The Accelerator Strength Program: Weight Lifting Workout For 50%+ Gains In 12 Weeks (Squat, Bench Press, And Deadlift)

I’ve used this weight lifting workout with dozens of clients over the past 20 years. 

The Accelerator Strength Program consistently improves major lifts (squat, bench press and deadlift) by 50% or more in 12 weeks. 

And this is for some well-trained clients of mine.

It’s designed to be a follow-on from our beginner weight lifting routine, where you learn the basics of weight training. In this program, we’re taking things up several notches for intermediates or more advanced lifters. 

Across four workouts per week, you’ll repeat the big lifts more frequently. 

Which will see your lifting technique improve, your strength numbers fly up and you’ll add additional muscle to your frame. 

The Accelerator Strength Program will make you an even more experienced lifter. By focussing on just a few fundamental aspects of your training. The attention moves from general fitness to strength. 

So you’ll direct more of your effort toward a singular outcome. 

Accelerator Strength Program: 50% increase in strength in 12 weeks

By rapidly building your strength you’ll notice crossover benefits for both your fitness and your physique. The program itself is based on simple movements, executed well. Whilst your exercise variety may shrink, your results will explode!

Read more on the general benefits of strength training here.

Here’s what to expect if you do the program properly…

1. Massive strength improvements

Follow the Accelerator Strength Program to the letter and you can expect to see your strength numbers increase. 

Expect 50% improvements in your 1 rep max (1RM) across your: 

• Squat
• Bench press 
• And deadlift 

These are the three lifts we’ll use to assess your strength.

2. Increased muscle mass

One of the benefits of this weight lifting workout is additional muscle gain. This is because of the increased volume and intensity of the training. 

This not only helps to increase your strength, but it’ll also improve your physique.

Those T-shirts better get ready to be filled!

3. Crossover to improve other sports or activities

When you train with a focus on strength, you’ll make yourself a more capable athlete. 

You’ll generate more force. 

You’ll move better.

You’ll be stronger and more stable. 

All of these elements combine to make you a more athletic person.

It also helps in daily life such as carrying shopping from the car or playing with your kids (or nieces and nephews)!

If you need more convincing on why regular exercise is important, be sure to check out our article on benefits of exercise.

5 steps to use the Accelerator Strength Program to gain more strength in less time

1. Perform the 4 workouts each week

This is a very intense weight lifting workout program. So you don’t need to be doing any other training during this time. 

A sample week on the Accelerator Strength Program could look like this…

• Monday: Workout 1
• Tuesday: Workout 2
• Wednesday: Rest 
• Thursday: Workout 3
• Friday: Max out day 4
• Saturday: Rest 
• Sunday: Rest 

This means you’re only ever 2 days away from a rest. Plus you get to take the weekends off your program, giving you a chance to recover well ahead of another big week of training.

2. Warm-up using squats with lighter weights 

Every workout starts with a squat movement (find other squat alternatives here). One of the main reasons for this is to help you warm up safely and efficiently. 

There’s no need to jump on a treadmill for 15 minutes before your workout. This adds unnecessary time and isn’t as effective as warming up the appropriate muscles.

Here’s how you can warm up safely and quickly to maximize your workout time:

• Start with an empty barbell back squat (2 sets of 5 reps)
• Add 25lbs to each side of the bar (50lbs) for 3 reps
• Repeat this until you reach your working weight

This preps the correct muscles for the working weight. It does this in less than 5 minutes, which is super efficient!

And the benefit of doing this with squats is that it warms the whole body up. 

Repeat this process with other exercises before reaching the working weight and you will reduce your injury risk significantly. 

3. Work out your starting 1 rep max for squats, bench press and deadlift

Your warm-up is super important when you are figuring out a 1 rep max (1RM). So make sure you follow the above warm-up for each of the exercises. 

Here’s how you can figure out (safely) what your 1 rep max is…

• Warm-up: as above
• Set 1: 5 reps
• Set 2: 3 reps
• Sets 3 and 4: 2 reps
• Set 5 and 6: 1 rep (in set 6, try to beat the max you lifted in set 5)

Add weight after each successful set. 

Your first set will be the hardest as you may not know how much you can lift. So you may need to add more than 10lbs to the bar after each set if it felt easy.

Give yourself 1-3minutes rest between each set (depending on how hard your found it). Allow up to 5 minutes before your final 1 rep max. 

Your aim is that by the 6th set you’re pushing your body to the max. 

4. Allow 1-3 minutes rest & a maximum of 60 min workouts

The sessions in this weight lifting workout should be pushing you to your limits. This means that rest is essential between sets to ensure good form and to keep you safe. 

