained 12-week block that you own. The Baker Barbell Club is ongoing programming, written fresh every week, delivered Sunday. Many members run a PDF block while subscribed and use the Club for what to do next.