Advanced · 4 days a week · 10 weeks: three 3-week waves, then a test or meet week · Squat, bench and deadlift each rotate through a heavy, an explosive and a rep day, so only one lift goes heavy each week
A four-day powerlifting plan for experienced lifters who want one heavy lift a week, with speed and rep work filling the other two days.
The Cube Method is a powerlifting e-book by Brandon Lilly, who trained at Westside Barbell. He released it through Juggernaut Training Systems in December 2012. You train four days a week: one day each for deadlift, bench press and squat, plus a bodybuilding day for weak points.
Each main lift runs through three kinds of session over a three-week wave: a heavy day, an explosive day where you move a lighter bar as fast as you can, and a rep day. Lilly staggers the lifts so the efforts rotate. In his 2012 description, week 1 is heavy deadlift, explosive bench and squat for reps. Week 2 moves the heavy day to squat, and week 3 moves it to bench. You never go heavy on two lifts in the same week. Empire Barbell's review lists a different starting order, so the order varies between write-ups.
Liftosaur and Empire Barbell give the same wave 1 numbers: heavy is 5 sets of 2 at 80% of your max, explosive is 8 sets of 3 at 60%. Rep day is 8 reps at 70%. Liftosaur runs three sets with the last one pushed for extra reps, while Empire Barbell lists a single set, so set counts vary. Waves 2 and 3 raise the load and cut the reps, and week 10 is for testing or a meet.
On his bodybuilding day Lilly picked a few exercises for weak points and always included military presses and leg presses. Our in-app day keeps those two and adds lateral raises and curls. The other accessories in the sheet are our picks.
Lilly trained at Westside, but the Cube sets aside much of its equipment. Empire Barbell's review says the book turns against bands and chains and keeps you off the box squat unless you are injured. In his 2012 post Lilly wrote that he very seldom squats to a box and uses straight weight, saving reverse bands for a couple of overload sets. Empire also reports that the book's examples rotate height variations of the bench press and deadlift while the squat stays a regular squat. The conjugate method goes further: it swaps the heavy exercise every week and often adds bands or chains to speed work.
Pick the Cube Method if you know the three lifts well, want one hard session a week and like a fixed plan. Pick 5/3/1 for a simpler cycle you can run all year, and a standard powerlifting program if you are newer and need more practice on each lift.
This page summarises publicly described structure in our own words. It is not a copy of the book, which holds Lilly's full waves, assistance list, warm-ups and conditioning.
The schedule
Train on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, or any other days with rest between. Percentages are of your training max, which is 100% of your one-rep max.
A plus sign means AMRAP: do as many good reps as you can on that set.
Progression and stall rules
Start from a current max
Liftosaur's version takes every percentage from your current one-rep max on squat, bench press and deadlift. Use a recent number you could hit today, not an old meet best. If you only know a rep set, estimate the max with a calculator and round down.
The book climbs in waves
In the full program the loads rise and the reps fall over three waves. Heavy days move from doubles at 80% to a double at 90% and singles at 92.5 and 95%, and explosive days from 60% to 70%. A tenth week tests your new max or serves as meet week. This sheet carries wave 1 only. The Progress tab adds 10 lb (5 kg) to squat and deadlift, 5 lb (2.5 kg) to bench and small steps to the accessories after each wave. Those numbers are our own nudge for repeating wave 1. For the real climb, buy the book.
Push only the last rep set
Liftosaur marks the last set of each rep day as an AMRAP: take a rep PR on a good day and hit the minimum on a bad one. Lilly wants rep and speed work treated as seriously as heavy days, according to Empire Barbell's review.
Missed reps mean the max was too high
Liftosaur says a missed set means your starting numbers were too high: cut the max by 5 to 10% and carry on. Do not repeat the missed work. Lilly's rule, as Empire Barbell reports it, is to avoid missing weights at all.
Plan your own deload
Liftosaur and Empire Barbell both note that the book builds in no deload before the final week. If you run wave after wave, a light week between cycles is our suggestion, not Lilly's.
Weekly volume
Work sets per lift, counted from the schedule above (warm-ups not included).
