Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 2755: Hit New PRs in your Squat, Bench, Deadlift & Overhead Press with This Program | Mind Pump 2755

Episode Date: December 22, 2025

MAPS 15 Powerlift The importance of the Big 3. (1:31) Don't fall for the trap of looking like one of these top athletes. (4:10) Who this program is for. (7:58) Breaking down MAPS 15 Powerlift and what you will get following this style of programming. (9:00) Strengthening weak links and achieving PR's. (14:11) The next BIG trend is short/daily workouts. (16:21) Related Links/Products Mentioned MAPS 15 Powerlift 50% half from Dec. 21-27th. Code DECEMBER50 at checkout. Visit Legion Athletics for the exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! ** Code MINDPUMP Buy one, get one 50% off for new customers, and 20% cash back for returning customers! ** Mind Pump Store Justin's Road to 315 Push Press Mind Pump #1152: Why You Should Powerlift Mind Pump Podcast – YouTube Mind Pump Free Resources  

If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind Pump. Mind Pump with your hosts. Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, another Maps 15 program. Maps 15 power lift.

If you want to get super strong, hit PRs and your bench press, your squat, your deadlift, and your overhead press, we threw that one in there. This is a brand new program. And again, it's Maps 15 format. So it's 15 minutes a day. And it's half off because it's a brand new program. So if you're interested, you go to 15 powerlift.com. That's 1-5 powerlift.com.

The code for the 50% off is December 50. Also, this episode is brought to you by a sponsor. Legion supplements, these are phenomenal supplements for fat loss, muscle, gain, athletic performance, and health. They have protein powders, creatine, and much more. Go through our link, get yourself a discount.

Go to buy legion.com. That's B-Y-L-E-G-I-O-N.com forward slash mind pump. Use the code mine pump. Get one, get one 50% off if you're a new customer or get 20% cash back for returning customers.

All right, here comes the show. All right, real quick, if you love us like we love you, why not show it by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over at mindpumpstor.com. I'm talking right now, hit pause, head on over to mindpumpstor.

That's it. Enjoy the rest of the show. All right. So this is the third installment of our series of our 15 versions of popular Maps programs. Here it is, Maps 15 power lift. We're going to talk about powerlifting. And we have a 15-minute version of it. Let's break it down and talk about why this is so awesome. This one to me, the uniqueness of this, aside from I think how well it was programmed, is also like when I think back, like, if I was. was starting young me with limited time. And I was like, this is the least I can get to the gym. Like these are the things that just do.

You know what I'm saying? Like to lay a solid foundation. So I know that this is going after people that are interested in powerlifting type of lifts. But I also think that this is such a great place to start as far as like just to building a solid foundation, like learning these core lifts. And so I think of like 17-year-old me that was kind of dabbling in the gym. Like I actually love this protocol. Well, the most, as a kid, when I was a kid,

I had just, I was so blessed to have been lifting weights next to these power lifters. They were older guys. They were probably in their 30s. But to a kid, they were older guys. And they were powerlifting. And I learned at 15, maybe 16, the importance of the big three.

And I made crazy gains from that. The power lifts are squat, bench, and deadlift. By the way, in MAPS 15 power lift, we added a fourth one, which is an overhead press. So those four lifts, if you get strong at those four lifts, your whole body is getting developed well. You're building great muscle, great strength for people who want fat loss. You're boosting metabolism in big ways. These lifts cover every muscle of the entire body, and you get good at these. You get strong.

Overall, you get strong. you get strong and you develop an incredible physique. And so I agree with you, Adam. I think powerlifting in general is a great place for people to start with strength training. It's a great place for people to go when it comes to strength training. And when you add the overhead press, you've got all your bases covered essentially. Well, what I always loved about powerlifting is the simplicity of it and really the hyper focus of the biggest movers, like the biggest bang for your buck of a type of an exercise that's going to be able to produce the most strength and really express.

that. And now, you know, in this format, it really helps you to hyper focus on that one lift and really, you know, fine-tuning the mechanics and really, like, you know, digging into building up the ultimate amount of strength output that you can with these lifts. I wonder how many people were, are fooled today as I was fooled. I didn't have that same experience as you did. I wish I did. Yeah. I always looked at the way power lifters looked, especially back then. The heavy weights? Yeah. Yes. You know, saying, because of a physique. Kind of a belly with the big belt around.