• Always rest for at least 1 minute between sets. 
• If you struggled allow up to 3 minutes of rest.
• If you failed your set then allow 5 minutes to rest and go again!

Don’t let your sessions drag out over 60 minutes to make sure you keep the intensity high. This also reduces your workout times and means you’re more likely to be able to stick to working out 4 times a week.

P.S. Did you know you have around 112 waking hours in a week? You should be able to find 4 hours to work out!  

5. Increase weight each workout (unless you failed a set previously)

Progression is the name of the game here. 

Seek to add around 5lbs of weight to each exercise each week. For deadlifts, you will likely add 10lbs. But sometimes 5lbs is enough depending on how you felt the previous week. 

Here’s an example of what weights could be used for workout 1…

There may be times when you can increase more or less. It’s not a guaranteed linear progression, but where you can, add weight to your exercises. 

Just don’t sacrifice form.

Accelerator Strength Program workouts

The focus of this program is to build strength, so all of the Accelerator Strength Program workouts are designed with this in mind. 

There are 4 workouts per week. 

All of them are full body and they work on higher weight and lower rep ranges. This is proven to be more effective at building strength…

Heavy Load training is superior for maximizing strength adaptations.

– Brad Schoenfeld, Strength Researcher [1]

 The workouts follow a similar pattern. 

There’s a warm-up, then each subsequent set adds additional weight until you reach a maximum weight set for the day. On the final workout of the week, there’s a ‘max-out’ day. You’ll lift your maximum weight possible for that week across the squat, bench press, and deadlift. 

You’ll also do your accessory work on this day, which will serve as a useful rest after the max-out lifts.

Note: once you start off with this (or any other) program, always try to complete it, i.e. not back out before you’ve carried out the entire program and measured first hand the results. If you’re looking for more workout ideas, be sure to check out our full body workout as well.

Accelerator Strength Program Workouts

In this section, I’ll show you the weight lifting workouts to follow in this program. 

You’ll notice there are similar movement patterns, just with a different way of performing them. The idea isn’t to hit muscles at all kinds of different angles, as a bodybuilder would. Our job here is to focus on fundamental movements and get stronger at them.

Simple exercises, done at heavy weights and low rep ranges.

This is what builds strength. 

But guess what?… 

Lifting heavier weights will also build muscle!

Weight Lifting Workout 1: Weight Adder

See an example of weights that could be used for this weight lifting workout here. 

Equipment required:

• Barbell
• Bumper plates or weight plates
• Squat rack
• Weight Bench

1. Back Squat

Here I show you how to perform a heavy squat…

• Place the bar across the upper back – not the neck
• Take a breath in and engage the core – this keeps the lower back safer
• Keeping the chest up throughout, push your hips back and bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor
• Drive feet into the floor and stand back to the start position
• Repeat as many times as required.

If you want more variety when working out your back muscles, check out our articles on back exercises, reverse fly alternatives, or back extension alternatives.

2. Barbell Bench Press

• Position the hands with a slightly-wider than shoulder-width grip. The wider your hands, the more chest engagement there is. Closer hands = more tricep recruitment.
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, keep your glutes, hips and back in contact the the bench
• Lift the bar off the rack and directly over your chest
• Slowly lower the barbell directly over your chest, keeping your upper arms at 90 degrees to your torso as you do
• When the bar reaches your chest, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

The barbell bench press is among the most fundamental exercises out there. Check out what other exercises we combined it with in our Mass in Minutes upper body workout.

3. Deadlifts

• Load your bar and stand centrally. Assume an overhand or alternating grip
• Bend your legs, keep your back straight and your chest up
• Drive through your legs, keeping your arms straight – this will lift the bar to hip height
• At the top of the movement squeeze the glutes together and push the hips forward slightly
• Reverse the movement on the way down – start by pushing the hips back and lowering the weight down by bending your legs, keeping your chest up and back straight throughout
• Repeat as many times as required

Want to learn more exercises with a barbell? Check out our article on best barbell exercises.

4. Military Press

• Position the hands with a slightly-wider than shoulder-width grip. 
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, squeeze your glutes tight to lock your lower back. Keep your chest up and upper back engaged
• Smoothly press the barbell overhead until your arms reach full extension
• Slowly lower the barbell down to your chest
• When the bar reaches your chest, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

5. Bent Over Row

• Hold the barbell with the grip of your choice – overhand or underhand
• Set your body position – straight, stiff back. Chest pointing towards the floor, perhaps with a slight incline, slight knee bend
• Pull the barbell up towards your chest, squeezing the shoulder blades together at the top
• At the top of the movement pause then slowly lower the barbell, but don’t let it touch the floor
• Repeat as many times as required

Rogue Ohio Cerakote Bar

This is the bar that we recommend for ‘most people’.

