The Best Powerlifting Workouts for Beginners to Break Into the Sport

The squat, bench, and deadlift are staples in the strength training realm no matter your sport. But when you put these three lifts together, you get the sport of powerlifting. If you’re a fan of the barbell, you might be interested in lifting some heavy weight — that is exactly what powerlifting is all about.

Maybe you’re trying to get stronger, in competition with only your previous self. Or you might be looking to bolster your strength to eventually compete against others at a sanctioned meet. Whatever your reasons for getting started with the big three, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing the most effective workouts.

Powerlifting Squat Workout for Beginners
Never squatted before? That’s okay. This workout will ease you into how you can start your journey of building up a big squat. Beginners often are not limited by their strength but by their motor skills when performing a new movement. Feel free to experiment with your stance and bar placement to find what is most comfortable for you. Remember, the focus here is to just get started with squatting. Stick with it and your technique will improve over time.

This workout is designed to help you feel more comfortable with having a bar behind your back and get you closer to a competition-legal squat, which generally means your thighs break below parallel with the ground.

The squat movement may feel very foreign if you’ve never done it before. That’s why this workout includes exercises such as a goblet squat and a box squat to help you get accustomed to the movement pattern.

Goblet Squat: 1 x 8 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 7
Barbell Squat: 3 x 5 @ 65% 1RM or RPE 6.5
Box Squat:* 2 x 3 @ 75% 1RM or RPE 7

If you’re still feeling uneasy, try squatting in a cage with safeties or grab a spotter in case anything goes wrong. Start slow, and you may surprise yourself with what you can do — even as a beginner.

Powerlifting Bench Workout for Beginners
Chances are that the bench press is more familiar to you — especially if you started your workout journey looking to build upper body muscle. But the bench press in powerlifting is a very different beast than your average bounce-the-bar-off-the-chest move.

In this sport, the bench press needs to pause lightly on your chest to be given the green light as a good lift. Especially if you’ve never benched before, your arms may feel uneven such that the bar wobbles a bit when it touches your chest. That’s alright. This, too, will improve as you train more. Accessory lifts like the dumbbell bench press can help you even things out.

This workout is designed to introduce you to the world of paused bench pressing, but still allow you the ability to push your bench hard. Benching is the best way for beginners to improve their bench press, but you likely can’t tolerate as much benching as a seasoned veteran. The good news is that you have other exercise variations you can push in the meantime.

Push-Up:* 1 x 10 @ bodyweight or RPE 8
Pause Bench Press: 2 x 5 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 7
Barbell Bench Press:** 1 x 5 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 7
Dumbbell Chest Press: 2 x 8 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 8

*Do incline or knee push-ups if full push-ups are too difficult.

**You’re just beginning, so there’s no need to pause just yet. Still, try to lower and raise the bar with control, avoiding a bounce off your chest.

Powerlifting Deadlift Workout for Beginners
Arguably this is the most important of the three lifts. The deadlift is the last lift in powerlifting and will constitute a huge percentage of your total — how much weight you heft across all three lifts.

There are two legal variations you can perform in a powerlifting meet — the conventional or the sumo deadlift. The sumo deadlift has your feet spread wider than shoulder-width and your knees significantly more bent than in the conventional version.

Which you ultimately choose depends on what you find more comfortable and feeling stronger. For now, you can stick with the conventional version to build a solid base.

This workout is relatively short and sweet because deadlifts involve using significantly higher loads than the squat or bench. Less is more when it comes to the deadlift, so the key here is to start building a base for you to pull from.

Don’t be tempted to tack more onto this workout, especially as a beginner. But do ensure that you’re warming up fully beforehand, priming all the muscle groups and movement patterns needed in the deadlift.

Deadlift: 3 x 4 @ 65% 1RM or RPE 6.5
Pull-Up:* 3 x AMRAP (as many reps as possible)

*Swap out with band-assisted pull-ups, jumping pull-ups, inverted rows, or ring rows if you haven’t quite mastered your first pull-up.

Powerlifting Workouts for Bodybuilders
Perhaps you are only new to powerlifting but have some experience in the gym. Quite often, gymgoers don’t want to sacrifice the gains of muscle and physique in pursuit of pure strength. The good news is that you can do both.

Bodybuilding-style workouts in the powerlifting realm are often referred to as power building workouts. You’ll emphasize building strength in the big three while packing in accessory movements to continue your focus on muscle growth. Consider these workouts if you don’t want to give up the pump in the gym.

Here, you’ll be adding enough load to build strength, but emphasizing overall hypertrophy. You’ll notice more repetitions performed here, as hypertrophy is typically driven by more volume.

You’ll add volume after a top set that focuses on building strength. After these primary powerlifting movements, you then perform your typical accessories. Here’s an example of the workouts you can do on your respective leg, chest, or back days.

Leg Day
Squat: 1 x 3 @ 80% 1RM or RPE 72 x 8 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 8
Leg Curl: 3 x 12 @ RPE 8
Leg Extension: 3 x 12 @ RPE 8
Chest Day
Bench: 1 x 3 @ 80% 1RM or RPE 72 x 8 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 8
Pec Deck: 3 x 12 @ RPE 8
Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 x 12 @ RPE 8
Back Day
Deadlift: 1 x 3 @ 75% 1RM or RPE 72 x 8 @ 65% 1RM or RPE 8
Cable Row: 3 x 12 @ RPE 8
Lat Pulldown: 3 x 12 @ RPE 8

Powerlifting Workout for Aspiring Competitors
If you’re a beginner who knows they have a competition coming up, or you simply don’t have time to train, you will want to consider doing all three lifts on one training day. Not only does this mimic competition, but it can also be an efficient way to train for powerlifting if you can only get in the gym once a week based on your schedule.

As a beginner, your goal will not necessarily be to stomp all over any records in competition. Instead, aim to go nine for nine — successfully executing every lift you attempt during the meet (three for each lift). To set yourself up for success, focus on pausing those bench presses on your chest; squatting below parallel; and locking out your deadlifts successfully.

This workout is designed to prepare you for the platform by training all three lifts on the same day. Although beginners usually should focus on building a solid base, you have to train singles if you have a competition coming up.

Due to the potential fatigue from performing all three lifts on the same day — especially at such high intensities — there will be no accessories as part of this workout.

Squat: 1 x 1 @ 85% 1RM or RPE 72 x 5 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 7
Bench: 1 x 5 @ 85% 1RM or RPE 72 x 5 @ 70% 1RM or RPE 7
Deadlift: 1 x 1 @ 80% 1RM or RPE 72 x 5 @ 65% 1RM or RPE 7