Strong as shit, you know, but that was, I was not into that. And so I fell for this idea that, oh, if I wanted to look like that, that's how I train. And so I was more drawn to the aesthetics, exercises,

keep the body moving, muscle confusion. And I can't tell you how much that didn't serve me. And I wish I knew that. And so I wonder how many people listening and I wonder how many people today still fall for that same trap as I did where you look at the athlete that tends to do power lift and go, oh, that way of training creates just like a lot of people do with CrossFit. People go, oh, CrossFit makes the top athlete, therefore. Yeah.

Yeah. And so I want to make sure that we communicate that because I know there's got to be people. I thought that way. Even as a trainer, I thought that way. That's a great way to a direction to go. So first off, when you look at the best of the best in any sport, what you're looking at are people who train hard. For sure. People are consistent for sure.

But you're also looking at, you know, bodies that were genetically made to do well at that particular sport because we're now at the top. Right. So at the very, very top, you have genetically gifted people for that sport plus the training discipline and structure. And so to give you an example, if you look at the best swimmers in the world, what you're going to find are people. people with short legs, long torsos, and flat rib cages and long arms. Okay. Now, that doesn't mean if you go swim a lot, your legs are going to shrink, your torso's going to grow longer, your back's going to get really wide in terms of

your rib cage, and your arm's going to get longer. That's not going to happen. But at that level, people who have those, just those genetic differences are gifted at swimming, and then on top of it, the training. So when you look at top, top level power lifters, like, you look at a top level bench pressure, okay? Somebody who has the highest bench press. Short arm.

You're going to have short arms and a really barrel, barrel chest. Right, round body, right? You know, the top deadlifters will look long and lakey typically. Right. So that's what you're looking at. Now, for the average person, if you follow powerlifting style training, you're just going to develop a great physique. And your genetics probably aren't going to allow you to have the best bench press in the world. But you're going to get really strong a bench press.

You're probably not going to have the genetics for the top deadlift in the world. But you're going to have, you're going to get really good at your deadlift. And all the muscles associated with. that are going to get really well developed. So that's the problem with looking at top athletes is we look at that and think that's what I'm going to look like. But what you're looking at are, you know, again, genetic differences that made them good at that sport plus all the training and the consistency.

I just want to cover that because I really think that this is one of the best ways for the average person to really get started and train, especially when you talk about the entry level amount of time, right? So it's not a lot, like it's not committing to a lot of time in the gym. And if I were getting started and I'm wanting to build the best foundation, these are the type of movements that if I could go back over again, or this is what I tell my nephew, who's like, hey, you know, I want to start getting it. This is like, here's the lifts.

Perfect protocol, yeah. Yes. Entry level or even somebody that's been so hyper focused on hypertrophy. Yes. And machine based. And it's like, but I, you know, I know it's good for me to do these compound lifts, but to be able to, you know, set aside time and adequate amount of effort in the actual technique of it and learn it, I feel like this is perfect for that. No, you're going to get, if you train, if you train, if you've never trained like a power lifter and you've been lifting weights for a while, you're in for a treat.

So that's number one. Number two, the programming in Maps 15 format for power lift, most people are going to hit PRs in many of these lifts. In fact, when I look at the programming, if right now, I've, I've toyed with. the idea of chasing a 700-pound deadlift. Okay, so the most I've ever done is 605. Deadlifting is my strength. I'm decent. I'm pretty good at it. I'm not the world's best, but I'm pretty good at it. But if I wanted to get a 700-pound deadlift, this is what I would do. Yeah. I would not do hour and a half workouts four days a week. I would literally be in the gym 20 minutes a day practicing many of these lifts, and there would be a whole section,

which would be focused on deadlift. This is why I learned in my series doing the overhead press. Yes. It was very similar. to this protocol once I narrowed it down and got rid of junk volume. This is exactly how I would train if I wanted to hit PRs in my bench, squat, overhead press, and deadlift. This is the programming. So talk about how

different this is because this program is very unique the way it's been phased. So talk about that. So the emphasis is on, because it's power lift, right? Because it's MAPS-15 power lift, the emphasis is going to be on bench press, squat, overhead press, and deadlift. So you're going to get really really good and really strong at those lifts.

