Matt Perryman Matt Perryman

Sheiko Powerlifting Routines

Boris Sheiko has been receiving a good bit of attention recently for the programming he employs with the Russian powerlifting team.

Sheiko’s methodology, in contrast to more traditionally known powerlifting philosophy, is known for using high frequency and very high volumes of work, as opposed to the usual method of having intensity as the prime stress. Make no mistake about it, these programs are absolutely brutal. The intensity won’t kill you, but by about 2-3 weeks in you’ll be ready to cry just from the volume.

This isn’t too far off Stephen Korte’s 3×3 system, which is similar in concept. Both plans train the competitive lifts in large volumes and on a regular basis. While 3×3 contains no assistance work, Sheiko’s approach includes a little more, especially with regards to the upper body pressing muscles, and the total volume can get on up there.

Recently EliteFTS put up an archive of Sheiko routines. The Candidate for Master of Sport/Master of Sport (CMS/MS) routine has been available for awhile on the ‘net, but this is the first time I’d seen a lot of those routines.

I’m in the process of converting these to spreadsheet format, because to be frank, most of those are a mess and barely translated from the original Russian. I’ll link them here and add them as I do them.

Files are in Excel (.xls) format, requires either Excel or OpenOffice to open. Programs #29 through #37 are more beginner-level programs. The Candidate for Master of Sport (CMS/MS) program is for a higher level athlete; don’t start with that one, no matter how advanced you may be. There’s also the Master of Sport (MS) program from Sheiko’s book that I should get around to adapting as well, mostly for completeness – not many people could tolerate the workloads in that particular arrangement.

Sheiko #29
Sheiko #30
Sheiko #31
Sheiko #32
Sheiko #37
Candidate for Master of Sport (CMS/MS)
Master of Sport (MS)

Special thanks to Joe Skopec for the CMS/MS setup and Korte’s 3×3.