Lift
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Deadlift, heavy doubles
5
8
3
Barbell row
4
4
4
Good morning
3
3
3
Bench press, explosive triples
8
3
5
Incline dumbbell press
4
4
4
Triceps pushdown
3
3
3
Squat, rep sets
3
5
8
Romanian deadlift
3
3
3
Leg curl
3
3
3
Overhead press
4
4
4
Leg press
3
3
3
Lateral raise
3
3
3
Dumbbell curl
3
3
3
Who it suits
A good fit
Intermediate and advanced powerlifters who recover poorly from more than one heavy day a week.
Lifters who want a fixed percentage plan with built-in variety between heavy, fast and rep work.
Raw lifters who want to train the competition lifts with mostly straight weight rather than bands and chains.
Look elsewhere if
Beginners who can still add weight every session. A simple novice plan or a standard powerlifting program moves you faster.
Lifters who want to bench two or three times a week. The Cube trains each lift once.
Anyone who wants every set and accessory spelled out without buying the book.
Common mistakes
Turning explosive days into heavy days
Explosive sets at 60% should move fast. If the bar slows, the weight is too high, and you eat into recovery for the lift that goes heavy that week.
Using an old meet max
Every percentage hangs off your max. An out-of-date number makes the heavy doubles too hard and leads to missed reps, which the book tells you to avoid.
Grinding the rep sets
In Liftosaur's version only the last rep set is open. Leave the first ones clean, then push the final set while form holds.
Skipping the bodybuilding day
Lilly used it to fix weak points. Drop it and you lose the extra pressing and leg work that backs up the main lifts.
Running wave after wave with no break
The book plans no deload until the final week. Watch your bar speed and take a light week when it drops.
Your sample week
For each lift, enter: Your current one-rep max on squat, bench press and deadlift, and your working weight for the accessory lifts. The weights below update as you type. Your numbers stay in your browser and are not saved. The numbers shown are an example lifter.
Week 1, day 1: Deadlift (heavy)
Deadlift, heavy doubles
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
2
325
2
2
325
3
2
325
4
2
325
5
2
325
Barbell row
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
155
2
8
155
3
8
155
4
8
155
Good morning
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
115
2
8
115
3
8
115
Week 1, day 2: Bench press (explosive)
Bench press, explosive triples
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
3
135
2
3
135
3
3
135
4
3
135
5
3
135
6
3
135
7
3
135
8
3
135
Incline dumbbell press
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
55
2
8
55
3
8
55
4
8
55
Triceps pushdown
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
50
2
12
50
3
12
50
Week 1, day 3: Squat (reps)
Squat, rep sets
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
220
2
8
220
3
8+
220
Romanian deadlift
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
225
2
8
225
3
8
225
Leg curl
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
70
2
12
70
3
12
70
Week 2, day 1: Deadlift (explosive)
Deadlift, explosive triples
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
3
245
2
3
245
3
3
245
4
3
245
5
3
245
6
3
245
7
3
245
8
3
245
Barbell row
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
155
2
8
155
3
8
155
4
8
155
Good morning
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
115
2
8
115
3
8
115
Week 2, day 2: Bench press (reps)
Bench press, rep sets
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
160
2
8
160
3
8+
160
Incline dumbbell press
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
55
2
8
55
3
8
55
4
8
55
Triceps pushdown
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
50
2
12
50
3
12
50
Week 2, day 3: Squat (heavy)
Squat, heavy doubles
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
2
250
2
2
250
3
2
250
4
2
250
5
2
250
Romanian deadlift
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
225
2
8
225
3
8
225
Leg curl
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
70
2
12
70
3
12
70
Week 3, day 1: Deadlift (reps)
Deadlift, rep sets
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
285
2
8
285
3
8+
285
Barbell row
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
155
2
8
155
3
8
155
4
8
155
Good morning
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
115
2
8
115
3
8
115
Week 3, day 2: Bench press (heavy)
Bench press, heavy doubles
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
2
180
2
2
180
3
2
180
4
2
180
5
2
180
Incline dumbbell press
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
55
2
8
55
3
8
55
4
8
55
Triceps pushdown
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
50
2
12
50
3
12
50
Week 3, day 3: Squat (explosive)
Squat, explosive triples
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
3
190
2
3
190
3
3
190
4
3
190
5
3
190
6
3
190
7
3
190
8
3
190
Romanian deadlift
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
8
225
2
8
225
3
8
225
Leg curl
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
70
2
12
70
3
12
70
Day 4: Bodybuilding
Overhead press
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
10
85
2
10
85
3
10
85
4
10
85
Leg press
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
270
2
12
270
3
12
270
Lateral raise
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
15
2
12
15
3
12
15
Dumbbell curl
Set
Reps
Weight (lb)
1
12
25
2
12
25
3
12
25
The spreadsheet
The file has three sheets: your numbers, the full week with every weight as a formula, and a progress table that carries the weights forward. It opens in Excel, Numbers and LibreOffice. The weights in the link below use the numbers you typed above.