And the vast majority of people that follow this program are going to hit PRs in each of those lifts. But not at the same time. That would be crappy programming. You're not going to PR, bench, squat, overhead, press, and deadlift in the same, you know, a block of time. It just doesn't work that way.

Especially when you're only doing 15, 20 minutes. Yeah, if you try to do that, you're going to hurt yourself. It just doesn't work that way. So here's how it's broken down. This is brilliant, brilliant programming. Phase one, so each phase is a block of weeks. Phase one, the focus is bench-press. Now, you are doing other exercises, because remember, it's MAPS-15 protocol,

meaning every day you're doing a little bit of strength training. So you're spending about 15 to 20 minutes of strength training every single day. But the focus of phase one is bench-press, meaning the lifts in phase one are, you're still training the whole body. So don't get me wrong. It's not like you're not doing your lower body. You're not doing your back. You still train the whole body.

But the focus is hit a PR on bench. Phase two, head a PR and squat. Phase three, hit a PR and overhead press, and then phase four hit a PR and deadlift. That's how the focus is broken up. So over the course of each phase, the focus changes. You're still hitting the whole body,

but the focus is on those big lifts. And you can expect, again, most people can expect to hit PRs in each of those lifts in each of those phases. And the muscles associated with those lifts, you can expect to develop them really, really well. So that's what you get at a following something like that. Well, talk about the mistake.

I mean, Justin can share this too because I know that he kind of went through this, that when he was going after that over whoever, it was the mistake that people make when they're chasing a PR with the rest of their volume and the rest of their training, especially when you're like, oh, I want to get good at those four main lifts. They tend to focus on all four of those main lifts at the same time and then get a little bit or nothing from all four lifts versus hyper-focusing on one.

Yes, yes. It's a mistake because, like, when you follow a strength training program that's done well, you'll generally get stronger, but if you want to get really strong at a particular movement pattern or a lift, that should be the focus. And everything else, again, don't neglect your body.

You're still training your whole body. But everything else is geared towards that one lift. That's how you'll maximize that one lift. Exactly. There's general strength application. There's also like specificity. And the body responds best to specificity because now we're really teaching it

to learn this at a higher level and degree, because we keep reintroducing it. The key, though, is to introduce it enough time so you can recover adequately, and then in terms of the emphasis of the other exercises complement it. So it actually keeps kind of building the body up, but really, like, over-emphasizes that specific desire.

In other words, just to kind of go through kind of what this would look like, phase one of Maps 15 power lift. Remember, it's the first. 15 protocol, meaning every day you're doing about 15 to 20 minutes of exercise of strength training. Okay, so about six days a week. The emphasis is on the bench press. So the hardest, heaviest days are bench days.

The other days you're training the whole body, but you're also doing exercises that protect you from injuries that are going to occur that, I should say, that the risk of the shoulders, yes, the risk of injuries that can happen when your bench press is going through the roof. Because that's what will happen. In phase one, your bench press is going to skyrocket. If you don't pay special attention to those particular areas of risk, like the shoulders, for example, then you can run into some problems, not just the plateau, but potential injury. So in phase one, you're training the whole body, emphasis is on bench, but you're also emphasizing on strengthening the areas that tend to get stressed when your bench goes through the roof. When you get to squats, it's the same thing.

Can we strengthen the whole body, but emphasize the squat, but then work on the areas that tend to get stressed. when your squat is going. Like you add 30 pounds to your squat. You got to be careful for your ankles, knees, and your hips. You got to be careful for your low back. And so in phase two, you've got some of those things in there. Overhead press, right? Shoulders and back.

