As its name suggests, Sheikburn program is a hybrid of the Sheiko program and the Hepburn program. The Hepburn program basically focuses on building up your strength. On the contrary, the Sheiko program presents a more high volume approach which makes the Sheiko workout routine more technique and hypertrophy oriented. The Sheikburn program presents a workout plan that enhances your strength levels along with promoting hypertrophy.
The Sheikburn program allows you to get your training sessions modified catering to your requirements. The Hepburn Method is known for its protocol of either adding more reps to the same weight or adding more sets pertaining to the same range of reps. Sheiko method on the other hand is known for its alternating heavier and lighter days periodization. The Sheiko x Hepburn approach basically combines the structure of Hepburn Method style sets and reps with the periodization used in the Sheiko method. This workout program can certainly be run as a strength block.
Sheikburn Program
The Sheikburn program is a 4-week program in which you train 4 days per week. The major compound lifts squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press are trained two times a week. The workouts that you would be doing following the Sheikburn program can be easily divided into either full body or a split style workout. For instance, if you are following the full body protocol you will be doing Squat and Bench Press on Day 1 and Overhead Press and Deadlift on Day 2. If you are following a split workout, you would be doing Squat and Deadlift on Day 1 and Bench Press and Overhead Press on Day 2. You can modify their frequency as per your individual recovery.
If you feel that some lifts like squats and bench presses need more frequency, then you can modify your program to up their frequency. For instance:-
If you want to increase your squat and bench frequency, you can go with the following:-
Day 1- Squat and Bench
Day 2- Overhead press and deadlift
Day 3- Squat and Bench.
If you only want to increase the frequency of your bench press, you can modify the workout to up its frequency to three times a week. The Sheikburn program allows you to make certain modifications to your workout to aid in recovery without compromising on your goals. The best protocol with which you can start your training is training three days a week taking a day of rest between two workout sessions. If you recover easily and sooner from your workouts, you can try your hand on either 4 days per week or 5 days per week protocol. You can follow these templates accordingly:-
3 days a week: Train/rest/train/rest/train/rest/rest.
4 days a week: Train/train/rest/train/train/rest/rest.
5 days a week: You will be training every other day.
There are certain people who gain the best from training two days a week. But for better attaining good results with Sheikburn program, you must be training at least 4 days per week. If you recover well, you can also opt for training 5 days a week. This program makes use of Sheiko style waves. Owing to this, your training intensity and volume keep on going up and down corresponding to every session. In other words, you tend to get a lighter session followed by a heavier one.
The workouts under this program can also be done based on how you feel during certain sessions. For example, if a week requires you to perform 2 sets of 2 reps for one exercise and 2 sets of 3 reps for the other exercise, you can interchange the exercises. Doing this does not have much of an effect on your training volume.
Training under this protocol requires you to lift up the weights explosively. You are also required to perform warm-up sets that would be around 50%-55% of your 1 RM. Just make sure that you don’t over-exhaust yourself and get fatigued.
The percentages that we are going to present before you will be calculated based on your 1 RM. The weight that you must go with should be challenging enough to provide you with enough growth-promoting resistance. But at the same time, it should not be too heavy to get your form compromised. Perfect form and depth are the credentials to ensure the perfect execution of any compound movement. If you choose a weight that is too heavy and compromises your form, progressing with this training protocol will eventually burn you out.
Days |
Exercises |
Sets x Reps |
Percentage of 1 RM |
Day 1 |
Option A
Option B |
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 4 x 3
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 2 x 2 3 x 3 |
50% 60% 70% 80%
55% 65% 75% 85% 80% |
Day 2 |
Option A |
1 x 5 2 x 5 3 x 5 |
50% 60% 70% |
Day 3 |
Option A |
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 6 x 3 |
50% 60% 70% 80% |
Option B |
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 3 x 2 |
55% 65% 75% 85% |
|
Day 4 |
Option A
|
1 x 4 2 x 4 5 x 4 |
55% 65% 75% |
Option B |
1 x 5 2 x 5 5 x 5 |
50% 60% 70% |
|
Day 5 |
Option A
|
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 8 x 3 |
50% 60% 70% 80% |
Option B |
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 3 x 2 4 x 4 |
55% 65% 75% 85% 75% |
|
Day 6 |
Option A
|
1 x 4 2 x 4 7 x 4 |
55% 65% 75% |
Option B
|
1 x 5 2 x 5 6 x 5 |
50% 60% 70% |
|
Option C |
1 x 5 2 x 5 4 x 4 3 x 5 |
50% 60% 75% 75% |
|
Day 7 |
Option A |
1 x 5 1 x 4 2 x 3 10 x 3 |
50% 60% 70% 80% |
Option B |
1 x 5 2 x 5 7 x 5 |
50% 60% 70% |
Once you have completed your workout for 7 days, make an assessment of the completed cycle. You can also modify the exercises and set/rep patterns as per your convenience. You can add 5-10 lbs to your max and restart. You can also repeat the same workout cycle if the weights prove to be too heavy for you and hinder the completion of sets.
You can also experiment with lifting orders and frequency. If the workouts that you are doing in the sessions are more difficult for you, it’s a clear indication that your body needs more recovery. In such a scenario, you can choose to minimize your training days and focus more on recovery.
Accessory work
Regarding accessory work in this program, it is recommended to go for 30-50 reps which can be completed with 3-4 sets done in the range of 8-12 repetitions. The prime purpose of accessory lifts is to eliminate your weaknesses. You must choose a heavier weight and should always stop 2-4 reps prior to failure. Keep in mind that your weight should not be heavy enough to break your form. You may get fatigued performing 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, hence choose a weight which allows you to complete all your sets and reps with proper form.
You would also be required to perform some rehab work as well. You would be lowering up the intensity performing them. With low-intensity rehab work, you promote faster recovery along with preventing any injury. They can be done in 1-2 sets of 12-20 reps. Perform the rehab work at the end of your workout. An ideal protocol would comprise performing 2-3 accessory exercises and 1-2 rehab exercises for each workout. The following table will give you an apt idea about the selection of accessory and rehab work for each lift. Have a look.
Exercises |
Accessories |
Rehab work |
Squat and deadlift |
Barbell rowing Pull-ups Good mornings Hyperextension Glute ham raise Abs |
Bodyweight lunges Leg curls Glute bridge Bird dog |
Bench press and overhead press |
Dumbbell chest flye Dumbbell military press French press Seated cable row Lat pulldowns Dumbbell rows Dipa |
Dumbbell hammer curls Triceps pressdown Cable face-pull Bnd pull-apart |
Sheikburn Program Spreadsheet
The prime purpose of a spreadsheet is to provide you with a detailed and descriptive explanation about how you should follow a specific training program. It helps in avoiding any kind of confusion and provides you with an effective approach to make progress while you are on a certain training routine. We are going to present before you the Sheikburn program spreadsheet to give you the exact idea about how you should proceed with the program. This spreadsheet will let you know how much weight you would be using in each session as a percentage of your 1 RMs on different lifts.
This Google sheet provides you with a template that simply calculates the weight that you would be lifting and progressing with corresponding to each session. It presents before you a 4-week training program in which you would be training 4-days a week. Day 1 and Day 3 will be dedicated to squat and bench press and Day 2 and Day 4 will be for overhead press and deadlift. Following the set and rep pattern presented in the excel sheet will let you progress well with the program. Let’s have a look at the Sheikburn program spreadsheet.
Credit of this template goes to u/maplesyruptech
Following this spreadsheet will ensure that you get the best out of the Sheikburn program.
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