Gene Bell Jr.’s 12 Week Squat Peaking Program with Spreadsheet

Squats can be challenging, even for advanced powerlifters. It is one of the most complicated compound movements, demanding work from various muscle groups.

As such, many powerlifters struggle to achieve a respectable 1 Rep-Maximum when it comes to squatting. The problem becomes even more prominent when there is a meet or professional competition lined up shortly.

Fortunately, any powerlifter can easily follow a comprehensive squat peaking program to fix their weaknesses and achieve a better 1RM performance.

But for that, you would need a well-detailed squat program programmed specifically to meet your needs.

Therefore, we’ve brought the perfect 12-week squat program that can help you max out your squatting performance and achieve peak preparedness before a competition.

Program Principles

Gene Bell Jr. is a popular name in the world of powerlifting and squatting. He came up with an efficient 12-week squat program to help intermediate and advanced lifters overcome their plateaus and achieve peak performance before meet events.

The Gene Bell Jr. squat peaking program is simple enough in terms of understanding. The workout and physical intensity are still pretty demanding. So, it’s recommended that beginners don’t try to follow this program.

The Gene Bell Jr. 12-week squat program is only meant for meet prep and training for competitions. Powerlifters cannot shift their focus solely to this program during their off-season training as they will not be able to train the other two core exercises of powerlifting.

The training pattern follows undulating periodization, where intensity and volume fluctuate after every workout session. Since there is no linear pattern, the increased or decreased intensity/volume can shock the muscles and give them enough stimulation to promote growth.

This key principle allows even experienced professionals to overcome stubborn plateaus and start maxing out.

The program calculates the starting weights and judges progress/results by using the lifter’s 1RM. As such, only experienced individuals who are well-versed in their squatting capabilities should try this program. Inputting accurate 1RM is extremely important.

Ultimately, the program is designed to bring about a 5-6% increase in your squatting 1RM.

To summarize, these are the principles used in Gene Bell Jr.’s 12-week program for squatting:

• Follows undulating periodization pattern to stimulate all the muscles effectively.
• Uses the lifter’s precise 1RM to gauge progress and decide weights.
• Meant for meet preps and competitions; not recommended for beginners.

Gene Bell Jr.’s 12 Week Squat Peaking Program

The format of Gene Bell Jr.’s 12-week squat program is pretty simple. It follows the basic schedule, one squat session per week.

The light scheduling is essential to the effectiveness of this program as the intent is to allow the powerlifter to gain strength while also recovering and relaxing efficiently.

However, the intensity of the one training session is high. As such, only advanced and intermediate lifters should be performing this.

Most of the workout sessions are carried out at 60-80% of the lifter’s 1RM capabilities. The training pattern is undulating. This means that weights increase and volume decreases randomly after each workout session, creating maximum stimulation.

By the final four weeks of the training program, the powerlifter will be working with 92.5% and more of his 1RM capabilities.

If you follow this program carefully, then you should increase your squatting 1RM by 5-6 percent.

Gene Bell Jr.’s 12 Week Squat Peaking Program Spreadsheet

Gene Bell Jr. gave us the perfect roadmap to achieving squatting peak preparedness for professional competitions.

You can download the entire 12-week squat program from here.

From there, you can either keep the Spreadsheet file on your phone or get a printout to have physical access to the routine at all times.

Don’t miss:

Hatch Squat Program Spreadsheet
USSR Yearbook Squat Routines
Fred Hatfield (Dr. Squat) 12 Week Peaking Program
Smolov Squat Program
Russian Squat Program

Final Words

Squatting might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It requires intense dedication from the powerlifter’s end.

But sometimes, you need more than sheer determination. You also need to know the right path.

With Gene Bell Jr.’s 12 week squat peaking program, you have exactly that.