Go to Google Drive and choose New, then File upload, and pick the file.
Double-click the uploaded file and choose Open with Google Sheets.
Choose File, then Save as Google Sheets so you can edit it.
Want the weights to follow you into the gym? Create a free account and the program loads into Train for you.
How it compares
Cube Method vs Conjugate method
Lilly trained at Westside, and both plans mix heavy, fast and rep work. Conjugate runs a max effort day and a speed day each week for upper and lower body, swaps the heavy exercise weekly and often adds bands or chains. The Cube gives each competition lift its own day with fixed percentages and mostly straight weight, and only one lift goes heavy each week. Pick conjugate if you like choosing variations, the Cube if you want the plan set for you. Read the Conjugate method guide.
Cube Method vs 5/3/1
Liftosaur frames the Cube as Lilly's answer to 5/3/1 and points to 5/3/1 Boring But Big for a simpler year-round approach. 5/3/1 works every lift through the same four-week wave, deload included. The Cube staggers a three-week wave so only one lift is heavy each week. Read the 5/3/1 guide.
Cube Method vs Powerlifting program
Our beginner powerlifting program squats and benches twice a week on three days, for lifters in their first months. Start there if you are new to the competition lifts. Move to the Cube once you need more recovery between heavy sessions than a simple plan gives. Read the Powerlifting program guide.
Load Cube Method into Train and log each session against the plan.
The workouts in Train show week 1 of the wave every week: heavy deadlift doubles, explosive bench triples and squat sets of 8. In weeks 2 and 3 the three efforts swap between the lifts. Follow this page or the spreadsheet for the week you are in. The accessory lifts and their sets are our own picks.
Common questions
What is the Cube Method?
A powerlifting program by Brandon Lilly. Squat, bench press and deadlift each rotate through a heavy, an explosive and a rep day over three weeks, so you go heavy on one lift per week. A fourth day is for bodybuilding work.
How many days a week is the Cube Method?
Four: a deadlift day, a bench day, a squat day and a bodybuilding day. The weekdays in our sheet are a suggestion. Lilly trained his bodybuilding day on Sunday.
How long is the Cube Method?
Ten weeks in the versions we read: three three-week waves, then a week to test your maxes or compete.
Is the Cube Method free?
No. It is a paid e-book by Brandon Lilly, first released through Juggernaut Training Systems in 2012. Juggernaut's current shop did not list it when we checked in October 2026. Our guide and spreadsheet are free and cover wave 1, but the book holds the full waves, the assistance list and Lilly's reasoning.
Do I need bands, chains or a box?
No. Empire Barbell's review says the book turns against bands and chains and wants you off the box unless you are injured. In 2012 Lilly wrote that he very seldom squats to a box and loads straight weight, adding reverse bands only for a couple of overload sets.
Is benching once a week enough?
For many lifters it is the weak spot. Liftosaur calls low bench frequency the most common complaint about the Cube and suggests 3 to 4 extra sets of 6 to 8 reps at 65 to 75% of your max on another training day.
The Cube Method was created by Brandon Lilly and first sold as an e-book through Juggernaut Training Systems in 2012. This guide summarises the publicly described structure in our own words, drawing on Juggernaut, Liftosaur and Empire Barbell. Buy the book for the full method. The accessory picks, weekdays and in-app templates are our own simplified version.
Checked . Symmetric Strength is not affiliated with Brandon Lilly, The Cube Method, Juggernaut Training Systems, Liftosaur or Empire Barbell. Program names are used only to identify the programs.