We have spent over 120 hours of research and tested over 100 barbells.

It is affordable but comes with some high specs. The Rogue Work Hardening and 190k PSI tensile strength mean the bar will last a lifetime in a home gym.

It is a multi-purpose bar with a 28.5mm diameter shaft and composite bushings in the sleeves. This means it’s balanced for heavy slow bench presses but you can also perform snatches and fast overhead lifts.

Check the price here

Check out our bent over row alternatives if you’re finding the bent over row too challenging for the time being.

Weight Lifting Workout 2: Supporting Lifts

Example working weight for this weight lifting workout:

Equipment required:

• Barbell
• Bumper plates or weight plates
• Weight Bench
• Dumbbells

1. Bulgarian Split Squats (5 sets of 5 per leg)

• Place the back foot on the bench behind you and hop your front foot ahead
• Hold the dumbbells at your sides
• Keeping the chest up throughout, bend your back knee towards the floor and lower the front thigh until it reaches parallel to the floor
• Drive front foot into the floor and stand back to the start position
• Repeat as many times as required.

Split squats are an exercise that targets lower body muscles. If you’re looking for more of those, be sure to check out our lower body workout.

2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

• Set the bench to the incline you require
• With a dumbbell in each hand, lie back and position them over your chest
• You can use either an overhand or neutral (palms facing each other) grip
• Slowly lower the dumbbells towards your chest, bending your elbows outwards until you reach a good stretch
• At full depth, pause and push the dumbbells back up to a full extension
• Repeat as many times as necessary

3. Stiff Legged Deadlifts

• Hold the barbell with the grip of your choice
• Deadlift the bar into your starting position, which is where you’re holding the barbell with straight arms
• Keeping your back and legs straight, tilt your hips back as your torso starts to point towards the floor
• Keep pushing your hips back, with your legs straight as you lower the bar towards the floor
• As you feel your hamstrings stretch fully, push the hips forward and lift the bar back to the starting position
• At the top of the movement squeeze the glutes together
• Repeat as many times as required

Enjoying this exercise? See it combined with 6 different exercises in our leg workout article, designed specifically to help you develop your leg muscles…

4. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

• Set the bench upright
• With a dumbbell in each hand, sit back and position them at shoulder height
• You can use either an overhand or neutral (palms facing each other) grip
• Slowly press the dumbbells overhead until you reach full extension
• At full extension, pause and slowly lower back down to the starting position
• Repeat as many times as necessary

5. Chest Supported Rows

• Set a bench at an incline – it only needs to be high enough that you can get a full range of movement with the row
• Pick the dumbbells up and row towards your chest
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top
• Slowly lower the dumbbells down towards the floor
• Pause and repeat

Weight Lifting Workout 3: Volume Method

Equipment required:

• Barbell
• Bumper plates or weight plates
• Squat rack (with dips attachment)
• Power Tower (if no dips attachment)
• Weight Bench
• Dumbbells
• Pull up or dip belt

1. Front Squats

• Hold the bar in the rack position – open hand grip, elbows up, chest up
• Take a breath in and engage the core – this keeps the lower back safer
• Keeping the chest up throughout, push your hips back and bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor
• Drive feet into the floor and stand back to the start position
• Repeat as many times as required.

2. Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

• Set the bench to the incline you require
• With a dumbbell in each hand, lie back and position them over your chest
• You can use either an overhand or neutral (palms facing each other) grip
• Slowly lower the dumbbells towards your chest, bending your elbows outwards until you reach a good stretch
• At full depth, pause and push the dumbbells back up to a full extension
• Repeat as many times as necessary

3. Hip Thrusts

• With your back and shoulders on the bench and feet flat on the floor, place the barbell on your lap (use a pad if necessary)
• Start with your glutes on the floor – the bottom position is your starting position 
• Drive your feet into the floor and ‘thrust’ the barbell up using your glutes until you’ve reached full hip extension.
• Pause at the top, then slowly lower your hips down.
• Repeat

4. Dips (weighted if needs be)

• Hold onto the bars with your torso upright and arms straight, supporting your bodyweight off the floor
• Slowly guide your elbows backwards, lowering your torso towards the floor
• When your upper arms reach (or slightly break) parallel with the floor, push yourself back up to the starting position
• Repeat

5. Dead Hang Chin Ups (weighted if needs be)

1. Keeping your back straight, hold the bar at arm’s length
2. Hold the bar with an underhand grip
3. Pull yourself upwards, driving your elbows back and down
4. Lift yourself until your chest reaches the bar
5. Squeeze the shoulder blade at the top
6. Lower yourself slowly until you reach a dead hang, with straight arms
7. Repeat as many times as necessary

