The best free strength programs, compared
26 strength programs, every one free and shown in full on its own page. Pick by how many days you can train, then by what you have to train with.
- 2 days a week: 2-Day Barbell Full Body
- 3 days a week: 20-Rep Squat, 5/3/1 For Beginners, 5×5 Linear Progression + Accessories, Basic Beginner Routine, Fierce 5, Ivysaur 4-4-8, Leangains RPT, Novice 5×5 Linear Progression, Phrak's Greyskull LP, r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine, Reg Park 5×5, Madcow 5×5, Olympic Lifter, Texas Method
- 4 days a week: GZCLP, 5/3/1 Triumvirate, 5/3/1: Boring But Big, Juggernaut Method 2.0, WS4SB 3, The Rippler, Twice-A-Day
- 5 days a week: Candito 6 Week Strength, Wolverine, GZCL UHF, nSuns LP
All 26, line by line
| Program | Days | Session | Length | Level | Equipment | By |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Day Barbell Full Body | 2 | 30–40 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | Traditional |
| 20-Rep Squat | 3 | 40–50 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | Traditional |
| 5/3/1 For Beginners | 3 | 60–80 min | 4-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | Jim Wendler |
| 5×5 Linear Progression + Accessories | 3 | 65–90 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Full gym | Traditional |
| Basic Beginner Routine | 3 | 35–45 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | r/Fitness |
| Fierce 5 | 3 | 45–65 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Full gym | r/Fitness |
| Ivysaur 4-4-8 | 3 | 40–50 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | r/Fitness |
| Leangains RPT | 3 | 35–50 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Full gym | Martin Berkhan |
| Novice 5×5 Linear Progression | 3 | 40–50 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | Traditional |
| Phrak's Greyskull LP | 3 | 25–35 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | Phrak & John Sheaffer |
| r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine | 3 | 30–45 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Bodyweight | r/bodyweightfitness |
| Reg Park 5×5 | 3 | 45–60 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Barbell + a rack | Reg Park |
| Madcow 5×5 | 3 | 55–75 min | Ongoing | Intermediate | Barbell + a rack | Traditional |
| Olympic Lifter | 3 | 45–65 min | Ongoing | Intermediate | Barbell + a rack | Durata |
| Texas Method | 3 | 40–50 min | 2-week cycle, repeats | Intermediate | Barbell + a rack | Mark Rippetoe & Glenn Pendlay |
| GZCLP | 4 | 35–45 min | Ongoing | Beginner | Full gym | Cody Lefever |
| 5/3/1 Triumvirate | 4 | 45–60 min | 4-week cycle, repeats | Intermediate | Full gym | Jim Wendler |
| 5/3/1: Boring But Big | 4 | 50–70 min | 4-week cycle, repeats | Intermediate | Full gym | Jim Wendler |
| Juggernaut Method 2.0 | 4 | 35–50 min | 16 weeks | Intermediate | Full gym | Chad Wesley Smith |
| WS4SB 3 | 4 | 40–55 min | 3-week cycle, repeats | Intermediate | Barbell + dumbbells | Joe DeFranco |
| The Rippler | 4 | 30–40 min | 12 weeks | Advanced | Full gym | Cody Lefever |
| Twice-A-Day | 4 | 35–50 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | Durata |
| Candito 6 Week Strength | 5 | 25–35 min | 6 weeks | Intermediate | Barbell + dumbbells | Jonnie Candito |
| Wolverine | 5 | 45–60 min | 4-week cycle, repeats | Intermediate | Full gym | David Kingsbury |
| GZCL UHF | 5 | 35–45 min | 5 weeks | Advanced | Full gym | Cody Lefever |
| nSuns LP | 5 | 50–65 min | Ongoing | Advanced | Full gym | nSuns |
Session times are worked out from each program's sets, reps and rests: the same estimate the app shows.
Who each one suits
2-Day Barbell Full Body
Best forPick this if the honest answer to "how many days can you train, every week, without fail?" is two.
ProgressionPlain session-to-session linear progression, the same engine that drives every novice barbell program: finish all your fives and the bar goes up next time — 5 kg on squat and deadlift, 2.5 kg on bench, press and row.