Deadlift, back, right? So you're doing when you're following each of these phases, is you're focusing on those lifts. You're going to see skyrocketing numbers, but then you're going to bolster those areas that. Too, just to add to that, like, we've never programmed where that day we just have that one exercise. That is our entire focus.

And so, you know, this shows up. So you can block out all the rest of the noise and hyper-focus on just that compound lift and we can get really good at that. And then we complement it throughout the week so you don't lose any strength overall. But really, like, this is the one time we've really focused on.

Okay, bench press, it's just bench press day, you know. And then it's going to come back in a few days. We're going to hit just bench again and just watch how that explodes with your strength. Well, you guys talking about the protecting the shoulders and the hips and ankles and the things that bolster all these lifts. You know, it reminds me, if you've been listening long enough, I remember when you tell the story of having a plateau in your bench press

and then ordering the collar or the shoulder collar, whatever you call that. The shoulder horn. I'm about 15 pounds. Right. And literally just getting better, getting strength in your rotator cuff and bulletproofing the shoulders, all of a sudden you see this. And that I think this happens a lot with really consistent lifters, really consistent lifters that are chasing PR that have been lifting these lifts.

They get really, really strong on that. And they neglect to focus on all these, the hinges, right? Or the suspension, right? I mean, it's very similar to building a horse power in a car to go faster, but then not reinforcing the suspension and not reinforcing the chassis and wondering why you can't get any faster or you keep spinning out. You have a super intelligent central nervous system that will, limit your strength based off of its risk of injury assessment. Okay. So oftentimes you plateau,

not because you're not strong enough to lift more, but because your body won't let you lift more because the risk of injuries there. Now, a lot of us, what do we do? We just keep pushing past it and keep trying to get around it, which turns into what, nagging pain, injury. God, you know, I used to bench, but my shoulder hurts or, yeah, if I squat too heavy, I start to hurt here. When I deadlift a lot, I feel a little bit of pain in my SI joint. Well, that's because there's a, a weak link in the chain, once you strengthen that weak, weak length, suddenly you have crazy strengthings. So this is all addressed.

Of all the 15, and there's going to be four of them, this is the third one in the series, of all of them that were releasing, this one's the most exciting to me because looking at the programming, most people are going to hit PRs in each of these lifts. Most people are going to PR, in phase one, you're going to hit bench press more than you've bench press before. You're going to phase two with squats, phase three overhead press, and then phase, I can't wait for those comments. It's going to be really fun to see.

yourself PR in each phase with these exercises. And it's a great. And again, this is a program you could probably run back to back if you really want to push those, those numbers. And again, for what we're discovering, by the way, I talked to Justin about this off air. I predict this to be a, I predict this to be a trend in our space. This daily short strength training programming kind of workout style. I predict this to be the next big trend because it works. It really works. That was my point of bringing up, like, if I could go back again and tell 17-year-old me that started touching weights, I would push me in a direction like this. Just start here. Just right here. Not a huge commitment of hour-long gym sessions.

Simple. Effective. That's right. You're going to focus on a couple things, really hyper-focus on one thing for a couple weeks. Then you're going to move the other, like, get good at these lifts. Laying that foundation for something. Oh, dude, this is, this is the way I wish I would have went for sure. By the way, in the time it took you to listen to this episode, you'd be done with a workout. We literally, I think we've been going for just over 15 minutes. That's how long each of these workouts takes. It's about six days a week.

So you're in and out. You're doing two lifts a day except for the special lifts of each week where you're just doing that lift by itself. So bench press day, you'll have a squat day. You'll have an overhead press and a deadlift day depending on the face. And because we're releasing these brand new and we're doing a series, it's half off. It's 50% off. So if you want, Maps 15 powerlift, you go to 15powerlift.com.

That's 15 powerlift.com. Use the code December 50, and it's 50% off. Also, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram. We'll see what's at Mind Pump Media. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance,

check out our discounted RGB Superbundle at Mind Pumpmedia.com. The RGB Superbundle includes Maps Anabolic, maps performance, and Maps aesthetic, Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Superbundle is like having Sal Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Superbundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now, plus other valuable free resources. at mindpumpmedia.com. If you enjoy this show, please share the love

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