Sheiko Monthly Plan #40

Advanced monthly plan #40 from Boris Sheiko's numbered Training Collection series: a pre-meet sprint block of 4 weeks, 3 sessions per week, 12 sessions in all, and 513 working sets. The big three are built around the high-bar squat, barbell bench press, and conventional deadlift, with intensity moving in a wave across the whole block: Week 1 tops out at 85%, Week 2 drops back to 80%, Week 3 surges to the 90% peak, and Week 4 closes back at 85%. It suits advanced powerlifters with a definite meet day who need to polish technique and condition in the last month before a test or competition.

What Kind of Block This Is

#40 is not a start-from-zero beginner program but a standalone advanced monthly block (4 weeks) in the Sheiko numbering system, assuming you can already complete sessions of 40+ minutes with a very large number of sets. The block's 513 working sets are very uneven when split by lift: bench press 163 sets, squat 111 sets, deadlift series 74 sets. Bench volume is a bit more than double the deadlift's, which is exactly Sheiko's usual bench-heavy bias.

It is not a simple "add weight every week." The main-lift peak intensity over the four weeks is a wave: 85% → 80% → 90% → 85%. Week 2 is deliberately pressed down to 80% as a buffer wave, Week 3 pushes each of the big three to the block's 90% peak, and Week 4 closes back to 85%. Volume is highest in Week 1 (141 sets), then holds steady in the 122–127 range for the next three weeks, with the narrowing happening mainly in the bench (50 sets in Week 1, 36–39 in the other three weeks).

Who It's For

• Experience level: Advanced. Able to complete the big three consistently, familiar with percentage-based prescriptions, and unafraid of 40–55 working sets in a single session.
• Prerequisites: Known competition (or best gym) 1RMs for squat, bench press, and deadlift; a definite meet day or test day four weeks away.
• Main goal: Polishing condition and probing intensity in the last month before a meet, not building muscle or building strength from scratch.
• Best condition: Maintenance calories or a slight surplus. This is a high-volume block and not suited to running in a clear fat-loss deficit.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Bench frequency and volume are extremely high (pressing in every session, 163 sets across the block), the most direct bench polish for the last month before a meet.
• Intensity advances in a wave (85% → 80% → 90% → 85%), touching the 90% peak only in Week 3 and staying otherwise within a range technique can reliably hold, so struggle sets are rare and injury risk is low.
• The deadlift uses variations to share the intensity (blocks / deficit / half-range), keeping the specific stimulus for the start and lockout phases while avoiding the accumulated fatigue of full-range heavy pulls every week.
• Week 4 deliberately closes down to 85% / 80%, which itself relieves pre-meet pressure and makes the handoff to meet day smooth.

Cons

• A single session is very long: Wednesday often has 50+ sets (55 sets in Week 1, 51 in Week 4), taking an hour or two or more.
• Full-range deadlift frequency is low (only 1 session per week, 74 sets across the block, less than half of the bench). If the deadlift is your weak point, four weeks may not be enough.
• There is no built-in max test day. The main lifts in this block go no higher than 90%, so verifying a new 1RM has to wait for the meet four weeks later or a separately arranged test.
• The 12 sessions are all different and dense in sets and reps, so you must follow the plan strictly every time, with no fixed routine you can memorize.

How the Four Weeks Run

Week	Main-lift peak	Total working sets	Role
Week 1	85%	141	Highest volume, laying down work
Week 2	80%	122	Buffer wave with intensity sinking
Week 3	90%	123	Block intensity peak
Week 4	85% (deadlift 80%)	127	Closing down after the peak

• Week 1: Monday starts with 12 sets of bench (working up to 85%×2 for three sets, then backing off to 80%×3), then 9 sets of high-bar squat (up to 80%×3 and then holding a plateau); Friday the high-bar squat tops out at 85%×2 and the bench at 80%×2. Wednesday is the heaviest day of the block at 55 working sets.
• Week 2: Peaks on the big three are all pressed down to 80%, and the deficit deadlift goes only to 65%×2 (speed and starting-position practice). This week is an intensity buffer, not a deload week; volume is still 122 sets.
• Week 3: The intensity peak. Monday has high-bar squat for three singles at 90%×1 and bench for three sets at 90%×2; Wednesday has conventional deadlift for three singles at 90%×1. This is the only week in the whole block that touches 90%.
• Week 4: The main lifts drop back to 85% (squat, bench) and 80% (deadlift), and Wednesday's first movement is a half-range conventional deadlift at 75%×3, "pulled only to knee height," as post-peak relief and technical closure. Note that the block contains no 100% max single test in its four weeks (the only 100% appears in the Block Pull, see below), so it is a "peak-and-close" block that leaves testing to the meet or test day four weeks later.

