Young Power Protocol

Summary

The Young Power Protocol is a comprehensive yet minimalistic workout plan, emphasising strength development with a focus on power building, a combination of powerlifting and bodybuilding combined. The protocol integrates first principles from established training methodologies to create a well-balanced, full-body training regimen.

Underlying Principles

Big 6 Movements

The foundation of the protocol lies in the “big 6 movements”: Squat (Lower Press), Deadlift (Lower Hinge), Bench Press (Horizontal Push), Bent Over Row (Horizontal Pull), Overhead Press (Vertical Push), and Pull-Up (Vertical Pull), chosen for their compound nature and logical symmetry.

Legs Push Pull (LPP)

The protocol follows a Legs Push Pull (LPP) split, with workouts scheduled from Monday to Saturday and a rest day on Sunday. 

	Legs	Push	Pull
Vertical	Squat	Overhead Press	Pullup/Lat Pulldown
Horizontal/Hinge	Deadlift	Bench Press	Bent Over Row

GZCL

Each day focuses on a specific movement pattern, incorporating elements of the GZCL methodology, including T1 (main lifts, low rep ranges), T2 (secondary lifts, mid rep ranges), and T3 (accessory lifts, high rep ranges). Progression is structured over a four-week cycle, gradually increasing intensity and volume to promote strength gains.

Tier	Rest	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
T1	3-5m	3 Sets x 5 Reps (15x 85%)	4 Sets x 3 Reps (12x 90%)	1 Set x 3 Reps (3x 87.5%), 2 Sets x 2 Reps (4x 92.5%), 3 Sets x 1 Rep (3x 97.5%)	1 Set x 3 Reps (3x 90%), 1 Set x 2 Reps (2x 95%), 1 Set x 1+ Reps (1+ 100%)
T2	2-3m	4 Sets x 8 Reps (32x 65%)	5 Sets x 6 Reps (30x 70%)	5 Sets x 5 Reps (25x 75%)	5 Sets x 4 Reps (20x 80%)
T3	1m	2 Sets x 12 Reps, 1 Set x 12+ (36+)	2 Sets x 12 Reps, 1 Set x 12+ (36+)	2 Sets x 12 Reps, 1 Set x 12+ (36+)	2 Sets x 12 Reps, 1 Set x 12+ (36+)

Exercises

T1 – Main Compound (Required)

• Squat
• Deadlift
• Bench Press
• Overhead Press
• Bent Over Row
• Pullup / Lat Pulldown

T2 – Variation Compounds

• Squat
  • Front Squat – Hits quads and upper back more.
  • Lunges (DB or BB) – Excellent split movement. Dumbbell version introduces a “carry” movement to the workout.
• Deadlift
  • Straight Leg Deadlift – Savage for the hamstrings
  • Good Mornings – Lower back strengthening
• Bench Press
  • Incline Bench Press (DB or BB) – DB movement to help imbalances and upper chest.
  • Dips – Another great compound in itself, focus on triceps and lower chest.
• Overhead Press
  • Dumbbell Shoulder Press (Bi or Uni) – DB movement to help imbalances.
  • Behind head press – Stay light, only for those with good mobility but an amazing exercise.
• Bent Over Row
  • Dumbbell Row (Unilateral) – Excellent core work and grip.
• Pullup / Lat Pulldown
  • Dumbbell Pullover – Upper body squat with jacknife added.
  • Chinups – Great stretch and has better EMG data for biceps.

T3 – Accessories / Isolation

• Squat
  • Nordic Curls – Hamstring isolation available in home gyms. Prone leg curls are a gym alternative.
  • Reverse Nordic Curls – Quad isolation available in home gym. Leg extensions are a gym alternative
  • Calf Raises – Calf isolation
  • Hip thrusts – Glute isolation
  • Good girls and bad girls can all go in here too
• Deadlift
  • Shrugs
  • Nordic Curls
  • Reverse Nordic Curls
  • Calf Raises
• Bench Press
  • Chest Fly – Pec isolation
  • Skullcrushers – Tricep isolation, can do a burner of close grip bench press at the end of the sets.
• Overhead Press
  • Lateral Raises – Mid delt isolation
  • Skullcrushers
• Bent Over Row
  • Rear Fly – Rear delts, upper back isolation
  • Bicep Curls – Bicep isolation.
• Pullup / Lat Pulldown
  • Straight Arm Pulldown
  • Bicep Curls
• Other
  • Hanging Leg Raises – Excellent ab and grip workout
  • If you want to nit pick you might want to also add Neck and Forearm workouts to the mix to get a true full body workout.

