Our 10 Favourite Powerlift Variations

Everyone hits a plateau at some point in their lifting career and they need a change to help push them through that. Over the years I've tried a lot of different variations and movements to get to the next milestone. I thought I would compile a list of my 10 favourite variations to use both myself and for athletes I coach. While programming should be individualized to a lifters specific weak points, these are great movements that can help spur on strength gains for many lifters.

1. Pause Squats: This will be a bit of a trend, but adding a pause to a movement is going to make that movement harder. It’s also great to teach you how to hold tightness and generate force in the hardest position.

2. Pin Squats: These are one of the best movements to help fix a chest fall pattern. You need to be strict with the pins so you are hitting them solidly and pausing on them, and not bouncing off them. Power cages with thin rods for safeties are not going to be good for these because they are bouncy. I personally love the MET-XT Squat Safeties for these because of how solid they feel. 

3. High Bar Squats: Do you have a weak upper back? No? Well it could still be stronger. These will not only build your upper back, but also help build bigger quads and teach you to hold position out of the bottom. These will punish you if you let your chest fall out of the hole.

4. 2 Second Pause Bench: Don’t cheat these, make the pauses long and solid. If you have trouble with that, get someone else to give you an honest count. I find it better to count to 3 if I want a 2 second pause cause I’m a cheater apparently. These are going to build a strong bench and also prep you for competition better than a quick pause on the chest.

5. Legs Up Bench: We’ve been doing these for two decades. Between the increased instability engaging more supporting muscles, to reduced ability to arch causing more chest engagement, these are a great movement to push to build a big bench.

6. Low Incline Bench: A low incline, something around 15-20 degrees is best for this. These are a bit easier to push heavier than a normal incline and the bar path on these can help to reinforce pushing back over your shoulders on a flat bench if you have troubles creating that path. 

7. Pause Deadlifts: The trend continues. Pausing your deadlift just off the floor is probably one of the best ways to build your deadlift. It helps practice using your legs to get the movement started instead of “pulling” with your back and getting your hips too high off the floor. The key is to be strict on that pause, it’s a stop sign, don’t roll through it.

8. Tempo To Knees Deadlift: This is similar to the pause variation, and sometimes I will just use this during warm ups to help cue position at the start of the movement. Aim for a 2-3 second tempo from floor to knees, then finish the pull strong. You can add a pause to the end of the tempo if you want to make them more fun. 

9. Reverse Band Deadlifts: This movement is also good to help with people who struggle with off the floor position. The slightly decreased load at the bottom can encourage a better position, while still stressing the top end of the movement. Aim for about 10-20% load reduction with the bands and try to set them up so the bands are almost slack at lockout.

10. Front Squats: This is kind of a two for one. It’s going to help build your squat and your deadlift. Big quad engagement and massive upper back stress on these. Assuming you can do them without blowing up your wrist/shoulders/elbows, these should be in your programming.