20-Rep Squat
Best forRun it if you want size fast and already squat competently — the set only works if your technique holds up while your lungs and will are failing.
ProgressionThe squat adds 2.5 kg every single session you complete all twenty reps — no weekly waves, no percentages, just 7.5 kg a week onto a set of twenty.
5/3/1 For Beginners
Best forRun this as your first structured program, or straight after a stalled linear progression like StrongLifts.
ProgressionEverything keys off a training max set at about 90% of your best single — Durata can seed it from the estimated 1RM of any recent hard set.
5×5 Linear Progression + Accessories
Best forRun this when you want linear-progression strength but refuse to wait a year for arms.
ProgressionThe mains progress exactly as the base program: 2.5 kg per completed session on squat, bench, press and row, 5 kg on the deadlift, with a 10% deload after three straight misses.
Basic Beginner Routine
Best forThis is for the person who has never trained with a barbell and wants the shortest path to basic competence.
ProgressionSquats and deadlifts go up 5 kg every session you complete all your reps; bench, press and rows go up 2.5 kg.
Fierce 5
Best forChoose Fierce 5 as the balanced take on novice lifting: arms, rear delts and calves grow from week one alongside the squat, without adding a fourth training day.
ProgressionSquats and deadlifts climb 5 kg per successful session; bench, press and Pendlay rows climb 2.5 kg.
Ivysaur 4-4-8
Best forThis suits the novice who finds grinding sets of five joyless and would rather chase a rep number.
ProgressionThe weight goes up every week on every lift — that is the whole point of the program.
Leangains RPT
Best forReverse pyramid training suits intermediate lifters who prefer intensity to volume and want maximum return from three short sessions — which is exactly why it's the standard recommendation for training through a cut, where recovery is scarce and every set has to count.
ProgressionEach lift progresses off its top set alone.
Novice 5×5 Linear Progression
Best forThis is a true novice program — for someone whose lifts still go up simply because they trained.
ProgressionSquat, bench, press and row add 2.5 kg every completed workout; the deadlift adds 5 kg.
Phrak's Greyskull LP
Best forPick this over a fixed-set routine if you want feedback, not just weight on the bar.
ProgressionEvery successful session adds 2.5 kg to the bar.
r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine
Best forFor anyone who wants real strength training with no weights — students, travellers, home trainees with a doorway pull-up bar and not much else.
ProgressionThe rule is simple and unforgiving: work each movement from 3×5 up to 3×8 with strict, controlled reps — no kipping, no half range.
Reg Park 5×5
Best forThis is a beginner routine in the classical mould: if you can only remember one workout, this full body 5x5 is it.
ProgressionProgress is session-to-session, the way Park ran it: complete all 25 reps on a lift and it goes up next workout — 5 kg on squat and deadlift, 2.5 kg on bench, press and row.
Madcow 5×5
Best forPick the madcow 5x5 program when session-to-session jumps have stopped sticking but week-to-week ones still can — typically after several months of a novice barbell routine.
ProgressionEach lift runs off a single training max — Monday's top-set weight — and every set all week is a percentage of it.
Olympic Lifter
Best forThis is for lifters who already know the movements and want a structured week to build them — you've had some coaching or put in serious technique work, and you can snatch and clean & jerk safely, even if lightly.
ProgressionThe fast lifts micro-load: make all five doubles on the snatch or clean & jerk and the bar goes up 1 kg next session; miss twice at a weight and it drops 10% so you can rebuild speed and timing.
Texas Method
Best forThis is a program for early intermediates who still want a PR on the bar every week and can pay for it in food and sleep.
ProgressionFriday decides everything.
GZCLP
Best forThis is a beginner program in the best sense: the decisions are automated, the sessions are recoverable, and the built-in accessory work means you're adding size while the numbers climb.
ProgressionEach tier progresses by its own rule, which is the quiet genius of the system.
5/3/1 Triumvirate
Best forThis is the post-novice default.
ProgressionEach lift's weights are percentages of a training max, not your true max.
5/3/1: Boring But Big
Best forBBB is built for lifters past the beginner stage — you've run a linear progression like Starting Strength or GZCLP, adding weight every session no longer works, and you want to get bigger while your strength keeps climbing.
