The Super Simple Off-Season DIY Program You'll Wish You'd Known About Years Ago
Introduction: What If There Was a Super Simple Off-Season DIY Program That Actually Made You Better?
Most strength athletes waste their off-season. Either they grind too hard, leading to burnout, or they take things too easy and lose valuable progress. The problem isn’t lack of effort—it’s a lack of structure. Too many lifters go all-in on maximal effort lifting year-round and end up broken, while others take the off-season as an extended break, losing months of hard-earned progress. But what if there was a system that allowed for continued gains, helped you recover, and gave you the flexibility to program intelligently for yourself?
In 2013/14, I ran this system while transitioning from Olympic weightlifting to strongman. I had spent years under a high-volume, high-frequency Bulgarian-style program and needed a structure that kept me progressing while letting my body recover from years of abuse. At the same time, I knew that completely abandoning intensity wasn’t the answer—strength is a skill, and skills require frequent practice. What I needed was a system that blended progressive overload with intelligent variation, allowing for continual improvement while mitigating injury risk. I am sure that a version of this program was on the British Strongman website around that time, RIP.
This is that system—a simple, rotating 3-day-per-week training plan that allows lifters to build strength without frying their CNS. It provides the key elements of high-level strength programming—maximal strength work, explosive power, and hypertrophy—but cycles them strategically, preventing stagnation or overuse injuries. It can be modified with an additional events day for strongman athletes or supplementary Olympic weightlifting sessions if you’re accustomed to high-volume training like I was.
How to Modify This Program for Your Sport
This system is designed to be flexible, and if you’re coming from a specific strength background, here’s how you can adjust it to fit your needs without compromising the core structure:
🔹 Strongman Modifications (4-Day Split)
Strongman competitors need to balance maximal strength, moving events, and conditioning. Add an Events Day as a fourth session:
Week 1: Yoke + Stones
Week 2: Log Press + Farmers Walks
Week 3: Sandbag Carries + Frame Carry
👉 Keep the lower-body and pressing structure intact, but swap in odd-object lifts (e.g., log instead of barbell, sandbag over squats on some weeks).
🔹 Weightlifter Modifications (Extra Technical Sessions)
If you come from an Olympic weightlifting background, you might feel lost without more barbell work. Here’s how to integrate snatches and cleans into the template without disrupting recovery:
Tuesday & Friday (or optional extra days):
Snatch/Clean Variations (Hang Cleans, Power Snatches) – 3-5x2-3
Jerk Recoveries or Heavy Push Presses – 4x3-5
High-Pull or Snatch Grip Deadlifts – 3x5
👉 These technical sessions allow Olympic lifters to maintain skill work without interfering with the main max effort and dynamic effort rotations.
🔹 Hybrid Strength & General Strength Athletes (Conditioning + Structural Balance)
If your goal is pure strength and general athleticism, keep the core program but add a conditioning focus to the accessory work.
Finish each session with:
Sled Pushes/Pulls (3-4 rounds)
Farmer’s Carries (Short, Heavy OR Long, Lighter)
Med Ball Throws (For speed/power)
👉 The goal? Build brutal full-body strength while staying athletic—not just strong in one plane of movement.
It’s a self-coached framework, meaning you can customise your lifts while still following a structured, results-driven approach. Whether you compete in powerlifting, strongman, or just want to get brutally strong, this off-season system is the easiest way to progress.
Who Should Run This Program?
Not every program is for everyone, and if you’re looking for a cookie-cutter routine, this isn’t it. But if you fit into one of these categories, this off-season system will be a game-changer for your strength development:
✅ Powerlifters – If you need a structured off-season that prevents burnout while still building absolute strength, this system keeps you progressing without grinding your joints into dust.
✅ Strongman Competitors – You can integrate this program seamlessly with event training, ensuring you’re building static strength while maintaining the ability to move under load.
✅ Weightlifters – If you thrive on a high-frequency barbell approach but need more variation and a break from heavy Olympic lifts, this system allows for skill retention without wrecking your CNS.
✅ Hybrid Strength Athletes – If your training style is somewhere between powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman, this program gives you the structure to blend multiple strength disciplines without overcomplicating your approach.