Note: there isn’t a very good place for abs so I tend to add it to my push day accessories.

6 Day Split

Tier	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
	Rowing	Running	Running	Rowing	Running	Running	REST
	Warm Up Sets	Warm Up Sets	Warm Up Sets	Warm Up Sets	Warm Up Sets	Warm Up Sets
T1	Squat	Bench	BOR	Deadlift	OHP	Pullups
T2	SLDL	DB Incline	Pullups	Front Squat	Dips	BOR
T2	Lunges	DB Shoulder	DB Row	Good Mornings	DB Bench	DB Pullover
T3	R. Nordics	Chest Fly	DB Pullover	Nordic Curls	Latrl Raises	DB Row
T3	Nordic Curls	Skullcrusher	Reverse Fly	R. Nordics	Inc Chest Fly	Reverse Fly
T3	Calf Raises	Situps	Bicep Curl	Calf Raises	Situps	Bicep Curl

1 Day – Full Body Split

Tier	Full Body Day
T1	Squat
T1	OHP
T1	Pullups
T1	Deadlift
T1	Bench
T1	Row

2/4 Day – Upper / Lower Split

Tier	Lower Day	Upper Day
T1	Squat	Bench
T1	Deadlift	Row
T1		OHP
T1		Pullups
T3	R. Nordics	Chest Fly
T3	Nordic Curls	Reverse Fly
T3	Calf Raises	Latrl Raises
T3		Hang Leg Raises
T3		Skull Crushers
T3		Bicep Curls

3 Day – Legs / Push / Pull Split (Current Favourite)

Tier	Leg Day	Push Day	Pull Day
T1	Squat	Bench	BOR
T1	Deadlift	OHP	Pullups
T2	Lunges or Front Squats	DB Incline	DB Row
T2	Good Mornings or SLDL	Weighted Dips	DB Pullover Jacknife
T3	R. Nordics	Lateral Raises	Reverse Fly
T3	Nordic Curls	Chest Fly	Bicep Curl
T3	Calf Raises	Skullcrusher

Split Table

Days	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	Full Body
2	Upper		Lower
3	Legs		Push		Pull
4	Upper	Lower		Upper	Lower
5	Legs	Push	Pull	Lower	Upper
6	Legs	Push	Pull	Legs	Push	Pull

Full Example Cycle

The template for a full 4 week cycle can be found here – ​​Young Power Protocol

Products / Equipment

Gym Bag Equipment

The following table is all of the equipment in my gym bag.