ProgressionYou start by setting a training max — 90% of your true 1RM — for each of the four lifts.
Juggernaut Method 2.0
Best forPick the Juggernaut Method if you're an intermediate who does better with a defined start and finish than an endless monthly loop — or an athlete who can't afford to be fried by constant near-max lifting.
ProgressionTake the Tens wave as the pattern.
WS4SB 3
Best forBuilt for field and court athletes — football, rugby, basketball — who need strength and explosiveness at the same time, and for lifters who want an athletic template rather than pure powerlifting.
ProgressionEach max-effort variation progresses independently: because it only comes around once per 3-week rotation, you aim to beat that variation's previous top set each time it returns — Durata stores a separate working weight per lift and applies the increase automatically after a successful AMRAP top set.
The Rippler
Best forThis is for intermediate-to-advanced lifters who have exhausted session-to-session progression and want a percentage-based wave with a test date at the end.
ProgressionThere are no in-block decisions to make — every load for all twelve weeks is a fixed percentage of the true 1RM you enter on day one, not a discounted training max, so resist the urge to round up.
Twice-A-Day
Best forThis is an advanced program with an unusual gating requirement: not strength, but schedule.
ProgressionThe two halves of the day advance by different rules, on purpose.
Candito 6 Week Strength
Best forThis block is for intermediate lifters who want to convert a training cycle into visible PRs, and it slots naturally into the last six weeks before a powerlifting meet or a planned gym max-out.
ProgressionThere are no per-session weight decisions.
Wolverine
Best forThis wolverine workout is for intermediates who want strength numbers and a visible physique from the same program and can genuinely commit five days a week — the volume only pays off if the sessions actually happen.
ProgressionEverything keys off a working max set at 90% of your true 1RM — the same conservative buffer as a 5/3/1 training max, and the reason week three's 90% sets are heavy but honest.
GZCL UHF
Best forThis is the advanced entry in the GZCL lineup, and the frequency is the filter.
ProgressionEverything is a percentage of the true 1RM you set on day one; the block is too short for mid-cycle adjustments, so the wave is pre-baked.
nSuns LP
Best forRun n suns 531 when a novice program has stopped paying out and you respond well to volume.
ProgressionThe training max moves weekly, and the 1+ AMRAP decides by how much — the spreadsheet's own table: 0–1 reps holds, 2–3 earns a small bump, 4–5 a bigger one, 6 or more the biggest, with lower-body lifts taking larger steps than upper.
Common questions
How many days a week do these strength programs take?
From 2 to 5 days a week. 2 days: 2-Day Barbell Full Body. 3 days: 20-Rep Squat, 5/3/1 For Beginners, 5×5 Linear Progression + Accessories, Basic Beginner Routine, Fierce 5, Ivysaur 4-4-8, Leangains RPT, Novice 5×5 Linear Progression, Phrak's Greyskull LP, r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine, Reg Park 5×5, Madcow 5×5, Olympic Lifter and Texas Method. 4 days: GZCLP, 5/3/1 Triumvirate, 5/3/1: Boring But Big, Juggernaut Method 2.0, WS4SB 3, The Rippler and Twice-A-Day. 5 days: Candito 6 Week Strength, Wolverine, GZCL UHF and nSuns LP.
Which of these has the shortest sessions?
Phrak's Greyskull LP, at about 25–35 minutes a session. Session times are worked out from each program's sets, reps and rests, the same estimate the app shows.
Which ones suit a beginner?
2-Day Barbell Full Body, 20-Rep Squat, 5/3/1 For Beginners, 5×5 Linear Progression + Accessories, Basic Beginner Routine, Fierce 5, Ivysaur 4-4-8, Leangains RPT, Novice 5×5 Linear Progression, Phrak's Greyskull LP, r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine, Reg Park 5×5 and GZCLP. They are written for lifters in their first year or so of training.
Can I run any of them without a gym?
Yes: r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine (bodyweight). The rest need a barbell or a full gym.
Are these programs free?
Yes. All 26 are free to run in Durata, and every set of every session is shown on each program's own page.
Run any of them in Durata
Every program here is free in Durata, with each one's own progression worked out for you as you log.