How to run the Hepburn Method program

Who Is This Program For?

The Hepburn Method is for intermediate lifters who have burned out on programs that ask for a maximum effort every week. Everything here is submaximal. Nothing is ever taken to failure. Progress is measured in single reps rather than kilos on the bar, which makes it slow, predictable and very hard to stall.

Doug Hepburn was a Canadian strongman and Olympic lifter, 1953 world weightlifting champion, and the first man to bench press 500 lbs (227 kg) without drugs or supportive gear. This was the method he built himself with, and the reason it survives is that it works on people who have already exhausted linear progression.

The program focuses on:

• Submaximal frequency: heavy work twice per week per lift, never at a limit
• Rep-by-rep progression: one extra rep per session, no more
• Power then pump: heavy low rep work for strength, lighter volume work for size, always in that order
• Long cycles: months on one routine before switching, not weeks

If you want a program where you almost never have a bad session and the numbers still climb, this is it.

Program Structure

Weekly Schedule

Four sessions per week on an upper and lower alternation, so each lift is trained twice per week.

A typical layout is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Hepburn favoured one day on, one day off patterns, so Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday works equally well.

Two day version. If four sessions is impossible, run two full body days with a longer gap between them:

Each lift is then trained once per week and progress halves in speed, but the method still works.

Every Lift Has Two Blocks

For each main lift you do a power block first, then a pump block with a lighter weight.

The order is not negotiable. Power always comes first, while you are fresh. Rest 5 to 10 minutes between the two blocks.

The Two Routines

Hepburn used two routines and alternated between them when he went stale. Run one for 3 to 4 months, then switch.

Routine A, singles:

Routine B, doubles:

Routine A is the strength-biased option. Routine B carries far more total tonnage in the power block and is the version most people find easier to recover from, because there are no true singles in it.

Progression: One Rep Per Session

This is the entire engine of the program.

Each session, add one rep. When the full prescription is complete, add weight and reset the ladder.

Add the rep to the first set that is not yet at the target, working front to back.

Routine A Power Block

Starting with a weight you can lift for 3 reps, so roughly 90% of your 1RM:

Session 1: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1        (5 singles)
Session 2: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1     (6 singles)
Session 3: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1  (7 singles)
Session 4: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1  (8 singles)
Session 5: add weight, back to 5 singles

Routine A Pump Block

Starting about 20% below the power weight, targeting 5 sets of 5:

Session 1: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Session 2: 4, 3, 3, 3, 3
Session 3: 5, 3, 3, 3, 3
Session 4: 5, 4, 3, 3, 3
Session 5: 5, 5, 3, 3, 3
...
Session 11: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Session 12: add weight, back to 5 sets of 3

Routine B Power Block

Starting around 80% of your 1RM, targeting 8 sets of 3:

Session 1: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Session 2: 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Session 3: 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
...
Session 8: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Session 9: add weight, back to 8 sets of 2

At two sessions per week per lift, that is a complete power cycle every four weeks.

Routine B Pump Block

Starting about 20% below the power weight, targeting 3 sets of 8:

Session 1: 6, 6, 6
Session 2: 7, 6, 6
Session 3: 7, 7, 6
Session 4: 7, 7, 7
Session 5: 8, 7, 7
Session 6: 8, 8, 7
Session 7: 8, 8, 8
Session 8: add weight, back to 3 sets of 6

Weight Increments

The power block and the pump block progress on separate clocks. The pump ladder is longer than the power ladder, so you will often add weight to your singles while the pump work is still climbing. That is correct. Track them independently.

Expect roughly 2.5 to 5 kg (5 to 10 lbs) added to a lift every 4 to 5 weeks. Over a year that is a serious number, and it arrives without a single failed rep.

Never Grind

Every set should end with something left. If a single turns into a fight, or a set of 3 in the pump block starts slowing down, your starting weight was too high. The starting weight should be one that guarantees you never miss a rep even on the last set, even when tired. Hepburn's whole point was to get the workload in and only then add weight.