✅ Lifters Who Struggle With Self-Programming – Not everyone wants to spend hours designing a periodised training block. This system teaches you how to self-coach while still following a proven structure, meaning you can tweak it based on what works best for you.
If you’re sick of overcomplicated spreadsheets, ineffective “off-season” phases, or just spinning your wheels, this approach is the reset button you need.
At its core, this system is a gateway into Conjugate-style programming. While it lacks the rigid Westside Barbell template, it embodies the same principles: rotating effort methods, movement variation, and individualisation. Many lifters struggle with strict periodisation because they either burn out on one method or fail to incorporate enough movement variety. This program teaches you how to balance intensity and volume, preparing you for a more advanced Conjugate approach down the line.
If you’re looking for a simple, effective way to structure your training, improve weak points, and coach yourself into better programming, this is it.
The Core of the Program – Rotating Effort Methods Each Week
This is not a rigid plan where you do the same movements, sets, and reps every session. Instead, it rotates the effort method each week, ensuring you train all key strength qualities without overloading the same patterns.
The Three Effort Methods
Each week, every lift is trained in one of three ways:
Max Effort (ME) – 1RM, then 3 reps @ 90%, 5 reps @ 80% → Pure Strength Focus
Dynamic Effort (DE) – 8-12x2-3 @ 60-75% → Power & Bar Speed Focus
Repetition Effort (RE) – 3-5x8-12 @ 65-75% → Hypertrophy & Muscular Endurance
Each training session follows a structured template, but the effort method determines the intensity & rep scheme. The exercises provided are examples and the lists can be expanded exponentially based on your equipment availability, strengths and weaknesses etc.
How It Rotates Over Three Weeks
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
Pull - ME | Pull - DE | Pull - RE |
Press - DE | Press - RE | Press - ME |
Squat - RE | Squat - ME | Squat - DE |
🔄 Then, it repeats. This means every three weeks, you’re hitting every major lift with max strength, power, and hypertrophy.
The Weekly Breakdown
Day 1 – Pull Day (Deadlifts, Rows, Posterior Chain)
Effort Type | Main Lift | Rep Scheme |
ME (Week 1) | Deadlift (conventional, deficit, trap bar, or rack pull) | 1RM → 3x90% → 5x80% |
DE (Week 2) | Speed Deadlift (bands/chains optional) | 8-12x2 @ 65-75% |
RE (Week 3) | Deficit Deadlift / Snatch-Grip Deadlift | 4x8-12 @ 65-75% |
Then a choice of:
Main Assistance (3x5): RDLs, Good Mornings, GHRs, Bent-Over Rows.
Secondary Assistance (3x10): Chest-Supported Rows, Shrugs, Face Pulls.
Accessory (3x15): Hammer Curls, Band Rows, Farmer’s Holds.
Core Work: Hanging Leg Raises, Ab Rollouts.
Day 2 – Press Day (Bench/Overhead Work)
Effort Type | Main Lift | Rep Scheme |
DE (Week 1) | Speed Bench / Speed Strict Press | 8-12x2 @ 65-75% |
RE (Week 2) | Incline Bench / Push Press | 4x8-12 @ 65-75% |
ME (Week 3) | Bench / Overhead (Strict or Push Press) | 1RM → 3x90% → 5x80% |
Then a choice of:
Main Assistance (3x5): Dips, DB Press, Z-Press.
Secondary Assistance (3x10): Incline DB Press, Arnold Press, Skullcrushers.
Accessory (3x15): Face Pulls, Band Pull-Aparts, Lateral Raises.
Core Work: Hanging Leg Raises, RKC Plank.
Day 3 – Squat Day (Lower Body Work)
Effort Type | Main Lift | Rep Scheme |
RE (Week 1) | Front Squat / SSB Squat | 4x8-12 @ 65-75% |
ME (Week 2) | Low Bar / Box Squat | 1RM → 3x90% → 5x80% |
DE (Week 3) | Speed Squats (bands/chains optional) | 8-12x2 @ 65-75% |
Then:
Main Assistance (3x5): Leg Press, Hack Squat, Bulgarian Split Squat.
Secondary Assistance (3x10): Step-Ups, GHR, SLDLs.
Accessory (3x15): Calf Raises, Reverse Hypers, Glute Bridges.
Core Work: Hanging Leg Raises, Weighted Sit-Ups, RKC Plank.
