MEGA
The Jesus Olivares program
6× IPF World Classic Champion · 120+ kg
Heavy all year.
Built to keep going.
Jesus’s program keeps the main lifts heavy and focused. Each lift’s main session opens with one heavy top set, then straight work sets: triples in hypertrophy, doubles, then singles from mid-cycle to the meet. Single-leg knee raises and steady hip and shoulder work keep you training heavy week after week. Train 3 to 6 days a week.
A heavy top set on every main lift, every block
Singles from mid-cycle to the meet
Single-leg knee raises and hip and shoulder work every week
120+
kg
Jesus
Olivares
6× IPF World Classic Champion
478 kg
Squat world record
1,152.5 kg
Total world record
3–6
days a week. Jesus trains four.
1
heavy top set opens each lift’s main session, then straight work sets.
12/16
weeks of a 16-week cycle are strength and peak. No Work Capacity block.
Weekly
pre-hab: single-leg knee raises, hip and shoulder work.
The cycle
Heavy from
the first block.
Four-week hypertrophy and strength blocks, then the peak. There's no Work Capacity block at any cycle length.
16 weeks
●●○
●○○
●●○
20 weeks
●●○
●○○
●●○
●●●
Hypertrophy
Strength
Peak
●●● Dots show specificity: the more dots, the closer that block’s training sits to the competition lifts.
Cycles end on your meet, so the peak lines up on the right. A 12-week cycle runs two strength blocks and the peak, and 24 weeks alternates hypertrophy and strength.
How the reps move
One top set,
then work sets.
Each lift’s main day opens with one heavy top set. It goes from a triple to a double to singles, while the work sets come down from eights to triples.
Each mark is a rep.
Hypertrophy
Top set
3
Work sets
8
Second-day work sets
8
Strength ●○○
Top set
2
Work sets
6
Second-day work sets
7
Strength ●●○
Top set
1
Work sets
5
Second-day work sets
6
Peak
Top set
1
Work sets
3
Second-day work sets
4
Main days across a 16-week cycle; squat, bench and deadlift all run it the same way. Second days skip the top set and go straight to work. In a 20-week cycle, Strength 3 runs a top single and sets of 4.
The signature
One heavy top set.
Then get to work.
Each lift’s main session opens with one heavy top set, then straight work sets. Nothing else is stacked onto the main lifts, and second sessions skip the top set entirely.
Top set
Work sets
The structure of a main-lift session, not your numbers.
Their own week
Jesus's own week.
Yours fits your days.
Jesus trains four days himself: squat twice, bench three times and deadlift once, with support work for the shoulders and hips every week. Your program starts close to that, then fits your schedule.
Day 1
Squat
Bench
Day 2
Bench
Day 3
Deadlift
Squat
Day 4
Bench
Days a week, at Jesus’s starting point
2×
Squat
3×
Bench
1×
Deadlift
Any program runs 3 to 6 days a week, with squat, bench and deadlift days anywhere from 1-2-1 to 3-5-2.
Exercise selection
Pre-hab is part
of the plan.
Around the main lifts, Jesus programs the work that keeps him training heavy: single-leg weighted knee raises on every squat day, abductor and adductor work for the hips, and Y-raises, face pulls and rear-delt flies for the shoulders.
Squat
Single-leg weighted knee raises, every squat day
High-bar squat, paused from Strength on
Leg extensions, then lying hamstring curls
Bench
3-count pause bench and 3:1:0 tempo bench early
Incline bench and machine chest press later
Pec deck, flyes and feet-up bench
Deadlift
RDLs to the floor early
Paused deadlifts from Strength on
Hamstring curls and 45° hip extensions
Hips and shoulders
Abductor and adductor machine
Cable and chest-supported Y-raises
Face pulls and rear-delt flies
Defaults for a balanced lifter. Tell the app your lifting style and weak points, and it swaps in the variations that target them.
Training philosophy
How Jesus
trains.
Jesus keeps the main work simple and heavy. Each lift’s main session opens with one heavy top set, then straight work sets, and its second session goes straight to the work. Nothing else is stacked onto the main lifts.
He stays heavy in every block. Even in hypertrophy the top set is a heavy triple. It becomes a double, then singles from mid-cycle to the meet, while the work sets come down from eights to triples.
In the later strength blocks, every top set eases off in the final week so the next block starts fresh. Squat and deadlift work sets ease with it, while bench work keeps building.
Around that core sits pre-hab: single-leg weighted knee raises on every squat day, abductor and adductor work, Y-raises and face pulls, held at a moderate effort so it supports the main lifts rather than competing with them.
01
Heavy all year.
A top set on every competition lift in every block, including triples in hypertrophy.
02
One top set, then work sets.
The main-lift structure never gets more complicated than that.
03
Singles from mid-cycle to the meet.
The heaviest singles of the cycle come in the peak.
04
An easier final week.
In the later strength blocks the top sets ease off in week four. Squat and deadlift work eases too, while bench work keeps building.
05
Pre-hab every week.
Single-leg weighted knee raises, abductor and adductor work, Y-raises and face pulls, at a steady, moderate effort.
06
No Work Capacity block.
Most of the cycle is strength and peak.
Make it yours
Their starting point.
Your program.
Jesus’s plan starts close to how he trains and found success. From there it’s built around you, and you can change any of it.
3 to 6 days a week
Every program runs on 3, 4, 5 or 6 training days. Pick yours when you start, and change it as your schedule does.
From 1-2-1 to 3-5-2
Set how often you squat, bench and deadlift each week, from once, twice and once up to three, five and two times. You start from the split Jesus uses.
Edit anything, anytime
Add or drop a day, add or remove exercises, and adjust the week-to-week progression. Your edits are saved and carried forward.
Check-ins that steer
At the end of every block, Workset reviews how each lift progressed and recovered, and suggests what to change. It steers you toward the plan that works for you, and keeps adjusting as you change. You choose what to accept.
Terms on this page
Top set
Your heaviest set of the day for that lift.
Work sets
Your main volume for the lift, after the top set.
Pre-hab
Accessories that keep your hips and shoulders ready for heavy training, like single-leg knee raises and face pulls. Hold the RPE shown; they’re not meant to wear you out.
Percentage
A percentage of your current max for that lift.
RPE
How hard a set felt on a 1–10 scale. RPE 8 means about two reps left in the tank.
Block
A run of weeks with one job: hypertrophy, strength or peak.
The captains
Four champions.
Four ways to train.
Every captain trains differently, and each program is built from how they do it. Stay with Jesus, or see how the others train.
120+
kg
MEGA
Jesus
Olivares
6× IPF World Classic Champion
You’re reading this one
Train on
Jesus’s team.
Early access is coming soon. Join the waitlist and we’ll email you when you can start Jesus’s program.
Coaches can post updates for their team in the app. It isn’t one-on-one coaching.
Workset is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) or Powerlifting America. Titles and records are the athletes' own, from IPF results as of 1 October 2026.
Workset gives general training information, not medical advice. Strength training carries a risk of injury. Check with your doctor before you start a new program, and stop if something hurts. The coaches' results are their own; yours depend on your training, recovery and consistency.
Each coach is a paid partner of Workset. Some short text in the app, like session recaps, is written automatically, not by your coach.
© 2026 Skynet Coaching Inc. All rights reserved.