Juggernaut Method 2.0

What is Juggernaut Method 2.0?

The Juggernaut Method 2.0 is Chad Wesley Smith's 16-week strength program for the squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press, one lift per day, four days a week. It runs as four waves named for their rep target: the 10s, 8s, 5s and 3s. Each wave is four weeks long. Accumulation is the volume week, intensification is heavier with fewer sets, realization works up to one all-out set, and a deload of 5s at 40, 50 and 60% closes the wave.

The numbers here come from Smith's own articles on jtsstrength.com and the Lift Vault spreadsheet of the 2.0 base template, which agrees with him on every percentage. Where its set count differs from his, he wins: the sheet gives the 5s intensification week three sets of 5, his own article four. We have not read the book itself. Take the 10s wave: accumulation is five sets of 10 at 60% of your training max, the last one a 10+. Intensification is two lighter sets of 5, then three sets of 10 at 67.5%, the last one a 10+. Realization ramps through 50, 60 and 70% and finishes with as many reps as possible at 75%. Each later wave starts higher, at 65, 70 and then 75%, with fewer reps, and the 5s and 3s add sets, so the 3s wave accumulates seven sets of 3 at 75% and realizes at 90%, the same 75/80/85/90 ladder Smith lists in Going Heavy on The Juggernaut Method.

Is Juggernaut Method 2.0 right for you?

This suits an intermediate lifter who has outrun linear gains and wants a block with a clear start and finish, or an athlete who needs strength without grinding near-max weights every week. The 10s wave will feel light; that is the point of starting at 60%. A novice still adding weight every session will get stronger faster on a simple linear program. The assistance is Smith's own, from his article The Juggernaut Method and Strongman, put onto the four base days: Romanian deadlifts after squats and glute-ham raises after deadlifts (his list also has reverse hypers and good mornings), chest-supported rows after the bench and pull-ups after the press, at 12-15 reps, then 10-12, then 8-10 across each wave. He names only "shoulders and arms" and abs, so those lifts (pushdowns, face pulls, lateral raises, curls, cable crunches, ab wheel) are Durata's picks.

How progression works

Your training max stays fixed through each wave. Only the realization AMAP set changes it: for every rep past the wave's number (10, 8, 5 or 3), add 2.5 kg (5 lb) to the squat or deadlift and 1.25 kg (2.5 lb) to the bench or press, which is the rule Smith gives in Inverted Juggernaut. Fall short and the same amount comes off per missing rep, as the Lift Vault sheet's formula has it, so the next wave starts from what you showed you can do. The + sets in accumulation and intensification never move the max; the Lift Vault sheet says to stop those 1-3 reps shy of failure. The ramp sets are logged as warmups. Smith gives his assistance lifts no load rule, so pick a weight that fits each week's reps. Durata's shoulder, arm and cable crunch picks use double progression: reach the top of the rep range on every set, then add weight; two sessions under the range take 10% off. After week 16 the program ends rather than looping, so retest or carry your new maxes into the next block.

Durata runs this progression for you — every session's weights are computed from your training maxes, and your logged AMRAP sets are what move those maxes.

Juggernaut Method 2.0 — every set, every session

Grey sets are warmups; their % is of TM. Percentages are of your training max (TM). AMRAP = as many reps as possible on the final set.

Juggernaut Method 2.0 — common questions

Juggernaut Method 2.0 side by side