Get Your Form Right First

Everything below assumes your form is already solid. Finding your working weight, adding weight, chasing reps, all of it only works if you can perform the lift correctly. While your form is not locked in, that is your only job. Make good form the goal of every set, not the weight on the bar. Drilling the movement with an empty bar beats loading plates onto a lift you cannot control yet.

To learn, don't hesitate to search Google and YouTube (there is a lot of good free material) and record yourself from the side to compare against a proper demonstration. In general, good form means a full controlled range of motion, a braced neutral spine, no bouncing or momentum, a consistent setup every rep, and ending the set when technique breaks down rather than grinding sloppy reps.

Finding Your Starting Weights

Both routines need one number per lift, and it is better to underestimate it.

Routine A:

1. Find a weight you can lift for a clean 3 reps, which is roughly 90% of your 1RM.
2. That is your power weight. It must be a weight you can do 5 easy singles with today.
3. Take 20% off for the pump weight.

Routine B:

1. Find a weight you could lift for a hard 8 reps, which is roughly 80% of your 1RM.
2. That is your power weight. Eight sets of 2 with it should never approach failure.
3. Take 20% off for the pump weight.

Example, bench press with a 1RM of 100 kg (225 lbs):

Routine A power: 90 kg (200 lbs) for 5 to 8 singles
Routine A pump:  72.5 kg (160 lbs) for 5x3 up to 5x5

Routine B power: 80 kg (175 lbs) for 8x2 up to 8x3
Routine B pump:  65 kg (145 lbs) for 3x6 up to 3x8

Example, squat with a 1RM of 160 kg (350 lbs):

Routine A power: 145 kg (320 lbs) for 5 to 8 singles
Routine A pump:  115 kg (255 lbs) for 5x3 up to 5x5

Routine B power: 130 kg (285 lbs) for 8x2 up to 8x3
Routine B pump:  105 kg (230 lbs) for 3x6 up to 3x8

If session 1 is anything other than comfortable, take 5% off and start again. The ladder has plenty of room and you gain nothing by starting at the top of it.

Warming Up

The power block is heavy from the first work set, so ramp properly before it.

The pump block needs no warmup of its own, since it is 20% lighter than work you have just finished.

Rest Times

The long rests in the power block are what keep every rep clean. If you cut them, the last sets of the ladder turn into grinders and the program stops being what it is.

When You Stall

Stalling in this program means you could not add the rep, or the reps you did add were ugly.

1. Repeat the exact same session next time. No deload, no weight change. One repeated session solves most cases.
2. Repeated twice on the same lift: cut the power block and run only the pump block on that lift for 2 to 3 weeks, then rebuild.
3. You keep stalling early in the ladder: your starting weight was too high. Take 5 to 10% off and start the ladder again.
4. You want more runway: start the power block at 3 singles rather than 5, or at 6 sets of 2 rather than 8. A longer ladder means more sessions before you have to add weight.
5. Everything is stale: switch routines. Going from A to B or B to A is the built-in answer to a genuine plateau, and it is the reason there are two routines.

If you are running both blocks on every lift and constantly under-recovered, drop the pump block entirely for a while. Hepburn himself concluded late in life that running heavy singles and a full volume block in the same session was too much for most people, and he stopped doing it.

Program Duration

Run one routine for 3 to 4 months, then switch to the other.

Hepburn thought four months was about the longest any single routine could run before going stale, and he treated the A to B to A alternation as the key to long-term progress rather than a fallback. At four sessions per week, a 4-month block is roughly 68 sessions and 3 to 4 completed weight increases per lift.

There is no built-in deload. The program does not need one because no session is ever maximal. If you feel you need one, that usually means your starting weights were too high.

Access the Original Program

If you would like to read the original material:

Doug Hepburn and Ray Beck, "Power and Bulk Training For You" (1957)

Hepburn's own full write-up of his rules, his percentages and his routines is in his book Hepburn's Law, republished as Doug Hepburn Strength Training Routine. His original 1957 course material, archived at the link above, is the closest freely available primary source.