STABLE
The Natalie Richards program
2023 IPF World Classic Champion · 57 kg
Same reps. More weight.
Every block.
Natalie's program skips Work Capacity and builds the cycle from five-week hypertrophy and strength blocks that still carry higher-rep work. That keeps your bread-and-butter workload in one steady middle range, with main work at 4–5 reps all cycle and small changes from block to block. Heavy singles and skill sets run every week. Train 3 to 6 days a week.
Hypertrophy and strength blocks, no Work Capacity
Main work held at 4–5 reps all cycle
Singles and paused skill work every week
57
kg
Natalie
Richards
2023 IPF World Classic Champion
2023
Women’s Best Lifter, IPF Worlds
3×
Powerlifting America national champion
3–6
days a week. Natalie trains five, benching five times.
4–5
reps on competition squat, bench and deadlift work sets, in every block.
5
week blocks, including a five-week peak that ends with the taper.
Weekly
heavy singles and paused skill sets.
The cycle
Hypertrophy and strength,
five weeks at a time.
Five-week hypertrophy and strength blocks, then a five-week peak that ends with the taper. There's no Work Capacity block.
16 weeks
●○○
●●○
20 weeks
●●○
●○○
●●○
Hypertrophy
Strength
Peak
Transition week
●●● 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. When the weeks don’t divide by five, a block opens with a transition week, outlined in dashes: the same training as that block, just a lighter intro week. Longer cycles add more hypertrophy and strength blocks.
How the reps move
The reps stay.
The top set moves.
Work sets hold at 4–5 reps in every block. What changes is the top set, and the weight.
Each mark is a rep, in the order you lift them. Cyan marks are the top set and any single or back-off set; white marks are one work set.
Squat
Hypertrophy ●●○
Top 4 · single · sets of 4
Strength ●○○
Top 5 · single · sets of 5
Strength ●●○
Top 4 · single · sets of 4
Peak
Top single · back-off 4 · sets of 4
Bench
Hypertrophy ●●○
Top 4 · single · sets of 4
Strength ●○○
Top 4 · single · sets of 4
Strength ●●○
Top 3 · single · sets of 5
Peak
Top single · back-off 3 · sets of 5
Deadlift
Hypertrophy ●●○
Top 3 · single · sets of 5
Strength ●○○
Top 5 · single · sets of 5
Strength ●●○
Top 4 · single · sets of 4
Peak
Top 4 · single · sets of 4
Main days across a 20-week cycle. From Hypertrophy on, the deadlift’s top and work sets are paused and its single is a competition pull. Second squat days add paused squats, and the extra bench days run sets of 7–9.
The signature
Top set. Single.
Then sets of 4–5.
Primary squat and bench sessions build to a top set, often add one heavy fatigue single, then settle into sets of 4–5. The work sets stay the same all cycle; the top set and the weight do the changing.
Top set
Fatigue single
Sets of 4–5
The structure of a primary squat or bench session, not your numbers.
Their own week
Natalie's own week.
Yours fits your days.
Natalie trains five days herself: squat three times, bench five times and deadlift twice, with two to four accessories a session. Your program starts close to that, then fits your schedule.
Day 1
Squat
Bench
Day 2
Bench
Deadlift
Day 3
Squat
Bench
Day 4
Bench
Day 5
Squat
Bench
Deadlift
Days a week, at Natalie’s starting point
3×
Squat
5×
Bench
2×
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
Paused pulls,
Copenhagen planks.
Natalie’s deadlift is mostly paused: paused deadlifts with a competition single on her main pull day, and paused-off-the-floor sumo singles on the second. Around it sit tempo bench, dips, GHRs and Copenhagen planks.
Squat
Paused squats on the second squat day
Paused high-bar triples on the third
Leg press and leg extensions
Bench
3:1:0 tempo bench doubles
Feet-up bench
Dips and low-incline DB press
Deadlift
Paused deadlift, from Hypertrophy on
Paused-off-the-floor sumo singles
GHRs and hamstring curls
Core and back
Copenhagen planks
Face pulls
Pull-ups and DB Pendlay rows
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 Natalie
trains.
Natalie's program is a workhorse system. Her main work holds a tight 4–5 rep range in every block; instead of the reps, each block changes the top set and the weight.
Primary squat and bench sessions build to a top set, often add a heavy fatigue single, then settle into sets of 4–5. The top set moves from fives toward triples and becomes singles in the peak.
Singles and skill work run every week: competition singles, paused skill sets, and ascending sets that step up into the work.
There's no Work Capacity block: the cycle runs five-week hypertrophy and strength blocks into a five-week peak. Every block keeps some higher-rep work, so the core workload stays in the same middle range all cycle and the changes from block to block stay small.
01
Hypertrophy and strength, no Work Capacity.
Five-week blocks that keep some higher-rep work, so the core workload barely changes from block to block.
02
A narrow, steady rep range.
Competition squat, bench and deadlift work sets stay at 4–5 reps in every block.
03
The top set does the changing.
From fives toward triples across blocks, singles in the peak.
04
Singles and skill sets every week.
Fatigue singles, competition singles and paused skill sets.
05
Ascending sets.
Bench variations step up in weight into the work sets.
06
Five-week blocks.
Including a five-week peak that ends with the taper.
Make it yours
Their starting point.
Your program.
Natalie’s plan starts close to how she 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 Natalie 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.
Fatigue single
One heavy single right after your top set, before your work sets. Hit the RPE shown, not more.
Skill set
A technique set, often a paused or tempo variation, at moderate effort.
Ascending sets
Two sets that step up in weight to your work sets, with the same reps.
Work sets
Your main volume for the lift.
RPE
How hard a set felt on a 1–10 scale. RPE 8 means about two reps left in the tank.
The captains
Four champions.
Four ways to train.
Every captain trains differently, and each program is built from how they do it. Stay with Natalie, or see how the others train.
57
kg
STABLE
Natalie
Richards
2023 IPF World Classic Champion
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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.
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