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Strength by Feel Cycle


9 weeks   |   $25   |   Web, Text, Excel

9 week strength emphasis cycle using less prescribed percentages and more weights according to feel. Well-suited for athletes without well-developed classic lifts.

"Clean and Jerk went from 250 to 264.5 lbs. Snatch went from 160 to 198.4 lbs. Great program" - Tim L.

"Clean went from 275 to 300lbs, snatch went from 185 to 215 lbs and My front squat went from 350-375lbs!" - Tanner H.

Good For:
  • Intermediate to advanced lifters
  • Lifters without accurate 1RMs
  • Overhead and squat strength
  • CrossFitters or other athletes who want to emphasize strength and weightlifting temporarily while not losing a lot of conditioning (minimal conditioning work included)
Notes: In this cycle, % prescriptions following any "RM" are percents of the weight used for that rep maximum; e.g. "Jerk - 4RM; 90% x 4 x 2" means you take the jerk up to the heaviest set of 4 you can manage, then use 90% of that weight for 2 more sets of 4 reps.

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Sample Week

Week 1 Day 1 Monday
Comments (12)  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

  • Jerk - 4RM; 90% x 4 x 2
  • Push Press - 5RM; 90% x 5 x 2
  • Back Squat - 5RM; 90% x 5 x 4
  • Bent row - 5RM; 90% x 5 x 2
  • Unanchored sit-ups - 3 x max reps
Week 1 of 9

In this cycle, % prescriptions following any "RM" are percents of the weight used for that rep maximum; e.g. "Jerk - 4RM; 90% x 4 x 2" means you take the jerk up to the heaviest set of 4 you can manage, then use 90% of that weight for 2 more sets of 4 reps.

This week, don't take the rep maxes to absolute max effort - push hard, but finish with a bit left in the tank. Next week your goal will be to beat the numbers from this week.

Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.
Week 1 Day 2 Tuesday
Comments (10)  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

  • Mid-hang snatch - 3RM; 90% x 3 x 2
  • Power clean - 70% x 3 x 3
  • Snatch deadlift - 5RM
  • Stiff-legged deadlift - 3 x 5
4 sets; no rest:
15 kb swings
20 KB topside halfmoons (10/side)

Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.
Week 1 Day 3 Wednesday
Comments (1)  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

  • Overhead squat - 2RM; 90% x 2 x 2
  • Push press - 90% (of Monday's 5RM) x 5 x 3
  • Back squat - 90% (of Monday's 5RM) x 5 x 3
  • Bent row - 90% (of Monday's 5RM) x 5 x 3
  • Front/side planks - 2 x max (add wt if more than 1 min hold)


Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.
Week 1 Day 4 Thursday
Comments  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

  • Mid-hang clean - 3RM; 90% x 3 x 2
  • Power snatch - 70% x 3 x 3
  • Clean deadlift - 5RM
  • Good morning - 3 x 5
30 sec rest after each interval:
500 m row
400 m row
300 m row
200 m row
100 m row

Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.
Week 1 Day 5 Friday
Comments  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

Rest Day

Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.
Week 1 Day 6 Saturday
Comments (4)  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

  • Snatch - heavy single
  • Clean & jerk - heavy single
  • Front squat - heavy double


Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.
Week 1 Day 7 Sunday
Comments  |  Help  |  Programs  |  Exercises

Rest Day

Questions? Get answers here or post in comments.




16 Comments
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Hovik Arakelian
March 17 2016
Going to run the "strength by feel" cycle and not sure what "HS" means...
HS is Heavy Single. Please read the section here.

Steve Pan
Tanner Hoversholm
April 20 2016
Completed this cycle not long ago... Clean went from 275 to 300lbs, snatch went from 185 to 215 lbs and My front squat went from 350-375lbs!! Awesome program for a new weightlifter like myself!
Lari Vihantola
May 10 2016
Snatch/clean deadlits with or without straps?
You may use straps for the deadlifts.

Steve Pan
Jordan Gaudio
September 20 2016
Is the conditioning only available on the web program version and not the excel version of this program?
yes, the conditioning portion is not included in the excel spreadsheets. 

Alyssa Sulay
Drew Bush
June 15 2021
For the power variations of the Snatch and Clean, the percentages prescribed are of the full lifts or the powers or are the based off the Hang RMs?
Power %s are of best power unless otherwise noted. Hangs are off full lifts, unless it's hang power, in which case power.

Greg Everett
Andy Thompson
September 7 2022
What if I don’t know my max power clean for day 2 , it says do 70 percent for 3x3
Use an estimated PC max of 80-85% of your clean.

Greg Everett
Andy Thompson
September 14 2022
Are all the jerks a split jerk ?
Yes. "Jerk" means split jerk. Any other variation will be noted.

Greg Everett
Luke Cormican
May 21 2023
Unable to train Thursday so have to train Friday and Saturday back to back, finding legs are toast after the hang cleans the day before, any advice for how to tweak the training days?
Do saturday's workout on Friday and Thursday's workout on Saturday. Still won't be perfect but it'll a lot better.

Greg Everett