Image	Item	Description	Price	Link
	Chalk Bag	Chalk for most lifts, especially beneficial for heavier lifts.	£16.99	amazon.co.uk
	Chalk Refill	Refill for chalk bag.	£9.99	amazon.co.uk
	Straps	Essential for heavier deadlifts. Lasso style recommended over Figure 8 and Closed Loop.
		Cheap option: Beast Rage Cotton Fabric Lasso Straps.	£3.99	amazon.co.uk
		Expensive option: Pioneer Fitness Treated Leather Lasso Straps.	£32	9for9.co.uk
	Belt	Essential for squat and deadlift safety (over 100kg). Helps align the spine and protect against hernias. Very uncomfortable at first until your body adapts and you break them in a bit. I have the following and love them both.
		Inzer 10mm: Single setting, adjustable with screwdriver. Slightly thinner than SBD.	£106	inzer.com
		SBD 13mm: Multiple slots for quick adjustment. Excellent for different tightnesses in squat and deadlift.	£219.99	sbdapparel.com
	Knee Sleeves	Important for knee longevity, especially for squats over 100kg. Assists slightly on the knee joint and keeps knees warm. A cold garage gym, shorts and 5 minute breaks can cool the knee joints down significantly	£59.99	sbdapparel.com
	Dip Belt	Great for progressively overloading dips and pullups.	£17.99	amazon.co.uk
	Wrist Wraps	Occasionally used for overhead press, bench press, or heavy squats.
		Cheap option: I think I actually prefer these	£6.99	amazon.co.uk
		Expensive option: SBD, extra stiff (choose “flexible” option).	£29.99	sbdapparel.com
	Elbow Sleeves	SBD brand, great but not frequently used.	£44.99	sbdapparel.com
	Earbuds	Noise cancelling is essential for commercial gyms.
		Cheap option: Anker	£49.99	amazon.co.uk
		Expensive option: Apple	£199.99	amazon.co.uk
	Water Bottle	Nalgene bottles are BPA free and virtually indestructible. Doesn’t fit well in car cup holders and the mouth is very wide and the cap needs unscrewing so not very good for drinking with 1 hand or on the move. However the wide mouth is good for the dishwasher.	£18.95	amazon.co.uk
	Padlock	If needed	£3.99	amazon.co.uk
	Gym Bag	Gym bag to put everything in.	£29.99	amazon.co.uk
		Total – Cheap Option	£369.85
		Total – Expensive Option	£684.85

Home Gym Equipment

The following table is all of the equipment in my home gym. The brands I went with are mainly Primal Strength and Rogue. You could do basically the same gym cheaper with Mirafit with their M3 range (60mm x 60mm frame instead of 75mm x 75mm). Not as high quality but 90% there.

Image	Item	Description	Price	Link
	Floor	58 x EPDM 20mm – Tile (1m X 0.5m) covered my double garage floor. Paid £500 extra for installation.	£1,739.42 (£29.99 each)	primalstrength.com
	Rack	Half rack with safety bars.	£1249.99	primalstrength.com
	Dip Bars	Dip bar attachment for rack	£135.99	primalstrength.com
	Barbell	Olympic power bar, centre knurled for squat grip. Aggressive knurling.	£299.99	primalstrength.com
	EZ Bar	Used for skullcrushers and bicep curls	£89.99	primalstrength.com
	Collars	2 x Quick Release Collars	£39.98 (£19.99 each)	primalstrength.com
	Bench	Adjustable bench	£499.99	primalstrength.com
	Ironmaster	Overall extremely high quality, full metal build, quick-lock system is good but still takes a while to change the plates. The only adjustable dumbbells that go this heavy and feel safe while doing it.
		6.8 kg Heavy Handle Kit, adds default weight to the handle. Plus makes the grip area shorter and easier to place the hand in the middle. With handle: 9 kg	£159.00	ironmaster.co.uk
		34 kg Adjustable Dumbbell Set With heavy handle: 43 kg	£698.00	ironmaster.co.uk
		54.4 kg Dumbbell Addon Kit With heavy handle: 63.4 kg	£399.00	ironmaster.co.uk
		Dumbbell stand	£169.00	ironmaster.co.uk
	York Dumbbells	These are getting a mention because they are my first dumbbell set and they have come in extremely handy over the years, now I use them for lateral raises and rear flys still. Perfect for women and children too. Linked a slightly upgraded full metal version to the ones I have at home. I paid £40.	£59.99	amazon.co.uk
	Plates
		2 x 1.25 kg Plate	£39.98 (£19.99 each)	primalstrength.com
		2 x 2. 5kg Plate	£49.98 (£24.99 each)	primalstrength.com
		2 x 5 kg Plate	£99.98 (£49.99 each)	primalstrength.com
		4 x 10 kg Plate	£399.96 (£99.99 each)	primalstrength.com
		2 x 15 kg Plate	£299.98 (£149.99 each)	primalstrength.com
		10 x 20 kg Plate	£1,999.90 (£199.99 each)	primalstrength.com
	Bands
		Micro #0 (Orange) – 4 kg Resistance Good for: Rear fly	£19.00 (pair)	roguefitness.com
		Mini #1 (Red) – 8 kg Resistance Good for: Chest fly	£20.00 (pair)	roguefitness.com
		Mini #2 (Blue) – 14 kg Resistance Good for: Chest fly / Pullups	£23.00 (pair)	roguefitness.com
		#3 (Green) – 18 kg Resistance Good for: Pullups	£29.00 (pair)	roguefitness.com
		#4 (Black) – 29 kg Resistance Good for: Pullups / Nordic Curls	£37.00 (pair)	roguefitness.com
		Strong #5 (Purple) – 43 kg Resistance Good for: Nordic Curls	£44.00 (pair)	roguefitness.com
	Handles	Used with the bands and the pegs on the rack. The pegs allow you to change the angle so it acts like a cheap version of a cable machine. Move further away to customise the resistance.	£25.90 (£12.95 each)	amazon.co.uk
	Clips	Carabiner Clip	£4.99 (pack)	amazon.co.uk
	Dead Wedge	I have 2x of these for ease and speed for changing the same-size bumper plates for deadlift.	£40.00 (£20.00 each)	roguefitness.com
	Rowing Machine	Concept2 Rowerg	£999.00	primalstrength.com
	Pullup Bar	Have it indoors but use it for pullups randomly.	£39.95	amazon.co.uk
	Yoga Mat	Used for situps and nordic curls. Can be rolled up as a tampon for hip thrusts.	£22.99	amazon.co.uk
	Delivery	Delivery of heavy stuff is EXPENSIVE. The less deliveries the better, so order as much as you can from each provider in one go.
		Total (not including delivery)	£9,734.95
		Wishlist:
	Nuobells	NÜOBELL 2-32Kg Dumbbells (x2) – Black Out	£699.00	fitness-superstore.co.uk
		Things I don’t really use that much:
	Kettlebells
		20 kg Kettlebell	£44.99	primalstrength.com
		24 kg Kettlebell	£49.99	primalstrength.com
		36 kg Kettlebell	£74.99	primalstrength.com
	Hammer	Mirafit Gym Workout Hammer – 20 kg. About once a year I get the big tractor tyre out from the side of my house and use it.	£84.95	Not sold any more

