Heavy light medium customizable twelve-week template

Three weekly heavy, light and medium lifting days, with separate maxes and adjustable rep ranges for each phase.

By Lift Vault / Kyle Risley, interpreting Andy Baker

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Your numbers

Worked out for an example lifter who squats 100 kg × 5, benches 75 kg × 5, deadlifts 130 kg × 5 and presses 50 kg × 5. Change any number to see your own.

Maxes

kg
1-rep max
kg
1-rep max
kg
1-rep max
kg
1-rep max

Details

The program’s usual settings

Phase 1

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%
%
%

Phase 2

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%
%
%

Phase 3

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%
%
%

Phase 4

%
%
%
%

Week by week

Every workout, as Catalyst would give it to you from the example numbers.

Day 1

Session 1
  • Back squat80 kg
    5 × 5
  • Barbell bench press57.5 kg
    5 × 5
  • Conventional deadlift87.5 kg
    3 × 5

Day 2

Session 2
  • Back squat62.5 kg
    3 × 5
  • Barbell bench press45 kg
    3 × 5
  • Barbell row50 kg
    4 × 5

Day 3

Session 3
  • Back squat67.5 kg
    4 × 5
  • Barbell bench press50 kg
    4 × 5
  • Conventional deadlift102.5 kg
    1 × 5

Where it takes you

Each lift’s heaviest set, workout by workout, over the first 12 weeks, if every set is done as written.

Back squat80 → 102.5 kg+22.5
6080100Wk 14812
Barbell bench press57.5 → 75 kg+17.5
406080Wk 14812
Conventional deadlift87.5 → 130 kg+42.5
75100125Wk 14812
Barbell row50 → 67.5 kg+17.5
506070Wk 14812

A forecast, not a promise: it assumes every set is done as written. In the app, what you actually lift decides what comes next, by the program’s own rules.

What it trains

Working sets in the first week for each muscle, counted once for each muscle an exercise trains.

  • Gluteals16
  • Pectorals12
  • Quadriceps12
  • Hamstrings4
  • Latissimus dorsi4
  • Scapular retractors4
  • Spinal erectors16
  • Adductors12
  • Anterior deltoids12
  • Serratus anterior12
  • Triceps12
  • Biceps4
  • Posterior deltoids4

The schedule

3 workouts a week, on whichever days suit you.

WeekSession 1Session 2Session 3
1Day 1Day 2Day 3
2Day 1Day 2Day 3
3Day 1Day 2Day 3
4Day 1Day 2Day 3
5Day 1Day 2Day 3
6Day 1Day 2Day 3
7Day 1Day 2Day 3
8Day 1Day 2Day 3
9Day 1Day 2Day 3
10Peak 1Day 2Peak 3
11Peak 1Day 2Peak 3
12Peak 1Day 2Peak 3

How it works

The program’s own rules, as Catalyst runs them.

Choose one lift for each kind of work and keep its starting maximum throughout. Choose your phase settings before starting. Keep each weekly heavy percentage above the reductions used for light and medium work, and keep rep ranges in ascending order. You may choose one to one hundred sets or reps for each count. You can change the example exercises before training. After the final week, plan deloading and retesting, choosing the work and how to use the results yourself.

What you need

Everything its exercises call for. Missing something? The app suggests swaps that train the same thing.

  • Barbell
  • Squat rack

Not sure it’s the one?

See every program like it ranked for what you want, how often you train and what you have, each with why it fits and what doesn’t. Compare any three side by side.

Find your program

Run Heavy light medium customizable twelve-week template in Catalyst

Every set ready. Every weight right.

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