Brandon Lilly’s Cube Method

Squat, bench and deadlift, yes, it is all about powerlifting. The Cube method focuses on the improvement of your loading capacity for these big three.

Your total of the three lifts is like your status in the powerlifting game. While many other programs out there help you build one lift at a time, Brandon Lilly’s cube method makes you work for all the three simultaneously.

This program is developed by Brandon Lilly, a renowned powerlifter with an aim to break the plateau. The ten-week program consisting of three waves of three weeks each and a meet week is designed to push your competition max or personal best in all three lifts.

This program has helped the creator to amass a big lift total, and it has the potential to do the same for you.

Brandon Lilly, the author of cube method is one of the strongest powerlifters and a respected strength coach with a raw total of 2110 pounds. And he credits his achievements to this method.

Brandon Lilly’s Cube Method Program Overview

The cube method program presents the optimum way to build muscle mass and strength while allowing sufficient time for recovery. It follows the basic architecture of combining heavy, explosive and repetition work for all the three lifts in a three-week wave.

The ten-week program consists of three waves of three weeks with steadily increasing weights for heavy lifts, and one meet week.

Each week there would be one heavy lift, explosive work for another lift and repetition work for the third lift. Heavy workout for a particular lift is followed explosive work on the next week to allow you to recover.

You lift heavy for only one day in a week. On the other three work-days, you perform explosive work with light weights, repetition work with moderate weights and recovery work to address the weak points.

What is the Cube Method?

The ten-week Cube method program is made up of three waves. Each wave has three weeks of training. You will be training 3 to 4 times a week.

The creator of the program recommends that you train for four-time a week to accommodate recovery or bodybuilding work. This will help you train the weak muscles and overcome the weak points.

• The three days in with a rest day in between a week are main work days, the fourth will be recovery work or bodybuilding work day. You will be doing bench, squat and deadlifts every week. For one exercise you will perform heavy lifts, for second explosive work and third repetition work.

For example, if you deadlift heavy in week one, you will perform explosive work on bench and repetition work of squats. This way you will train only one heavy lift in a week. In week two you do explosive work for the deadlift, heavy squats and bench repetition. Week three is for the heavy bench, deadlift repetition and explosive squats.

The same three-week routine is repeated in wave two and three with increased weights. Every week on a fourth work day you can perform exercises focusing on your weaknesses.

Is the Cube Method Good for You?

If you feel like you need some new training schedule just for variety or you have reached a plateau with your lifting capacity and need some stimulus you can opt for Lilly’s cube method.

It trains you to improve your lifting capacity for all three big lifts simultaneously. The compact 10-week schedule makes optimum use of your time and still has room for recovery.

This method is suitable for everyone who aims to push their lifting limits. Beginner to advanced, every lifter can use this program.

Read The Cube Method Book

Brandon Lilly created and used this method himself. He has published the book on this method. The book has all the specifics of the program, from the schedule outline right down to weight percentage and reps to be performed.

Read the book to understand the true specifics of the program and follow it to the tee to benefit most from it.

Brandon Lilly’s Cube Method Program

The program has many intricacies in terms of weight selection, accessory exercises and reps. Here we are providing you with the framework of the program.

Cube Programming

The recommended frequency of training in cube method is four days a week. If you are fairly confident you can do without it, you can leave out bodybuilding day.

In the 10 week cycle, there will be 3 waves of 3 weeks each and the 10th week will be a meet week, where you will attempt your new PR.

• A wave is, three weeks of squatting, deadlifting and benches in heavy, repetition and explosive work in a cycle.

1. Week one would be a heavy workout day for exercise 1, an explosive work day for exercise 2 and repetition work for exercise 3, in that sequence. 4th work day would be bodybuilding or recovery day, every week.
2. Week two will have an explosive work day for exercise 1, repetition work day for exercise 2, heavy work for exercise three, in that sequence.
3. Week three comprise of repetition workday for exercise 1, heavy work day for exercise 2 and an explosive work day for exercise 3.

Exercise 1, 2, 3 can be named among squats, deadlift and bench, but the sequence remains intact.

• After three weeks the same sequence is repeated for a second and third wave with added weights in each three-week progression.

Don’t miss:

Korte 3×3 Program with Spreadsheet
Ed Coan Deadlift Program with Spreadsheet
Russian Squat Program with Spreadsheet
Jason Blaha’s Ice Cream Fitness 5×5
nSuns 5/3/1 Spreadsheets

Assistance Work:

You can isolate and target the relatively weak muscle group on every work day. Once you are done with the powerlifting exercises you can do isolation work.

These assistance lifts should be chosen so as to target the weak muscles while mimicking or partially imitating the main three moves. These lighter weight assistance exercises are necessary to work on those weaknesses.

The accessory work should be done with moderate to lighter weights and the recommended rep range is between 6 to 12 per set.

The main lifts are compound in nature and involve multiple muscle group. It is highly likely for an individual to possess some muscle groups stronger than the other. The aim of the accessory work is to improve the strength in isolated muscle groups in order to improve the overall main lift.

Planning:

You are going to repeat the three-week wave three times during the 10-week cube program. The remaining week is the competition week, or the meet week when you will attempt your new PR for all three lifts.

You will have 2-2 peaking sessions in 10th week to make you ready for the competition. Even if you are not having a competition you can have a mock meet to set your new personal best.

You can use this PR as the current max for the next 10-week cycle.

Brandon Lilly’s Cube Method Spreadsheet

When you are attempting to use a well structured and complex program like the cube method, it is important to understand every step of it beforehand. You might not attain the desired output if you make mistake in choosing the exercises, sets and reps.

Throughout the program, you will be doing heavy and moderate weight lifting. A mistake in calculating the weights can result in injury.

To help you avoid such mistakes and also to assist you in tracking your progress, we have created a customisable spreadsheet for Brandon Lilly’s cube method.

You can download the spreadsheet, fill in your current max and done, it will do all the necessary calculations. The sheet has full 10-week schedule detailed to the number of sets, reps and weights. You can print this personalised workout plan and carry it to the gym to track your daily progress.

Don’t miss:

Escalating Density Training (EDT) Program
Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) Program
Wendler 5/3/1 Program Spreadsheets
PHAT Workout Routine
GZCLP Program with Spreadsheet
Chinese Weightlifting Program

Final Thoughts On The Cube Method 

Brandon Lilly has poured his expertise in building the cube method. This method has helped him to be one of the strongest powerlifters. He credits that his magnificent multiply equipped 2612 pound total is an outcome of the cube method program.

You can also benefit from this program. Follow it with dedication, don’t miss a rep, and be ready for new personal best on the 10th week. The program creator claims that the cube method can add 36 pounds on squat, 43 on deadlift and 22 on the bench in 10 weeks.

The method focusses on technique more than attempting extra heavy lifts during the program. You will be attempting to lift more than your current best only on the meet day after completion of the cycle. This makes it a bit safer than other programs.