Training Supplements

Image	Item	Description	Price	Link
	Creatine
	Pre Workout
	Electrolytes
	Whey Isolate
	VSL3

Other Information

Diet Information

My overall preferred and recommended diet is Paleo, to me it makes the most sense. However the people below provide some valuable information on diet.

Stan Efferding (Vertical Diet)

Vertical Diet is the most comprehensive protocol for Diet, Sleep, Salt, Recovery, PEDs and most things health related.

Links:

• https://www.instagram.com/stanefferding/
• Stan Efferding KOMPLETTES Seminar in THOR’s Powergym
• Cooking With Stan Efferding | How to Make Monster Mash! | Vertical Diet  

Layne Norton (Biolayne)

For those that want someone that is strictly science based. Offers reasonable balanced advice.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/biolayne/

Paul Saladino

Good diet philosophies, hard to follow but good in theory.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/paulsaladinomd/

Training Information

GZCL

Inspiration on the progression and a lot of the principles for the Young Power Protocol

Link: http://swoleateveryheight.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-gzcl-method-simplified_13.html 

Jeff Nippard

Excellent videos, science based, great technique breakdowns

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@JeffNippard

Johnny Candito

6 week program is an effective and fun program to run for powerlifters.

Link: http://www.canditotraininghq.com/free-programs/

Mike Israetel

Another great science based channel.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@RenaissancePeriodization

PED Information

Anabolic Doc

Comprehensive and honest breakdowns of PEDs aimed at harm reduction.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theanabolicdoc

More Plates More Dates

Entertaining yet informative watch (natty or not breakdowns etc)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@MorePlatesMoreDates

Spotify Playlists

• Phils Gym Playlist
• Phils Gym 2.0 Playlist
• Johns Gym Playlist

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Authored by Philip Young and John Young, Young Power Protocol is offered humbly as a guide to strength and fitness. We hope it serves you well on your journey.