Weight Lifting Workout 4: Max-Out Day

Equipment required:

• Barbell
• Bumper plates or weight plates
• Squat rack
• Weight Bench
• Dumbbells

1. Squat

2. Bench Press

3. Deadlift

Then the following accessory exercises, with 3 sets to failure of each…

Accessory 1. Hammer curls

• Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, hands by your sides, palms facing inwards
• Perform a standard curl, but keep your arms in a neutral grip (palms facing one another) throughout the entire movement
• Curl the dumbbells up slowly and smoothly until they reach full contraction
• At the top of the movement, slowly lower them back down until your arm reaches full extension
• Repeat as many times as required

Accessory 2. Lat raises

• Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, down by your sides
• Keeping a tight core and your chest up, lift the dumbbells up to the sides
• Stop when the dumbbells are slightly higher than your shoulders
• Pause for a slight second, then lower back down
• Repeat

If you’d like to focus more on strengthening your lats, check out our article on lat exercises.

Accessory 3. Push ups

• Assume the standard push up position, tight core, long body
• Keep your hands slightly wider than shoulder width position
• Slowly lower yourself down until your torso nearly touches the floor
• Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again
• Repeat

Aiming to bulk up your chest? Check out our chest workout and learn all about our trademark Chest to Treasure Program.

Accessory 4. Dumbbell Box Step Ups

• Place the front foot on the step 
• Hold the dumbbells at your sides and engage the core
• Step up onto the box by pushing up through the front foot – don’t cheat by springing off the floor using your bottom foot!
• When both feet are on the box, lower the back leg down slowly and under the control of the front leg
• Repeat as many times as required per leg

Across these 4 workouts you’ll have all the exercise and intensity you’ll need to build strength, muscle and a solid fitness base for your future training programs.

Weight lifting workout: Accelerator Strength Program bonus tips

1. Eat 1.6g of protein per kg of body mass per day

The research around protein intake for building muscle settles on a figure of around 1.2-1.6g per kg of bodyweight. 

This is about 0.8-1g per pound of lean body mass (LBM). Personally, I believe you’re better off spreading this across multiple meals rather than consuming a lot in a single go. 

Beef, lamb, pork and chicken are my go-to sources, topped up with protein shakes. 

A real example of protein intake for building muscle:

Bodyweight: 180lb

LBM: 132lb

Protein required: 105-132lb

Just for reference, every ounce of meat contains about 7-9 grams of protein. So if you eat around 10 ounces of meat per day with eggs, whey protein, and other protein sources you can consume 120+ grams of protein.

If you do not eat meat then beans, lentils and tofu (with extra protein shakes) will be required. Fish and eggs are other great options.

2. Don’t skip workouts

In the Accelerator Strength Program you’re set to train 4 days per week. 

That’s a strict 4 days per week weight lifting workout! It means you’ve time to rest and recover between training days, so you can maximize your output when you’re in the gym. 

3. Don’t skip rest either…

This may seem like a contradiction to the point before, but it’s not. Train hard on your workout days and get good rest on the other days. 

When you rest, you grow. 

When you rest, you recover. 

When you’re rested, you’re able to work harder in the gym. The two points go hand in hand. 

4. Stick to the plan

These workouts are written to maximize your strength. 

They may not be ‘Instagram friendly’ all of the time, but they’re effective. Don’t be tempted to go off plan – we don’t want to mix plans here!

5. Don’t beat yourself if you miss a day… just don’t miss the next one!

Again, this may contradict the previous tip. 

However, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen a client miss two workouts in a row and then fall off the wagon. But I can tell you it’s super easy to get back on track if you miss one and then work out again the next day. 

Life happens, just commit to this for the next 12 weeks!

Accelerator Strength Program FAQs

Here are a few common questions about the program answered…

Accelerator Strength Program: The bottom line

Follow this weight lifting workout program for 8-12 weeks. 

That will be enough to see your previous strength numbers increase dramatically. 

Track it and notice when your squat, bench and deadlift are 50% higher than they were at the start of the program. Take a fortnight off and switch things up at this point. 

Start off with a testing day, whereby you find out your 1 rep max for each of the three big lifts. Use a very similar pattern to workout 4 (Max-Out Day) to figure out your 1 rep max safely. 

This gives you your baseline figures! Then work hard to increase them over the course of the Accelerator Strength Program.

If you want to learn more about developing your triceps using dumbbells, check out our 6 best dumbbell tricep exercises.