Main-Lift Frequency and Layout

A fixed Monday / Wednesday / Friday, three sessions, each day a combination covering two or more competition lifts:

• Bench press: Trained in every session, with 3–4 bench "segments" per week, the most frequent lift.
• High-bar squat: Monday and Friday (2 sessions per week), often with a heavy first segment plus a lighter second volume segment on the same day.
• Deadlift: Wednesday only (1 session per week), with variations sharing the intensity: Weeks 1 and 3 pair with Block Pull, Week 2 with Deficit Deadlift, and Week 4 with a half-range conventional deadlift.

Signature Design: Wednesday Bench Pyramid + Deadlift Variations

Every Wednesday has an ascending-descending bench pyramid: weight rises set by set to that week's peak, then backs off symmetrically all the way down. Week 1 is the fullest version: 20 sets, climbing from 50%×8 to 85%×1 (three singles), then back down through 55%×10 and 50%×12; in the following three weeks the pyramid shrinks to 14–17 sets with the peak pressed down to 80%. This design of stacking a lot of reps at low-to-moderate intensity and only lightly touching the limit at the tip of the tower is Sheiko's hallmark for polishing technique and building pushing endurance.

Block Pull appears on Wednesdays of Weeks 1 and 3: because the range of motion is shortened, its percentage is calculated from the corresponding main lift (deadlift) max (stated in the set note). In Week 1 it rises to 100%×2 for three sets. Note that this 100% is the deadlift max and not the Block Pull's own max; in Week 3 it reaches 85%×4. The Deficit Deadlift (Week 2) goes only up to 65%, training starting strength from an unfavorable start position. The half-range conventional deadlift in Week 4 is pulled only to knee height, covering just the stretch from the floor to the knee and training the start (breaking from the floor) phase, while the lockout phase is shared by the Block Pulls in Weeks 1 and 3 from the upper half of the range.

Accessory Work

Accessories are arranged as "slots": the library enters common exercises by default, and you can freely replace them according to your own weak points. These accessories carry no percentage prescription; the set notes give only form and slot hints (such as standing / seated, free choice of exercise):

• Dumbbell Fly 5 sets×10: throughout the block, a chest supplement to the bench.
• Barbell Good Morning 5 sets×5: standing on Monday, seated on Friday (sitting on a bench with the bar on the back), strengthening the posterior chain.
• Leg Press / Leg Extension / Lunge: lower-body supplements, with the lunge fixed on Wednesday.
• Dip, Wide-Grip Push-Up, Cable Triceps Pushdown: triceps and lockout accessories (the triceps pushdown is a free-choice slot).
• Sit-Up 3–4 sets×10: the free-choice ab exercise on Wednesday.

These accessories are all done at moderate intensity, not to failure.

Intensity Anchors and Percentage Basis

• The anchor is the true max of each of the big three. The Russian convention calls it the "training max"; in the app, enter a competition max you are confident of (leaning conservative is fine).
• Variations in the app have their 1RM set to the corresponding main lift's max: Block Pull, Deficit Deadlift, and the half-range conventional deadlift are all anchored to your competition deadlift max. The Block Pull's set note explicitly says "calculated from the corresponding main lift max," so the 100% you see in Week 1 is a partial-range load you can complete.
• Sheiko does not go to failure: complete every set for the prescribed reps, leaving 1–2 reps in reserve on each. If a weight is clearly a struggle, lower that session's lifts across the board by 2.5–5%, but don't change the set and rep structure.

Rest Between Sets and Session Length

Sheiko gives no fixed seconds; the criterion is "start the next set only when you can do it cleanly with sound technique." Applied to this block's loading: rest a full 3–5 minutes after peak singles / doubles at 90% in Week 3 and 85% in Weeks 1 and 4, 2–4 minutes for working sets around 80%, and 1–2 minutes is enough for ramping warm-ups at 50–65% and for accessory slots without percentages. What truly drags on is Wednesday: 55 sets in Week 1 and 51 in Week 4, so 1.5–2 hours in a day is normal, and you should leave slack in your schedule for Wednesday's volume.