Optional Additional Training Days
If you're a strongman competitor, you can add an Events Day where you focus on moving events, carries, or stones.
If you're coming from a weightlifting background, you might still crave high-frequency barbell work. When I ran this, I included two extra Olympic lifting sessions per week, focusing on technical work and positional strength (hang cleans, power snatches, jerk recoveries, etc.).
This program is fully adaptable—you coach yourself within the structure.
Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
Since this is a DIY system, lifters will inevitably make mistakes if they don’t understand the core principles. Here are the biggest errors that will wreck your progress—and how to fix them.
🔴 Mistake #1 – Treating Every Session Like a Max Day Too many lifters max out every session instead of following the structured intensity rotation. Max effort (ME) work should be used strategically, not as an ego lift. If you’re grinding out 1RMs every week, you’re missing the point.
✅ Fix it: Follow the effort rotation—ME, DE, RE—so you’re not constantly testing instead of building.
🔴 Mistake #2 – Ignoring Recovery & Conditioning If you’re training hard but eating like a child, undersleeping, and caffeine-dosing your way through every session, you’re not following the program—you’re setting yourself up for failure.
✅ Fix it: Treat food, hydration, and sleep like training variables. Strongman & strength training require fuel—train accordingly.
🔴 Mistake #3 – Not Adjusting for Weak Points Your squat sucks? It’s not because you need to “just squat more.” It’s because you’re weak in specific areas—glutes, hamstrings, core, or upper back.
✅ Fix it: Identify your weakest link and target it with accessories. If your deadlift is stuck at the floor, train deficit pulls. If your overhead sucks, build triceps & upper back strength.
🔴 Mistake #4 – Skipping Dynamic Effort (DE) Work Lifters love max effort work. But they neglect speed work (DE)—and it shows. Bar speed is king, and slow lifters stay weak.
✅ Fix it: Treat speed work like a priority, not an optional add-on. If you’re slow, you’re weak.
Why This Works
✅ Trains All Strength Qualities – Every three weeks, you’re building maximal strength, speed, and hypertrophy.
✅ Prevents Overuse Injuries – Rotation avoids joint fatigue and CNS burnout.
✅ Customisable – You choose exercises within the structured framework.
✅ Works for Any Strength Sport – Powerlifting, strongman, general strength—it fits all.
✅ No Overcomplication, Just Results – No spreadsheets. Just show up, pick your movements, and train.
Train Smart, Not Stupid
If you’re not happy programming for and coaching yourself, or you’re looking to explore this type of training in more depth, now is the time to get in touch.
If you’re serious about getting stronger without burning out or stalling, this is the perfect off-season approach. It allows you to coach yourself, make real progress, and still have options to fit your needs.
By implementing this structured yet flexible system, you will:
✅ Build maximal strength, speed, and hypertrophy without overtraining.
✅ Train all strength qualities in a sustainable way.
✅ Learn how to rotate intensity and volume to break plateaus
✅ Develop self-coaching skills that will make you a better lifter for life.
This program is not about blindly following a spreadsheet—it’s about understanding how to train effectively for the long term. Whether you’re coming from powerlifting, strongman, weightlifting, or general strength training, the off-season is your opportunity to improve without grinding yourself into dust.
If you’re ready to start training smarter, not harder, apply for coaching today—I'll help you customise this system to your exact goals and develop a training approach that works for you, not against you.
Get the Fully Editable Training Spreadsheet
This isn’t just a theory-based approach—you can track your progress easily with the downloadable spreadsheet that comes with the article.
📥 Download the Fully Editable Off-Season Strength Program Spreadsheet
💀 Keep track of your rotations, progress, and weak point adjustments—all in one place.
Train Smarter, Not Stupid
Lifters today overcomplicate training, burn themselves out, or skip the fundamentals in favour of Instagram-friendly gimmicks.
This system is a reset button—a smarter approach to off-season training that lets you build strength without getting wrecked.
✅ Trains max strength, speed, and hypertrophy in a sustainable way.
✅ Prevents overuse injuries by rotating lifts strategically.
✅ Fully customisable based on YOUR weak points and needs.
If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels, this program is your best starting point. And if you want coaching tailored to your goals…
🚀 Apply for coaching today & let’s build you a long-term strength plan that actually works.
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