A Realistic Look at the Training 2024 Arizona Schedule
I keep running into this question on the forums, so I figured I would write something that actually helps instead of the usual fluff. The Training 2024 Arizona Schedule is a periodized strength program that originated from a small coaching collective in Phoenix. It was designed primarily for intermediate lifters preparing for natural powerlifting meets in the Arizona circuit. It is not a beginner program. It is also not something you should jump into blind. Here is the basic structure. The program runs 16 weeks and uses a rotating three-day lifting template with a fourth day dedicated to accessory work and carryover movements. The intensity builds through two mesocycles, peaking at week 13, then drops into a deload before the meet week. Volume is moderate — most days sit between 18 and 24 working sets depending on the exercise. The rep ranges are the part most people get wrong. They cluster around 3 to 5 reps on the main lifts through the first twelve weeks, then swing to 1 to 3 reps in the final block. That swing is intentional. It forces your nervous system to adapt to heavier loads without adding junk volume. I have seen far too many lifters try to muscle through the final three weeks with the same rep scheme as week one. It just does not work. You will be fried before you ever step on the platform.
Where to find the Training 2024 Arizona Schedule
The original document lives on a private Google Drive that the Phoenix coaching group shares with their clients. There is no public PDF download. What I can tell you is that several gyms in the state carry printed copies, and a handful of Reddit threads have the full calendar posted by people who have been through it. The version most people end up using is the modified v2.1 that removed the Tuesday deadlift variation and replaced it with a deficit Romanian deadlift. That change actually made the program more sustainable for lifters who already have lower back issues. The v1.0 program would break some people in week six if they did not have the mobility work dialed in. If you want the exact spreadsheet, your best bet is reaching out to anyone who trains at Desert Barbell or Iron Garden. They have the files. I got mine through a contact at a meet in Tucson, and it has served me well across multiple cycles. Here is what the weekly layout looks like in practice:
Monday is squat focus. You start with a ramp-up set, then hit your working sets at the prescribed percentage. After that comes your secondary squat variation, which rotates between pause squats, speed squats, and front squats depending on the week. The accessory work is short — mostly leg extensions, calf raises, and core. Nothing fancy. Tuesday is a lighter upper body day. Bench work with a focus on lockout strength, followed by weighted dips and rows. Wednesday is your rest or active recovery day. Thursday brings the deadlift work. Hip thrusts, good mornings, and barbell rows round it out. Friday is the fourth day, which is really your weakness-day. If your squat is lagging, you do more squat variation. If your bench is your problem, you spend more time there. Saturday and Sunday are rest. You sleep. You eat. You do not train harder on the weekend hoping to make up for it. That is a rookie mistake. I need to be honest about the downsides because nobody who promotes this program talks about them. The biggest issue is the lack of built-in flexibility. If you miss a day, the program does not tell you how to adjust. You just continue forward, which means you are behind by week four and trying to catch up by week eight. I ran into this exact problem in my first cycle when I took two weeks off due to a family emergency. I tried to compress the volume, and my knees started grinding. I ended up dropping the Friday session entirely and replacing it with mobility work. It was the only thing that kept me from pulling out of my meet. That is the workaround I used. If you miss more than three consecutive days, do not try to stack the missed work. Skip Friday entirely for the rest of the cycle and focus on recovery. Another thing people overlook is the food timing. The program is written assuming you are eating enough calories to support that volume. If you are cutting, you will not finish week eight without feeling like garbage. I had a lifter try this while at a 400-calorie deficit and he dropped his squat by 40 pounds in three weeks. We moved him to a maintenance calorie target and his numbers stabilized within five days. The schedule works when your nutrition supports it. It falls apart when it does not.
Get the Full Details
Here is a counter-intuitive insight that might save you some headaches: the percentage numbers on this schedule are based on your competition three-rep max, not your one-rep max. Most people read the percentages and assume they are working from a 1RM benchmark. They are not. If you are using 85 percent and your calculator is pulling from your 1RM, you are actually training at roughly 92 percent of your true working capacity. That is the difference between a productive session and one where you black out on your final set. Figure out your 3RM first. Then calculate everything from there. This alone fixed my bench numbers going into last season. Another nuance is the warm-up protocol. The program lists warm-up sets but does not specify rest periods between them. I found that 90 seconds between warm-up sets is the sweet spot for most lifters. Going longer and your body cools down. Going shorter and you are not fully recovered for your first working set. The people who seem to know what they are doing typically count rest from when they stand up from the bar, not from when they step away to grab a towel. It sounds minor. It is not. The deload week at the end is also not a true deload. It is what I call a semi-deload. You drop the volume by about 40 percent but keep the intensity the same. Some lifters interpret this as an invitation to go easy and do all the wrong things — they skip the main lifts entirely and just do light cardio. That is not how it works. You still hit your numbers. You just do fewer sets. If you treat week 14 like a vacation, you lose the adaptation you built during weeks 10 through 13. Treat it like a lighter training week, nothing more.
There are better programs for beginners. If you have less than two years of consistent training under your belt, the Training 2024 Arizona Schedule will not serve you well. You need a foundation first. Start with something like Starting Strength or Southern Strength's beginner block. Once you can hit the prescribed numbers on those for six weeks straight, then come back here. The program will not break you if you are ready for it. It will just feel exactly as demanding as it is supposed to. One more thing. Track your sleep. This program will expose poor recovery faster than anything I have used in the past decade. I started noticing a pattern where my numbers would stall on weeks where I averaged under six hours of sleep, regardless of how well I ate or how much I hydrated. It is not theoretical. I logged it for four straight cycles. Seven hours minimum. No negotiation. If you are not sleeping, this program will punish you, and not in a way that leads to progress. The schedule itself is clean. It is not overcomplicated. It does not have unnecessary exercises or confusing periodization. It just demands that you show up consistently and that you are eating and sleeping enough to handle the load. Most people fail because of the second part, not the first. Get those two right and the numbers will start moving.