How to Set Starting Weights and What to Do After

In Week 1, the main lifts start at 50–60% with 3–5 reps per set and should feel easy and smooth; if Week 1 is already hard, the max is set too high, so lower it by 5–10% and start over. After finishing #40, update the big-three maxes using the result of the meet or test four weeks later, then decide the next step: either follow with a full long cycle (such as "Sheiko #29-32 (16 weeks)"), or rerun this block with the updated maxes to keep sprinting. Don't treat #40 as an isolated four weeks to drop in casually; it assumes you enter it in near-meet condition.

FAQ

Who is #40 for? Can I jump straight into it?

Not recommended for beginners. #40 is an advanced pre-meet monthly block in the Sheiko numbering system, assuming you are familiar with percentage-based training, can handle 40–55 working sets in a single session, and have a meet or test day four weeks away. If you are still at the stage where you can add weight every session, run a linear progression first; if you want a longer full cycle, "Sheiko #29-32 (16 weeks)" is a better place to start.

Why is Week 2 even lighter than Week 1?

This is intentional. The main-lift peak over the four weeks is a wave: 85% → 80% → 90% → 85%. Week 2 presses intensity down to 80% as a buffer wave, giving the nervous system a breather before the push to the 90% peak in Week 3. Note that Week 2 only sinks in intensity and volume is not low (still 122 sets), so don't treat it as an easy week to coast through.

How heavy do the main lifts get? Isn't the Block Pull's 100% over the top?

The peak for the big three (squat, bench press, deadlift) is 90% in Week 3: squat 90%×1, bench 90%×2, deadlift 90%×1, all shown as three top sets. The 100% for the Block Pull in Week 1 is not an ordinary full-range deadlift max; because blocks shorten the range of motion, its percentage is calculated from your deadlift max, and 100%×2 over a partial range is completable. This block has no full-range 100% single test in its four weeks.

How many days a week, and how are the big three split?

Fixed Monday / Wednesday / Friday. Bench is trained every day (3–4 bench segments per week, the most frequent), the high-bar squat on Monday and Friday (2 sessions per week), and the deadlift only on Wednesday (1 session per week) with Block / Deficit / half-range variations sharing the intensity.

How do I do the 20-set bench pyramid on Wednesday?

Climb set by set from 50%×8 to that week's peak, then come back down symmetrically. Week 1 is the fullest 20-set version: after rising to 85%×1 for three singles, back off all the way to 55%×10 and 50%×12. In the following three weeks the pyramid shrinks to 14–17 sets with the peak pressed down to 80%. Complete the prescribed reps throughout, with no pushing to failure; it trains technical stability and pushing endurance, not the limit.

What do I enter as the 1RM for the big three and the variations?

For the big three, enter the competition max you are confident of for each (the Russian-convention "training max"; leaning conservative is fine). For the variation exercises, set the 1RM in the app to the corresponding main lift's max: Block Pull, Deficit Deadlift, and the half-range conventional deadlift are all anchored to your competition deadlift max. The set note already states that the Block Pull is "calculated from the corresponding main lift max."

With this many sets per session, won't it take too long?

34–55 working sets and 1.5–2 hours in a single session is normal; that is the essence of Sheiko's high-frequency, high-volume design. Wednesday is the longest (55 sets in Week 1, 51 in Week 4). To save time, first shorten rest after lighter warm-up sets, and don't delete main-lift sets or reps. Accessory slots can be trimmed as needed.

Does Week 4 count as a deload week? Do I still need to schedule one?

Week 4 brings the main lifts down to 85% (squat, bench) and 80% (deadlift), and Wednesday's first movement becomes a half-range conventional deadlift pulled only to knee height. This is itself a post-peak close, equivalent to a natural pre-meet taper, so you don't need to add a separate deload week. If you have no meet after the four weeks, you can treat Week 4 as the deload before a test and schedule a big-three test right after finishing.

What comes after #40?

Update the big-three maxes with the result of the meet / test four weeks later, then pick one of two: rerun this block with the updated maxes to keep the pre-meet sprint, or move into a full long cycle (such as "Sheiko #29-32 (16 weeks)") for the next round of systematic accumulation. #40 is a "peak-and-close" block; best to hand off to a real test or competition, and not to spin your wheels.